Surviving Venice

by Anna E Bendewald

  “Sometimes it escapes me.”

  “During those times, fake it,” he said, and his eyes looked like his father’s. She half expected a wink, but Primo was too serious with her for that kind of roguishness. “I don’t want to hear you whine again. And you’d better never let my father hear that.”

  She nodded and hurried to get away from the boat without being seen. When she arrived at the bridge in front of the shelter, Azure gave her a frantic wave from his guard post and hit the buzzer. Within moments, Kate’s head and shoulders appeared through the opened door, and the look on her face made Raphielli run to her.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “Get in here. I’ve just heard, the Amendolas and their lawyer have a court order. The police’ll be here any second.”

  “No!”

  Raphielli ran inside following Kate. She pulled off her coat and threw it at the coat tree in the foyer as they ran to Benedetta’s room behind the kitchen. Inside, Paloma was grabbing up anything of Benny’s and putting it all in a bag, while Nanda was wiping down every surface with a rag.

  Raphielli asked, “What’s going on here?”

  Nanda was a blur as she said, “They might dust for fingerprints.”

  Paloma said, “We’re turning the room back into the nurse’s quarters and removing anything with her handwriting.” She spotted Benny’s stuffed cat and, because the bag was full, she shoved it down inside her sweatshirt.

  Margarita and Benny came out of the bathroom with Benny dressed like an old woman, wearing baggy woolen tights concealing her youthful legs and scuffed old shoes on her feet. Raphielli realized she was wearing the cook’s clothes. Paloma shoved the bulging bag into Benny’s arms. “Take this and come on!”

  When they’d reached the kitchen, Leona was by the back door urging, “Come on!”

  They heard Azure’s voice from the intercom in the office, “Kate, I have the police here with a search warrant.”

  The women froze for a beat, and then Azure’s voice was louder. “Hey! You can’t go around back! They’ll buzz you in through the main door!”

  Leona wrapped the cook’s shawl up over Benny’s head, wrenched open the door, and shoved her outside into the rain that had started to fall. Benny raced straight across the alley where an aproned Juliette swept Benny into her shelter’s kitchen door and shut it. Raphielli was almost knocked to the floor as Paloma, Leona, and Margarita raced out of the kitchen, then stampeded in different directions for the dayroom and up the main staircase. Raphielli saw Kate press a button on her phone, put it in her front pocket, and head toward the front door as Nanda zipped around her and disappeared into the dayroom.

  Raphielli looked out the back door again and saw two uniformed police splashing around the corner through the icy rain. They were being yelled at by Benny’s mother looked just like she did on television, except with wet, bedraggled hair.

  “Let me by you! You’re walking too slow! We need the element of surprise!”

  “This is a police event now, and we have procedures,” one cop said with irritation.

  “Are you taking a tone with me?” She grabbed him by the coat. “Are you kidding me? You haven’t even gotten me inside, and you’re acting like you’re out of patience with me? I’ve LOST my DAUGHTER!” she yelled full into the officer’s face.

  The cops exchanged looks and then noticed Raphielli. “Ciao, Signora Scortini, we’re here to serve a…”

  Raphielli swept her arm in a welcoming gesture. “Come in out of the storm.”

  They looked at her with gratitude, and as they passed her one said to the other, “Too bad we can’t leave the shrew outside.”

  “Can I offer you a hot cup of coffee?” she asked.

  “Coffee’d be great, grazie.”

  The cook, who was now wearing one of the resident’s sweat suits—which was a bit snug across her backside—was already pouring them cups of Mia’s addictive brew.

  “I don’t want coffee! How can you drink coffee at a time like this? I’m reporting you two!” Signora Amendola bellowed. Then she did a double take at Raphielli and the strangest look came over her face. The woman seemed to be judging her as if she’d failed at something. Oh, right, she knows I’m infertile, which is why she offered her daughter to have Salvio’s baby. Screw you, you loudmouth. You’re just like the Dour Doublet.

  The officers gratefully took the cups and sipped. “Enough outta you. If your daughter’s here, she’s not going to flush herself down a toilet. You stay outta the way until the paperwork has been presented, and then we’ll be doing the search, not you.”

