Daughter of Wine

Leo

For a girl with super underground senses, Hazel isn't much good in Rome. She keeps leading us around and around the city, getting dizzy and doubling back. 

"Sorry," She says. "It's just... there's so much underground here, so many layers, it's overwhelming. Like standing in the middle of an orchestra and trying to concentrate on a single instrument. I'm going deaf."

As a result, we get a tour of Rome. Frank seems happy to plod along like a big sheepdog, but I start to get impatient. My feet are sore, the day is sunny and hot, and the streets are choked with tourists. 

Calli doesn't look much better. She and I have about the same patience level, and just as mine is wearing thin, so is hers. She had started out sunny and happy to be walking along the streets of Rome. We'd even held hands, but it quickly got too hot for that, which has a bummer. I liked walking around hand-in-hand with the prettiest girl in the world. 

I feel a little bad for dumping the whole girlfriend thing on her earlier, but I just wanted to get it out in the open. As shameful as it sounds, I wanted everyone to know that she is, in fact, my girlfriend. Officially. 

The Forum is okay, but it's mostly ruins overgrown with bushes and trees. Calli seems to like it though. I notice how she reaches out to touch plants almost instinctively, and how the plants seem to curl into her touch. I don't know why I never noticed before, but it's like even the plants are drawn to her. She has a natural magnetism, even with photosynthetic, brainless life-forms. 

We pass big churches, freestanding arches, clothing stores, and fast-food restaurants. One statue of some Ancient Roman dude seems to be pointing to a nearby McDonald's. 

On the winder streets, the car traffic is absolutely nuts. I thought people in Houston drove crazy. Calli offers to "borrow" a Vespa and drive us around, but Hazel doesn't like that idea. According to her, stealing is wrong, and besides, if we go too fast, she might miss something. Calli grumbles a few choice complaints mixed with a few no-no words that would make Hedge want to wash her mouth out with soap. 

If Hazel hears her, she ignores it. 

I'd love to stop at a little cafe and have a nice lunch with Calli. It's not every day you get to walk around Italy with your girlfriend, but Hazel is on a mission, and she refuses to let us stop. 

"I never thought I'd get to see Rome." Hazel says. "When I was alive, Mussolini was in charge. We were at war."

"Mussolini?" I frown. "Wasn't he like BFFs with Hitler?"

Hazel stares at me like I'm an alien. "BFFs?"

"Never mind."

"I'd love to see the Trevi fountain." She notes. 

"There's a fountain on every block." Calli grumbles. I know she's super into this history stuff too, but I think she's getting too hot and tired to care. And probably hungry too, I don't think she ate.

"Or the Spanish steps." Hazel adds. 

"Why would you come to Italy to see Spanish steps?" I ask. 

"That's like going to China for Mexican food, isn't it?" Calli adds, her eyes suddenly sparkling with humor. I'm sure she knows what the Spanish steps are, but she seems to be enjoying messing with Hazel.

"You guys are hopeless." Hazel complains. 

"So we've been told."

She turns to Frank and grabs his hand like Calli and I have ceased to exist. "Come on. I think we should go this way."

After walking forever, Hazel stops in front of a church. At least, I assume it's a church. The main section has a big domed roof. The entrance has a triangular roof, typical Roman columns, and an inscription across the top: M. AGRIPPA something or other.