The Sense of an Elephant Read Online Free PDF Page B

the table beside another blanket. He knelt down and made a sign for the concierge to do the same.
    â€˜Say a prayer for Papa.’
    Pietro stayed on his feet. He watched the strange boy’s broad back collapse toward the altar, return upright, collapse again. Abruptly he ceased to move, a graceless statue.
    â€˜Lie down on the couch, you’re tired,’ said the concierge.
    He did not obey.
    â€˜Lie down.’
    He remained motionless.
    So Pietro picked up the blanket, opened and laid it across the boy’s shoulders. Backed away without taking his eyes off this son at prayer.
    The witch crouched in the corner of the confessional,
I killed my son
, crushed her face up against the grille.
    â€˜My baby never saw the light of day. An old nurse and I, we snuffed him out.’
    â€˜He has seen the eternal light.’ The young priest moved closer.
    She pulled back. ‘You priests always say the same thing.’
    â€˜It’s called faith.’
    â€˜Faith … Tell it to someone who’s given birth to a sin.’ She moved away as far as possible.
    â€˜Why did you kill him?’
    â€˜Give me this faith as well.’ The witch ran out.
    The young priest called after her, called her again, watched her leave the church. Then he exited the confessional and knelt down on the wood where she had knelt. And instead of praying he gathered up the single long hair left behind in the grille, held it in his left hand.
    Directly he returned home Pietro poured himself half a glass of red wine from the bottle he had brought from Rimini. It had gone sour. He drank it quickly, held it against his palate until it sweetened, closed his eyes and that was his prayer for Fernando.
    He swallowed when he heard knocking at the lodge window. The shiny head of the lawyer emerged out of a cloud of smoke. Poppi had a cigar in his mouth and a dressing gown cinched at his waspish waist. Pietro slid open the lodge window.
    â€˜Pietro,’ he said, ‘have you seen one of the Martinis come in?’
    The acidic wine rose from his stomach.
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Then there’s something funny going on. This morning when I got to the pool, I didn’t even have time to change before my bowels started sounding the alarm – I imagine it’s retribution for having taken the mick out of Fernando at the cafe. I went straight back home and in the bathroom Theo Morbidelli and I heard suspicious sounds. Do you like Theo Morbidelli as a cat’s name?’
    Pietro nodded.
    â€˜Anyway, at a certain point Theo Morbidelli and I heard a sound coming from the doctor’s office. Where were you, kibitzer?’
    â€˜I took Fernando the cactus. We talked for a while outside his door.’
    â€˜Ah. Maybe it was you …’ The lawyer bit his lips. ‘It’s just that I’m always on the lookout.’
    â€˜You’re a good administrator.’
    Poppi put out the cigar and pushed his way into the lodge.
    â€˜Ever since his mother kicked the bucket the doctor has lost his head. A good administrator … A nurse is more like it.’
    The concierge sat down.
    The lawyer’s voice softened. ‘He got his bearings in life from his mother.’ He settled down next to Pietro and for the first time Pietro got a good look at him. Poppi was a tired man with tiny watery eyes who refused to surrender to old age. He gestured with his hands, let them fall to his lap and continued: ‘And now that the bearings are lost, the ship has no direction.’ He opened the dressing gown slightly, revealing his scrawny chest. ‘In the evenings he’s out of the house a lot, and I’veheard Viola crying more than once since the kid was born. I’ve heard him crying too. He sounds like a crow when he cries.’
    â€˜Maybe the crows don’t want to be listened to.’
    â€˜We should have thicker walls.’
    â€˜Or more discreet tongues.’
    The lawyer turned his back on