  Raphielli said, “I hope you understand that, first and foremost, this is a safe haven for women who have suffered unspeakable violence.” She led the way to the front entry where Kate was reading the legal document. She stood flanked by police and two women in dripping wet suits.

  “Everything seems to be in order,” Kate was saying. “Be as thorough as you need to be, but these women have varying degrees of residual anxiety, so I’ll ask you to go about your business as quickly and quietly as possible.”

  One of the women stepped around the officers. “While the police search, I’d like to see your records. Access to those documents was included in the warrant.”

  “And you are?” Kate asked.

  “The Amendola’s attorney.”

  “I want to see those files!” a man bellowed, and the boom of his voice made everyone jump.

  “Signor Amendola, that can’t happen,” the lawyer said. “And please keep your voice down.”

  “Don’t tell us we can’t see the files!” Benny’s mother charged forward. “What do you think we’re here for? To stand around and drink coffee?” She jabbed her thumb at the cops she’d followed around back. “They’re telling us we can’t be part of the search, and you’re telling us we can’t see the records? What…” she stammered, and her husband joined his voice to hers.

  “We didn’t come all this way to stand around!” He approached the other woman in a suit and said, “You’re our advocate! Do something!”

  “Not so loud,” the advocate said.

  “Don’t seem to have inside voices, do they?” one cop said quietly to his buddy, and they both took another sip of their coffee.

  “Let me be clear,” the advocate was saying, “I’ve been appointed as Benedetta’s advocate by the judge, and your presence during a search is highly irregular. Now, if you would keep your voices down, this is a shelter for abused women, and we need to respect their space. You and your husband should stay here at the front door…to, um…stand guard.”

  That seemed to give them a purpose, and they moved closer to the door as if Benedetta might materialize from behind a curtain and make a break for it.

  Raphielli watched as the attorney and advocate accompanied Kate to the office, and an officer opened the door to the dayroom. The women waved shy greetings, and when Nanda noticed she was still clutching the dust cloth, she blew her nose into it and tossed it into a trashcan next to the sofa.

  One of the cops with the coffee said, “Signora Scortini, it would be best if you could show us around.”

  “Certamente.” She walked them from floor to floor and room to room. The final room was the dormitory where Paloma used to sleep. Her bed was stripped bare because it hadn’t been used since she left. That didn’t look good. They’d abided by the legal limit of residents but had Benny stay behind the kitchen so Luigi could visit her without disturbing the “no men” policy.

  The officers entered the dorm and gave polite nods to Shanti and Jasmine, who were stretched out on their beds reading.

  The cop’s eyes were everywhere and with a few “I’m gonna take a quick look in here’s” and “I hope you don’t minds,” they looked in drawers and cubbies where the women’s personal items were stored. They came to the stripped bed.

  “How many vacancies do you have?”

  Paloma appeared at the door and threw herself onto the bed. “None, this one’s min
e. I had a little bed-wetting episode last night, had to strip the sheets. I didn’t used to be incontinent, but I took quite a beating to my bladder region from my old man. That’s why I’m here. My old man tried to kill me.”

  The police looked uncomfortable, and Paloma prattled on. “Peeing never used to be a problem, but a couple of well-placed kicks with a steel-toed work boot will change ya for life. Luckily, they make good adult diapers nowadays. Almost look like regular underpants.”

  The cop’s eyes went to the stuffed animal that had popped out of her shirt when she rolled over to pull on the waistband of her underpants. She snatched it up and started stroking it. “My cat helps my mood. I keep her in my shirt. Hey, lemme ask you, do you consider calamari to be a fish?”

  They shrugged and turned to Raphielli. “We’ll let these women have their privacy now. You can take us back downstairs.”

  As she left, Raphielli cast a glance over her shoulder at Paloma, who looked quite proud of herself.

  When they’d descended to the second-floor landing, they could hear the Amendolas grousing, and the cop next to her said quietly, “This search is stupid. You only have to meet Benedetta’s parents to know she got as far away from those two assholes as possible. I bet she’s saved up some cash and moved to New Zealand.”

