Mom said to him, “No the food is wonderful. Its really delicious!”

Dad pushed through the palm trees and headed out into the square. Mom took Rachael, who was still crying silently, by the hand, and they walked into the hotel and went up to Moms room. I walked away as slowly as I could so as not to attract the attention of the other guests who had started to talk again and compare notes on our family. Some saying one thing, others another, but all of them agreeing that there was plenty here to discuss.

I crept around the edge of the square so I wouldn’t meet Dad or Janet, who had both gone the other way. I went up to Gino’s outdoor studio behind the restaurant. I was very thankful he was there. When I walked in he was sitting watching his movies. I could see he had been doing this for a while because when he tried to stand up to motion me to a crate of parsley to sit down on, he weaved around because he had had a lot to drink already. We sat and watched his movies of tourists getting on and off the tour boat with a lot of close-ups of young handsome men, who were of great interest to him for “aesthetic reasons,” like he said.

When one movie finished, I threaded up the next reel he handed me because he was now too drunk to be able to do it himself.

“Is your mosser still crazy?”

“Yes, and my dad too. They’re getting worse.”

“Telia me, what they ‘avea beena doing?”

So I did. “Nexta timea youa eat you calla me so I canna come to the ‘otel anda makea movie. O.K.?”

I said I would but Dad didn’t smash the plates every night so if nothing much happened not to be too disappointed.

We sat and watched while Gino sipped his whiskey and I sipped my whiskey and water. Gino turned to me after a while and said, “Did you learna to read the book yet?”

“Yes, I am learning at the school in England.”

“Doa the teacher ‘eet you weeth a steeck?”

“You mean caning?”

“Yes, wees the cane steeck.”

“Yes, but I have only been caned once so far. It wasn’t about my reading but because I lied about not doing my prep.”

“What ees prep?”

So I explained it was after-school work, homework, like we said in America or at least like we Americans said in Switzerland.

“Eet eesa good youa read now. Why you go school een Eengland?”