1.0. From Ithaca with Love
At least it was sunny when I arrived in Monte Vista. The town was lit by warm, yellow sunlight, birds were soaring in the air and the warm colours of the facades and burnt orange roofs gave it a welcoming glow.
To an outsider, my story might seem like a tragic one. I was orphaned at age ten and left to the care of my aunts, Lilah and Didah, and indeed, in my teen years, I made up all sorts of tragic tales of my parents' untimely demise. I had read all the stories – stories of heartless relatives, haunted orphanages, and the hollow ache the loss of a parent can leave in a heart. I considered myself quite the tragic heroïne.
When all was said and done, though, I wasn't unhappy as a child. I missed my parents, and at first they were vivid in my mind, an image I couldn't believe I would never see again. But as time is wont to do, the picture blurred and reality settled in around me. It startled me a little the first time I realised that now I couldn't believe I had ever known them.
Lilah and Didah were my reality, and they raised me to the best of their abilities. The tragic heroïne died out and was quietly replaced with just a person. Persephone, affectionately dubbed Persie by Didah. Big, round, cheerful Didah. She was as much my playmate as my guardian and always my best friend.
Was. Another face that would one day be blurred.
Lilah was Lilah. Until aunt Didah passed away, she was already cold, more calculated, less likely to sit down and play, but still my aunt, still there to chuckle and shake her head at Didah's crazy schemes and ideas.
When Didah died, part of her died with her. It's such a clichée, but it's true, at least for my aunts. They weren't just sisters, twins, friends; they complemented each other. Didah livened the old house up. Lilah brought Didah down to Earth when she was being too childish for her own good.
Lilah didn't know what to do with herself when she wasn't there, and worse yet, she didn't know what to do with me. Long, awkward days we sat in front of each other, smiles paled and tears took over and then we didn't smile anymore. A week passed in silence and tears and missing the friendly smile of my best friend, and then Monte Vista came up.
“It's sunny, exotic, you'll like it there,” Lilah said. “There's no sense in staying with an old babblehead like me when you're still young.” She hugged me in the driveway, more stiff than she had used to be around me. It was like her smile wasn't the same anymore.
“This is the address of some friends of mine. Just say my name to them and they'll help you get settled. They're nice fellows.”
Well, those friends, the brothers who went by the name of Mancini, barely opened the door when they saw me. It wasn't until I almost stomped my foot like a little girl and shouted my aunt's name at the oldest one, Carlo, something suddenly changed in his eyes, and he let me in.
And I was in. I was in their livingroom, poised at the edge of my seat, wringing my hands and seeing clearly in the younger brother's, Camillo's, face, that I wasn't winning any popularity contests.
“So, she comes to the door with big sparkly eyes and you let her in just like that?” he asked from opposite where I sat. He didn't even look at me.
“I did. Because her name is Ithaca.”
“What, as in-?”
“That's right, Lilah Ithaca's niece.”
“So she didn't lie.” Camillo laughed. “I thought she made the niece thing up. Are you sure it's really her and not...”
They were still talking – did they even notice I was still there?
“It's her all right...
… I'd recognise those eyes anywhere.”
“Huh, yes, they're actually the exact same colour as...”
“Okay, stop!”
“Stop, okay? I have no idea what's going on here. How do you know Lilah?”
I knew that I didn't know Lilah the way I had known Didah. Lilah simply didn't have that kind of open heart. She was never cruel or disliked me, but she wasn't warm and open either. She had secrets, too, that much I knew, and I suspected these guys were in on them.
“What did Lilah say about us?” Carlo finally turned to face me, something like amusement on his face.
“Nothing, she just sent me here and said to talk to you and tell you her name. She said you'd help me settle down.”
“Ah, I see.” He suddenly got to his feet and bolted out the door. “Well, you had better come with me, then.”
I shot Camillo a look and he looked back at me with something I couldn't read. Then I bolted after his older brother.
Carlo waved me into a taxi and I hesitantly got in the back. He got in the front, barked some directions at the driver and we drove off.
We drove all the way through town, sometimes making stops at houses where Carlo talked to someone, then came back and yelled more instructions at the driver. Though the ride was scenic, my companion said nothing but his instructions to the driver and my heart was sinking. I cursed Lilah for sending me here – it seemed likely that the man was mad.
By the time we finally stopped and I was waved out of the taxi, it was dark.
The older Mancini brother pointed to an empty plot of land and I got out, looked at it.
“What...?”
“Welcome to your new home.”
I spun and looked at him, flabbergasted. “Excuse me?”
“This is your land. It's all paid, all yours, courtesy of me. When you talk to Lilah again, tell her we're even.”
“But... there's nothing here!” I said. “And I have barely any cash. No furniture. Nothing.”
“Well, I'd say getting a job is in order.”
“But, I-”
“Look,” he said, and he handed me a card. “If you're desperate, go to Good Guys Inc. and tell them you talked to me. They'll give you a job.”
“What, you want me to go to everyone in town and yell names at them?”
“Sure.” He laughed. “You are good at yelling names at people – I should know. Enjoy your new place.”
I was going to say something more but he was already in the taxi and heading home.
Lilah, Lilah, Lilah! What had she gotten me into?
