The Unseen (14 page)

shit I thought I've had it now he's got it down in writing and that's how it'll stay but Lince breaks the silence again however I'll tell you the name myself the names rather because we've arrested your comrades all four of them and he mentions Gelso's name and three others I've never heard of it occurs to me it isn't true that the names are to make me talk it's a trick and if it turns out they haven't arrested them and they've only found the arms if even that you know these people don't you no I don't know them to be precise I know one of them there's one I know Gelso but I've never even heard of the other three and would it be this Gelso you sublet the house to damn we're back there again he's come in on a different tack I couldn't say I don't know Gelso but there's no way I could tell him I let the house to him what a mess I say nothing more and the truth is I feel quite muddled

so that's it you don't want to answer this question we've already got it in the statement but look you can be sure there's time to think again there's no problem at all in desperation I look at the lawyer say something for christ sake help me out but he was looking at me with an expression that said what the hell are you stalling for and Lince comes straight back at me very well you don't want to say let's continue the three you say you don't know have refused to speak and they've declared themselves political prisoners while this Gelso you've admitted to knowing has also given me this story about the sublet therefore you lose nothing by admitting it even if I have to tell you frankly I don't believe it I'm sure you've agreed your stories between you in advance but be assured that inquiries will prove you knew one another and that you too were well aware of the existence of those arms in your house

and he goes on raising his voice threateningly but you know that what amounts to a real arsenal was found in your house who do you expect to convince that you knew nothing about it listen for your own good I advise you to tell everything you know if you don't want to run into worse trouble so if you want we'll do the statement all over again we'll tear this one up and you'll tell me how things really are all you have to tell me is the truth but the real truth not what you and your friends concocted if you tell me the truth your crime could be altered from armed conspiracy and possession of weapons to aiding and abetting I can promise you I'll argue for this before the investigating judge otherwise I'll insist on the heaviest charges and you must know that with these charges you'll face years and years in prison

21

After the secondary school certificate exams I'd made up my mind to leave home to stop living with my family to leave the village for good and move elsewhere to rent a house and live there with China and the other comrades who made up our affinity group that's what we called it affinity group precisely because we were all in affinity about our way of living there was a natural understanding between us about how to take things about how to live them there was a great stress on doing things together in living together the whole time there were five of us and for all five the movement was our interest and our first commitment there were two girls and three guys and we'd decided to live together as a natural result of our involvement with one another as a small group

all five of us were fed up to the teeth with family life with going through the motions of being part of the family that really came down to just mealtimes and sleeping mealtimes where there was nothing to say to one another round the table there was no communication there was no interest or involvement and apart from these estranged empty times we spent with our families we spent all the rest of the time on the move like strays at the centre in the movement's haunts with comrades and that's where there was interest involvement communication there were things happening experimentation research the movement was my family with its dozens of open houses hospitable available that was where I had hundreds of siblings to talk to and do things with

the two main problems were money and living space the space had to be big enough to provide everyone with a room of their own as for money there was a bit of a problem because only two of us had a job and a regular wage me and the others who didn't have work would have to look for it however Cotogno and Gelso said not to worry because they could guarantee the rent for a little while and the living expenses too and food would be a shared kitty you put money in whenever you had it and that was all then maybe we'd take turns at going to work the ones who were working now would stop for a bit and the others would work and so on so really the money problem was a problem that could be solved

we started going round inquiring at the agencies but there was nothing to be found and what we did find was at prices we couldn't possibly afford then one day going round the outskirts Cotogno saw a house a little two-storey villa with a small garden in front it was clear no one had lived in it for years there were weeds even trailing up the walls yet there was no to let or for sale sign we rang a few doorbells nearby until we found out that the owner of that empty house for the past six years was a solicitor in the city called Spinone we looked in the phone book and we found the address of Spinone the solicitor and we made up our minds to go there and rent the house for ourselves

we'd decided three of us would go to the solicitor Cotogno me and China and since we had to deal with a solicitor we thought we ought to be well dressed Cotogno even put on one of his father's ties for the occasion that was a hideous sight to behold with a huge knot against a white shirt that hadn't been ironed what's more he'd given his unruly beard a trim and pulled back his long hair that was always sticking out untidily and put on lacquer to keep it flat only he'd put on too much and his hair was so flattened that his great big flapping ears stuck out though he hadn't removed the earring that was his pride and joy and to complete the picture and give himself a serious air he'd put on a pair of glasses with tortoise-shell frames that made him see all fuzzy when we saw him we didn't recognize him and all we did was laugh the whole time we had to wait in Spinone the solicitor's waiting room

when it's our turn Cotogno jumps to his feet and says peremptorily let me do the talking he goes into the office with the two of us behind him and Spinone the solicitor was sunk back in his brown leather armchair behind a huge desk all fancy and polished without a speck of dust he started when he saw Cotogno directly in front of him he just glanced quickly at us two and went back to staring at Cotogno visibly disturbed by the sight of him but given that we were clients he forced a smile and a question about how he could help us and Cotogno got right to the point at once listen my cousin here and his fiancee are getting married in a few weeks and they're looking for a house you see and the solicitor nodded with a smile

by good luck we found out that you have a house vacant in such and such a street and we'd like to rent it blurted Cotogno smiling back at him but the solicitor at once became serious even irritated and he replied no look I've got no intention of letting that house as you've seen there's no sign up I'm sorry good day to you and he gets up ah you don't want to let it to us says Cotogno no replies Spinone getting impatient it's not that I don't want to let it to you it's that that house isn't to let as I've just told you Cotogno gets up too and says fine if that's how it is we'll see you again no look why do you have to see me again there's no reason to see me again but Cotogno insists good day see you again soon and he makes for the door with us two in tow quite baffled

