Bella Italia Read online

  “Niels, watch what you’re doing. I don’t want ants.”

  Niels licked the excess jelly off his cracker and took a bite. Hans was still taking in their surroundings. He counted a total of twelve mobile homes in their “street,” but he only saw two people having breakfast out on their terrace. Just then the door to the mobile home across from them opened. A boy, about the same age as Niels walked out. He had spiky red hair and a pointy face. He was dressed in a swimsuit and wore a small backpack. With one swift hand movement he unlocked the bicycle lock from the bike that was parked next to the mobile home. He jumped on and rode in their direction. When he passed by he looked at them from the corner of his eye, curious but shy.

  “Good morning,” Petra greeted him.

  “Hello,” the boy answered hastily and rode off quickly.

  After breakfast, they all went to the pool together. Just before they arrived, they passed a bike rack filled with dozens of bikes.

  “Rental bikes,” Petra said.

  “I want one too,” Niels said.

  “We’ll check it out later.”

  They walked up a concrete stairway with five steps and found a great view of an Olympic-size swimming pool, where they saw mostly adults swimming.

  “They have two pools here!” Niels said enthusiastically. “This is the lap pool, where you need goggles and a swim cap.” Niels pointed slightly to the left. “And over there is the big pool. That’s where we can play.”

  After a short stroll past the outside bar and the automatic showers, they reached the other pool, which was in the shape of a heart. Even though it was easily four times bigger than the lap pool, it was jam-packed with people.

  Petra looked across the terrace at the area with the reclining lawn chairs. As far as she could tell, all of them were taken.

  “I’m going back to that other pool. There were still some chairs available there.”

  “Last one in the water is a loser!” Niels grinned and jumped in the water.

  Petra handed the ball to Hans. “Okay, loser. See you later.”

  He gave her a big wink and jumped in after Niels. They tossed the ball back and forth, and, a little bit later, Hans noticed the redheaded boy in the crowd, the one they had seen on his bike earlier that morning.

  “Hey buddy!” He tossed the ball up high to the little guy, who caught it perfectly.

  “I’m playing with my friends,” the boy called out after he passed the ball to Niels.

  “Well, then why don’t you ask them to join in?!”

  The boy turned to his two friends and said something. A few moments later they came closer so they could all pass the ball to one another. Suddenly a loud buzzing sound rang out. As the sound began to die out, many of the guests, including the Dutch boy and his two friends, all rushed to the edge of the pool and got out of the pool.

  “What’s going on?” Hans wanted to know.

  “Swim competitions in the other pool,” the boy answered as he looked for his backpack. Because Niels looked a little lost, Hans decided to take him and follow the masses.

  “This is Thijs,” Hans said to Petra. “He is from Leerdam.”

  During their walk to the other pool, Hans and the boy had a short conversation. Hans’s first impression was that Thijs seemed like a nice kid. Thijs nodded politely at Petra, who had sat upright in her lounge chair.

  “Hi, Thijs, are you having a good time?”

  “Yes, I always have a good time here,” Thijs answered. Shyly, he looked just past her.

  “So you’ve been here before?”

  “A zillion times. We come here every summer.”

  “What about your friends?” Hans wanted to know. “Have all been here before, too, or is it their first time, like it is for us?”

  Thijs nodded to the blond boy with freckles next to him. “Conor has been here before. I don’t know how many times, but quite a lot. He is from Ireland.”

  Conor looked up when he heard his name. He probably didn’t understand a word of Dutch and smiled politely.

  “And Mats is from Germany. He was here last year, too.”

  The German boy had dark blond hair and was a few pounds overweight. He grinned politely, just as Conor had, and stared sheepishly straight ahead.

  Thijs took a swim cap and goggles from his bag. The others quickly followed his example.

  “Come on, Niels,” Hans said enthusiastically. “Get your gear and show them how fast you can swim.”

  Niels shook his head. “No, I don’t feel like it.”

