Tea or coffee? She asked. I do not know, I replied. She went into the kitchen but returned immediately to ask me to follow her. I sat down at the table. I watched her pull out a pan from a cupboard, fill it with water and place it on the stove. The high-pitched noise of the lighter was two steel balls colliding. The flame lighted immediately. She pulled out a tea bag from a box and sat down next to me. She got up, remembering something, and left the kitchen. I heard a sudden babble, low, deep, continuous. I realized that it was the gargling of a tap, the water was going down in a bathtub. She was back in the kitchen. You’re all sweaty. You need to get a hot bath.
Steam rose above the pot. Outside it no longer had thundered . Maybe it was still raining. She turned off the gas and put the tea bag in the pot. After a minute of silence, she withdrew the bag and left it on the sink. Here, she said, handing me a cup with hot tea. Strange, but we haven’t even been introduced. The tea smoked, now I was anxious to drink it. I took a sip and I burned my tongue and palate. I tried to ignore it, even though I had tears in my eyes from the pain. Poor, you’re burned, she said, coming close to me to caress my hair. I said nothing. There was nothing to say. At that moment, the tears came down from my face, crying became so strong that I didn’t realize right away that I had been cuddled, she hugged me against her belly, pressing my face. I cried, sobbing into her dress, completely wetting my face, moistening her sweater. She began to rock me, holding me in her arms until I calmed down.
After a while she got up cautiously, still keeping me close to her, dragging me into the bathroom. She began to undress me, she turned off the water and as soon as she had taken off my socks and underpants I slipped into the tub. The water was warm and covered me with foam. I took a deep breath. My face was still wet, but now it was the tank water to moisten my cheeks. The sobs diminished, until it stopped altogether, as she soaped and massaged my head and hair. She spent a sponge slowly down my back, my arms and my legs. I smiled at her.
She bandaged me in a huge towel and pressed it gently against my skin. From a cabinet she pulled out a bottle and covered me with a white, fine and fragrant powder. She sat down and took me in her arms. I heard how she pulled away from me slightly, lifted her sweater and her blouse to unfasten her bra. She pulled her breasts free next to my lips, holding two fingers so that I could grab it. The warm milk had the taste of her skin, sucking I could feel my mouth filling with a calmative, penetrating me deeply and wrapping my mind.
Shortly after she tied back her bra and put back her blouse and sweater, as I continued to watch her. She put me down onto the towel lying on the floor and left the bathroom. She returned immediately. She had brought some clean and dry clothes. She dressed me before she picked me up and took me into the hall, where the baby carriage was waiting. Now it’s better, she said.
She pulled out the doll from under the covers of the baby carriage, got rid of it with a throw and put me in her place under the duvet.
www.fermoeditore.it