To Judge The Cover
#37 of Roman Life
The aftermath of Stanley's outburst is an heavy one
Hey everyone,
here it is an extra special chapter! Why so special? Because it celebrate two years since I started Roman Life! Damn, that is a lot of time, so much happened, both in the story and in real life. I've got so much more to write about, this series isn't over yet, no sir! Hope you will like this chapter and share your feeling with a vote, a comment or a fave
As always, thank you
"I am coming. You parked the moto at Piazza Trilussa, right? We will meet there." Luca heard his friend growl with command, not expecting any complains. The lupo was touched by Ale's display of emotion, despite being over the top.
"... Okay, we will walk there as fast as we can. Still, I am okay, you should be too." The lupine said, in an ironically switching of the roles, not wanting his friend to be too distressed over something that little.
"Don't be silly. See you in half an hour." Came the rebuff from the masculine canine
"Okay, in half an hour." Luca managed to say before the line was cut. Sighing, he put away his phone, turning toward the fur that had been the unfortunate testimony of the accident. "We should get going; Ale will arrive at Piazza Trilussa..."
"... In mezz'ora1. I heard that. We really should." Edward completed the sentence, his tone calm and collected, his roping tail enough a sign of how he was feeling at the moment.
"Oh, giusto2. This way." He replied, already moving to descend the hill. The cougar was close behind him, silent, probably brooding over what happened like the dog was. It had been such a shock, an utterly unexpected one, for both of them, and also a nerve wrecker.
But Stanley hadn't showed any signs of his opinions, nothing foreshadowing such a passionate hate for homosexuals; he had seemed a good, if goofy, guy, who wouldn't have hurt a fly. Then again, not every homophobe had a glowing "GOD HATES FAGS" sign on themselves.
"Mai giudicare il libro dalla copertina3." He mentally scolded himself. Looks and behavior might be deceptive; this was only another proof to the rule. Then again, Edward was a counter argument to that, he had been as nice as he looked, though he still felt embarrassed for crying in his arms; but he didn't manage to take a hold of himself, and the presence of the feline had helped him regain his composure.
They walked down the Monte Celio, taking the steps at a good pace, and then turned left to walk in the shadowed valley between the Celio and the Colle Palatino, the canopy of the maritime pines sheltering them from the harsh and unmerciful rays of the sun.
"Prima non siamo passati di qua4." The mountain lion said, his tone giving an inquiring turn to his statement. It wasn't really a lamentation, just the natural curiosity of a foreign fur who didn't know all the streets and roads of a city.
"Yes, but this way we will avoid the center and get to Trastevere directly." The wolf explained calmly, not being annoyed for being questioned, but quite happy to talk.
"The other way would have taken too much time?" The cougar asked, explicitly this time, easily keeping the pace given by Luca. Some cheerfulness was coming back to him now, or so it seemed to the lupine; probably just getting away from the epicenter of the facts was lifting his mood.
"Non di molto5, if we walked faster than this. Better to be there in time, else Ale would worry." The restorer admitted his fear. He had calculated the road taking in account all the factors, and this way was better. Plus, it would lower the already slim chances of meeting Stanley by accident...
"He sounded pretty worried from the phone." The puma nodded, his rounded ears giving a quick flick before resting in their usual position.
"Did you hear him?" He asked, scratching his neck a bit. Sure, the rottie had voiced his emotions loudly, but he had hoped that it hadn't been that loud.
"Yep. You are lucky to have him, he clearly cares for you. But probably you don't want to get a panicked call from him for being late!" The puma grinned for his innocent jab at the canine, the first sign of mirth since lunch.
"Eeheheh sarebbe tipico di Ale6!" He barked a short laugh, just a tiny bit forced. Turning his head right and left and seeing no car coming, he motioned the other to follow him and crossed the wide viale7 to reach the other side, now quite near the end of it.
"More reasons not to slack off, eh?" The cougar replied with a smile. "If I remember correctly, he is the Rottweiler from the other day, right?"
"Sì, it's him! He works with me under the professor, in restoring many pieces of art." He said, answering more than required; since they were going to meet him in a few minutes, it was better to introduce him now that they had time.
"I see. He preferred to stay at home and relax a bit." Edward guessed, correctly too, so he didn't add more details. Truth to be told, the wolf was still worrying about the rottie's strange mood, though the worry had been pushed in the back of his mind by the whole accident with Stanley.
"He likes to spend his Sabati8 doing nothing." The wolf summed up, turning right now that they reached the end of the viale, the hollowed bowl that was all that remained of the Circus Maximus on their left and the great ruins of the Terme di Massenzio9 on the right.
Considering how the visit had turned out, it had been better that Ale had stayed behind. If he had been present, who knew how the simple shouting session of Stanley would have finished; the rottie was a nice and kind guy, but he was highly protective of his friends and family, and he usually thought with his heart... Regardless if the situation required that.
