Chapter Text
Luca remembers meeting Alberto when they were thirteen and fourteen. Alberto recalls something else.
Alberto was what his mother called an ‘elusive little rascal’, never listening to anyone but her and yet always finding a way to escape from her sight. His one son and only child was nothing but the light of her world, the antidote to her broken heart. When they laughed, they played, they ran, every ache ceased to exist. There was no one else in this world that she loved more than him. He, however, was a total bandit.
“Alberto! Amore !” He heard his mom call. He chuckled to himself.
Mamma won’t find me here.
They were at the monthly farmers’ market held at the town’s common. It seemed to him that three whole cities were visiting for that. Everyone was there, the adults buying groceries or home appliances and the children running around in circles chasing each other. Alberto never really enjoyed playing with other kids, and he certainly did not like other adults. He only ever played with his mom; he loved hide and seek and seeing her face after searching everywhere for him. When she did she would have these wrinkles on her forehead and would yell “There you are, trottola!” with a very particular tone of voice. She didn’t laugh like he did, but he could see the sparkle in her eyes.
This time, he had gone for a patch of seaweed behind a man’s veggie stand. That man had yelped when the little boy swam directly towards him and hit his shin with his crest. Alberto didn’t apologize, he just kept swimming towards the place he had seen. Surprisingly, it was way quieter there even though there were still some people. No one looked at him as he crouched over the plants that he blended right into and hid himself between them. He squinted.
His mom, several feet away from him, turned her head in every direction possible. Alberto chuckled again, knowing he won himself some time to explore before she could find him. He looked around. There were people sitting on stone benches, shopping bags on the floor. Boys chasing girls, girls chasing boys, siblings fighting, mothers eating, fathers sharing snacks with their sons…
There was a playground near. He hesitantly left his spot to see it, dodging the little kids that sometimes swam across. There were swings, nets, and a slide. Nothing he could use, though, as everything was occupied. It was also crowded, the kids that weren’t on the swings were building sand castles and the ones that weren’t tangled on the nets were playing restaurant or something similar. Alberto wondered what was on the pretend menu, so he swam near to hear what they were saying.
As he was doing so something caught his attention. There was a boy just a bit younger than him alone on the corner of the playground. His scales were a bright green and his crest was a blue like nothing he had ever seen before. What was he doing on his own? He was bent over playing with the sand, muttering something that no one but him would be able to hear. A song?
“Ehilà, boy,” Alberto called to him.
The boy immediately closed his mouth startled and looked at him, his eyes wide. “Uh…”
Alberto stood in front of him, bending over too to whatever the boy was playing with. It was a pretty pink flower still in the earth. Alberto plucked it out.
“Hey! You killed it!” The boy cried.
“What? It’s not alive.”
“Yes it was, but now you killed it,” he pouted.
Alberto looked at the flower in his grasp. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine…”
He sat down on the sand and kept his eyes locked on it, not saying anything. Is he shy? Alberto squatted down thinking of something to say to wipe the frown off his face.
“What are you doing all alone?”
“I’m, um, waiting for my parents to finish so we can go home.”
“Cool. I’m playing hide and seek with my mamma.”
“She hasn’t found you yet?”
“No, I’m very good.”
“Look,” the boy started digging, gathering a small mountain of gravel and tiny rocks. He grabbed a translucent green one and held it up. “This is sea glass, do you know what sea glass is?” Alberto shook his head. “It’s pieces of surface,” he pointed up, both of them raising their heads to look, “they fall, break, and then sand and other rocks rub against it and make it smooth.” He handed it to Alberto to keep digging for more.
He observed it. It had a nice color, almost like the boy’s scales. “It kinda looks like you!”
“Really?” Alberto nodded. “You’re right. Green is very common. Maybe if I look I can find a purple one like you.” He started crawling.
“Amore!”
“Mamma !” Alberto saw his mom slowly approaching the playground. “Oh, she knows I’m here. I have to hide! Hide me!” His new friend laughed, suddenly interrupted by the voice of a strange lady. He stood up.
“Mà.”
“Andiamo, tesoro,” The lady said. She grabbed the boy’s hand, but he pulled away to point behind Alberto.
“There you are, trottola!” Alberto’s mom picked him up.
“You lost.” the kid teased Alberto.
“Mammina, look!” He gave her the piece of glass.
“Oh, how pretty. Who’s your friend?”
“He’s…” He didn’t ask for his name. He turned to look but he was already leaving. He extended his arms so that his mom put him down and swam towards him, suddenly remembering he still had the pink flower in his hand. The boy had looked sad when he took it, so maybe he wanted it back. He tapped his shoulder and handed it to him. “Wait, your flower.”
He took it. “Thanks, but it’s not mine.” His mom tugged on his arm, telling him that they had to go. “It was earth’s." She started swimming, taking him with her. “I’m Luca. Ciao!”
“I’m Alberto.”
But when he said his name, Luca was too far to hear it.