Eye for an Eye Part Five

Part Five

     The Calabria Club was patronized by many Italian families. They used this place for their loud reunions and it was here that they kept alive the traditions and the folklore of their native country.

   This is a place where the young and the old met, and where they equally shared the pride and love of their original culture. A place of their own where they speak the same hard dialect, and where life reminded them of their villages rooted on the rocky Calabria.

     In this club of their own, they could re-enact their past, with men playing the bocce (bowls) on the hard court or cards in their loved ‘Briscola or Scopa’.

     They used to congregate at this place on Sundays, devoting at the Mass, in mid morning, celebrated by an Italian monk, and then sharing lunch together, eating roasted lamb with pepperoni and olives, cooked on the spit in their old traditional way. 

    Don Beppino Caruso was the life president of this Club. He was the one who came with the bulk of the money needed to build it, and it was now the place of reunion for his countrymen. They were grateful to him, and on this particularly Saturday afternoon, many of them, mostly the elders, came to present their respect to Don Beppino and to kiss his hand, as requested by the traditions of their land.

     Don Beppino loved Salvo, Salvatore’s son, as his own grandson. He had organized the best that money can buy to make him happy. He hired a group of Puppeteers, who were touring from Sicily, to keep alive their traditions. This characteristic puppet show was enjoyed not only by the kids, but well attended by many. Adults reunited into the hall danced tarantellas and sang their peasant folkloristic songs. It was here that Luke and Rossana cheered those present with their music and songs.

    The day ran away rapidly and it was getting dark. The courtyard, where the festivities for the children had taken place was empting as families returned home or moved upstairs to spend the rest of the evening.

    Luke offered to drive Maria and her son Salvo home. Salvo had received many birthday presents to take back with him.

    Luke and Salvo were walking to Luke’s car parked at the bottom of the lane, when suddenly a motorbike speeds from the opposite direction in the middle of the alley. Luke had just time to grab the boy’s hand and jump to safety.

      The bike had narrowly missed them, and then braked hard to a stop. Then the driver noisily revved the engine, skidded the back wheel, turning the bike in a cloud of dust. The motor screamed as he charged Luke, like a cavalryman, and this time he had a chain in his hand whirling it in the air.

    Luke attempted to protect Salvo from that demoniac driver, but the iron links crashed on Salvo’s neck. The injured boy lost consciousness and fell to the pavement and his blood imbued the road dust.

      This brutal attack was witnessed by several people, on their way home from the party, who ran to give their help. Luke was also bleeding and in a murderous mood. He left the boy in the care of the others and ran to his car to pursue the attacker. But half way down the lane he was met by two bullies, with chains in their hands, whom attacked him. Luke was injured, and fell unconscious to the pavement. The assailants thought he was dead, seeing blood pouring from a wound on his head. The two attackers, seeing many people had witnessed the assault, swiftly retreated to their bikes and rode away mixing in the city traffic.

   Luke, when returned to consciousness, lay on a couch in a room of the club. A paramedic had finished dressing his wounds and was telling Rossana, who held his hand trying to soothe him,” Your man is very lucky. He missed death by a fraction of an inch!”

   “How is Salvo?” were Luke’s first feeble words.  

    “The ambulance took him to the hospital in a critical condition. Only a miracle can save him.” Rossana gently told him.

   “I want to see him, Rossana.”

    “No point now. He is in intensive care and doctors and nurses are looking after him. And you need rest Luke. I’ll drive you home and I’ll stay with you for the night nursing you properly. Luckily it’s my night off, so no complaints and you do exactly what I tell you.”

   ‘Nice to have you around, Rossana. I love to be spoiled by you, do you know that?”

   “No kidding, Luke. I’ll nurse you, till you can stand on your own.”       

    It was only a short drive over to Luke’s home and this was the first time Rossana had been there. Till now they used to met and spent time together at the Trocadero.

    “It’s better that you lay down on the couch, Luke. I’m going to fetch some ice to put over your eye, or else by tomorrow it will be black.”

     Saying so, she disappeared in the kitchen and returned with a basin of lukewarm water and a towel.

    “Let me see. Blood has stained your clothes. Remove your shirt, so I can sponge you properly… let me have a proper look … No don’t complain Luke. I want to do it …Good, calm down. You’ll feel better afterwards…In the meantime keep the ice bag over your eye.”

    Luke closed his eyes without saying a word. He relaxed while Rossana sponged him. Her hand moved softly, like a gentle caress over his neck and back.

   Could he remember the last time a woman had touched his body in such a tender way? Yes, that what it was. He had missed a woman’s attention for too long. Rossana wiped his back softly and the warms of her breath was on his neck arousing him. Luke closed his eyes and let himself fall into a dreamy state. He wished to have her in his arms, cuddling and kissing her passionately. He knew that Rossana was his ideal woman, the one that he had always dreamed of. He must find the words to tell her his feelings, to tell her that he wanted to love her…

   “Luke…? Are you right? What’s happens to you?”

    He heard her voice coming from far away. It was a sweet sound and magically her words broke the barrier of his dreams. He wasn’t sure if it was real or if he was still far away in a world where the unconscious meets the conscious, where the unreal becomes real.

He compelled himself to raise and do something to catch the benefits of that precious moment or else, he will again miss the opportunity to tell her. He knew that physically he was a strong man, but when confronted with the opposite sex, he always found difficulty to find the right words to express his inner feelings. It had never been easy for him to tell words of passion.

     “Luke? Are you dreaming? Why are you smiling? Luke…?”

       Luke took her hands, pulled her to him and searched for her lips. Finally he locked his lips over hers in a long, hot, kiss of love.

      “Rossana, I know now… I have always been in love with you. But my senses were under the spell of Lola’s sexuality. With her I lost the capacity to compare what is real love and what is sexual lust.”

      “I know what you want to tell me, Luke. I have always hoped that one day you’ll come looking for me. Finally that day has come.”

      “I have many things to tell you. There are many sentiments inside me, but I’m not sure if the right words will spring out from my heart. I honestly can tell you that I love you, and I want you.”

      Rossana silenced him with a kiss. Her long fingers ran over his spine, creating a sweet arousal of his senses. Then her tongue penetrated his mouth softly, sweetly, and a fever inundated their beings. They ripped off their clothes, overwhelmed by their carnal passion, and they started to explore their bodies, hungrily, as if tomorrow would never come.  

       She gave Luke so much. She was a sensitive and a sublime lover, delicate and demanding.  Her body was hot with passion, but at the same time she asked him to slow down the rhythm of his urges.

     “I want you to stay in me for eternity. I like the feeling of you exploring the deepness of me. I want this night of love to last as long as it had been my expectation to have you as my lover. Gently Luke… Yes have me, but please, in a gentle and slow motion. I’m yours and I promise I’ll be the lover you have always dreamed of. But we can be at our best only after our senses have reached the complete satisfaction.”

    “Rossana it’s sweet sharing my body and soul with you. Teach me the way we can reach a new sublime sensation making love in your own way. I never experienced it in such a deep-rooted way before. It’s so new for me. I’m discovering the pleasure to make love to you in such a way. You are right, when I’m deep into you and motionless, I feel my senses completely exhilarated. Therefore, I desire to have you more and more, and I desire to entwine not only our bodies but also our souls.”

     It was a long night of passion, and their bodies asked more. It was a night of revelation of discovering how well they fit together, exploring this new way of pleasure and finding that it was well above any other previous experiences in love; one lover to complete the other’s passions where their desires could reach the best of their possible dreams.