Massimo said goodbye to Aunt Barbara. In addition to him, Pablo, Murillo and lawyer Kurt Miller arrived at the cemetery. Jorge’s father, Sergio Gomez, arrived a little late. He expressed his deepest condolences and informed Massimo that he could turn to his family for help at any time.
Without any questions or discussions, Pablo voluntarily spent most of his savings on paying for the services of a funeral agency even before Massimo began to bother about the funeral. Among other things, he ordered a tombstone with a beautiful epitaph.
The loss turned out to be much greater than others might have thought. Massimo did not leave the apartment for more than three weeks, and when he left it, the reason was the desire to visit his aunt’s grave. Then another couple of weeks in blank walls and absolute silence. In Massimo’s mind, the family consisted of two people. He didn’t remember his parents well, but Aunt Barbara replaced them and became that same family for him. Now she is gone, and with her the whole family is gone. Massimo had barely turned eighteen when the very next day he was left alone. Discouraging feelings did not let go of him for a long time. He didn’t think for a second about the man who robbed Sergio Gomez, who also wounded Jorge. That incident was the first murder for Massimo. His hands were now covered in blood, but this did not bother his conscience at all. The mind was in the grip of completely different thoughts.
Three months have passed since Aunt Barbara passed away. Massimo rarely left the apartment, and even less often – from the house. If he left the house, then his walk was limited to a minute’s walk to the nearest supermarket, where each of his purchases was, to put it mildly, modest. Massimo’s appetite completely disappeared. Most of what he ate was brought by Pablo when he came to visit. In view of this, even going to the store was a rarity for Massimo.
Now that Jorge, who had recovered from his injury, came to visit with Pablo, Massimo cheered up a little. He was pleased to see Jorge who did not frown in pain and was devoid of defects in his gait.
It didn’t take them long to persuade him. A shift occurred in Massimo’s head. He himself wanted to go out and take a walk around the area. The appearance of a healthy Jorge in front of him seemed to start blood flowing through his veins.
The first thing they did was visit the cinema. There, in one of the halls, the second part of «Dirty Harry», filmed three years earlier, was shown. But this film has no statute of limitations. You can watch it ten years later and do it for the hundredth time. Clint Eastwood was cooler than ever. Cool, fearless, vigilant; It will get anyone out of the ground. The guys were sitting in the last row. While watching, in passing, Jorge said that it would be nice to take an example from this guy. If you do everything like Dirty Harry, you will conquer any peak. And Jorge also hinted that they should also acquire the same deadly tool. The.44 caliber Magnum shot no less powerfully than it looked from the outside.
The next point after the film show was the nearest cafe. Massimo greedily swallowed two plates of chicken cutlets with deep-fried potatoes, three glasses of Coca-Cola and two hundred grams of chocolate ice cream. Pablo and Jorge were not surprised by such an appetite.
After a hearty lunch, the whole trio boarded the train, which headed towards the coast. Less than an hour later, Massimo, Pablo and Jorge were sitting on a bench on the embankment. The weather was sunny and clear. A light breeze was blowing. The view was enchanting. Calm ocean waves covered the wet sand, palm leaves swayed faintly in the wind, and crowds of sunbathers filled the beach. Some fried their bodies under the rays of the sun, others kicked a ball in a noisy company. The main part floundered in the ocean. Sun loungers, towels, straw hats and drinks with plastic straws were everywhere. Behind the benches, on one of which the boys were sitting, runners in sunglasses often rushed by. Pablo’s attention was caught by a girl of about twenty-five running by.
– Look, look – Pablo noticed in a hurry. – What luxurious standards…
He spent a long time devouring the runner with his eyes, examining her bare parts of the body, which were hidden under a thin layer of sweat, covered with the attractive glare of the daytime sun, until the girl disappeared from sight.
Pablo turned around and continued:
– I heard a couple of months ago that a new island was being developed a few kilometers from here.
– And what? – asked Massimo.
– And the fact that nudists began to develop it.
– Are there nudists in these places? – Jorge was surprised.
– That’s what I’m talking about.
Pablo began to develop his thought in an unexpected direction:
– Briefly speaking. One man owns a small yacht and takes tourists around the open waters. So, he found a new part-time job. Every Thursday and Sunday, he takes clients to this island who were looking for a free beach to sunbathe in the nude. After some time, he himself began to sunbathe in what his mother gave birth to, so that, so to speak, he would join the rest of the world. And the boat remains unattended. He simply drops anchor and leaves with everyone else. I saw this yacht. It has high sides, so it won’t swim close to the shore. And now the most interesting thing that I learned is that these perverts leave all their clothes and valuables on the yacht before leaving. It’s like they’ve been doing this for a long time, they know each other, they’re all one friendly bunch and they trust each other. I would ignore this story, but a whole crowd leaves their belongings unattended. They collapse on the sand and do not move until sunset.
– Continue – said Jorge, intrigued.
– There is a boat station nearby. I still have enough left from my savings. We can rent one high-speed motor boat, I’ll find out where this island is, and we’ll drive there. The island is empty. Until recently it was uninhabited.
Massimo suddenly intervened:
– We’ll need oars. The last two hundred to three hundred meters the roar of the engine can be heard.
– Listen, Massimo – said Pablo. – Actually, I wanted you to, well, stay on the backup, with a good view on the second boat somewhere to the side. In case one of the nudists moves, you would give a signal. I do not want to risk. You’re on probation…
Massimo interrupted him sharply:
– I don’t care. Look at him – pointing to Jorge, who sat between them. He was lucky last time. He might not be sitting here right now. It’s too risky for two. Where is the guarantee that while we rob, no one will get on the board and that none of them will have a gun or a knife, as then? If suddenly someone among us gets wounded, at least it will be easier for two of us to drag the wounded. And then, I’m already tired of sitting around doing nothing. I won’t go and bend my back for pennies. And so I spent my whole life in poverty. Enough.
Pablo and Jorge thought for a long time, could not decide for a long time, but in the end they decided not to resist the will of their friend.
– Do you have any clothes with a hood, a cap or something like that? – Pablo asked Massimo.
– No.
– Basically, it’s no problem. I’ll grab mine.
They shook hands.
Four days have passed. At noon it was already hot July weather – the most suitable for nudists to go to a closed party.
Massimo and Jorge were standing near the parking lot in front of a cafe. On Jorge’s shoulder hung a backpack with equipment for the case, which he checked several times. There was a pier about fifty meters away.