  “Oh, don’t be silly, man.”

  “No, I want to watch first.”

  Before Hans could continue, Petra intervened.

  “Leave him alone. He just wants to watch first. Please don’t start with all of that competitive stuff already, please.”

  “Okay, so let’s go and check out the competition.” Hans nodded in the direction of a boy who was overweight. “I’m putting my money on him.”

  Niels had to laugh and Petra just shook her head.

  “That’s not funny; it’s sad. That poor kid must be having a tough time in this heavy heat.”

  “Don’t you mean he sure is heavy in this heat?” Hans joked.

  Later that morning they saw Thijs win the match in his age category effortlessly. Conor and Mats finished behind him, and the heavyset boy came in last.

  5

  Hans let out a content sigh. “This lasagna is fantastic. I’ve never tasted anything like it in Holland.”

  “Yes, my cannelloni is delicious as well. They sure know how to cook here, but I think the whole atmosphere has a lot to do with it too,” Petra replied.

  Hans nodded in agreement. “True, it’s all nearly perfect here.”

  After dinner they walked back to their rental bikes, which they had put against a fence.

  “Your pizza was good too, right?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure.” Niels was not exactly a fan of Italian cuisine. A pizza once in a while was okay, but that was the end of it.

  They got on their bikes and rode along the lake back to the campground. It was already half-past nine and after an afternoon filled with so many new experiences, it was time for a shower and evening of recuperation.

  “Look,” Hans called out over his shoulder. “They are pulling the pedal boats back on the shore. That means you can rent one of those things up until about seven thirty.”

  “When are we going to do that?” Niels asked. They rode their bikes one behind the other. The path along the lake was wide enough to ride side by side, but the large groups of pedestrians and other bicyclists prevented that.

  “Maybe the day after tomorrow,” Petra said. “All in good time. You also want to go to the water park right? We still want to see Venice, and we also have a trip to Sirmione scheduled.”

  “That’s that famous island that can’t be reached by car, right?” Hans asked.

  “Yes, it’s a peninsula that stretches two miles into the lake. You can only reach the elongated little village by crossing the castle’s drawbridge. Next to the castle is a beautiful church, which is open all day. I’ve seen pictures of Sirmione, and it looks like it would be quite an amazing experience.”

  “Gotta love the internet!” Hans grinned.

  Niels let out a disapproving groan. He wasn’t really into a trip to Venice—it seemed incredibly boring to him. Churches and castles weren’t really his thing either; he thought they were stuffy, ancient attractions for old people. But he was quickly distracted when he saw the water park diagonally in front of him. He pointed to one of the towers, which peeked out high above the hilly landside.

  “Look at how high that slide is!”

  While Niels summed up all the things he could distinguish from a distance, Hans enjoyed his son’s enthusiasm. Petra smiled and turned to him. This vacation was already off to a great start.

  Just past nine they began to approach the campground’s rear entrance. They had to slow down for a group of young people about to enter a rest
aurant located at Lake Garda’s shore. It was actually a glorified fast-food restaurant with a large terrace. It was the same restaurant where they had their lunch earlier that day.

  “Anyone want a hot dog?” Hans said, laughing. Unlike that afternoon, this time Niels kept his mouth shut—he was stuffed. They got off their bikes when they reached the Regina di Garda entrance. Between the hordes of vacationers who were taking a walk along Lake Garda or were just returning from a walk, they decided to walk with their bikes in hand. They passed a security guard who asked them to show him their wristbands.

  “First, a shower,” Hans said when they returned to the mobile home.

  “Me first,” Niels said as he stored his bike under the canopy.

  “I don’t think so, gentlemen.” Petra locked her bike and opened the front door.

  “Ladies first, my boy,” Hans said. “You may as well start getting used to that now,”

  He followed his son’s example and took a seat on one of the fold-out chairs and put both of his hands on the table, which made the unsteady table wobble slightly. “So, what do you want to do later?”

