Lizzie & Dante by Mary Bly

Author:Mary Bly [Bly, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Literary, Women, Family Life, General
ISBN: 9780593134825
Google: 7pMsEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2021-06-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Etta Moretti’s bedroom door,

by Dr. Seuss:

Today you are you! That is truer than true!

There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

Shout loud, “I am lucky to be what I am!

Thank goodness I’m not a clam or a ham

Or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!

I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be!”

The morning after the black beach Etta went to the hotel first thing. Babbo was at the market, so she put on a sundress and walked through the archway and sat down under a tree as if she belonged there. When a Roman waiter showed up, she took that as a sign and ordered breakfast. “Room sixty-three,” she told him.

“Sì, Signora,” he said, and bowed a little. Signora! That’s what it was like to have money. You could be twelve years old, and people thought you were grown up. Or pretended you were, because you had money.

“Hey, there.” Ruby sat down across from her.

“Would you like breakfast?” Etta asked. “I can call him back.”

“I didn’t know you were staying here.”

“I’m not. This breakfast is Grey’s present.”

Ruby had a way of making one eyebrow go up by itself that Etta meant to copy. “Does he know? No, don’t answer that.” She turned around and looked for the waiter.

He came outside, but he didn’t notice that Ruby had her hand up and went back in the door. Etta stuck her forefingers in her mouth and whistled. The sound bounced around the stone walls and sure enough, the waiter jerked his head out the door and headed toward them.

“Non sai chi è?” she hissed at him.

He gave her a squinty Roman look.

“È una famosa attrice in America. Può farti licenziare in cinque secondi!” He looked pretty startled, so Etta added, for good measure, “Lei possiede il più grande yacht. E tu l’hai ignorata.”

After that he gave Ruby a deep bow and said “Signora” a bunch of times.

“What did you say to him?” Ruby asked after the Roman had gone.

“I told him you were a famous actress with the biggest yacht out there,” Etta said.

The waiter showed up with a big tray of pastries. Ruby winked at her and played up being a famous person until Etta started giggling.

He finally left and Ruby took a bite of a brioche and moaned. “I think this is one of the best pastries I’ve ever eaten.”

“Does it have red filling?” Etta peered over. “They’re pretty good. Signora Antonella makes them from the sour cherries in her garden. Babbo thinks she uses too much sugar, but he’s wrong.”

Ruby took the last bite and then licked her fingers. “Your babbo is nuts. This stuff is addictive.”

“If you like the smell, she makes other stuff too. Candles and stuff like that.”

“I love the smell,” Ruby said. “Does Antonella have a store?”

“No, but you know those little shops on the way to the beach, the public beach? They all sell her essential oils. Elba oils.”

“I need some Elba oil,” Ruby said, finishing her brioche.

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