My parents dropped me off at the beach for a couple of hours while they visited yet more family members. Dropped off at the beach by my parents; I felt like a teenager again. Which reminds me of the night we arrived here in Locri. Maria had offered to make up a second bed in my parents' room so I could be close to them. Mom politely declined on my behalf.
Today, instead of naked seniors, I found scared seniors. Two “robust” women asked me to help them out of the ocean since they were afraid they might fall over and get hurt. These were tough looking women who even the police wouldn’t mess with; I dare not refuse their request. I half expected them to ask me if I could teach their grand-daughters to swim.
Once again time on the beach passed quickly and soon enough my father had come to collect me. Mom’s cousin Erico and his wife, who mom and dad had been visiting, insisted that I be brought to meet them. On the way there mom told me a story about Erico, ever the charmer. When asked by people from “America” (Canadians included in the general category, Mexicans too I suppose) if he knows of any nice Italian boys for their girls back home, Erico always pulls out a picture of him taken at the beach when he was thirty or so (that's fifty years ago). With his crystal blue eyes and lean physique, Erico claims that he has more girlfriends than he can count in “America”. As soon as I met him I said “look at those beautiful blue eyes!” He grabbed me and hugged me like I had known him all my life.
Erico told me about a time when he was recently enlisted to collect some money for a friend. He showed up at the debtor’s house, charming personality and crystal blue eyes included. When he was dismissed by the debtor who dismissed him as a weak old man, Erico flashed his pistol which was neatly tucked into his jacket. Needless to say, the money was delivered within two hours. It seems as though nobody is willing to fuck with a charming old guy who has been charged with settling a score. There aren’t many things more dangerous than an old guy with something to prove and nothing to lose. Fuck Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, they should make a movie about this guy!
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