  “Play cards.”

  Before Hans had a chance to respond, his son’s attention was focused completely by the two boys who passed by on their rental bikes. They stopped in front of Thijs’s mobile home.

  “Isn’t that … ?”

  “Conor and Mats,” Niels added. “They’re coming to pick up Thijs.”

  Hans nodded. During the breaks in between the swimming matches, they boys talked among themselves a lot.

  The mobile home’s door opened and Thijs came out. When he got on his bike, his parents came down the steps. They said something to Thijs that Niels didn’t understand.

  The three boys stopped in front of Hans and Niels’s mobile home and said hello. Thijs smiled at Niels. “You want to come with us?”

  Niels gave his father a pleading look.

  “Where are you guys going?” Hans wanted to know.

  “You know, all over the campground. Tonight is the singing competition semifinals for kids. During the intermission, we go and play games in the Cave.”

  “The Cave?” Hans asked.

  “Yeah, it’s where all the games for kids are.”

  “Cool!” Niels said. “Can I go too, Dad?”

  “Maybe tomorrow. I need to discuss it with your mother first.”

  Niels let out a heavy sigh of disappointment and frustration. He gave his new friends a fleeting look. Thijs gauged the situation quickly, said good-bye, and rode off. Conor and Mats followed suit. Even though they didn’t understand Dutch, they had caught the gist of the conversation.

  When Petra came out a little while later, she found a sulking Niels and a slightly uncomfortable Hans.

  “Why don’t you go and shower first?” Hans said.

  “I don’t really feel like it anymore.” Continuing to sulk, Niels stared straight ahead.

  “Well, then I may not feel like playing cards later, either.”

  Niels chose the lesser of two evils, though it was clear he was not happy about it. He got up and entered the mobile home, with a very agitated expression on his face.

  “I will explain in just a second,” Hans said to Petra. “I’ll be right back.”

  He got up and walked over to Thijs’s parents, who were outside of their mobile home. “Hi there, I’m Hans Kolwijn. We already met your son Thijs this morning.”

  Thijs’s father also sat in a fold-out chair. He had an average-to-slightly-heavyset build and red hair. He wore a blue button-up shirt with short sleeves and jogging pants. There was a beer on the table next to him. He shook Hans’s hand.

  “Berry Heuting. I’m Thijs’s father.” He nodded in the direction of the mobile home, where a blond woman appeared in the doorway. She wore a sleeveless white shirt and matching shorts. “That’s Marion, my wife.”

  Hans also shook the woman’s hand and quickly got to the point. “Thijs stopped over at our place just now. He told us that he and his friends were going to ride their bikes all over the campground and he asked if my son, Niels, could come along.” He made a helpless hand gesture to clarify his position. “It kind of took me off guard. My wife was taking a shower, the boys were in a hurry, and Niels really wanted to go. I had to make a split-second decision, which my son wasn’t exactly happy with.”

  Berry grinned. “I can only imagine. As long as you give those little monkeys what they want, all is well, but God forbid you ever say no. Then there is hell to pay.”

  “Well, we don’t really have that problem with our Thijs.” Marion added from inside the mobile home.

  Berry grinned mockingly. “That’s because we always give him what he wants.” He took a sip of beer.

  “So, what can I do for you?”

  “Well, I really just came by to find out if you know what they’re up to out there?”

  Berry shrugged his shoulders. “They wander around the campground. Just like you or I would have done when we were their age.”

  “Tonight they’re going to the kids’ singing contest first,” Marion added. “After that they will go to the Cave.”

  “That’s the arcade, the place where they have all the games for the kids,” Hans responded. “I heard that from Thijs. So what time do they come home?”

  “Around eleven o’clock,” Berry answered. “One day it starts a little earlier and the next day a little later. So we try to be flexible with it. If it gets to be too late, then I just call him on his cell phone.”

