Page 243 of Marcello

For the first time since I was seven years old, I tried to climb the wall.

It was difficult –

But muscle memory kicked in.

My toes felt out the old familiar crevices.

My fingers dug into the crumbling mortar.

I crawled up the wall, stone by stone, until I grabbed the ledge. Then I kept climbing, working my toes into new crevices and pushing myself up, until I was able to enter the hole.

Cobwebs brushed against my face. I felt something tiny crawl across my skin, and batted it away in panic.

But I kept going until I reached the other side.

I put my hand out into inky blackness –

And felt nothing.

I knew intellectually that the floor was just six feet below me…

But I felt all the terror of being perched on the edge of a bottomless pit.

Still, the Camorra was somewhere behind me.

And if death lay in front of me, then death was preferable.

I grunted and pulled myself sideways over the ledge.

I tried to hold on with my fingertips – but my hands weren’t strong enough.

I fell.

I landed on my right foot with a sharp jolt of pain, then toppled backwards onto the cold stone.

I cried out, but I couldn’t see a thing in the sea of darkness.

I drew my legs up into a fetal position and began to cry.

Somewhere in the castle at that very moment, my parents and brother could be dying.

In that moment, I realized Papa had been right.

The Camorra were fucking monsters…

And now they were going to kill us all.

76

Romeo

As I raced down the servants’ passageway, a jumble of thoughts filled my brain.

First and foremost among them:

I could not believe my horrible fucking luck.

I meet a girl at a rave, fall in love with her –