Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:59:52 +0100
From: A.K. <andrej@andrejkoymasky.com>
Subject: Gold, Incense and Myrrh 2/9 (m+m - Adult Friends)

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GOLD, INCENSE and MYRRH
by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2005
written the 21st of February, 1994
translated by the author
English text kindly revised
by Brian

-----------------------------

USUAL DISCLAIMER

"GOLD, INCENSE and MYRRH" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic
scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family,
opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to
read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or
because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed
guest.

-----------------------------

CHAPTER 2 - Dreams die at dawn

They had still a few days of leave. The day after they decided to go
back to the river, where they first declared their reciprocal love.
Under the sun, naked, they made love again.

"I'm thirsty for you, Massimo."

"And I for you, puppy." Massimo answered, very excited.

They caressed each other, full of greed. They could feel the reciprocal
excitations rapidly growing, their bodies preparing to give to the lover
the utmost of pleasure. They felt it build, accumulate, and both tensed
to hold it back, to protract the beauty of those magic moments. They
could each feel the thirst of the other and, in unison, they let
themselves go and thus they gave to the lover the desired fruit of their
reciprocal passion. They were intoxicated, greedy, and happy to savour
each other's taste, to smell the musky and male scent of their lover.
They parted, sat up and embraced, their eyes luminous.

"You taste wonderful, you know?" Diego said almost amazed, and happy.

"You too, Love."

"And now my body is assimilating your seed, so I will be made of a part
of you, and you of me. Isn't it beautiful?"

"Sure it is. But, you aren't thinking you got off with that?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"That tonight I'm waiting for you all the same in my bed. Agreed?"

"I'll come, don't worry. Do you think how beautiful the day will be when
we live together?"

"I'm really longing for that moment." Massimo murmured, touched and
happy.

They went back to their barrack. Diego at once searched, as he said, for
a room, and found one in a small bed and breakfast near the railway
station. So they could continue making love rather often. The more days
and weeks passed, the more they were aware how deep was the bond uniting
them. They were together, learned to know each other better, and the
more they knew each other, the more they appreciated and loved the
other. During their life in the barrack they were always very careful
around each other, and they were astounded that their comrades didn't
slander about their friendship.

When the next long leave came, Diego again took Massimo with him to his
family's villa, and each night he went to see his lover in secret.
Diego's father,(who knows how or why), must have suspected something.
So, one night, while they were making love, they heard a knocking at the
door, and the voice of Diego's father calling him. They hurriedly
dressed and Diego went to open it.

His father looked at him harshly and said: "So then, you are here!"

"Sure, Dad."

"What do you mean by that 'sure'?"

"That I come here, to see Massimo, every night."

"Locking the door with the key." The man said harshly.

"It's just a matter of decency, isn't it?"

"Oh you say so? You and him, here under my roof? Are not you ashamed?"

"No, Dad. I love him and he loves me. What have I to be ashamed about?"

Massimo was listening, sitting on the edge of his bed, tense and
embarrassed but proud of his Diego. His father didn't fly off the
handle, didn't yell, didn't make a scene.

He simply said: "I don't like two homosexuals staying in my home, near
my family."

Diego looked straight in his eyes and answered: "It is your home, Dad.
If you wish we will leave."

"He has to leave. Tomorrow morning."

"If you don't accept Massimo, you are not accepting me either. And we
will go now, immediately." Diego said, calm but resolute.

"You are of age. You do what you like. But not in my home."

"Sure Dad. As you wish."

"I'll have to tell to your mother and brothers also."

"As you think right, Dad." the young man answered quietly and
self-assured.

His father didn't add anything more, turned and left.

Diego turned towards Massimo: "Pack your kitbag, Massimo, and let's go.
I too will pack mine, and we will take my bike and leave, immediately."

"It's OK if only I leave." Massimo dared.

"Are you joking? No, no, together. Get dressed, and hurry."