  As they reached the entryway, Mia and Dr. Risinger were just coming out of the therapy room with Grace. Raphielli answered their questioning looks by saying, “We’ve been cooperating with the authorities in their search for that missing girl.”

  “Grazie, Signora Scortini, for being so nice…and cooperative,” the lead officer said.

  “And for the excellent coffee. What kind is it?”

  Mia smiled and answered, “Passero’s from Philadelphia, America. Also, I add a wisp of cinnamon and a little grate of nutmeg.”

  The other group was coming from the back hall saying, “You keep excellent records, Kate.”

  “What?” Signora Amendola screeched. “Are you going to believe anything written down by this woman? She’s kept us out of here because she’s keeping our daughter here against her will! Kate’s obviously lying and has faked any records she showed you!”

  Signor Amendola got down on one knee and rapped the floor with his knuckles. “We should tear up the floors and see what’s under there! They could have Benedetta stashed in a crawlspace.”

  The officer next to Raphielli whispered, “This is Venice. We don’t have crawlspaces.”

  One of the police officers held up a hand. “I’m in charge here and I’ve had enough of you two. I don’t want to hear another word, and if Kate wants to press slander charges, I’ll be the first witness against you. We’re not tearing up one thing in this building. You already made a mess throwing things around in their nurse’s dispensary when you weren’t supposed to leave the front door.”

  “We were searching!”

  “Be quiet,” the red-faced officer said and turned to the two that’d been upstairs with Raphielli. “Anything upstairs that would indicate the girl…”

  “Benedetta!”

  “Stop talking! That’s it! You two and your lawyer, out!”

  “But it’s raining!” Benny’s mother wailed.

  “Too bad.” He opened the door, and the officer next to him ushered them, their attorney, and the advocate outside. He turned his attention back to his officers. “Anything?”

  “We looked in every shower stall and closet. She’s not here.”

  The lead officer turned to Kate, Mia, Dr. Risinger, and Raphielli. “I apologize for my outburst. As a Venetian, I’d like to thank you for the important service you provide. We’ll get out of your shelter now.”

  When the door was closed, Kate took the phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear. “Did you hear any of that?”

  Kate answered Raphielli’s quizzical look by mouthing, “Lampani,” then said into the phone, “Uh-huh, Raphielli’s going to go get her from Juliette’s shelter right now. She promised to stash Benny in the pantry where no one would see her…no questions asked. No, she never asked the name, said she’d prefer not knowing.”

  Raphielli had a queasy feeling as she ran to the back door to make sure the coast was clear and reclaim Benny. Life was getting so complicated.

  Gina sat comfortably warm in one of the Verona’s boats and looked out the window while Juliette talked a mile a minute into her phone, rattling off a dizzying litany of things for Ippy to accomplish while Gina and the contessa were at the vitamin spa. Gina watched the frozen windblown city glide past. Venice looked like the north pole. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see a polar bear surface between the ice and slush on the waterways.

  Her ears pricked up when Juliette said, “Call Massimo Buonocore and ask him to declare a notte bianca for next Friday. The city has fallen into a funk and we locals need to shake things up… Mm-hmm, you are right, that will be his argument. But tell him that with social media, we can get the word out the moment he gives his consent, and business owners will jump at the opportunity. Okay, grazie, ciao.” The sheer power that the contessa wielded was awe-inspiring.

  “I love notte biancas,” Gina said. “There’s always so much art, and music, and food.”

  “We will keep shops and restaurants and venues open for twenty-four hours and make a party. Venetians have been in the grip of ice and rain for months now—not good for our mental states. We must have some relief from the daily routine.”

  “Do you think the Cinema Multisala Rossini would do a notte bianca festival of Glenn Close movies? Like Jagged Edge, Fatal Attraction, and Dangerous Liaisons?”

  “I will have Ippy suggest it to them.”

  “You’re the coolest, Juliette.”

  “You think me cool?” She looked flattered. “I like to help people.”

  “And the city loves you for it,” Gina said.

  “They loved Gabrieli for it, too.”

