Silence Is Golden (21 page)

He spins and covers the distance between them in a flash. As he reaches for her neck with his hands, I see Dora’s eyes widen with fear.

“No!” I cry.

Aris stops, gasping. He stares at her with pure hatred in his eyes.

“I want you to leave immediately,” he says.

“So you can be with her? Never.”

“You have no choice. This is my house,” he replies.

“I’ll take you to court, and you’d better believe that I’ll win.”

“You’re insane, Dora,” he says, lowering his voice. “Get out of my life.”

Dora looks at him in utter shock. She starts to go down the stairs, then suddenly whips around. “You’ll both pay for this!” she cries.

She places her foot on the next step, but her ankle suddenly gives way. She slips and falls, tumbling down the staircase. I scream. When she finally comes to a stop at the bottom of the staircase, she is motionless. Her eyes are wide open, but they’re not seeing anything.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

It’s been a few days since that night, but I can’t forget a single moment. I resent every word that Dora uttered, and I shudder at Aris hearing all that in such a short span of time, after they’d spent so many years together. After she fell that night, Aris had been too stunned to move. I ran down both sets of stairs to reach her, only to have my fears confirmed. I looked at Aris, and his eyes were completely clouded over, their vivid blue turned to gray. I climbed back up the stairs and reached out to him.

“Aris . . .”

He didn’t react. He was like a statue, standing completely still, staring at Dora’s body lying at the bottom of the stairs.

“Aris, we have to call someone!” My shouting didn’t elicit a response, nor a change in his expression. His eyes hardened, and his gaze became steely. He climbed the stairs all the way to the top, then went into his room and slammed the door behind him.

“Aris!” I cried, to no avail.

I felt powerless, kneeling there on the floor. Suddenly overcome with nausea, I threw up on the second-floor landing. I couldn’t believe what was happening. The most beautiful night of my life had turned into a nightmare. I summoned all my courage and went into the living room to get the phone, not looking at Dora’s body as I walked past it. I dialed the emergency number and explained the situation to the operator. After I hung up, I sat on the floor to wait.

When the paramedics and police arrived, they asked me questions. I told them that Aris and Dora had had an argument and that Dora fell down the stairs. They treated me with professional courtesy, but there was definitely suspicion in their eyes as I spoke. An officer escorted me home and left me alone, at my insistence. When I went into my house and saw the table still set from when Aris and I had dinner there together just a few hours earlier, happy and carefree, I collapsed. After a good, long cry, I fell asleep.

The next day, I went to the carpenter’s shop, but it was closed. The lights weren’t on. I went around back to the house and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. When I turned to leave, I saw Benedetto walking toward me, and I ran up to him. He hugged me and brought me to his house. Since then, Benedetto and Linda have been taking care of me. They told me that Aris was arrested because he’d refused to say anything after the officers convinced him to leave his room. It felt like someone was ripping my heart out of my chest as they told me this. I relayed everything that had happened that night, that the police had said there would be an investigation and that I would be interrogated.

“I have to see him. I have to talk to him.”

“He doesn’t want to see anyone,” Benedetto said.

“But I want to see him!”

“Not even you. I’m sorry. The police asked him about visitors, and he shook his head no.”

“That can’t be. Please take me to see him.”

Benedetto wasn’t swayed. He told me that I just have to give Aris time, that all this has been very traumatic for Aris and that he’s probably still in shock. I pretended to be understanding. I calmed down for Benedetto’s sake, but it was all just for show. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll run away.

Benedetto and Linda have been constantly watching me, but this morning, a week after that dreadful night, they’re both out of the house. I call Emma. She arrives almost immediately, and I hop in her car.

“Let’s hurry,” I tell her. “If Benedetto sees me, he won’t let me go.”

She drives off, and stops the car just outside town. She looks pained and anxious. I don’t even think about how I must look to her.

“I kept calling you,” she says, “but you never picked up. Then it started going straight to voicemail.”

“My phone’s still at my house. It must have died.”

