With Malice (21 page)

Ms. Charron was yelling and cursing at Ms. McIvory. She lunged forward and pushed Ms. McIvory. Ms. McIvory fell backwards and cracked her right elbow on the stone baluster. Mr. Landini assisted Ms. McIvory in regaining her feet. I restrained Ms. Charron to ensure the situation didn't escalate, and she began to cry. I asked them all for their names and school group. Mr. Landini requested that I not call the incident in and said that he would take responsibility for the two girls, as he was one of the program heads. Given that he was involved in the altercation, I declined his offer and used my radio to contact the main desk. Security then located the school coordinator, Ms. Ochoa, and she met us in the stairwell.

Health and Safety attended the scene. They indicated that Ms. McIvory had a small scrape on her right elbow, and she was provided with a Band-Aid. It was their impression that the arm was not broken, but they suggested that she could obtain further medical attention and x-rays at the hospital. Ms. McIvory declined this option. She was given a disposable ice pack. Ms. Ochoa was informed that the disturbance would be noted in museum records and that her organization would be on notice that disturbances such as this are frowned upon by the museum.

This represents my full understanding of this event.

Maria Spadonni

Text Log, April 25

EXCERPT FROM SECOND POLICE INTERVIEW WITH NICCOLO LANDINI

Date: 17 May  Time: 11:00

Florence Police Department

Present: Niccolo Landini, Detective Salette

Original transcript in Italian, translated to English by Stoker and Mills Translation Services, New York, New York

DETECTIVE SALETTE: Why did you fail to mention your involvement with Ms. McIvory in our initial meeting?

NICCOLO: There was no real
involvement.
It was a single encounter. This is why I didn't mention it. I knew something would be made of it that wasn't true. You are twisting the situation.

DETECTIVE SALETTE: But you were romantically involved with her, isn't that correct?

NICCOLO: If you consider a single kiss romantically involved, then yes. It was unfortunate, and I am ashamed. I did care for Jill, very much, but I am also human. Her friend Simone was very . . . persistent.

DETECTIVE SALETTE: So you're saying that Simone was the instigator of the relationship?

NICCOLO: Again, there was no relationship, but yes, Simone was the one who chased me. It started with smiles, brushing up against me when we passed. She would lean over, make sure that I saw she wasn't wearing a bra. Then she started saying things, letting me know that she was interested. It was silly and childish. I could tell she didn't like that my attention was on Jill. She wanted to see if she could move my focus to her. We kissed, but it was only the one time at the museum. A mistake. I will admit that.

DETECTIVE SALETTE: And how did Jill respond when she caught you?

NICCOLO: Jill was upset of course, but the situation has been blown out of proportion. There was no screaming or yelling. I hear the papers say there was a fight between the girls, but that isn't true.

DETECTIVE SALETTE: The museum security guard reported that Jill shoved Simone.

NICCOLO: No, no, no. This didn't happen. She poked at Simone with a finger, and Simone stepped back and stumbled into the wall. Jill was angry, but had we had a chance, we would have made up.

DETECTIVE SALETTE: Did Jill tell you that she had forgiven you? Or Simone?

NICCOLO: Sadly, we never had a chance to discuss it. I never saw either girl again. The teacher, Ms. Ochoa, overreacted. Americans are very uptight about sex. This is what passion is—strong feelings—but they run from it. They are scared of emotion. If we had had a chance to talk, then everything would have been fine, but I was denied this option.

POLICE STATEMENT FROM MS. OCHOA, PROGRAM DIRECTOR FOR ADVENTURES ABROAD

Transcript to be provided to Italian police

I met with both Simone and Jill that evening. I can't express how disappointed I was in them for causing an incident at the museum. I'd made it clear to all the students at the start of the trip that they are ambassadors for this program and for their country. This was clearly not the kind of behavior I expected or would tolerate.

I informed the girls that I had fired Nico and that I would be in touch with his academic advisor. It was obvious to me that he was involved with both girls and that this duplicity had blown up in all of their faces. He was in a mentorship role with our organization, and he abused that trust.

Jill attempted to stand up for Nico, indicating that she wanted to be in a relationship with him. This seemed to upset Simone, who insisted that Nico wasn't worth it. She stated that she had been with Nico to prove to Jill that he was no good. Needless to say, Jill felt strongly that there would have been better ways for Simone to express her unhappiness with her relationship.

I informed the girls that I would be sharing what had transpired with their parents. Both requested that I not do this. Jill was concerned that her parents might try to make her leave the program early, and Simone indicated that her parents were very strict. As I mentioned in my previous statement, both girls were eighteen. I typically do not involve parents unless it is an issue of safety or health, as I think it is important in this time of helicopter parenting to let the girls stand on their own. I admit I decided not to email either set of parents. I felt it would be best to wait a few days to see if the situation could be resolved.

I informed both Jill and Simone that what disappointed me the most was that I was aware that the two of them had been friends for a very long time. It seemed a shame to me that a long-term friendship would be ended over an ill-advised romantic entanglement. One thing that Jill said stuck with me. She agreed with me that Nico wasn't worth it, but Jill had thought she should have been worth it to Simone. That it didn't matter that Simone had kissed Nico; what mattered was that Simone had stabbed her in the back.

Jill indicated that she wanted to change her rooming assignment and that she didn't believe she could share with Simone any longer. I told the girls that I wasn't going to change the room assignments because it would be disruptive to the entire group. I hoped that if they were forced to interact, they would work things out. Obviously, I regret this decision in hindsight, but I honestly believed with the long-term history between the girls, as well as how it seemed clear to me that they really cared about each other, even if there were some issues in their friendship, they would resolve things.

CNN Breaking News Report

Justice for Simone
Blog

Don't even bother trying to make it up to me. YOU ended the friendship. Someone who can be so disloyal is dead to me!

I saw Anna looking around the physio gym from the doorway. I was in the back on a plinth. Sam had hooked me up to a TENS machine. It was supposed to help with the pain. I wanted to get completely off the pain medication. I figured I should have a goal as long as I was going to be sticking around the hospital. Dr. Weeks said there was no reason to believe that the low levels of drugs I was on would have any impact on my memory, but I wasn't sure. When the nurse delivered the tiny beige pills just before bed, I loved the warm fuzzy feeling they gave me. It was like being under a fleece blanket with a mug of hot chocolate. It smoothed out all the edges, made things feel soft. But that softening came at a price. Maybe my mind wouldn't let me remember if it was too easy. Without the pills, my life was sharp and jagged. Maybe I needed those edges to snag, to rip a memory free. I had to remember so I could prove I hadn't done it. I was running out of time.

Anna spotted me and wove her chair through the gym. She was keeping an eye out for Sam. He didn't like people to have their sessions interrupted. She rolled up next to me.

“When are you out of here?” Anna asked.

I glanced at the clock over the door. “Another twenty minutes.”

“Meet me up on the roof deck. I've got some stuff to show you.” She wheeled off without saying anything else.

Whatever she'd found couldn't be good news. She hadn't hunted me down to tell me my hair was looking great or that some hot actor or athlete was stopping by the rehab center to visit with patients and take pictures. I checked the clock again. Not even a full minute had gone by. If I tried to wait nineteen more, I'd explode. I peeled up the electrodes. I'd tell Sam I had a headache. He'd give me the face, but then he'd let me go. Technically I should be discharged anyway. The only reason I was still in the program was as a way to hide me from the Italian authorities. I could tell everyone on the treatment team felt awkward about the situation. I was taking up a bed that could have been used by someone else.