Va Fa Napoli

Tre

It's been a few weeks, so I made it up with an extra long chapter :D

Enjoy!

~*~

Nothing. I had achieved absolutely nothing with my asking around so far.

Yesterday I'd spent the whole day on visiting tattoo parlors, but no one could give me the answers I was looking for.

As soon as I showed my father's tattoo there was only hostility in their eyes and the tattoo artist tried to get me out of his shop as quickly as possible.

In desperation I even went to one of poorer neighborhoods to see if they could help me there. Not one of my most brilliant inspirations.

As I stepped out of the cab and looked around at the neighborhood, I already knew what a bad idea it'd been. The concrete of the street was cracked and sun-bleached, the shops on each side were once gaily painted, but now peel, crackle and flake. This didn't make me feel at ease at all.

I just entered a random tattoo parlor. I felt extremely uncomfortable as I immediately felt the eyes of the tattoo artist shamelessly scan my body from top to bottom. It wasn't his looks that made me so uncomfortable, but the dangerous smirk playing around his lips. I wanted to leave as soon as I'd opened the creaking door.

He got off his stool and walked towards the counter in a chillingly slow pace, not once taking his eyes of me. He grinned and asked me if I wanted to get a tattoo.

I shook my head forcing a smile and, for the umpteenth time that day, showed a sketch of my father's tattoo. His whole demeanor changed when I asked for the meaning of the tattoo.

I remember every single word that had left his mouth. 'You lookin' for trouble bambina? Because asking around about that tattoo is definitely going to get you in some.' He'd subtly started to make his way around the counter while I slowly backed away. I couldn't precisely decipher the look in his eyes, but it didn't bode well.

I forced a fake smile and slipped through the door as quickly as possible. I didn't look back to see if he was behind me and just slipped into the cab.

When I finally recovered from the shock and made my way into the apartment, Rachel was already getting ready for the night. I wearily plopped down on the couch and kicked of my heels.

She asked me if I wanted to go out too tonight, but I shook my head apologetically. Rachel didn't even protest anymore and just rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed with my behavior. I knew I'd promised her to have fun together in Naples, but I was just too tired to do anything.

While she was sleeping off her hangover this morning, and probably afternoon, I had gotten up quite early.

I'd placed a note on Rachel's nightstand saying I was going to explore the city and she could call me when she was awake and wanted to join me. Knowing Rachel, she'd have a killer headache when she woke up, so before I left I quickly placed a glass of water and an aspirin next to the note.

Before I, despite the warnings, would visit some tattoo shops again I decided to actually explore the city for a bit.

This morning had already started off really good when the smell of fresh bread entered my room through my window. The baker below our apartment had once again baked a fresh load of bread rolls and when the smell hit me, I decided to get a few of those later.

Rachel and I were really lucky with the location of our apartment, because within three minutes I walked in one of the most peaceful environments of Naples with a heavenly pain au chocolate in my hand. The park was almost empty, except for the occasional runners who had also gotten up early for their morning run.