They didn't say much more during their walk, each of them lost in their own thoughts it seemed. Soon they were past the Circus, the round mass of the temple of Hercules Victor in front of them; the wolf wondered if it was the moment to tell some facts about it, like how it had been mistakenly called the temple of Vesta for many centuries, but he decided not to. The visit had ended with the young Milanese storming away, from his part.
Knowing that it wasn't fair to the cougar to stay silent, Luca started to search for a topic that might break the ice and make them talk again. Maybe questions about his studies... But maybe not, he might not like talking about school when he wanted to relax. Maybe about music or art or comics or...
"I think you behaved very well." Edward suddenly complimented him, togliendolo dall'imbarazzo10. There was no need to ask what he was talking about, that much was clear after all.
"I don't think I did. Me managing to calm him down, that would have meant I did well." He grimaced, his ears moving for a few second; not daring to say that sobbing just after it hadn't been good either. He was close to be thirties, he was past such childish display.
"You did well. It is clear that Stanley's homophobia is too deep-rooted to be reasoned with." The puma shook his head while they reached the lungotevere11, waiting for the green light to cross it. "I am quite sure I would have done much worse... I was about to do much worse."
"He is just young, I was the old one. I should have talk some sense in him. That is the only way to change things." The wolf denied the compliments. He had antagonized the husky, while he should been reasonable and wait for him to be through his tantrum; probably the canine was going to complain with Sara, ruining her weekend too...
Luca suppressed a groan, thinking that there might be an angry squirrel somewhere, and in doing that he almost didn't catch the feline's next question. Going back to pay attention to the other, he managed to mask his moment of distraction.
"Did you get a lot of it? Gay bashing?" The puma almost whispered, as if he didn't want to bring unwanted attention on them. That was superfluous; they were the only ones waiting and, now that the light was green for them, the only ones crossing the street.
"This directly? No." Luca answered softly, padding with the river on their left. He hadn't been out during high school, and at university he had found a more open environment; fact he didn't have any "gay" mannerisms might have helped a lot in that.
"But you had indirectly..." The puma trailed off, an invitation to his companion to continue. Or so the wolf thought; he didn't really mind to talk about that, to... explain why Stanley was like that.
"Yes. Italy, and Rome in particular, isn't that much gay friendly. Taunts against homosexual people are the norm, and of course, people being people, they go against those who are different." The lupine summed up, thinking that it would be enough for the young waiter.
"I thought that Europe was in a better situation on that field." The cougar asserted, his tone revealing his puzzlement.
"It's a complicated situation. There is acceptance, and we can be more open than in the past, but it is something... hardwired in society I fear." He expressed his opinion on the matter, all the while keeping his normal tone. No use to be depressed about it.
"I think it's the same as in the US, after all... Though, maybe gays aren't beaten up to death here." The mountain lion snorted his disgust for such behavior.
"There are cases of that too, sfortunatamente12". He said, not recalling the couple of very severe episodes that had happen through the years. He glanced aside to his companion and saw that his words had brought a sour mood to him. Extending one paw, he stopped both of them and squeezed the shoulder of the feline, wanting to reassure him.
"No need for frowny faces now! It is not that bad, after all." Luca said, smiling warmly. "I was lucky so far, and I am sure I will be lucky in the future, not encountering anything like that."
"Yeah, you are right!" Edward's face brightened up, visibly shaking the bad thoughts he was having.
"Good. Let's go, we have.... Ten minutes before Ale's arrive at the destination!" He exclaimed, quickly checking his watch.
"Yeah, better not let your friend wait!" The other replied. They resumed their trip, soon reaching a bridge that went over the river and into a small, ship-shaped island.
"We will cross here at the Isola Tiberina13." The wolf announced, walking over the twice-millenarian bridge.
"Oh, I like this place! I went to see a movie over there, a few days ago." Edward recalled, pointing out to a somewhat big open cinema, just below the bridge.
"Yeah, it is nice. Since the foundation of Rome it has been a place for healing, you knew that?" The lupine chuckled, falling into his tour guide habits.
"Really?" The puma said, clearly curious to know more about that.
"Yes. First it held a temple of Aesculapius, right where the basilica of San Barolomeo stands nowadays." In saying that, he pointed out the church that was prominent in the small piazza, then turning it to the building on their right. "Then, a few centuries later, the Ospedale Fatebenefratelli was founded, renewing the tradition."
"Seems like you Romans stick to tradition a lot." The puma noted, amused by those facts. They went over the next bridge, finally getting on the left bank after so much walking, so near to their goal.
"Rome is an ancient city, we tend to be traditionalist in many ways." The wolf agreed, his tail finally getting back its wag, thanks to him finally relaxing. Putting a river between them and the place of the fact almost made him feel much secure and protected, even though it was just all in his head.
