Lost Lombardi

Chapter 57

It was Friday, the day of the rugby match between St. Aldric and Brighton Academy. Brighton Academy was also a private school, but it had both girls and boys. The game was set to start after school. It was Dino's first-ever match, and he felt more nervous than the others. The rest of the team looked more confident than him, and he didn't want to be the worst player on the team.

After school, Dino went to get ready for the match. They did their warm-ups and then got dressed. St. Aldric's boys' uniforms were navy blue and gold. They wore navy blue shorts and a T-shirt in navy and gold colors.

Dino saw the crowd gathered around the pitch to watch the match. There were parents of the team members, teachers, students from both St. Aldric and other schools, including some girls' schools, and friends.

"Pss, pss... Dino," he heard May's voice and was surprised to see her there. A relieved smile appeared on his face when he saw her, and he felt a bit more relaxed.

"Hey, someone will see you," Dino said, looking around and trying to cover May.

"Wow, you look handsome in that uniform," May said, looking at Dino from top to bottom. She felt a little proud seeing her boyfriend looking so good. "I came here to give you a kiss, like you did on concert day," May said, smiling. Dino looked around. He didn't want the boys to see his girlfriend kiss him because they would tease him about it for at least a month. At the same time, he felt proud that his girlfriend had come to see him.

May gave Dino a kiss.

"Oh, look what they're doing!" a boy said, and the others started making noises, smiling, and laughing.

"You better run quickly," Dino said, smiling. May blushed as the other boys noticed her kissing him and made silly noises. She quickly ran back to her friends.

Pietro felt a little strange coming to the school to watch his son play rugby. He had just found his 16-year-old son this year. The memory flooded back into his mind, and it still felt like a dream. Out of the blue, he was a father to a 16-year-old, and now he was sitting at the school pitch, about to watch him play a rugby match. He couldn't believe how crazy his life had become. He felt nervous as he sat next to another parent.

"Oh, so your son's on the team too?" the fat woman with red curly hair asked excitedly. She looked like she was fully invested in cheering for her son with every fiber of her being.

"Yeah," Pietro replied.

"What's his name? I've never seen you here before," she asked, her face already flushed with excitement.

"My son is new to the school. His name is Dino," Pietro said.

"Oh, Dino. I've heard that name. I remember my son said Dino was really bad at rugby, and he didn't know why he joined the team," she blurted out before covering her mouth, realizing she'd said something rude.

"It's okay. He used to be bad at it, but now he's good. You'll see today," Pietro said, and the woman relaxed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," the woman said, her voice filled with genuine worry.

"It's not that easy to hurt my feelings, lady. So don't worry about that. What's your name, and who's your son?" Pietro tried to be friendly.

"Oh, I'm Mrs. Mercer. My son is Johnny," the woman said. Pietro realized that Dino had never talked about his team with him. He wondered why. He questioned if he wasn't close enough with Dino.
'We didn't talk about school with Papa either,' Pietro thought.