Chapter 6
I cried after the iron gate disappeared in the rearview mirror.
It was not the dramatic collapse I might have deserved. There was no screaming.
It was the quiet crying of someone releasing something held for so long that containment had become part of the structure. When a structure gives way, it sometimes happens slowly and without sound.
Tears fell while I watched the world continue beyond the side window with the indifference it maintains toward what happens inside passing vehicles.
The driver kept his eyes on the road throughout the journey.
I was grateful for that in a way I did not express but felt completely.
At the mansion, Romolo remained at the office window for so long that when Nico entered without knocking, he did not ask how much time had passed.
Nico stood silently beside his brother, looking toward the entrance where the car had waited and from which it had departed.
He maintained the lateral presence of a younger brother who understood the boundaries of what was welcome and respected them when it mattered.
The garden was visible from the window, morning light resting on the roses, fountain, and empty stone path.
There was something about that emptiness that differed from the emptiness that had existed before me, although geometrically they were identical.
After a long time, Romolo spoke.
“I did the right thing.”
Nico did not answer.
“I did.”
The repetition did not contain conviction. It was attempting to become conviction, the kind of statement someone makes not to persuade another person but to hear it aloud and determine whether he believes it.
“Okay,” Nico said.
His tone neither agreed nor challenged. It was simply present.
“Nico.”
“I didn’t say anything, Romolo.”
That statement said everything with the quiet precision of a brother who understood that certain truths settle more deeply when no one names them except the person who needs to hear them.
The correct silence at the correct moment can reach further than words.
May you like
Romolo remained at the window.
The fountain continued below in the empty garden that had become, through weeks and without any formal declaration, the garden belonging to both of them.
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