  Hans had more questions, but could see that Niels was back outside from the corner of his eye.

  “Thanks for the information, guys, but I need to get back.”

  “You sure you don’t want a beer?” Berry asked.

  Hans waved it away. “Maybe next time.”

  “Why don’t you come by with your wife tomorrow and let Niels go along with the boys?” Marion suggested. “Then we can all have a drink together.”

  Hans wished them a good night and walked back to their mobile home, where Niels had joined Petra out on the terrace in the meantime.

  Niels looked at him suspiciously. “What were you doing over there?”

  “Just saying hello, Colonel,” he answered, saluting him. “Where are the playing cards—you still wanted to play, right?”

  “I’ll go and get them,” Petra said.

  “Great, then I will take a quick shower. What game are we playing anyway?”

  “Toepen,” Niels decided.

  “Nice, I’m really good at that game.” He rubbed his hands together competitively. “I’m going to crush you both.”

  “I don’t think so,” Niels answered.

  Hans was pleased to see that a careful smile appeared on his son’s face again.

  6

  “Are we going to get back on time, Dad?”

  Hans let out a heavy sigh. Niels had asked the same question about three times during the past hour.

  “Yes, Niels,” he answered, slightly agitated. “We’re going to get there on time, but this is the last time were going to discuss it. If you ask me again, I’m going to pull the car over and take a two-hour nap on the side of the road.” He glanced quickly at his son in the rearview mirror.

  “Don’t worry so much,” Petra shushed.

  “Okay, sorry.”

  “What did you enjoy the most today, son? And do me a favor and don’t say the new watch.”

  “The gondola,” Niels answered, after giving it some thought.

  “Well, that’s good considering what we paid for it.” Hans said. “Eighty euro for thirty minutes of floating around on a Venice canal. Those guys are raking it in.”

  He looked at Niels in his rearview mirror again. Their eyes met.

  “But it was actually really fun. What did you really think of the Golden Book?”

  “Hmm, not very exciting, but it was beautiful. I did think that all those pigeons on that Marco Van Basten Square were very cool. It was incredible how many pigeon
s there were, and they looked like flying poop machines.”

  Hans and Petra laughed. “You renamed Piazza San Marco into …” Hans laughed. “Just goes to show you what a great Dutch soccer player can achieve.”

  At seven o’clock sharp, Hans parked the car next to their mobile home. They agreed that this time Niels could shower first. Tonight would be his first night out with his friends.

  For Italian standards, the night began early. Just after seven thirty, Thijs, Conor, and Mats showed up.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” Hans said, welcoming them. He assumed that the boys must speak some sort of mishmash of English to one another. Apparently, they understood him perfectly, as all three returned his greeting in English.

  Niels came out and greeted his friends with a casual nod as he grabbed his bike.

  “Hey, tiger,” Hans said. “You remember our deal, right?”

  Niels tapped on his brand-new watch, which he wore loosely around his wrist. “Home before ten thirty.” Then he got on his bike. “Bye.”

  “Bye, bye,” Hans said to the group as they departed. He smiled broadly on the outside, but on the inside he worried about the fact that Niels would be out all night.

  “Why don’t you take a load off?” Petra said. She knew him well enough to know exactly how he felt right now.

  Hans sat down across from her. “Okay, so now I get to worry for three hours straight.” Hans sighed. “I keep wondering if this is all such a good idea. I mean, this way we can’t keep an eye on him at all.”

  Petra stroked the back of his hand, which he had put on the table, with her fingertips. “There is no sense in sitting around worrying all night. We talked about this before we left, and we both agreed that this is the way we would do it. I know it’s difficult, but you have to let go. At home you never worry when he plays over at a friend’s house.”

  Hans nodded meekly. “Yes, I know. But this is not a house. These are new surroundings, which we don’t know at all. It’s a huge campground—they could get lost.”

  Petra chuckled. “It’s funny how things can go.”