Massimo nodded, dressed, and gathered his belongings that he hurriedly
put into his kitbag, then with Diego, went downstairs to his room. Diego
also dressed and was gathering his own things, when his mother entered.

"Diego! Tell me it's not true!"

"What, Mum?"

"You told that to your Dad just to provoke him right? But why?"

"No, Mum, Massimo and I really do love each other."

"You are close friends, I know, but..."

"No Mum, we are lovers. We were in bed together and we were making love.
For months we have made love. And we are happy together, we love each
other."

"My God! How is it possible that you...? Where did I go wrong?"

"Go wrong? No, Mum, you did no wrong at all. Simply, I am a homosexual.
And I had the good fortune to meet Massimo and fall in love with him,
and he with me."

"But Diego! Don't talk nonsense! Two men, it's abnormal!"

"No Mum. To us it is normal. We didn't choose to be so. We are, we
simply are so. We love each other and we want to live together, Mum. Is
that so difficult to understand, to accept? Who are we harming?"

"But, darling, you are still just boys. It is just something... life in
the barracks... it has just been an... outlet. But, you'll meet a nice
girl, and you will understand that this is the life and not... not that
other. This is just a boy's phase..."

"No Mum, I'm not at all attracted to women. Absolutely not! And neither
is he. This is not just an outlet. We love each other and we have
absolutely no intention of renouncing our love."

"You are off your head. You are off! You don't know what you're saying.
A boy's prank, I would understand. But what you are saying is abnormal,
immoral, absurd and filthy. Please, Diego, From time immemorial..."

"Come on, Mum! From time immemorial there always have been men loving
men. I understand your prejudices, Mum..."

"They are not prejudices! It is simple common sense. Even if one was as
you say, it is to be repressed. If not, all society will be against you,
don't you understand that?"

"Sure - like all the Nazi-fascists were against the Jews."

"Don't talk nonsense. What have the Jews got to do with this?"

"A lot more than you think - in the extermination camps they slaughtered
the homosexuals exactly as they did Jews. The same racism, no more, no
less."

"Don't be absurd. Calling me a Nazi! I'm trying to help you. Put down
that kitbag, now!"

"No Mum. You don't accept me, exactly like Dad. Therefore I will just
leave."

"Diego, don't. Think it over, don't rush. Let's talk about it."

"Mum, we will talk about it on the day when you're able to accept my
sexual identity and that I live it with Massimo. Until that day..."

"But, you can't ask such a thing! We will never accept that you live
with that... that..."

"Careful, Mum! What you're about to say about Massimo is worse than if
you said it about me. If you insult me, I can forgive you, but if you
dare to insult him, I'll never forgive you!" Diego said, forcefully.

His mother looked at him with widened eyes. Then, slowly, said: "Yes, it
is better if you leave, then. Dad was right."

"Good, Mum. Good bye. Tell Dad, and the others, for me."

His mother left the room with a light rustle of her silk gown, without
saying another word. Diego finished gathering his belongings, took some
personal items he cared about, some documents, and asked Massimo to put
some of his things in his bag, as his own was full. Then they went
downstairs and Diego pulled out his bike from the garage.

They were about to leave, when his elder brother came out: "Diego,
wait!"

"Yes?" the boy answered, putting the bike in neutral.

"Dad and Mum told me..."

"Yes, and so?" Diego asked in a somewhat belligerent tone.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure."

"Then I think it would be useless to try to make you use your head."

"I'm using my head perfectly well, believe me."

"Bah, it's your life, after all. You have a right to do with it as you
please. Were will you go?"

"To the barracks."

"Yes, but after?"

"I don't yet know. If you want me to, I will send you my new address."

"Would you like me to send you your things, when you settle?"

"That would be good of you."

"Well... I'm sorry, Diego. I hope you'll not regret this."

"I'm not sorry. And I rather hope that... that on the contrary the folks
will one day be able to regret."

"Bye bye, then."

