Hard times, hard work.

The clouds were covering up the sky, the vineyard, and the cornfield my neighbor owned was covered in snow, so was everyone else’s house. I got up excited and woke my younger sister Luisa up, we both put our jackets on and left the house to play, it was the best moment I got throughout the day because later on, I would have to take care of the house. You see, I am only a twelve years old girl, but my mom is a hard worker she was the one who put food in the table and blankets on our beds. We didn’t have a lot of money, and to be more specific we couldn’t afford electricity or a nice meal, therefore we had to take showers in the lake during the summer, and with mugs filled with water during the winter. We lived in the middle of nowhere in Frosinone, Italy. We had only three neighbors, one of them was a communist congressman that every kid was afraid of – Although he had amazing cherries in his yard no one would dare to approach his house-  My dad moved to another country to start a new life right after I was born, he still helps us with the house though, sometimes I wonder what would happen if I moved to Brazil to be with my dad.

“Kids, come inside it’s time to go to school.” My mom yelled from the kitchen window

Luisa and glanced at each other finished up our snowman and ran inside to get our backpacks and a slice of homemade bread for lunch.  My mom kissed us goodbye and we walked to the train, everything was covered in snow, so it was hard to walk, but it was our only transportation to school. I’m not going to lie, it was fun, and sometimes one of our neighbors, Lorenzo, joined us on our journey to school. His financial situation was a little better than mine, but he lived with his dad, just like everyone else in school…

Today the train didn’t crow, workers from all over the country took all of the space on the train, don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining, they work cleaning up the mess that the war made and helping families and places that lost everything. However, it feels certainly nice to be able to sit in a comfortable booth with my friends. The ride lasted one hour and forty minutes, twenty minutes less than usual.

The school was another challenge to me, I have always enjoyed learning, I craved information all of the time, all of my teachers thought I was a role model to my class, but at the same time, they thought I was a freak.  I had to give my mom a short and cold letter written by every teacher, every single day.

                                                                                                                                           December 14^th

                                                                                                                                                         9:00A.M

Dear Ms. Cardin

Francesca is disrespectful with her classmates and I, again, please teach your child some manners. This type of behavior will not be tolerated anymore.

Mr. Reddin

“Another one honey?” My mom looked at me with concern in her eyes while I handed her the letter with my right hand trying to hide the left in my pockets. “Your hand is bleeding… Let me take care of this” My tears were falling onto my cheekbones; my mom was so thoughtful although she agreed that I had to start using my right hand for my own good. She grabbed a glass of water and a piece of old clothing to wrap my hand. “every time, you look at this bruise just remember you have to use your right hand.” And that was what I did, I slowly learned and took care but sometimes it was inevitable because of the habit.

On the way back to school, Luisa, Lorenzo, and I were talking about what he wanted to be when he grows up.

 “I want to fight for our country just like my dad did,” Lorenzo said with confidence in his voice

“But your dad died during the war, and it’s not like you have a lot of choices…” I said breaking the mood

“You may be right, but I would enjoy it.”

“I wish I could work and help mom out” Luisa sounded depressed for a minute but a few seconds later she was jumping around in the snow

“Don’t be silly little sister, that would be my biggest dream, but we are not allowed to”

We walked past the central fruit and vegetable market in Rome, the fruits looked so tasty and beautiful.

“Oh, I wish we could buy one for mom, they look so good,” Luisa exclaimed.

“We don’t have the money today Lu, but I am sure we can come with mom during the weekend.” I hate to say this to her, sometimes it is hard to watch an eight years old kid starve, but I think she was used to it just like I was…

“I can get us some apples, my nonna gave me money to buy fruits at the market today,” Lorenzo said with a big smile in his eyes.

“You don’t have to Lorenzo, It’s so sweet of you though.”

“Don’t worry it would be my pleasure” I could hear the excitement in his voice.

Lorenzo bought us and my mom apples, and we laughed and talked all the way back home.

The next morning Luisa and I woke up early to go after the chickens to get the eggs, today my mom was planning on making a better meal because it was almost Christmas eve. It was tedious work, but Luisa and I knew it would be worth it later tonight. We got the eggs and raced each other to the house, while we were running I tripped on something stuck in the ground underneath the snow.

“You broke half of the eggs!” Luisa screamed and helped me to get up.

“That was all your fault, we shouldn’t have run” I was covered in eggs and it was my best clothes.

“I know what we can do, we should go ask Lorenzo if he has eggs” Luisa turned around and started walking in the direction of his house.

“Wait! I think There’s something under the snow, maybe its worth something!” I exclaimed but Luisa was already too far to hear

We knocked on his door shaking, my fingers were freezing but I was sweating cold. I didn’t want that Lorenzo saw me like that or if he thought I was being rude to ask. When Lorenzo opened the door, he gave a big smile and told us to come in. We nervously waited in his small living room, everything looked so beautiful to me, his house had a living room, kitchen, and three bedrooms. It was different than my house, we only had a kitchen, one-bedroom, and the bathroom was outside in the cold. After a few minutes, Lorenzo brought the eggs and offered to help. I sent Luisa home with the eggs while I showed him what I had tripped onto earlier that day.

“It is the remainder of war weapons. I can’t believe it! That is worth a lot of money. It is a Christmas miracle.” I said while giving Lorenzo a big smile

“Come on, let me help you take this to your house” Lorenzo picked the weapon up and I could tell it was heavy

When we got home, my mom was surprised to see what we found, we said a prayer that night and we made a promise to go visit my dad.

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that my mom and Luisa were already packed and ready to go. We took the train to the Port of Civitavecchia located in Rome. Lorenzo came with us to say goodbye, he has been so sweet lately. I was so excited to go to another country, especially because I have never been on a boat before.

Lorenzo said goodbye to my mom and Luisa first, they both thanked him for everything he has done for them and they turned around, leaving Lorenzo and I alone for a minute.

“I’ll miss you; I hope you know that,” Lorenzo said softly. I could tell he was blushing

“ I’ll miss you too, I don’t know how long I will stay in Brazil, maybe forever. I want to thank you for everything, you are the sweetest” I noticed I started to blush as well.

“No problem, I hope you enjoy your time, I’ll write you” He looked down to his feet, so I grabbed his face, gave him a kiss, and I left in a hurry.

Now we are in the boat and all I can think of is that I’m going to have a new life, live with my dad and Lorenzo will not be in it, I know I love this boy and that probably I will never see him again, but I know he was a big part in my life for all of those years.