Read Online Legacy of Sorrows by Roberto Buonaccorsi - Free Book Online Page B

months’ time with the wedding service being held in the church of Santa Maria Delle Stelle in Bologna, and the reception in the hotel Principessa. Even though I was an atheist, and would have preferred a civil ceremony, I realised that Maria needed the whole church experience to feel that she had been properly married. I asked Italo to be my best man and I was pleased that he agreed and said he was looking forward to the day. He had never been one for marriage and still considered it a bourgeois concept invented by the capitalist system to control the individual freedom of expression of the proletariat. Personally, I think he just wanted to bed as many women as possible without commitment.
    Maria and I wanted to start a family straight away, which led to the conversation about where to live once married, as the flat was too small for children. Maria asked me about the properties in Marzabotto, ‘Bruno, you have your family house outside the village and you are probably the legal owner of the farm as well. Do you think you could ever live there?’ I was taken aback by this. I had never thought about living in Marzabotto and didn’t think I could even visit the area, never mind living there. ‘Maria, don’t ask me to do this. The very thought of living there fills me with dread. I just couldn’t do it.’
    â€˜I thought as much Bruno. What do you think about selling the house and the farm? What we could get from the sale may help us buy a place of our own in Bologna. What do you think?’
    It sounded a sensible idea, but I just wasn’t ready to talk about selling the properties just yet. I didn’t want to talk about anything to do with Marzabotto; it was still too painful for me.
    â€˜Give me some more time Maria. It’s still too fresh in my mind.’
    â€˜Bruno, it’s 1958. It happened fourteen years ago. I know you still feel the loss, but what about when we have a family? Will you push them away when they ask about their grandparents and other family things, or will you be able to tell them about the good things you did on Monte Sole with your family and friends? You don’t have to forget your family Bruno; it wasn’t their fault they died, and it wasn’t your fault either; however, it certainly will not be the fault of any children we may have in the future.’
    I stood facing her open-mouthed. Maria was right. It was time to start living a normal life again and to try to put the horrors of what I witnessed on Monte Sole behind me. I could never forget what I saw, but I didn’t need to have this dark cloud hanging over me and depressing me whenever I thought of my family. It was time to start a new life and hopefully a new family.
    I contacted a estate agent in Bologna and sought his advice on what to do with the properties. Later on that day, I shared with Maria what he had told me.
    â€˜No one is living in the villages and farms on Monte Sole since the massacre and the Allied air raids that followed later. The Germans didn’t leave there until just before the war ended when the whole mountain was targeted by Allied heavy bombing that eventually forced them out. Since then, vegetation has overgrown almost all of the ruins so it would be highly unlikely that anyone would find it an attractive proposition to buy there. There is also this shadow of the massacre hanging over the villages and you know how superstitious people can be.’
    Maria gave a deep sigh, ‘ Que sera, sera Bruno. Maybe in time it will change.’
    As I stood in the church waiting on Maria, I glanced over at Italo who was standing there with a grin on his face. I whispered in his ear, ‘What’s so funny, Italo?’ He leaned over and whispered back to me, ‘When we chased the girls together Bruno, you were always the one they fancied, so it’s a joy for me to see you off the market from now on.’ We laughed and hugged.
    When the music played