"Bye." Diego answered and engaging the gears, said to Massimo: "Hold
onto me." and they left.

He drove to Novara station and stopped: "Let's see if we can find a room
in a hotel nearby. Tomorrow I will send the bike to Falconara and we
will go back by train. We will spend our last days of leave there, in
our small room in the bed and breakfast. Is that all right?"

"Sure, Love, as you wish. And then what will we do?"

"After army service? I don't know. We'll talk about it, we have plenty
of time. The important thing is we remain together, right?"

"Yes, Love, sure. But I'm sorry for you..."

"No, don't. To me you are the most important person in the world. And I
come after. All the others... a lot after. If I lost you, that would
really be terrible!"

"But it will not be so easy to get rid of me, you know?" Massimo said
him with a sweet smile and at last Diego too smiled.

They found a room and spent the night there. Diego asked for a double
room and smiled at the slightly surprised glance of the receptionist.
When in their room, they hit the bed at once, embracing tightly.

"You'll never leave me, Massimo?"

"No, never, I swear."

"Thank you."

"Now we are one, aren't we?" Massimo asked him gently.

"Yes, that's true. You and I, one. I love you."

"Love you too, my puppy."

They went back to Falconara. Diego had taken the break with his family
well even though, of course, he was not pleased with it.

"You see, Love? You don't have a real family. Well now, neither do I.
But I have you and you have me. After all's said and done we are lucky,
aren't we?" he said to Massimo.

While continuing on their army service, they talked about their future.
"I want to go to University. I planned to attend it in Milan, so we can
look for an apartment there, if you agree."

"Do you still want to study philosophy?"

"Yes, sure. But do you like the idea of going to live in Milan?"

"To me... anywhere will be good, as long as it's with you."

"In Milan, if you want to find a job as a TV technician, you would have
no problems. But... why don't you also resume studies? I have enough
money for both of us to live comfortably. If you want..."

"No, thanks, no. I never was very good at school. And, I would like to
earn a salary, I don't want to be 'kept'."

"I see. But I would like you to at least find a job you like."

"The main thing is to get a job, and then I'll make it likeable. Anyway,
we'll see when we get to Milan."

"All right. To me, the only important thing is for you to be happy."

On the occasion of their last leave before discharge, they went to
Milan. They took a room in a hotel, and started to tour the estate
agents to look for an apartment.

They found one in Fucini Street, near the University Campus. It was on
the second floor, composed of a bedroom, a studio, a living room,
bathroom, toilet, kitchen and entrance room. Diego bought it, then they
went to choose furniture and everything else needed to make it
comfortable, from the linen to the crockery. They asked for everything
to be delivered just after their discharge.

Diego went to enroll at the University then they went back to Falconara.

Finally their army service ended, they went to Milan. For one week they
again took a room in a hotel near their home, to have the time to
arrange the apartment. They were full of enthusiasm - at last they were
starting their joint life in their own home. They finished furnishing it
and settled in.

Diego started to attend university and Massimo to look for a job. After
less than a month, he was hired by a large household electric appliances
store as shop assistant and technician.

All was proceeding nicely and above all, living together, their harmony
and love grew more and more. Little by little they also started to make
some friends. Diego was studying with passion and from his first tests
he got good marks, and Massimo was proud of him. Diego was also proud to
have Massimo as his lover. Their difference in culture and social origin
didn't have any effect on their relationship. Their friends, both gay
and straight, considered them the ideal couple.

This didn't mean that they didn't at times have some heated debates,
that they didn't sulk, but they were short squalls and calm soon
returned, because one or the other would hold out his olive branch to
his lover, always before the days end. Those tense occasions, rather,
allowed them to get to know each other even better, each to understand
his own limits and those of the other, and to do his best to adapt to
the other.

Their friends at times, partly to pull their legs a little, but mainly
as a compliment, said that they were becoming more and more alike.

