Living Under the Roses

Chapter 6

The officer tells him, "Mr. Lagreca, you are under arrest for expressing words against the doctrine of the State, please follow me to the police station" Giovanni exclaims, "But!" The officer handcuffs him. He leaves the establishment and leads him to his car, Giovanni powerless, lost and thinking without understanding the situation. The officer approaches the rear door of the vehicle. He opens it and asks Giovanni to sit down. Inside he sees a woman wearing a lavender veil, notices him and smiles. Giovanni recognized her: it's Adèle

25 minutes later, they get out of the car. They observe where they are, a dark, empty alley. Giovanni notices a surveillance camera. The young officer is holding Giovanni and Adèle. He takes a gun out of his pocket, puts it to Adele's head and says, "Stand against the wall and don't speak under any circumstances, it's clear the Arab" Adele is terrified, she answers yes. Giovanni is terrified too; he wants to beat the shit out of the officer, but he knows that if he's rough, the officer could shoot Adèle at any moment. So he respects the officer's orders and faces the wall. The officer remembers that he has to look for something in his trunk.adèle looks behind her and sees the officer looking in his trunk. she pats Giovanni to show him, Giovanni says in her ear "let's get out of here".

The two escape without making too much noise. The officer, too busy looking in the trunk, doesn't notice the footsteps. 1 minute later, he looks towards the wall, they're no longer there, he looks furtively to the other side and sees the two criminals running further and further away. He shouts, "Fuck it, you can't get me like this, you bastards!" Giovanni and Adèle speed across the dark street. He notices two bicycles parked, they pick them up and start pedaling fast. The vehicle gets closer and closer to them. The officer calls other police officers for backup. Giovanni and Adèle stand in a circle in front of the port of Rome. Not knowing what else to do, Giovanni has a sudden idea: take a sailboat and leave. He had no time to think. Suddenly, he took Adele's hand and she followed him, as they approached a sailboat followed by Adèle. His heart pounding, he hurried to the cockpit, his eyes scanning the instruments. He's never sailed before in his life, but he knows he has to act fast. Adrenalin pumping through his veins, the young man with the long black hair grabs the tiller and glances behind him. The police car is a block away, its headlights piercing the night. There's no time to lose. With trembling hands, he rummages through the buttons and levers on the dashboard. He finds the start button and turns it. The engine roars to life, shaking the yacht from its slumber.

Giovanni pulls on the tiller, turning the bow of the boat towards the open sea. The wind rushes through the sails, inflating them like giant balloons. The boat lifts off, splitting the waves with unexpected grace. Adèle clings to the rail, the wind whipping through her hair. She looks up at Giovanni, his determined face illuminated by the moonlight. A feeling of hope washes over her. They could make it. But the police haven't said their last word. Screaming sirens announce the arrival of a police motorboat. It approaches rapidly, its searchlights sweeping the surface of the water. Giovanni grits his teeth. He has no choice. He has to sail faster, farther. He pulls on the ropes, adjusting the sails to catch as much wind as possible. The boat tilts dangerously, but keeps going. The chase begins, a tense ballet of light and sound on the black water. Giovanni zigzags between buoys and ships, pushing the sailboat to its limits. Adèle hangs on, praying that their luck will hold. Minutes turn into hours, the police boat is still on their tail, but it's starting to lose ground.

A few hours later, the police had lost track of them, but a new problem arose: the yacht was battered by a sudden storm, hit a breaking wave and flipped over. Giovanni and Adèle are thrown into the icy water, struggling against the waves that overwhelm them.