5. THE CONFESSION
In the early afternoon, her mother and her lover returned from the beach. They had tried a delicious fish grill again and wanted Nina to accompany them. Nina could not refuse. After showering and cooling off, they went to a busy restaurant. The mother noticed Nina's recent mood change and wanted to know the reason. It seemed as if her daughter could not maintain the same state of mind for over twenty-four hours, and she did not know why.
“Nina, daughter, this morning, you seemed the happiest girl in this world, and now you seem the most unfortunate. Why do you have those mood swings? What has happened to you now?”
Nina would have liked to open up to her mother and ask her why she consented to take pictures of her indecent behavior, but she didn't dare.
“Is nothing; It is because of this heat; it is very overwhelming!”
“Why don't you come to the beach with us?”
“I have to finish making some arrangements on the song I will sing tonight at Nano's bar. I have promised him ...”
“Daughter, music is not everything in life; you also have to get a little distracted doing other things.”
Nina now knew what her mother meant by “doing other things,” and the pornographic images on her cell phone returned harshly.
She barely tasted the fish, which in other circumstances, would have delighted her.
“Have you hated fish, Nina? Two days ago, you were excited, and today you haven't even tried it! You won't be sick!”
“No, Mom, I have no appetite, I already told you it must be because of the heat.”
“I think after a good nap, we will all feel better.”
When they returned to the apartment, they found Nano at the bar entrance, hanging on the deckchairs' customers. Nina approached him to tell him about her new song.
“Nina, we are going to the apartment, you can stay here, you will come later.”
Nina tried to describe her new song, and Nano promised her he would make the arrangements as she had done with the first song. He was so interested in listening to Nina that he didn't see that some customers were trying to get his attention. His boss was watching his distraction and sulkily rebuked Nano for his inattention.
“Nano, I already warned you not to get distracted and abandon the clients, but I see that you've paid little attention. You can talk as much as you want with your friend because you are fired! Tomorrow collect your things and before noon leave the room free, which others will occupy.”
“Thank you!” Nano replied indignantly, “you don't know the favor you are doing me!”
Nina felt guilty about the sudden dismissal, which added to her guilt over what had happened the night before.
“It was my fault, Nano. Where will you go if they kick you out of your room? I think my mother will accept you to stay in our apartment until you find a better solution. Come, let's ask her.”
When they arrived in front of the apartment, a red towel hung from the terrace's railing.
“Nano, we must wait, because my mother is busy with what seems to be her favorite fun!”
“And what is her favorite fun?”
“Go to bed with her lover three or four times a day!”
“You are talking about your mother!”
“Even though I'm embarrassed, that's right! But I'm not the one who should judge her ...” Nina stretched out on the sand on the beach, gazed for a moment at the pale reflection of the moon in the sea, and asked Nano to sit next to her. “I guess you should know. Before meeting you, I was an innocent girl; I believed in the people's virtue and good faith. I was convinced that I would never agree to have relations with a boy if I was not in love. When I met you, I saw the same innocence in your eyes, and I understood that we were two soulmates. When I found out you were a musician, I knew of my feelings. I had fallen in love with you, and that's why the first song came out ... But you have to know ... The same night of our great success, I must have lost my mind because we went with my colleague's gang from the music academy to bathe on the beach ... And I consented to have sex with him. So I am no longer who to judge my mother! Now you know why it looked so awful when we ran into each other in the morning!”
Nano listened to Nina's distressing confession without knowing what to answer. He felt guilty for having contributed to her unexpected success. Her fears had been confirmed: sudden success would destroy her, but it had happened much sooner than expected!
“Nina, I'm sorry!”
“Nano, let's get out of here and let my mother go to bed with all the lovers she wants! I can't stand her presence anymore! You no longer have a job; nothing ties you to this false paradise. Let's live our lives with innocence. We will earn a living singing our songs on other cities' streets where no one knows us. You and me alone, without bosses or lovers or record directors or deckchairs. Just you and me and our music, we need nothing else!”
Nano was deeply confused. According to their wish, escaping with Nina and living a life of adventure seemed to her an option close to what Paradise should be. But he knew they wouldn't get very far because neither of them had come of age. They would soon locate and return her to her mother, despite her immoral conduct. As for him, he could be accused of kidnapping or any other crime, if some mercenary lawyer proposed it to him.
Nina gazed at the sky where the stars faintly shone, extinguished by the mist of the evaporated water of the sea.
“I want to be free and live my life as I understand it. I cannot bear falsehood, deceit, dissimulation, vanity, envy, greed, indecency. A mother is not only the one who has given birth to you but the one who teaches you to be a person so you can live your life with dignity ... I would like to fly and lose myself among those millions of stars in the universe and never return to set foot on this corrupted world!”
“Nina, maybe your dream can come true ...”
“Shall we run away? Are you serious?”
“Yes, I'm serious. I'm sick of all this too. I don't study music and guitar just to change bosses.
We are the artists who have made this world pleasant. But they are only interested in our creations and our ideas, but we are human beings. Yes, Nina, I am serious, we will escape. A single day of freedom is worth more than a hundred years of slavery!”
“And where will we go?”
“I have some friends who have formed a musical group to perform summers in hotels, I was part of that group before coming to this town. They will help us, and they are near here. I have some money saved, enough for the trips, and, if we do not find them, we will survive sometimes.”