Diegos' studies proceeded smoothly, Massimo fit well into his job and
when his colleagues got to learn that Diego was his lover, nobody gave
unfavorable opinions or stupid witticism, they all accepted the fact
with much simplicity.

As for contact with their families, Massimo limited himself to an
exchange of cards each Christmas with his family, and Diego to send
them, without even receiving a reply.

"It is a surprise they don't return them to sender." Diego once
commented with a mixture of sadness and irony, then added: "Or perhaps
they don't do that either out of laziness."

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the day they confessed their love
for each other on the river bank, they decided to take some time off and
go back there, to the same point of the Agogna River.

The day was splendid just like that of five years before. They undressed
completely and celebrated the joy of their life starting to make love.

"Wouldn't it be beautiful, puppy, if we could always make love like
this, in the open air?"

"Yes, but in winter we would catch our death!" Diego answered jokingly.

"Do you know that now that your body has ripened, it is more manly, I
love you even more than five years ago?"

"The same with yours, Massimo. It is wonderful maturing together,
getting old together."

"Possibly, every five years we can come back here to celebrate our
union. But... can you imagine, both of us old men, naked, here making
love?"

"It will be wonderful even when we are eighty years old, I'm sure!"

"Yes, I agree." Massimo answered sweetly.

They made love enjoying each moment, savouring each other, conscious
that, thanks to their love, that spot became a corner of the Earthly
Paradise. Afterwards they went in the water and played like two happy
kids, then lay under the sun to dry.

"Do you know, Massimo, that with you I found real happiness?" Diego said
to him in a whisper, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers.

"Yes, I know, as it is the same for me. You are my life, puppy."

"I don't feel afraid of the future, being near you."

"Me neither. It is enough looking at you, thinking of you, to feel I'm
the strongest man in the world. Nothing can scare me, with you at my
side."

"You and I are one, it is as if we are married, even if there has not
been a rite."

"We celebrate that rite each time we make love."

"That's right, because each time I give myself completely to you. And
you to me."

They continued to chat in this way, happy, feeling in perfect communion.
They went back to Milan and resumed, serenely, their daily life. Diego
was preparing his degree thesis and Massimo tried to help him taking on
himself all the daily chores of the household and of the common life.

Then...

December the 20th of that fifth year of common life, while Diego was
going back home from the faculty library, loaded with books to prepare
his thesis, a car that didn't obey the stop sign, hit him and flung him
to the opposite sidewalk. Where Diego's body fell, crashing down,
unseemly like a thrown out rag doll. Dead on the spot. Somebody called
the police, the corpse was removed. They searched in his documents and
found his address. A carabineer went to ring at their door, but Massimo
was at work. He asked the neighbors and got the address of Massimos'
work place. So he went there to communicate the bad news. The
carabineer, not guessing the bond that tied the two young men, thinking
that they just shared the apartment, told him straight that Mister Diego
De Rossi was dead, killed by a car.

Massimo felt his blood flow away from his body. He remained still, white
like a sheet, then staggered. The carabineer held him up, a colleague
made him sit and called the director. Massimo asked, with a choked
voice, where they took Diego. The carabineer gave him the morgue
address. The director ordered a glass of liqueur for Massimo from a
nearby bar, and told him that, as soon as he felt stronger, if he
wanted, he could go. Massimo collected himself. He was feeling empty,
completely empty, but again master of his body. He pulled off his
overall and put on his heavy jacket, and in a taxi went to the hospital
morgue.

Diego had been laid in a litter and covered with a white sheet. His name
was on a card on it. Massimo trembling lifted the sheet and looked. His
Diego had a serious expression, but peaceful. He was pale like polished
ivory. And Massimo wept his tears in a long, silent, mournful cry. He
would have liked to scream, but wasn't able to emit any sound. He
remained there, still, to contemplate almost unbelieving that loved face
where not even a small sparkle of life shone. And he cried, cried,
cried.

A long while later a nurse touched his arm: "If you wish, you can come
again tomorrow morning..." she said gently.

