Tommaso was in his bunk-bed inside the van. He had a wet bandage wound round his head and for some reason a black patch over one eye. He looked exactly like Filochard from my Pieds nickelés comics but of course I didn’t say that.
La Giaconda was holding his hands but she got up to kiss me. Then she made me stand where Tommaso could see me with his one eye, without having to move his head. She said that hurt him.
“Bambino, here’s our dear Jonas come to see you,” she said. “Now, you listen to him and do what he says. He’s a clever boy.”
Do what I said! That would never happen in our family. We just did what we were told. But I did my best. I told Tommaso that the hospital would fix him up just like they’d done with Nadia.
“They’ll have nice food, maybe even ice cream. They want everyone to get better quickly.”
I could see by the look he gave me he thought this was just a big lie. It’s funny that even one eye can let you know that much. So I tried harder. I promised him all my comics, but he didn’t even blink. I tried to think of everything Tommaso liked. Then I remembered the best thing. I went right over to the bed so he couldn’t miss what I said.
“I’ll write a letter to Peppino at his football club and tell him you’re in hospital. When he writes back then you’ll have his autograph and it’ll be worth a fortune. But he won’t write back unless you’re in hospital because he’ll have to feel sorry for you and he won’t if you’re just at home like any other boy. So you have to go to the hospital to have a proper hospital address.”
La Giaconda squeezed my hand hard. “Look, Jonas,” she said. “He’s smiling!”
Maybe he was, but it wasn’t much of a smile. Then the one eye closed.
Signor Corrado had stayed at the door. “What do you think, my love?” he asked. “Will I go for them?”
“Yes!” she said. “Go!”
And then she said to me, “You’ll have to hide for a bit, Jonas. He’s gone for our friend, the policeman. He promised us they’ll take Tommaso to the hospital in their van. That’s the best way. And it’s so far away. But you’d better not be found here by the police, not without your papers.”
She lifted up the big curtain with the printed stars that I’d seen the first day, the day I met the Corrados.
“In there, pet. There’s room under Alfredo’s bunk.”
I looked back at Tommaso but he seemed to be asleep. I thought of the comics I’d promised to give him. He might not be able to read them because they were in French, not Italian, but it was too late. And now I had to find out where Peppino’s club was so we could get a letter to him.
“Right,” I said.
That was the first time I got under Alfredo’s bunk.