when we're outside Cotogno explains his plan to us first of all to find out more through a comrade who works in the land-office and it turns out that Spinone is the owner of two other houses and five flats all vacant and then to ask a score of comrades to give us a hand naturally they're more than willing and so a week later we reappear at the solicitor's office of course without warning we leave the comrades down in the street and the same three of us go up this time Cotogno is dressed normally but he still makes quite a startling impression no sooner does the solicitor's secretary set eyes on us than she stiffens and tells us at the door the solicitor's out today but Cotogno brushes past her oblivious and heads straight for the door of the office

as soon as Spinone sees us coming in he goes bananas well how dare you but Cotogno doesn't let him speak listen sweetie you are now going to let the house to us and none of that nonsense about it he threatens to call the police if we don't leave at once then Cotogno says that he'd better not because otherwise it'll come out that he has eight vacant houses that he's moreover not even paying taxes on Spinone gets madder and madder he looks as if he's going to explode any minute and he erupts hurling himself with a scream at China who looking as if the whole thing had nothing to do with her had casually lifted a gold fountain pen from the desk and was unscrewing the cap with a scream Spinone hurls himself at her and grabs the fountain pen from her hand and puts it back in its place

Cotogno has gone to the window come over here instead of yelling and the guy goes towards him at a loss to understand but so as to keep his distance from Cotogno he opens the window next to his and looks down into the street below all the comrades were standing there looking up at the open windows and as is the way of it the passers-by had also stopped to look up within a few minutes there was a small crowd looking up without any idea what was going on at that point one comrade unrolls a big sheet of paper which has written on it Spinone do the decent thing give us the house Spinone turns back inside his face pale and whispers through his teeth mafiosi criminals Cotogno goes up to him and staring him in the face says it's you that's the criminal it's you that's the stinking speculator we'll pay for your house we want a fair rent give us a contract otherwise we'll call the police and report you do you want me to call them right now I mean it I'll call the police says Cotogno with his hand on the telephone receiver

reeling Spinone goes back to his desk he drops into the armchair and sits in silence for a minute or two biting his lips while through the open windows you could hear the chorus of comrades Spinone give us the house Spinone give us the house Spinone's goose was cooked now he made a try at saying all right but I have to think it over come back in a few days it takes time to draw up a contract no way said Cotogno adamant sitting down on the desk you're going to do us the contract now at once otherwise we're not leaving and we'll even get our friends downstairs to come up and so in the end seeing as there was no other way Spinone gave in and so we got that house that became however the source of all my troubles

22

I'd fainted then the first thing I felt was that a comrade took me and dragged me right outside at that moment there was complete darkness in this courtyard and there were still only a few comrades there and I remember that this comrade who was able to stand up because he must have come off a bit lighter in the guards' brutality session that was still in progress I could still hear the screams and the blows the guards' insults this comrade carried me to the fountain there was a tap he splashed some water on my face until I began to come to then I remember that I hurt all over everything crushed but I managed to stand up to walk everything hurting but I could still manage to walk

and at the same time all this is continuing and from there outside the gate of the fence I could see that the comrades were still going past the bloodbath was still in progress they went on beating people up I remember that there inside it was dark you couldn't see what was there in the yard I found myself in but I remember seeing one comrade who was sitting on this concrete bench there leaning with his back against the wall he was on this bench not moving and his face was completely covered in blood my first thought was that this comrade's face had been smashed up he was no longer recognizable I recognized him by his clothes you could no longer see his face it was a mask of blood then I took a handkerchief and we started to wipe his face a bit

the ghastly thing was this what was absurd was having to stand by powerless and witness this massacre that was going on right in front of your eyes behind this wire fence and you could see the whole spectacle you could see this ghastly spectacle and the ghastly thing was not only that you felt powerless because you were mangled up but doubly powerless because not only could you do nothing about what was happening but if you even gave any sign of retaliation maybe even verbal retaliation because what else could you do these guys would have come in and you were absolutely in no state to make the slightest resistance after having taken all those beatings and it would only have been worse

now this brought you down quite unbelievably it brought you down worse than the beatings you could only stand by powerless instinct told you to keep quiet but how could you manage to keep quiet in front of that spectacle and then you were forced to watch how these guys beat up your comrades and they were dishing out different kinds of beatings because they weren't giving them all the same treatment there were some comrades they were really taking it out on and they were clearly the comrades they hated most because with them there'd been rows set-tos threats and so on and also because there were the ones who in the internal scheme of prison relationships were thought to be the leaders but through the whole thing the guards were like fiends out of hell and really determined to beat the life out of us all

an incredible degree of hatred was being unleashed and the proceedings were noisy there was a dreadful noise it was noisy because of the blows you could hear being struck it was noisy because of the moans but it was noisy most of all because of the screams of hatred because of the abuse scum bastard and when a comrade they particularly hated came along a whole lot of them would throw themselves on him screaming abuse and dealing him terrible blows there was one of these comrades who was greatly hated by the guards he was barely five feet tall they really pulverized him because they hated him and you watched this scene powerless and you thought to yourself there's no way this guy's going to stay alive with the beating they're giving him it was a pounding that went on too long to be just a pounding they were hitting out with truncheons with sticks with iron bars and this comrade who was small they really pulverized him then another scene I watched was a guy they took by the hair after having trampled him to the ground they dragged him up by the hair and stuck him up against the wall and then one of them hit him in the face with an iron bar just like this a blow with the iron bar like this across the face and they smashed his nose and his forehead and then there was another horrible scene with another comrade that they hit in the mouth with an iron bar while he was lying on the ground and they smashed all his teeth here at the front these were the things to be seen while we were there in the dark powerless behind the wire fence