one of those science programs they broadcast in the afternoon was on and they were talking about a solar eclipse that was going to take place in a few days while the sun was at its zenith it would be about three-thirty in the morning in Italy but it would only be visible from the voice was saying as pictures of stars and planets appeared on the screen at that point one of the kids turned toward me and asked me what zenith meant the cocaine was in his veins his face was white as a sheet and he had a bug eyed stare I didn’t even stop to wonder why he wanted to know and I told him that the zenith is the highest point of the sun’s arc when it is directly overhead or something like that he didn’t listen to a word I was saying he looked at the other kid and said oh yeah like that discotheque the Zenith where I have to go tonight to pick up that slut and take her to Vincenzone which means Big Vincent then he grunted and stopped talking with a frightened look and glared at me he knew that I knew that Vincenzone is wanted by the law but I just pretended I hadn’t heard him I started washing espresso cups and the two kids left without saying another word

what it meant was that the guy was supposed to go to this disco called the Zenith to pick up one of the many women that are pulled into the orbit of the clan in the local slang we call them femmen’ de mast which basically means women that like being around this kind of person and in fact there are plenty of women who admire those guys that way of life and there are material advantages for them but most of all they’re fascinated by the idea of dating the boss or hooking up with the tough guy to be escorted by someone who refuses to take crap from anyone because a lot of times these women have the example of their own parents who unless they’re wealthy I mean if they’re ordinary people then no matter what they put up with so much crap they put up with it on the job on the road they always put up with crap and so this type of person captures their imagination and attracts them they see somebody with lots of cars with plenty of money with drugs somebody who gives orders and so there are lots and lots of women who are always available so this kid was supposed to go pick up one of these women and take her to the boss who was wanted by the police he just blurted it out innocently but then it dawned on him and he suddenly shut up there’s this disco called the Zenith in fact and its located in a town that’s not far from Avellino

there were lots of kids who came into the café in that condition some of them even worse I don’t know if you’ve ever been around people who use strange substances unfortunately I know a few people who use coke and other drugs mostly cocaine though and when you’re under the effect of those drugs well you can see it on your face in your eyes it’s unmistakable your facial features no matter what you just look different you don’t seem able to hold still you’re always either out of control or out of energy you fixate on things you sit there for half an hour thinking about one thing and you can’t get past it those two were talking and they’d get stuck on this one word with their eyes glazed and staring they just couldn’t get past this word and then when you take these drugs and you spend a long time hours at a time sniffing this stuff it inflames the lining of your nose and then your nose goes to sleep you can’t feel it anymore and your nostrils get all itchy it feels like your nose is always running and you’re just constantly sniffing all the time