“And when are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow. Your mother and her lover will surely go to the beach. Stay in the apartment with an excuse, and take your things, only the essentials and fit in your backpack. Then meet me at the bus stop that leaves here at 12:30. Agree?”
“Okay, Nano, I'll be there!”
“Nina, daughter, this morning, you seemed the happiest girl in this world, and now you seem the most unfortunate. Why do you have those mood swings? What has happened to you now?”
Nina would have liked to open up to her mother and ask her why she consented to take pictures of her indecent behavior, but she didn't dare.
“Is nothing; It is because of this heat; it is very overwhelming!”
“Why don't you come to the beach with us?”
“I have to finish making some arrangements on the song I will sing tonight at Nano's bar. I have promised him ...”
“Daughter, music is not everything in life; you also have to get a little distracted doing other things.”
Nina now knew what her mother meant by “doing other things,” and the pornographic images on her cell phone returned harshly.
She barely tasted the fish, which in other circumstances, would have delighted her.
“Have you hated fish, Nina? Two days ago, you were excited, and today you haven't even tried it! You won't be sick!”
“No, Mom, I have no appetite, I already told you it must be because of the heat.”
“I think after a good nap, we will all feel better.”
When they returned to the apartment, they found Nano at the bar entrance, hanging on the deckchairs' customers. Nina approached him to tell him about her new song.
“Nina, we are going to the apartment, you can stay here, you will come later.”
Nina tried to describe her new song, and Nano promised her he would make the arrangements as she had done with the first song. He was so interested in listening to Nina that he didn't see that some customers were trying to get his attention. His boss was watching his distraction and sulkily rebuked Nano for his inattention.
“Nano, I already warned you not to get distracted and abandon the clients, but I see that you've paid little attention. You can talk as much as you want with your friend because you are fired! Tomorrow collect your things and before noon leave the room free, which others will occupy.”
“Thank you!” Nano replied indignantly, “you don't know the favor you are doing me!”
Nina felt guilty about the sudden dismissal, which added to her guilt over what had happened the night before.
“It was my fault, Nano. Where will you go if they kick you out of your room? I think my mother will accept you to stay in our apartment until you find a better solution. Come, let's ask her.”
When they arrived in front of the apartment, a red towel hung from the terrace's railing.
“Nano, we must wait, because my mother is busy with what seems to be her favorite fun!”
“And what is her favorite fun?”
“Go to bed with her lover three or four times a day!”
“You are talking about your mother!”
“Even though I'm embarrassed, that's right! But I'm not the one who should judge her ...” Nina stretched out on the sand on the beach, gazed for a moment at the pale reflection of the moon in the sea, and asked Nano to sit next to her. “I guess you should know. Before meeting you, I was an innocent girl; I believed in the people's virtue and good faith. I was convinced that I would never agree to have relations with a boy if I was not in love. When I met you, I saw the same innocence in your eyes, and I understood that we were two soulmates. When I found out you were a musician, I knew of my feelings. I had fallen in love with you, and that's why the first song came out ... But you have to know ... The same night of our great success, I must have lost my mind because we went with my colleague's gang from the music academy to bathe on the beach ... And I consented to have sex with him. So I am no longer who to judge my mother! Now you know why it looked so awful when we ran into each other in the morning!”
Nano listened to Nina's distressing confession without knowing what to answer. He felt guilty for having contributed to her unexpected success. Her fears had been confirmed: sudden success would destroy her, but it had happened much sooner than expected!
“Nina, I'm sorry!”
“Nano, let's get out of here and let my mother go to bed with all the lovers she wants! I can't stand her presence anymore! You no longer have a job; nothing ties you to this false paradise. Let's live our lives with innocence. We will earn a living singing our songs on other cities' streets where no one knows us. You and me alone, without bosses or lovers or record directors or deckchairs. Just you and me and our music, we need nothing else!”
Nano was deeply confused. According to their wish, escaping with Nina and living a life of adventure seemed to her an option close to what Paradise should be. But he knew they wouldn't get very far because neither of them had come of age. They would soon locate and return her to her mother, despite her immoral conduct. As for him, he could be accused of kidnapping or any other crime, if some mercenary lawyer proposed it to him.
Nina gazed at the sky where the stars faintly shone, extinguished by the mist of the evaporated water of the sea.
“I want to be free and live my life as I understand it. I cannot bear falsehood, deceit, dissimulation, vanity, envy, greed, indecency. A mother is not only the one who has given birth to you but the one who teaches you to be a person so you can live your life with dignity ... I would like to fly and lose myself among those millions of stars in the universe and never return to set foot on this corrupted world!”
“Nina, maybe your dream can come true ...”
“Shall we run away? Are you serious?”
“Yes, I'm serious. I'm sick of all this too. I don't study music and guitar just to change bosses.
We are the artists who have made this world pleasant. But they are only interested in our creations and our ideas, but we are human beings. Yes, Nina, I am serious, we will escape. A single day of freedom is worth more than a hundred years of slavery!”
“And where will we go?”
“I have some friends who have formed a musical group to perform summers in hotels, I was part of that group before coming to this town. They will help us, and they are near here. I have some money saved, enough for the trips, and, if we do not find them, we will survive sometimes.”
“And when are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow. Your mother and her lover will surely go to the beach. Stay in the apartment with an excuse, and take your things, only the essentials and fit in your backpack. Then meet me at the bus stop that leaves here at 12:30. Agree?”
“Okay, Nano, I'll be there!”
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