Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace by Lorenzo Carcaterra

Author:Lorenzo Carcaterra [Carcaterra, Lorenzo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2023-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

31.

The Cinema Excelsior was filled to capacity, the first showing of the evening always drawing the largest crowd. Nonna Maria sat in an aisle seat in the center of the small movie theater, her black tote bag resting on her lap. It was her first time in the theater, the first time she had ever been in a movie house of any kind. She had walked past the theater hundreds of times but never once felt the inclination to purchase a ticket and sit for two hours and watch a movie.

A middle-aged woman sitting across the aisle from Nonna Maria looked over at her and smiled. “I have been waiting months to see this movie,” she said. “I was the first in line, waited for over an hour for the ticket window to open. Can’t wait until it begins. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited. How about you?”

Nonna Maria returned the smile. “I’m old,” she said. “I don’t get excited. My nephew the doctor tells me it’s not good for my health.”

Nonna Maria recognized the young woman as soon as she saw her walk down the center aisle of the theater. She looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed in a sleeveless black dress and black sandals; her thick dark hair hung down the sides of her face and rested on the nape of her neck. She held on tight to the hand of a small child walking gingerly by her side, her eyes scanning the theater for any available seats.

Nonna Maria stood as the young woman approached her aisle. “You can have my seat, if you like,” she said to her. “You can put the child on your lap and you can watch the movie together.”

“That’s very kind of you to offer,” the young woman said. “But I couldn’t take your seat. You should sit and enjoy the movie. I’ll manage to find a place for me and my daughter.”

“I’m not staying for the movie,” Nonna Maria said. “It’s not why I came. So, if you and your child don’t take my seat, someone else will come along who will be more than happy to take it.”

“If you didn’t come to see the movie, why did you bother coming to the cinema?” the young woman asked.

“I came to see you,” Nonna Maria said. “I need to talk to you.”

“Talk to me about what?” the young woman asked.

Nonna Maria looked down at the child leaning against her mother’s leg, one hand clutching the fabric of her dress. “There’s no need to disappoint your daughter,” she said. “Let her enjoy the movie. I’ll wait for you both outside when it lets out. We can talk then.”

“Have we met before?” the young woman asked. “I feel as if we have.”

“A long time ago,” Nonna Maria said. “You were just a few years older than your daughter. And we only glanced at each other from a distance. You looked like someone I once knew and I stopped to get a closer look.

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