Beyond the end

Chapter 12. Babyboy

Los Angeles

The kitchen was in turmoil, it looked like the thieves had just passed by. Dirty dishes in the washbasin, six different bottles scattered around the hob, obviously dirty, soothers on the floor, smelly diapers in the trash basket, assorted stains of various colors on the floor, rattles, baby leotards, exhausted redness creams, assorted plush toys, maternity clothes on stools placed next to the island once used for breakfast and now at the mercy of jars and bags of milk powder, all empty. A real delirium. The soundtrack was one, constant, inexorable: the scream of a child. Ethan didn't want to know how to sleep, neither day nor especially at night. Woman alternated sadness over a hint of postpartum depression with hysteria for lack of sleep. David didn't know what saint to vote for. He would take the baby and scream louder; he left him in the crib and screamed his wife.

"Take it, for God's sake!"

He had sympathized with the owner of a small children's shop near his house, in a sort of paternal alliance; Josh, this is the name of the "solidarity", had three children aged 6, 4 and 1 year old. So he knew at a menadito what Silver was going through. He spared the classic joke "and you haven't seen anything yet", which from the height of his experience with three infants could show off without any risk of error; but he knew that to console a novice father he had to avoid falling into cliché. On the contrary, he tried to comfort him: "see me? I am here, safe and sound, survived three pregnancies, three births, three weanings and so on. It will pass, you just have to have patience and a great temper. You can make it Silver."

These reassurances undoubtedly had some effect on the boy who, at one point, was almost looking for the excuse to go to "Baby". So much so that Donna almost began to suspect that she had a lover.

"David Silver, these continuous Baby journeys of yours leave me puzzled; aren't you going to play with some little girls at the checkout?!"

"Yes Donna, the beautiful Josh. But don't say nonsense, I just try to make myself useful for our baby"

"Well, then do it and go get it! Don't you hear crying? He'll be dirty, change his cloth and maybe, if it's not too much trouble, take him a bath."

David tried, again this time, not to go into escandescence; he remembered what his analyst had told him about the puerpers and still brought patience, without replying. He went to the child, who screamed like an obsess, took him and began tinkering in the bathroom to put an end to this torture. And it was while Ethan had calmed down and was enjoying the relaxation of the warm water that rang his cell phone. An unregistered number on the screen. "Who will ever disturb Papino while playing with his baby?" Ethan looked at him smiling. And his smile immediately put the whole world back in its place. "Ready"

"David bye! What a pleasure to hear from you! How are you?" "Excuse me, who's talking?"

"But how don't you recognize me?"

As he did not recognize her, it had been five years, but her voice was always the same. He quickly thought back to that greeting in front of the taxi with the engine running, in front of Walsh's house.

"Call as soon as you arrive," David said.

"I will miss you"

"I'll miss you too," replied Valerie sincerely, "why don't you come with me?" He had mentioned, with little hope.

"I can't leave everything like that," David smiled.

"I know; we face the future without looking back, we must never look back ... hello," concluded Valerie moved. They hugged and after a few seconds the taxi slipped on the asphalt towards the airport. And then Val at his wedding. Always the same, always different. Happy for him. Independent Val, looking for something Val.

"Are you always there?" Valerie brought David back to the present, "Of course Val, how are you?" He said with a mixture of happiness and perplexity in hearing the beautiful Malone after all this time.

"It took you some time to recognize me; I thought my voice had left you an indelible mark," he said, lowering the stamp one tone and winking at the mirror he had on his desk. Over the years Valerie's sensuality had gained greater awareness; to beauty she had added a maturity that made her "merciless" when she decided that a man should be hers. Finally, her social position, as a career woman, gave her back a charm that was impossible to resist. But at that moment he was just playing. A game that the good Silver didn't get to the end, since from downstairs Donna was shouting "David is all right upstairs? Is Ethan still alive?"

"Yes Donna, we are fine, but thank you for your interest!" And lowering the tone "Valerie, right now, the only indelible sign is my son's milk residues on my jeans; I hope to be able to clean it up. How are you? What good wind leads you to look for me, after five years in which you haven't made a shred of phone call?"

David used all the sarcasm he was capable of "I know - she made the cat - I wasn't a good friend, but you know: I had returned home after so many years, my mother, the contacts to resume, a life to rebuild. I didn't want ties to Los Angeles, it was already difficult to start from scratch without putting the nostalgia of the friends left in between."

David snorted to himself, "Of course, I can understand that."

"After 3 years I left - Val continued - and moved to New York, where I started running an art gallery; I really like it, you know?" "I'm happy for you" David was already grappling with Ethan and the towel.

"Meanwhile, I work on a radio, an afternoon show so I don't have to get up to get up," he laughed, "I had a child and I'm drying it right now."

"Oh, what a beauty" the irony quickly passed from one side of the phone to the other.

"Don't judge what you don't know," David said piqued.

"No judgment, imagine; let's go to the point"

"Yes, let's go"

"Next week I'm coming to run a gallery in Los Angeles, a six-month project. I'm going to live at the Hilton for the first two weeks, but hotel life isn't for me, no longer; already proven experience that I don't want to repeat."

"But is there any convention at Hilton?" "Please?" Said Val.

"Nothing, go ahead."

"Okay, I need a hand to find a house for the six months of stay; a small villa, possibly with pool and garden; I thought of you."

"Look, I missed real estate work."

"Come on David, I don't know who else to ask, you're the only friend I've left in Los Angeles to whom I can ask for courtesy."

David's good heart was felt by that sincerely heartfelt request; or so it seemed.

"All right Val, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you thank you thank you David!" She was genuinely happy.

"Then I'll see you on Tuesday at 3.30 pm at the airport, I'll text you with the flight details," "Wait a minute, what does that mean?"

"I have to go David, you're a treasure, I love you" click. David looked in the mirror. He made it to me again, he thought. And he smiled. In any case, I was happy to see Valerie again, from below they resumed the screams "David, what the hell are you still doing??!!". Very happy...