The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Author:Adriana Trigiani
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Sagas, General, Historical, Azizex666, Fiction
ISBN: 9780061257094
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2012-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

Enza Ravanelli and Laura Heery

Ciro made a decision in the spring of 1917, no different from other Italians on long-term work visas. He decided to go to war. Without a sweetheart to keep him stateside, he decided to see the world and do his bit.

The U.S. Army recruitment office on West Twentieth Street was a temporary storefront with an American flag in the dusty window. Inside, a makeshift office operation with temporary desks and rolling stools made up one of the hundreds of official recruitment offices, compliments of the passage of the Selective Service Act.

Ciro met Luigi outside before they entered. A long line of young men snaked around the block, most of them dark-haired like Luigi.

“I didn’t tell Pappina,” Luigi said.

“Why not?”

“She doesn’t want me to go. She thinks I’m slow on my feet and will get my head blown off.”

“She’s probably right.”

“But I want to fight for this country. I want to get my citizenship, and then Pappina will have hers.”

“Are you going to marry before we go?”

“Yeah. Will you be my best man?”

“I’ve never been asked a question with more enthusiasm.”

“Sorry. I have a lot on my mind. I don’t like doctors.” He whispered, “They squeeze the noci.”

“I know all about it.”

“It’s barbaric, that’s what it is.”

Ciro chuckled. If Luigi thought the physical was barbaric, what would he think of war itself? Once inside, the men’s applications were taken, and they lined up to go inside to see the doctor. Luigi and Ciro undressed down to their undershorts and waited in line. More than a few young men were asked to leave, when an infirmity was diagnosed that prevented them from serving. Some of the boys were belligerent when asked to leave, while others were clearly relieved.

“You ever held a gun?” Luigi asked.

“No. How about you?”

“I used to shoot birds in Foggia,” Luigi admitted.

Luigi went behind a screen with the doctor. Ciro stood and waited his turn for what seemed like a long time.

Luigi pushed the curtain aside and shook his head. “I have a bad ear. They won’t take me.”

“Oh, pal, I’m sorry.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ciro joined Luigi on the sidewalk outside. Ciro carried the paperwork to report to New Haven, Connecticut, on July 1. He folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket.

“You got in?” Luigi asked.

“Yeah.”

Ciro was gratified that the army had accepted him, knowing that it was the fastest route to earning his citizenship. But there was also a sadness, a gnawing anxiety that he was running from something he couldn’t name. It was in moments like this that he thought of Enza and wondered about the different path his life might have taken had she been waiting for him on Adams Street.

“I wanted to go fight.” Luigi kicked a pebble off the sidewalk into the gutter. “Maybe I ought to take Pappina and go home to Italy.”

“And what will you do there?” Ciro asked.

“I don’t know. I got no place to go. When the U.S. Army doesn’t want you, you don’t have a lot of choices.

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