“Why didn’t you call me? You could have stayed with me.”

“Benedetto practically forced me to stay with them. He told me that people would be coming after me and that I’d need protection.”

“He’s right. I hadn’t thought about that. You’d be an easy target at my place. The whole town is talking about this. Teresa keeps telling everyone that you killed Dora on purpose.”

“That’s insane! It was an accident, Emma, I swear! Dora fell! No one pushed her!”

“I believe you, Emilia, and apparently the police do as well, or else they would have arrested you too.”

“I’ve got to see him, Emma. You have to help me.”

“I don’t think that’s possible. The police won’t allow it. You were the only other witness, and they might interpret your visit as conspiratorial.”

“All the same, I have to try.”

“Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she says, restarting the engine. We head to the same police station I was taken to before, when my father had accused me of theft. Right now, however, I’m entirely focused on seeing Aris. I see the same inspector who questioned me before, and I ask him permission to see Aris. He immediately denies my request.

“You must be Davide,” I say, remembering his name. “Aris told me you’ve been friends for years. Please.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t allow it. The hearing will be in two days. Have you received the summons?”

“I haven’t. I haven’t been home. Can I have it now?”

He hands me a sheet of paper that I stuff into my pocket without even glancing at it.

“Can you at least tell me how he is?” I ask.

“He hasn’t said a word. He isn’t eating,” he says.

I turn to Emma, who looks at me sympathetically.

“He’s going to get sick.” I berate the inspector. “Let me talk to him. I can get him to eat.”

He shakes his head. It’s no use.

“Can you at least give him a message from me?”

“I’ll have to read it first.”

“That’s fine.”

He nods and hands me a pen and paper. I sit down at a small table in the corner.

“Even forever wouldn’t be enough for me. Please eat. I love you always. Emi.”

I give my message to the inspector, who reads it, embarrassed. He passes it to one of the officers.

“Take that to Martini,” he orders.

Emma gently leads me outside. We get back into the car. Neither of us says a word.

Once we’re back in front of Benedetto’s house, Emma tells me that she’ll accompany me to the hearing. I thank her but tell her that Benedetto will want to take me.

“I’ll be there just the same,” she replies.

I try to smile.

Benedetto comes to the door.

“I’m not allowed to see him. He hasn’t spoken or eaten a thing.”

Then I burst into tears, and he hugs me.

The evening before the hearing, Benedetto takes me home to grab a more appropriate dress for the occasion. Once inside, I see that everything is in order. Linda must have tidied up for me. What a kind soul she is. I quickly slip into the bedroom. Everywhere I turn, something reminds me of Aris and the happy hours we’ve spent here together. Of course, the bedroom holds the majority of these memories, but I have to go in there since the dress I want is in the closet.

I open it, and hanging on the inside of the door, I notice the calendar that I use to keep track of my periods. I realize with a flash of panic that I haven’t gotten my period this month. How could I have forgotten about it? I sink down onto the bed because I’m not sure my legs will support me right now. Could that be the real reason why I’ve been so nauseous lately? Is my nausea unrelated to the recent string of stressful situations I’ve been in? I don’t know anything about pregnancy. I was the youngest child, so I’ve never had to deal with babies. But I do know that all signs point to one thing: I’m likely pregnant. Though Aris and I are usually careful, things happen. But why now?

“Emilia? Is everything okay?” Benedetto calls from the living room.

I quickly tuck the calendar into my coat pocket, grab the dress, and join him. If Aris and I are really going to have a child, I’d like to keep that news between us.

I get up at five the next morning after a brief sleep full of nightmares. The only thing I’m able to concentrate on is the fact that I’ll get to see Aris soon, even if I can’t actually be with him. They said that the hearing will be closed to the public, which is good news, since otherwise the entire town would show up. Benedetto and I are both ready to leave by seven. We travel silently through the valley to the city; even Benedetto has given up on trying to comfort me or give me hope.

Emma is waiting for me at the courthouse, just like she promised. She hugs me.

“How are you?”