"Too bad your ancestors' view about homosexuality didn't stick around." Edward said, the cheerfulness of his voice indicating that it was just a musing, not a come back of the brooding of before.
"Well, while the ancient Romans were more liberal with their sexuality, by today's standard, they had their limits after all." The canine pointed out, trying not to sound like a sapientone14
"Yeah, I know. Roman citizens could indulge in gay sex, as long as he didn't bottom." The cougar nodded, showing that he knew the subject. "If you wanted to insult a political rival, the easy way was to accuse him of taking things up their anus!"
"You studied your history, good! Giulio Cesare15had to endure such accusation all his life, for example." Luca continued, quite engrossed in the conversation now.
"Nothing is unmanly and hurts your _virilitas_16 like taking the role of the woman." The feline snorted, though he didn't seem upset, since nothing could be changed of that past.
"Indeed. The Romans remained always anchored to their military past, the man had to be manly and strong." Luca said.
"That kind of reasoning was insulting toward homosexuals and women alike. Is insulting." The puma corrected himself, talking in the present tense now, ears flicking.
"Unfortunately, it is true. They are prejudices that are hard to be changed." The lupine said matter-of-factly. No use to angst on such things, moan and bitch, they had to be accepted, else they would let you live peacefully; that he had learned long ago.
"But we can try, and make the world a better place one little step at a time." Edward finished with a happier note, his smile being as bright as the sun, or so it seemed to him. "And look, we just arrived! Is your friend here already?"
The lupo turned away from his companion and saw that they had indeed arrived at the destination. He scanned the small piazza to see if the familiar black-furred dog was there, waiting, fuming, but he didn't find the rottie anywhere.
"Seems like he isn't. It probably took him longer than he expected." He declared, moving to reach again the fountain up the stairs and the relief it gave with its shadows.
"So, we are back to starting point, waiting here for someone to arrive." The cat mused, heaving himself on the marble steps with the grace bestowed on his kind.
"I would have preferred another end for our day... Mi dispiace17" Luca apologized. The puma had come to pass a good day, filled with facts and laughter, and ended up with having unwanted gay drama. It still surprised him that he had stuck around so long; he could have left him since it was none of his business.
"Silly, you shouldn't apologize for something you hadn't any control on." The American student dismissed with a shrug. "It is Stanley's fault for being such a moronic jerkass."
"Maybe not his fault, he didn't choose his upbringing after all..." The wolf weakly defended the other dog; maybe he grew up in a highly conservative environment... But then, Sara might have lived in the same place and in the same social group, and she was one of the most open furs he knew.
"It is a small excuse. He should think with his head, and not taking everything he was told for the truth." The feline snorted, annoyed by the non-present canine.
"Still, you didn't deserve to be drag in such nasty things." The tall lupine kept his apologies going, feeling that the cat owned at least that.
"You took the worse of it, and I was happy to be there and help you... How little I did." Edward sounded like he really wanted to do more, but truth to be told, him being there had been enough. Having someone friendly after such an event had been what he needed; probably, he would have been a mess without him, and that would have meant Ale worrying even more and...
... And speaking of which, he saw the muscular rottie in the distance, his handsome face determined, and with him there was his brother too. That was a real surprise, he didn't expect the younger lupo to be there as well; or maybe the detail had slipped his mind through the heated phone call.
"Ale is here, and there is my brother too!" He exclaimed, the puma sprinting on his footpaws, looking at the approaching dogs.
"I see them! He looks really a lot like you." Edward said, coming closer to the lupine.
"Yeah, everyone says that." Luca chuckled, amused by the fact that many noted such a resemblance the first time they saw the Rienzi brothers together.
"Since they are here, I might get going, don't want to interfere with them comforting you." The feline smiled.
"Well, yeah, I think you already did more than you should! It had been nice hanging out with you, I hope we will repeat that soon." The wolf greeted his good bye, extending his paw to be shaken by the other.
"I sure hope that." The cougar hesitated a bit, then grabbed the offered paw. With a powerful grip, he pulled the lupine closer, his lips meeting the ones belonging to the restorer.
Translation:
1) In half an hour.
2) Oh right.
3) Never judge a book from his cover.
4) We didn't pass through here before.
5) Not by much.
6) It would be typical of Ale!
7) Avenue.
8) Saturdays
9) Maxentius' thermae, a bath complex that was built at the foot of the Palatine hill.
10) Expression that means "help someone out of a difficulty".
11) Long and wide avenues that border the river Tiber.
12) Unfortunately.
13) Tiber Island.
14) Know-it-all.
15) Julius Caesar.
16) The concept of masculine virility, the fact that a Roman citizen had to always be the strongest.
17) I'm sorry.