Italian Liaisons

Italy, Here We Come Melina Beckley yawned as she gazed through the plane’s tiny window. She longed to see below her, but it was dark, and all she could see were the lights blinking on the wings of the plane. There had been lights visible on the ground a while back, but they had faded into nothingness as they crossed the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Soon they would be over Europe. She looked over at her friends, Annabelle and Marnie. Annabelle was dozing. Marnie was reading. She caught Melina’s eyes for a second, and the two exchanged excited smiles. All three of them were twenty-one and had been friends since grade school. They were also sick of their dead-end odd jobs that seemed to be going nowhere and were happy to escape their broken or boring homes for a while. Melina’s parents had never abused her. They were actually kind, gentle souls who would give anything to her. But they did not have much to give. Her father, half Mexican, half Navajo, had his own business programming and fixing computers. Yet the more competitive the computer world became, the less money he found in it. Her mother, white and beautiful, was a waitress at a diner she’d worked in forever. The girls had known they wanted to go to Italy for some time, and while knowing that they could stay at Annabelle’s aunt and uncle’s house was more appealing than a hostel, it had still taken quite some time to save the hundreds of dollars needed just for their plane tickets and everyday expenses. Annabelle’s uncle Don was the president of a tiny university that many young tourists had visited. He suggested the girls sit in on some of the classes that allowed observers in order to improve their Italian, or maybe even use the computers to help learn the language. Annabelle’s father had been all for the idea of them going to Italy. He felt it would also be a good opportunity to bring the family closer. He and Don had been separated at birth, and each had been adopted by different families. Don, who grew up speaking both English and Italian since his mother had spoken both languages, spent years searching for his brother in America, and his brother had been more than surprised to learn that he had grown up in Italy. The two men had visited each other in both countries a few times and had agreed to stay in touch. Marnie’s parents never married, and every time they came close to marrying, they would have a fight and call it off. Marnie loved them both dearly, but she also hoped they’d never stay made up long enough to actually tie the knot, for she knew they would only end up regretting it. Exhausted from the long flight and the nine-hour time jump, the girls fell asleep shortly after arriving at Don and his wife Serena’s house late in the night. Melina stayed alone in one of the home’s three bedrooms while her friends shared another. She was sandwiched between the room they were in and the room Don and his wife were in. Normally, the soft voices and subtle movements the others made as they prepared for bed would make it hard for her to fall asleep, but she actually found them to be quite soothing in this case. Perhaps that was because she was in an unfamiliar place. They awoke around eight in the morning the next day, and Melina could finally take in her surroundings. It had been hard to do, arriving in the darkness the night before, and she had been too tired to focus on much anyway. She found Italy to be much cooler than the California desert—not surprisingly. It was also more humid and a time of year that most considered one of the nicest as far as the weather was concerned. “April is a good time to be in Italy,” said a chatty, energetic Serena as she served up eggs, bacon, and buttery biscuits for breakfast. “It’s a little humid in the warmer months, but most of the time it’s pretty nice here.” While Melina found both Don and Serena to be very nice people, they seemed like such an odd couple. Don was quiet and slow-mannered, while Serena was louder, more talkative, and moved with quick bursts of energy. When the five of them were settled at the table after Serena scrambled to get last-minute things like napkins and an extra fork when Marnie dropped hers, and extra sugar for Don’s coffee, Annabelle asked her uncle about the university. “It’s a great place,” Don said proudly. “It’s small, so there are relatively few teachers.” “How many are there?” asked Melina. “About fifty.” “That’s a few? That seems like a lot to me!” Don and the others laughed. “Some of the bigger universities have hundreds of professors.” “So we could sit in on some of the classes and observe?” asked Marnie. Don nodded as he chewed his bacon. After he swallowed it, he said, “Not all the teachers would appreciate it, and obviously, some classes wouldn’t be good for learning Italian, such as any of the math classes. But most will allow silent observers so long as they don’t interfere with anything. There are also a few computers set up in most classrooms with internet access for any research you may want to do.” “When would we check this place out, and how often would we go?” “You can go whenever you want. Observers are allowed to sit in on the longer classes for up to an hour and a half each day. Any more than that and you’re considered as getting free tuition—whether you can understand or not. I recommend having lunch somewhere within that hour and a half. That way, you can mingle with some people and ask any questions you may have.” “How do we know which classes are longer and which ones would be best to sit in on?” asked Melina. “I’ll talk to Brooke at some point today so she can figure out what’s best. She’s the odds-and-ends lady who takes care of accommodating students, dealing with any gripes they may have—that sort of thing. She also speaks English, seeing that she spent part of her childhood in England.” “That’d help,” said Marnie. “Especially since none of us know much more than just a few words of Italian.” “At least Melina knows other languages,” said Don. “Spanish is closer to Italian than English is, so if she can’t get her point across in English, she may want to try Spanish.” “It all sounds interesting and like it may be kind of fun. What about jobs? Anything we could do there to earn extra money?” asked Annabelle. “It’s like I told you before. It’s not a big university, so there’s not much available that you girls could do. Now, if you didn’t mind delivering messages, sweeping floors, and emptying wastebaskets, then something may be able to be worked out. If so, you ladies are going to have to get work visas.” “Melina here is quite a computer guru,” said Annabelle. “Maybe she could do something there.” “Not before we have fun and do some sightseeing and relaxing,” said Marnie. “I agree to that one,” Melina said with excitement. “Is Rome really all it’s cracked up to be?” “I’d say so,” said Don. “It’s the only city in Italy that’s just recently begun allowing gays to marry, so I’d say we’re loosening up, getting with the times, and becoming less judgmental.” “Now that’s always nice to hear,” said Melina. “Especially when one of your guests is a lesbian. Hope you don’t mind.” “Oh my God!” exclaimed Serena with mock fear. “I might get all kinds of horrible diseases breathing in the same air as you!” Everybody laughed, including Melina, before she said, “I’m definitely looking forward to getting to know Rome but without any romance in mind.” “Me too,” gushed Annabelle. “I can’t wait to explore the place!” “Well, then I guess that means I get to play chauffeur for the day,” laughed Serena. “That’s okay, though. I love showing tourists around. It’s what they pay me for. Well, it’s what I usually get paid for.” The girls laughed again and hurried to prepare themselves for the long, adventurous day ahead.