I can’t find the words. Shaking my head, I shrug. I haven’t spoken for two whole days, and I’m not ready to start now.

This is just a preliminary hearing to decide whether or not Aris will be indicted. Though I remain silent, I haven’t stopped praying in my head (although I doubt that God will waste time on someone who hasn’t stepped foot in a church for years). Benedetto and Emma have to wait outside the courtroom, so I go in alone. Inside is the judge’s bench and people sitting at two smaller tables on opposite sides of the room. I sit in the first row of seats behind the tables and wait. A door soon opens, and the police inspector I recognize enters the courtroom, followed by Aris. It takes everything I have not to rush toward him and hug him. His eyes scan the room. They alight briefly on me, then continue moving to the table on the other side of the room, where his lawyer is sitting. He lowers his head. He’s become so thin it’s alarming. His eyes are rimmed with dark shadows, and his beautiful blond hair is matted and dull. His jeans are falling off his hips, and his shirt reveals the protruding bones in his shoulders. My heart skips a beat, and my stomach churns. The inspector approaches me and whispers in my ear.

“He’s started eating again. Just a little. But it’s something.”

I thank him with a look, but I can’t quite manage a smile. He resumes his post next to Aris. I breathe a little more normally after hearing that. I stare at Aris, willing him to turn to me, with no success. What is he thinking about? What’s been running through his mind over the past few days? Why wouldn’t he answer the questions from the police? I haven’t a clue, and I don’t know what he’ll do today either. If I’m stubborn, he’s granite. If he’s decided not to defend himself, he won’t. But I will defend him, and he can’t stop me.

The judge enters, and we all rise. Someone reads the docket entry, and I shiver upon hearing Aris’s name read like that of a criminal. The first witness to take the stand is the officer who responded to my emergency call. He says that he found me on the floor near Dora, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and that Aris was in his room with the door locked. He explains how he managed to get Aris to open his door and come out, but he also says that Aris refused to answer any questions that day. The judge looks perplexed. I review my testimony notes, and then I’m called to the witness stand. I feel weak. I slowly approach the stand. A quick glance from Aris restores what little strength I have. The prosecutor asks me to recount the facts from that night.

“Aris and Dora—er, Mrs. Martini—had an argument,” I say. “I saw it all happen from the top of the staircase that leads to Aris’s room.”

“And what were they arguing about?”

Do I have to say? Probably. But I’m going to leave out a few minor details.

“Aris asked me to marry him. Dora wasn’t pleased.”

“And you accepted his proposal?”

I look at the ring on my finger, at that beautiful blue stone.

“Yes.”

“Go ahead.”

“Mrs. Martini said she wasn’t going to let Aris marry me. He said that she couldn’t do that, that he was free to make that decision for himself. She responded with some vague threat, and then she began to walk down the stairs. It seemed as if her ankle gave way, and she fell and tumbled all the way down the stairs. When she landed at the bottom of the staircase, she didn’t move. That’s when I knew she was dead.”

“Where was Aris Martini when Mrs. Martini fell?”

“In the middle of the hallway. He was running from the main staircase to the smaller one that leads up to his room. His back was to her, and he turned around when I screamed. He saw her fall.”

“How long have you known Mr. Martini?”

“Since September.”

“What do you know about his relationship with Mrs. Martini?”

“I know that she was his father’s wife and that they usually got along. She looked after the house as if it was hers.”

Aris’s lawyer intervenes.

“Objection, Your Honor. We checked with the notary who deposited the will of Tommaso Martini. All property was left in the name of Aris Martini. Therefore, Mrs. Martini actually depended on her stepson. She had nothing of her own and was not working.”

“Sustained,” the judge says.

The prosecutor begins again. “Why was Mrs. Martini so opposed to your relationship with her stepson?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because I’m not from here. Or perhaps she was afraid that if we got married, he would have left her to go live with me.”

The prosecution’s co-counsel intervenes.

“Your Honor, let the record reflect that Mrs. Martini was afraid that once Aris Martini was married, he would have left her alone.”