Massimo understood it was closing time. Nodded in assent. Went back
home. He had to organize the funeral. He had to tell their friends. And
Diego's family. Even if for five years they didn't have any contact,
they had to be told. It was only right. He looked for their telephone
number, and called.

"I am Massimo Sellari. Mister De Rossi?"

"Speaking."

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but... but Diego... an accident..." Massimo
stuttered feeling a knot in his throat. Then he composed himself and
told him that Diego was dead, and where his body was now.

"Oh, I see." was the only reaction of Diego's father.

Massimo said good bye, put down the receiver and again started to cry,
shaken by desperate sobs. He then gathered the strength to call
Riccardo, their closest friend, to tell him what had happened. Riccardo
ran immediately to his place. Massimo asked him to tell their other
friends. Riccardo did it, and offered to stay and sleep there with him,
and to help him, the following day, make all the arrangements for the
funeral. Massimo accepted, gratefully - alone, he was afraid he would
not have the sense, or the strength to do it all. He felt terribly
empty, so empty...

Inside him a voice screamed: "Diego, puppy, why did you abandon me? Why
am I not dead in your place? What sense has life, now?"

The following morning, accompanied by Riccardo, he went back at the
morgue. He caught a glimpse of Diego's father and mother who were going
out of the hospital police office. He tried to approach them to greet
them, but the couple left in a hurry, got in their car and left.

Massimo went to the police office: "The personal effects of Mister
Massimo De Rossi..."

"His parents just came. I gave them everything."

"I see." Massimo said.

He went downstairs with Riccardo to the morgue.

Riccardo, after staying a while with Massimo near Diego's body, asked a
nurse: "Sorry, but... to organize Diego De Rossi's funeral?"

"His parents came here and have engaged an undertaker to handle it."

Massimo, who heard the answer, said mournfully: "I should have come
sooner... I should have come faster. They are re-appropriating Diego,
they are taking him away from me."

"But no... they are just relieving your worries..."

"No, I feel it. They ignored him for years and now..." Massimo said.

He turned towards Diego's body and brushed his face with a caress. Then
shook his head several times, dejected.

His friend put a hand on his arm, compassionately, and said: "Let's go,
now, Massimo. You can do nothing more for him, now."

"Nothing more, right? Nothing more! My poor puppy, they killed you, and
I..."

"Come on, Massimo, let's go."

"No, wait, I want to look at him some more. Yesterday morning, when I
left home, he gave me a kiss and said 'Se you soon, Love!' Yes, see you
soon, puppy, se you soon!" Massimo murmured with a broken voice and
again caressed the pale cheek of Diego with tender affection.

"He is still beautiful, isn't he?" he then asked his friend.

"It seems he is sleeping." Riccardo whispered.

"No. When he was sleeping he had a more gentle expression. He didn't
suffer, right? They said he died on the spot."

"He doesn't have a suffering expression."

"Yes, it's true. But he doesn't smile any more, he can't smile any more,
now." Massimo said dejected.

He was feeling tears prickling in his eyes, but they seemed unable to
come out. Inside himself he was continuing to hear that scream that he
wasn't able to release, and that was breaking his heart.

"He said to me 'see you soon'!" he again murmured in despair.

"Come away, Massimo. It is useless to continue to stay here and torture
yourself." Riccardo insisted.

"Let me look at him some more. After, I won't see him any more... never
more..."

"Let's go back home..."

"A little more... Can you ask when the funeral is? So you can tell our
friends."

"All right. Wait for me here, then." his friend said, and left the
morgue.

Massimo caressed Diego's hand. He wanted to cry, but tears didn't come
out. He wanted to scream, but sound didn't come out. He wanted to
embrace him, but was unable to move.

Riccardo came back: "Tomorrow they will take him to Novara. The funeral
rites will be the day after tomorrow in the Cathedral. Then he will be
buried in their family grave." he sadly said.

