"Did you hear that?" Alberto said in shock as Giulia used up all her effort to pull him along. "Did you hear what he called me? He called me his son!"
Giulia huffed as she continued pulling Alberto's weight as the pair walked through the center of Portorosso.
"Oh yeah," Giulia panted, turning to look at Alberto's dazed face. "My dad really likes you. . . ugh! Can you pull your own weight?"
Alberto pulled his arm out of Giulia's grasp and excitedly ran up to her. "He likes me? Like- he thinks I'm cool? Because I'm cool. Right?"
Giulia gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, my dad thinks you're 'cool.'"
Alberto shook his fists in a stim at the prospect of Massimo liking him like a son. His mood was exceptionally lifted and for a brief moment, he could forget about all the pain and guilt from the earlier morning.
"Come on!" Giulia grunted. "We have to search for Luca, remember? Let's get to Ercole's vespa."
Alberto switched his game face and nodded. "Right. Where's that creepy place we hid it again?"
Giulia went up an alleyway, Alberto following close behind. "Just up to the-"
"Ciccio! Guido!" a voice called from afar. Giulia knew exactly who that snobby, slightly scary voice belonged to. Ercole.
Giulia pulled Alberto around a corner and the two pressed their backs against the wall. Alberto, who was closest to the alleyway they had heard Ercole from, peeked around the corner. Ciccio and Guido were further up the alleyway. Ciccio had been licking an ice cream cone while Giudo was tapping his foot impatiently as he had looked around. But now, they were both frantically searching for Ercole in fear. Alberto hid a snort as Ciccio dropped his ice cream in panic.
"Over here!" a voice called from above. Ercole stepped out into the morning sunlight, revealing a purple bruise under his eye. Alberto was half frozen at the sight of Ercole, especially because Ercole looked terrible. His face was red with rage and his hair looked slightly disheveled.
"Uh- y- yes, Ercole?" Guido said, saluting to his leader.
Ercole stomped his foot with a shout of rage. "My vespa is missing! Who saw it last?!"
Ciccio and Guido both ran up to Ercole, terrified at his attitude but determined to help.
"Non lo sappiamo!" Guido responded. "You told us to go yesterday! We didn't see it!"
Ercole screamed in rage as bawled up his fists and stomped his foot like a toddler.
"No, this can't be! She's been stolen! My beautiful vespa has been stolen!"
Ciccio and Guido stood still, not knowing how to help. Ercole looked between them and in a fit of fury, reached down into his back pocket and pulled out his vespa's keys.
"Go look for it, now!" Ercole screamed, hurling the keys at Guido's face.
Guido instinctively ducked, leaving Ciccio standing behind him as the prime target. The keys hit Ciccio squarely in the nose, knocking the round boy over with a scream of pain. From the angle of the steep street, the keys slid down, mere meters away from the corner where Alberto and Giulia had been spying.
Alberto looked up to see Guido kneel over Ciccio as Ciccio grabbed his nose. Ercole was nowhere in sight and must have stepped away. Alberto saw his chance and seized it. He lunged himself forward and grabbed the keys, quickly turning back to grab Giulia's wrist and pull her back into the alleyway they were spying on.
"Brilliant!" yelled Giulia as the two sprinted away. "Alberto, that was awesome!"
"Thanks," Alberto said, focusing on only one thing. "Now come on, we gotta get Luca!"
Giulia took the lead as she knew where the vespa was hidden. In less than a minute, they had come to the old shed, living underneath the abandoned street of apartments.
"Perfect," Alberto said loudly, ready to open the old door to the shed. "Now let's get to Luca before-"
Giulia slapped a hand over his mouth. Alberto turned to her, getting more annoyed by the second. He stopped when he saw fear in Giulia's eyes. That's when he heard it too.
"That stupid boy," a voice complained from not far away. "That stupid idiotic little-"
Alberto immediately recognized it to be Ercole. How had he gotten here so fast? Giulia pulled Alberto back around another corner, where they could get a good glimpse of Ercole leaning against a stone wall. He was rubbing his face in anger and worry. Most importantly, Alberto could tell that Ercole was talking about Luca. But something else caught his eye.
From the side Alberto and Giulia couldn't, Ercole pulled something out from under his arm. Alberto couldn't tell for sure, but it looked familiar.
Ercole held it firmly in front of him before he bawled it up in his hands. He looked around for a place to put it and caught sight of an old, rusty trash can. He violently removed it's lid, and stuffed the old piece of fabric into it. Giulia winced as Ercole slammed down the cover with a clang. In a last fit of rage, Ercole kicked the can as hard as he could and swiftly turned before stomping away.
Alberto's breath got caught in his throat as he realized what Ercole had just thrown away. Giulia understood too, and immediately went to grab Alberto's arm.
"Alberto, stop!" Giulia begged, as Alberto began to tug away from her. "Ercole might still be-"
"Let me go!" shouted Alberto. "Let go, I said!"
Alberto ripped his arm out of Giulia's grasp and ran towards the trash can with Giulia following closely behind. He practically threw off the lid and without thinking, pulled it out. Giulia gasped at the sight and Alberto didn't seem to be able to breathe. He clutched onto Luca's shirt with such force that his fingertips were turning white.
"No," Alberto whispered. "It- it's not, it can't be-"
Alberto felt his eyes well up with tears as he looked at the shirt. Luca's shirt. But no Luca. Alberto held the shirt tightly against his chest, and buried his face in it to stifle his sobs. He couldn't believe it. After all he had dreamed about, everything seemed to be true. Luca was indeed with Ercole, and Alberto couldn't imagine what would warrant Ercole to have taken Luca's clothes.
"Alberto," Giulia said, trying to bury her own shock inside her to comfort her friend. "It's- it's not a for sure sign that-"
"He's- he can't be-"
"Alberto!" Giulia shouted, trying to get Alberto to get out of his state of shock. "Look at me. Alberto, look at me!"
Alberto let out a long, muffled cry into Luca's button up. Giulia began tearing up herself as she watched Alberto's shoulders tremble violently. The shirt still smelled like Luca. How long had it been off? Why was it off in the first place? Was Luca hurt?
"It's all my fault," sobbed. "All of it! I shouldn't have even taken him here in the first place!"
Giulia wiped away her tears, trying to remain strong like her father would. But it was getting difficult and she began to tremble too.
"It's not," Giulia stammered, looking for the right words as more tears escaped. "Alberto, you just wanted to keep him happy-"
"But he's gone!" cried Alberto, lifting his tear stricken face from Luca's shirt. "What if he's. . . Giulia what if he's dead? What if I killed him?"
Alberto began sobbing more as he looked down and studied Luca's shirt. Giulia began to cry softly next to him as she stretched the fabric between his hands. It was terribly dirty. Dirt and gravel covered the tearing fabric. Two buttons were missing, and the shirt was frayed inside out. Alberto turned the shirt over, not bothering to keep his falling tears off of it.
Alberto gasped. In one of the corners of the shirt was blood. It was caked and dry, but had looked like something bloody had scraped against it. It was Luca's blood.
"Come on!" Alberto practically shouted, turning towards Giulia who had her head buried in her hands. "We're getting on Ercole's vespa. We're going to every house here! And we're not stopping until we find Luca!"
Giulia looked up, her eyes bloodshot. She looked straight past Alberto, and instead focused her gaze on the trashcan. She reached down and pulled it out in front of Alberto's eyes.
A yellow rose.