The Past Recedes

Chapter 38

It started getting chilly as the sun nearly finished setting and many of the guests went back inside. John saw the text from Anthony saying that him and Yolanda were staying in their room and ordering room service. "Typical, when they're together they don't want to leave their cocoon", said John with a rueful smile.

Nika was relieved when they went back to their room since she was concerned about going to the restaurant without any familiar faces. "I don't want to eat in the restaurant either, I don't want people to bother us. The last time was different because Josh and my parents were there", said John.

"I remember that was nice. Do people ask for autographs?", she asked.

"Sometimes, I hate it. I know it comes with the territory, but I still don't like it", he replied.

Nika nodded in understanding, not wanting to be bothered either. John picked up the room service menu and scanned it before handing it to her. "Is it okay if we have pizza? We had pizza in Big Sur and it was delicious", she said.

"Of course, you never had pizza before that?", he asked.

"No, Mom said pizza was junk food and Grandmere doesn't like fast food. She cooks mostly British and Greek food", she said.

"Cool, your grandma's an excellent cook. Pizza is not junk food, unless it's Domino's or Pizza Hut. I haven't had pizza in years, my system can't handle greasy food. Order whatever you want", he said.

Nika smiled shyly at her father as he picked up the phone and dialed room service. In the meantime, she turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. John finished placing the order and raised an eyebrow when he saw she was watching the History Channel and was engrossed in a show about Pompeii. John just shook his head as he felt sorry for the poor townsfolk who were killed by the volcano. "That Latin on the sign isn't correct", she said, pointing to a sign outside a tavern.

"What does it say?", he asked.

"It says the day's special is baked squirrel. Romans ate doormice, not squirrel. It's a mistranslation", she explained.

"Wow, I don't know any Latin", he said in awe.

"You're Italian, Latin and Italian are similar since Latin is the root", she replied.

"I only know some that Nonna taught me, I'm better at speaking Mexican Spanish", he said with a rueful chuckle.

"Puede hablar Espanol tambien?", she asked in Castilian Spanish.

"Si, puedo hablar Espanol un poco", he replied, his own Spanish spoken with a hybrid Mexican/American accent.

"Que bueno, pero usted tiene accente Mexicano y Americano", she replied.

"Verdad, porque tiene mucho gente Mexicano in LA", he teased.

"Si, y son un bien idea que hablas Espanol aqui. Puede hablar Espanol, puede hablar Latin tambien", she said.

"Okay, but I don't have the time to learn Latin. And it's not very useful", he said.

"Pliny and Virgil lose something in translation, it's better to read in the original Latin", she said.

John frowned when he saw the volcano erupt. "They should flee right now", he said.

"People didn't realize it an active volcano, even though there was an earthquake in AD 64. They wanted to protect their stuff", she explained.

"Then they were idiots. Stuff can be replaced", he muttered.

John tried not to be disturbed at his daughter's taste in TV shows, since such a show would have given him nightmares as a kid. He recalled from the book that children with autism had unusual tastes, but it didn't make him feel better. "The show's over, do you want to watch cartoons?", he asked, a pleading note in his voice.

"No, cartoons are dumb. The next show is about the Peloponnesian Wars, I've read Thucydides", she said.

"Uh, in English or Greek?", he asked.

"In Greek, the English translation isn't as precise", she replied.

John mentally cursed himself and felt stupid compared to his daughter. "My bad. I've never even heard of this guy", he said.

"Thucydides was a Greek historian, but I prefer Herodotus. Maybe you can read them in English", she suggested.

John smiled weakly as he heard the knock on the door. He tipped the waiter and was relieved to see that Nika went to wash her hands. The plummy British accent of the host echoed in the room and John wished he could change the channel since the show made no sense and was boring to him. Nika placed the tray of salad on the table on the other side of the TV and opened the tray with the pizza, pouring them each a glass of Pellegrino. "You ought to watch this, I know this already", she said.

"Okay, but I never learned much Greek history in school. High school was boring, I'd rather play guitar", he said.

"Like Josh? But why couldn't you just stick it out? Weren't your parents upset?", she asked.

"Not really, they told me get my GED. Not everyone is a scholar", he said.

"I couldn't drop out of school, I'd be embarrassed. Mom had a doctorate, Pepere, Uncle Ian and Uncle Jack too", she replied.

John concentrated on dinner as he wasn't sure what to say. He knew Nika meant no harm, but he still felt stupid compared to her family. While his parents did have degrees, his grandparents had been poor Italian immigrants and hadn't graduated any sort of school. "Pepere has a doctorate from the University of Manchester and so does Uncle Jack, Uncle Ian's is from Durham. I'm going to college, everyone in my family does", said Nika.

"Cool, I prefer to read since I'm busy with the band and my solo music. Tomorrow we can go walking around the lake, it's going to be sunny", said John.

"Okay, I wish Josh was here. He's so cool and smart", said Nika.

"He is, and a better musician than me. Unfortunately, he's going on a short West Coast tour as a backup guitarist with the rapper Xhibit in a few days. When he's not in Bicycle Thief, he plays sessions and tours with different musicians", he explained.

"Oh, I wanted to borrow a book from him", she replied with a frown.