Riva

Riva
In her samll room at the students dormitory of the new art accademy in Milano, sat Riva Etsioni next to her samll table at the window that turned to the main inner court of that huge building, which was so similar to an old castle.

She was busy studing the Italian language. The date of the first semester was still far enough, her room mate, a 'Milanese' as far as was known to her, hasn't shown up yet of course. Who is she? How does she look and how is she going to get along with that unknown partner? All these curious details as they might be, did not occupy Riva's thougths at these moments.

Her parents have enrolled her in this institute "La nova accademia de bel arte", one of the most respectable art institutes in Italy. They haven taken care of every detail and detail, from this comfortable lodgings, up to an open account in a local bank to cover all her expenses. She missed nothing except the company of her parents, and her close female friends.

The solitude at this early stage of the concourse and the studies of the Italian laguage, have hardly troubled her, compared to the alienated relations of her parents. A fact that could not be hidden from anymore.
Thus that arrangement of her studies in Milano though nothing in it was pre-arranged, made it much easier for them; but the deterioration in her parents relationship, laid on Riva's conscious like the weight of a heavy stone.

While mumbling and pronouncing Italian syllables and word absent mindedly, she did not cease pondering over her parents cold relationship. Except the inkling that something was amiss lately, clear details were not known to her.

There were such things before, quarrels, outbursts of anger about trivialities, but this it seemed much more serious; even more than that last Saturday morning when she was larking about with her father in his bed, and made that curious discovery - which caused her mother a rather aggressive outburst. That was of course the last Saturday morning, in which she rushed to her father's bed, and that traumatic event was repressed very quickly - in Riva's sub conscious in particular. She ceased to be her father's sweetie, although their relations have hardly changed. Her mother spread her wings over her.

She stopped mumbling in Italian and laid her exercise book on the table. She was supposed to board the train to Bucarest this weekend, and pass in the company of her parents. But yesterday night she has already informed her mother that she can not come. That was simply her feeling, she wished to pass that weekend in complete solitude.

While she was gazing vacantly out of her window without seeing much, She kept turning her thoughts in her mind on and on. She did not wish to stay with her parents, neither on that very moment nor during the weekend that was 'on the threshold'...

On the other hand she did not feel like, and did not the will power to bury herself in her room up to next Monday. What am I doing with myself, what the hell am I doing with myself? She thought with growing frustration.

The only person that could know more details than me, about what's going on between mom and pa, is Yoske; but to try and pull something out of his mouth I must do it 'testa a testa', it isn't an issue I could discuss in a phone call; and I wouldn't have dared to utter a word on such an issue on the phone. I don't believe he would agree to have such a parly with me, after what has happened between the two of us - although he was ever so nice to me, while seeing us to the airport...