Page 97 of Massimo

“I don’t know – like, the 1990s or something.”

“If it was the early 1990s, that was before I was born,” I said scornfully.

“Yeah, well, it was before I was born, too, and I’ve still seen it.”

“That’s because you like to waste your time.”

“How dare you,” she said in a deadpan voice.

I opened the door to a shop. “In here.”

The place was a clothing store. During the winter, it transformed into a ski shop with cold-weather attire – ski jackets, bibs, overalls, and parkas. During the summer, though, it stocked up on clothes for hiking in the mountains.

“Um…” Lucia said, staring around at the racks of clothing.

“What?”

“…I’m good. I don’t need anything.”

“You can’t go walking around the forest dressed in designer clothes. Especially in those shoes. One of those heels is going to break any second.”

“Well, they’re not made for freakin’ cobblestone,” she said contemptuously.

“And they’re really not made for dirt paths in the woods.”

“…fine… whatever,” she muttered.

An older woman with rosy cheeks and blonde braids came over. She wore jeans and a simple sweatshirt with ‘Padola Ski’ on it. “Hello, how can I help you?”

“We need clothes for her,” I said. “And boots.”

“What size?” the woman asked Lucia.

“35,” she replied – which was the European size and very small. The average Italian woman’s shoe size ranged from 38 to 42.

The woman laughed. “I think we might have something in the junior section.”

“KIDS’ shoes?!” Lucia exclaimed in disbelief.

“Just go with it,” I ordered.

She glared at me, then followed the woman to the children’s shoe aisle.

After some complaining – at which point I reminded her that she was going to wear them for a week at most and could throw them away after that – she settled on some girl’s brown hiking boots.

“We’re also going to need three or four days’ worth of clothes,” I told the woman.

“Everything?” she asked. “Socks, underwear – ”

“Everything.”

“I’m fine with what I’ve got on,” Lucia snapped.

“Maybe today, but six days from now?”

“You just said three or four days!”

“Of outfits. We could be here for a couple of weeks.”

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