Separated by the Sea

Vespas Hate Me

Dez POV
"You can do it. It's easy," Piero reassured me as I hesitated to turn on the engine. I reached for it, but quickly pulled back. "No, I'm scared. What if I crash into a tree and die or something. What if I pass out? What if-"

"You'll be fine. Trust your instincts." 

"I don't have instincts! It's not like I'm a werewolf."

Piero stiffened for a second and he reached to turn on the engine. I smacked his hand and shouted, "Nooo!"

"Grow up already! It's a Vespa! A tiny scooter! It'll hurt the Vespa more than you if you crash!"
I groaned and slowly turned on the car. 

"If I die, I'm going to come back and haunt you." 

"Just go already!"

I pushed the gas and shrieked as the scooter zoomed forward. "No, get me off!!" I screamed in terror. He laughed as I drove in zigzags along a wide, abandoned, dirt road. "You jerk!"

My breath caught in my throat and time seemed to slow as I drove up a small dirt hill and began to descend into a huge ditch. I braced myself for impact and didn't have time to realize that I might die. The front of the scooter smashed against the hard dirt and for a few seconds, I was flying. It isn't as majestic as you expected. In fact, It was terrible and I swallowed at least two flies. I expected the worst and hated gravity. I closed my eyes and the air was knocked out of me as I crashed into a hard rock wall. I stayed crumpled up for a few moments before I realized that I wasn't hurt. I slowly opened one eye and all I saw was black. I then looked up and saw Piero looking down at me. That's when I realized that he was holding me in his arms. The black that I saw was his black t-shirt and the rock wall was actually his abs. I punched him in the chest and got down. "What the F? I could have DIED! How did you even get over here so fast?" 

"Geez, you're welcome. I was jogging behind you the whole time."

"No you weren't! You were way back there!"

"Alright, you want me to apologize? I'm sorry for trying to show you how to drive. I should have just left it alone. Wouldn't want to end up like your dad, dying trying to show you how to drive."

My jaw dropped and I narrowed my eyes. "Who told you that?" 

He shuffled uncomfortably and changed the subject.

"Let's just go back to the house."

We began our long walk back to his house and he pulled along the beat up Vespa.

"Sorry I yelled at you. I was just scared. Thanks for catching me."

"No problem. Maybe we can try this again another time?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." I felt bad for yelling at Piero. It was my fault I couldn't figure out how to drive a scooter. Besides that, how did he know about my dad? I never told him anything about him.

The rest of the walk was silent and the sun shone brightly in a blue, cloudless sky. I went into the back door while Piero went to put the Vespa away. I found my mom in the kitchen with Eleonora and Mariagrazia. They were cooking/baking and they invited me to join them. I washed my hands in the sink and went over to the huge counter they were standing around. They were making several types of cookies from scratch and setting them onto huge gray trays. 

"Why are you guys making so much?"

"They're for tonight," my mom responded while forming a snicker doodle cookie.

"What's tonight? Is it a holiday?"

Maria laughed and responded, "No, it's movie night!"

Looking at the giant masses of cookies I asked, "How often do you have these 'movie nights'?"