[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

A chaotic incident in Sicily (8)

On the route from Taormina to Palermo, their group had to pass by a harbour city called Messina.

Messina was the third largest city of Sicily with a population around 200,000 in the 1950s. It was located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina. From the beginning of the 20th century to 1955, there were some notable events that happened in Messina.

The first event occurred in December 1908, when the city suffered an earthquake and associated tsunami that killed nearly 60,000 people and destroyed most of the ancient architecture. After that deadly disaster, Messina was largely rebuilt in the following year.

The next event was the massive air bombardments from the Allied on the city in 1943. Messina was once again seriously damaged and rebuilt.

The third event would take place in the next two months, June 1955, when this city would be chosen as the location where the European Economic Community was established.

One of the famous attractions of Messina was the Neptune fountain, which had a statue of the god of sea Neptune on the top and the statues of two mythological monsters, Scylla and Charybdis at the base. It depicted an allegory of the waters of the Strait of Messina, about its ruler, the god Neptune chaining those sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. The story represented a mirror of the physical and moral strength of the city that tamed adversity.

That was some information about Messina that Sonetto had told them two days ago.

"There's someone up ahead."

Thanks to her good eyesight, Tennant was able to see a person waving their hand from far away.

"Maybe they want to hitchhike?" Sonetto guessed.

"None of my business." Pavia replied nonchalantly.

The car from the Marino clan was a seven-seater car, which was bigger than their old car provided by the Sicily's Office. Therefore, this time even Click could have a seat on his own, though he still chose the car's roof.

As their car got closer to that person, they found out that it was an old lady with short gray hair and a tall figure. She was wearing a light yellow suit with trousers, high heels and a pair of sunglasses.

As if she realized the car wouldn't stop at her spot due to its stable speed, the woman gave up waving her hands and moved backwards.

"Is this OK?"

Sonetto said, while watching the old lady who was just about 4 meters from them with an anxious expression.

"I mean, we still have enough seats for her and there are no cars, people or buildings around here."

She tried her best to persuade the man on the driver's seat as fast as possible.

"Ask Necrologist." Vertin slightly pulled her sleeve, "She's the Boss."

Vertin's words immediately reminded Sonetto about something. She turned to the girl in black who sat behind her and asked:

"Can we stop here, Necrologist?"

Hearing Sonetto calling her name, the girl in black, who had been listening to the whispers of the deceased for a while, raised her head and looked straight at the rearview mirror.

"Please, stop." Necrologist said.

"Got it, Boss." The man grinned.

SCREEEEEECH!

He pressed down on the brake firmly and made the car stop right at the old lady's spot.

Sonetto and Vertin left the car and walked towards the old woman, while others remained on their seats. Click had already left the car's roof and gone somewhere else, but his position was still near the car, based on Balloon Party's words.