"You see? They took him back. They take him away from me, as I told
you..."

"If you like, I can accompany you to Novara. Also our friends will come,
I'm sure."

"No, I don't know, afterwards, perhaps. I will probably go to see his
grave. But the funeral... they will all be there... his family. They
refused him, five years ago. Now they have taken him back. They didn't
want him in their home, but in their grave, they do. I don't feel like
meeting them again."

"But they probably expect you to go to the funeral."

"Oh no, really! Five years ago they ignored me, a little while ago they
ignored me, you saw it."

"They possibly didn't see you..."

"No no, they saw me, and hurried to their car."

"Well... let's go, now."

"Yes. Will you take me to my home? I would like to try to sleep."

Arriving at his apartment, Massimo tried to open the door with his key:
"That's strange, it's unlocked, I locked with three turns..." he said
opening up. As he set foot in the entrance, he found Diego's parents in
front of him.

"What are you doing, here?" the father harshly asked.

"It's... it's my home." Massimo answered, astounded at that question.

"No, you are wrong. This was Diego's home, not yours. You have nothing
more to do, here. Now this apartment belongs to us and we don't want you
here any more. Go away!"

"But..."

"Leave, or I'll call the police". The father said icily.

"But he resides here. All his belongings are here!" Riccardo said,
intervening.

"Give me back this apartments keys and leave, or I'll call the police!"
the father repeated to Massimo.

"Sure, call the police! You have no right at all to..." Riccardo started
to say, angrily.

But Massimo said, bitterly: "I don't give a shit! They can take it all!
They didn't lose a son, no, they just earned an inheritance. They can
enjoy it, they can gobble it down, they can shove it up their asses! I
lost Diego, not they! Not they!" he concluded and, throwing the house
keys with all his strength into the man's face, he ran outside.

Riccardo said to them: "We will meet again!" and hurriedly followed
Massimo who was running down the stairs. He reached him: "Massimo, let's
go immediately to see a lawyer. They can't do that to you. You have a
right to take at least your belongings, and anyway that is your home
also."

"Forget it. I don't give a shit for my belongings. They can swallow
everything, and I hope they choke on them."

"They are wicked, heartless. All that is in that apartment belonged to
you both, therefore at least half belongs to you. And the same for your
bank account, right? There are also your savings, right?"

"Yes, all in there."

"Then, withdraw them immediately."

"I don't care about money, at this point."

"Massimo, life continues. Diego would never have allowed such a thing,
therefore neither can you."

"Diego is dead. It's all over."

Riccardo didn't insist, as he understood that at that moment it was
useless. Then he asked: "What do you think you will do, now?"

"I don't know."

"Would you come to my place?"

"No, thank you. Possibly I will look for a hotel room, I don't know."

"But you'll need money. Let's go to the bank, then."

"But..."

"Listen to me. What bank did you use? Where is your account?"

"The Cariplo, a few blocks from here."

"Let's go, then."

Massimo followed him. There was a queue. They waited in silence. When it
was his turn, he said he wanted to withdraw some money from his account.
The clerk typed the number on the computer.

Then said: "I'm sorry, Mister Sellari, but the account is blocked after
death of the holder."

"But there is also his money! The account is also his account." Riccardo
intervened.

"No, this account is registered only in De Rossi's name and Mister
Sellari is only a signatory. With the death of the account holder, his
signature has no authority. If Mister Sellari can give us legal proof
that part of the money belongs to him, a judge can authorize the
withdrawal of that part. But we cannot, for sure. This is the usual
procedure."

Even though Massimo didn't want to, Riccardo asked to see the director,
and the man confirmed what the clerk said.

"Excuse me, but... when and by whom was the account blocked?" Riccardo
then asked.

"Fifteen minutes ago I received a telephone call from the father of the
dead holder, Mister De Rossi, with the request to block the account
until the estate is settled. If Mister Sellari can prove to the court
that he has a right to all or part of the sum, with the judges
injunction he can withdraw all he has a right to. But not until then, I
am sorry."

