REVOLT OF THE INNOCENT

      CHAPTER ONE

Cettina swayed her body and waved her arms above her head in rhythm with the lively
music of an accordian.  She rolled her shoulders slowly, rocked her little head softly, and shook
her narrow hips sensuously.  Her tiny hands caressed imaginary forms floating in the air.  Every
part of her little body was in harmonious motion.  Her thick brown hair tied behind her head was
heavy with perspiration and shining.  Her ponytail bounced up and down with her movements, but
the short blond hairs on her arms magically stood on end.  The scalding sun beat down on the
dismal square around her, and blinding glare reflected off the windows of the decaying stone
tenements high above her.  Warm sweat soaked the back of the child's dirty white blouse, the
waistband of her skirt which was two sizes too tight, and her torn socks inside her old and worn
tennis shoes.  Her little stomach was empty and her delicate throat was dry, but she never missed
a beat.  She didn't even need the accordian player sitting somewhere inside a tenement nearby. 
She danced just as well without any music at all.  Dancing was her joy, her nourishment.  She
moved her own body, thought her own thoughts.  She just loved feeling her healthy body alive,
moving, vibrating.

Cettina's real name was Concetta, but children in the Borgo preferred nicknames.  The '
ina ' on the end of Cettina meant  ' little Cetti.'  It was an inappropriately sweet name in this
desperately poor neighborhood.  She was only eleven years old but wise beyond her years, short
for her age but a bit more fleshy and rounded than most girls in the sixth grade.  She had a pink
candy mouth and purple jellybean eyes.  Her silky smooth golden skin glowed in the sun.  She
looked delicate and innocent in her short pleated skirt and white knee socks exposing boney
knees, but she tried her best to look like a tough kid.  She believed that what you want to be is
what you will be.  She had a heart of pure gold and compassion as deep as the sea, but she had
to compensate for her dainty nature by acting tough, because if anybody in the quarter thought
she was weak they would take advantage of her. 

In the summer the southern sun scorched the city of Palermo without mercy for man
or beast.  When there was a heat storm a hot wind blew sand from the desert across the
Mediterranean through the stifling air of the city.  The stores and street stalls closed in the early
afternoon because people were so intoxicated by the high temperatures that all they could do was
lie semi-conscious on their sweat-soaked beds.  Nobody had air-conditioning back then, and
especially not the poor people of the old Borgo.  The adult world came to a standstill while
Cettina's growth hormone pushed her little muscles and forced her limbs to move.  She always
came to the square during siesta time to escape the heat of her little attic room.  There was
nowhere else to go.  After lunch her grandmother went to bed and Cettina tip-toed out the door. 
The old lady didn't even know that the child was gone.  Cettina roamed aimlessly through the
empty silent streets of the quarter, past the closed shops and abandoned cars, skipping over the
commercial litter and dog excrement, until she came to the square where there was a little shade
and open space.  While the tired old lady slept, the restless child wandered, explored, and
danced.

Cettina looked out across the square and saw two of her neighbors, Dani (Danilo), and
Pino (Giuseppino), walking through the mass of little Italian cars parked in disorder on the street
and on the sidewalks.  She knew that the boys were looking for unlocked cars so they could steal
whatever was left unattended on the seats : small change, cigarettes, maybe even a wallet.  The
boys kept their eyes moving and walked slowly and casually around a car before opening the
door.  They quickly stuffed the loot in their pockets and then continued their seemingly innocent
stroll as if nothing had happened, trying their best to suppress their giggles.  They were already
experts on how to be deceptive, and they knew just which way to run if necessary.  On a really
good day they coud expect to find something valuable like a watch, but today was an unprofitable
day as usual, all the doors were locked and the windows were rolled up tight.  So the two boys
stopped for a moment, trading glances, then watched Cettina dance.