  “You miss him terribly.”

  “Sì, but when feelings of loss come, I instead feel grateful that he was my husband for over twenty years…and then I feel happy.”

  “You’re still young. Do you think you’ll ever remarry?”

  She did a double take and then waved her hand in an elegant way that was glamorous and a bit sexy.

  “These vitamin treatments are doing wonders for you,” Gina said.

  “They are very good. But now that I am a widow, I am making more time for my travail d'épée—a superior workout.”

  “You’re in great shape. All I do is walk around the islands, plus climbing the stairs of my building and at school. I should find some exercise that I like.”

  When the boat docked, they stepped out of the sumptuously heated interior into an arctic blast. Here on the lee side of the island, the sound of ice clattering and crunching brought to Gina’s mind a giant dinosaur toppling fences and devouring herds of large beasts. The edge of the wind-raked pier was newly decorated with lacy scallops of frozen waves. Juliette seemed unaffected by the gale and walked with her spine erect, and her graceful gait was sure in her elegant waterproof boots.

  At the vitamin spa, they were welcomed by the owner, and Gina followed her technician down the hall to the now-familiar treatment room while listening to the woman’s admonitions. “I can tell by looking at you that you’re eating more than just the raw foods I recommended. Remember, no pasta, no cheese, nothing that is not in season. For instance, you wouldn’t eat basil, it’s a summer herb. Small portions no larger than the palm of your hand…”

  “Uh-huh, right, mm-hmm, um, is there any way we can skip the colonic nutritional saturation today?” Although Gina felt none of these restrictions would increase her fertility, it would be disrespectful to argue and her non-compliance would get back to Juliette, who would be hurt.

  Three hours later when Juliette’s driver dropped her off at Arsinale near her apartment, she headed to Al Leon Café instead of going straight home to prepare for another attempt at pregnancy. Prepping for Leo and Vincenzo woul
dn’t take long, and she’d already showered at the spa, so she’d just have to go upstairs and dab on a bit of scent. Pushing the café door open, she squeezed past the people lined up at the pastry and sandwich case next to the door. Diego waved at her as she moved toward an empty table. “Ciao! Che pasto vorresti?”

  “A big plate of spaghetti al pesto and potato chips as a starter.” Limited diet be damned.

  While waiting for her meal, she munched on the best potato chips in Venice and thought about who might make a good mate for Juliette, which segued into a daydream of who might be a good mate for her. Gina couldn’t settle on an ideal.

  When the glorious swirl of fragrant pasta arrived, she leaned over the plate and inhaled the heavenly scent of basil and Parmesan cheese before twirling an indecent amount onto her fork and putting it into her mouth. She self-consciously covered her overstuffed mouth with her napkin, but no one in the lively restaurant noticed her. Everyone was talking with their hands and convivially socializing within the steamed-up confines of the little café.

  She’d have enough time to finish this and order a pastry before meeting the boys. Although they were still dutifully having sex every day during her fertility window, they all felt sure she was pregnant. Gina stroked her lower abdomen and thought, You want some more, don’t you? And she took another big bite.

  CHAPTER

  10

  In the weeks since Christmas, Giselle found herself going a bit stir crazy and becoming increasingly resentful that, although Spratman was out of the picture, everyone around her still felt that it would be reckless to consider it safe to resume life in Gernelle. After the chase that Carolette had led him on, Spratman had fallen for Plan B and everyone involved had waited on pins and needles. She’d felt out of sorts and even twitchy with nerves until two days later when Yvania got a call from her nephews, Jökull and Bjårki Guðmund.

  Apparently, Spratman had headed straight for Iceland but the connecting flight through Frankfurt was delayed by a snowstorm. He finally arrived in Reykjavík, rented a car, and drove straight to Kópavogur. Jökull and Bjårki knew this because his travel logistics were the sum total of what Spratman divulged. He’d showed up on their doorstep looking bleary-eyed and slightly feverish. In a display of relaxed hospitality, they opened their door to him and he naïvely entered, blissfully unaware that he wouldn’t make it back out without Yvania Czerney’s permission.