They left. Riccardo insisted that Massimo had to go and see a lawyer, to
try at least to get back what belonged to him, and told him that he, as
well as all their friends, were ready to testify that part of the
belongings and of the money belonged to Massimo.

But the young man didn't want to hear of it: "No, I don't care. It is
just objects, it is just money."

"But you cannot allow them to put you out of your home in that way, it
is not fair!"

"Diego is dead. This also is not fair. He was twenty-four years old like
me, but he is dead."

"But you are alive. You have to think about your life ahead!"

"Yes, it's true, I'm still alive, unhappily."

"Massimo, I realise you are shattered by this tragedy. Everybody is. But
you have to react, you have to..."

"React, for what? They lost a son and think just about his money, his
things. No, they have not lost a son, I am the only one who lost him,
just I. Should I care about money, about things?"

Riccardo insisted some more, but to no avail. "Listen, anyway you cannot
stay on the street, now. Just for starters, come to my place. Then I'll
contact our friends and together we will all do something. At least you
have a good job, thanks to God."

"Ah... my job... Can you call them asking if I can have some time off?"

"Yes, sure, don't worry about that, now. I'll settle everything. But now
come to my place."

Massimo followed him. Riccardo told him to lie on his bed and to try to
sleep a while. Meanwhile he went to fix something to eat. Coming back to
find him with his eyes open, told him to go to the kitchen to eat and,
after some persuasion, he was able to make him eat something. Massimo
was vacant, far away, inert. Riccardo tried to make him talk, react, but
uselessly. Later, when finally Massimo was asleep, Riccardo made a round
of calls to their friends telling them all that had happened. The
reaction of all of them was the same - they had to help Massimo to get
back his belongings. So they decided to meet in coming days at
Riccardo's place to talk with Massimo.

But Massimo refused all their proposals, continuing to repeat, like in a
refrain: "No, I don't want, I don't care. It's useless."

On Christmas day several of them invited Massimo, but he remained at
Riccardo's, in bed almost all day long. In all that time Massimo
desperately wanted to cry, but he wasn't able. Pain dulled all his
senses, dimmed his brain. On December 28th he asked one of his friends
to take him to Novara, to the cemetery. He looked for the De Rossi
family's grave and found the headstone with Diego's name. He put on it a
single red rose. Not even there was he able to cry.

"Farewell, Diego, my puppy." he murmured in a low voice, brushing the
cold grey marble with his fingertips, the name's bronze letters, the
birth and death dates. The friend accompanying him, deeply moved,
silently cried for him. Massimo stood there, standing, silent, for some
minutes, then emitted a deep sigh, straightened up his shoulders and,
turning towards his friend, said: "We can go back to Milan, now."

His friend looked perplexed - to him it seemed as if Massimo had had a
transformation. He thought that perhaps that last good bye gave to
Massimo the strength to come out of his dumb despair. He took Massimo
back to Milan and left him in front of Riccardo's home gate. Massimo
thanked him and said good bye.

"Can we meet for New Years Day, Massimo?"

"I don't know, possibly. New Year, new life, they say, right?" the young
man answered with a light tone.

His friend looked at him puzzled and said: "Yes, they say so... See you
soon, then."

Massimo didn't answer, gave a good bye nod and watched his friend
leaving in the traffic.

Then he remembered the bicycle that Diego gave him for his last birthday
and asked himself if that was still in their house's entrance hall. He
took the underground. Reached the house, and entered in the hall.

The bicycle was still there. He took the small key from his wallet and
unlocked it. He caressed it, thinking of his Diego, took it out on the
street, mounted it and started to pedal in the evening traffic.

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CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 3

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In my home page I've put some of my
stories. If someone wants to read them, the URL is

http://andrejkoymasky.com

If you want to send me feed-back, please e-mail at

andrej@andrejkoymasky.com

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