Chapter 9

ZESA RUSSO

I hardly ever spoke about my parents. It often brought tears to my eyes, but today, I remembered them. My mother was a beautiful and kindhearted soul who went by the name Ozora. My father, Luca, was a strong willed and hardheaded man who had a soft spot for the one he loved. According to my mother, she and my father met at the movies. He’d gone on a blind date with the daughter of a noble family when he caught a glimpse of her throwing popcorn into her mouth as she mumbled to herself. According to my mother, my father fell in love with her at first sight and followed her about, ignoring the woman he’d gone to the movies with in the first place.

My father had a different point of view, though. He said he didn’t follow her about. She just happened to be wherever he wanted to go. When she reminded him of how he followed her to her home, he laughed it off, saying he did it out of love. Looking at them back then, I wanted what they had. I wanted to live with someone