Money, What's That?

It was a good thing Filomena never expected to inherit a lot money from Giovanni, because when all was said and done, her share of G's wealth was not enough to call even a small fortune. She did however, have more than enough to pay Lina.

The day that Tullio came to visit Filomena, taking with him her share of G's estate, he carried the piles of lira, tied in stacks of 100, in a small cloth sack he tied securely around his waist, beneath his jacket.

It was October 8th, 1870, a warm Saturday afternoon in Paola, and the light was a milky yellow. Tullio had no way of telling whether Filomena was at home, so he simply took a chance. Tullio rode a horse, a chocolate brown gelding, and tied the handsome animal to the wrought iron handle of Fi's front door.

He knocked. Once. Waited. Again. And then once more.

Mama answered. "Oh, Tullio, so nice to see you again!"

"Yes, Signora, it is lovely to see you also." The two embraced. "Is Filomena here this afternoon?"

"She is, but she is napping. Come in for espresso!"

So she made a pot, and peeled an orange, laying the juicy slices carefully on a plate so that the orange pieces vaguely resembled the rays of a sun!

"Time grows short until the baby arrives," he said.

Mama acknowledged his comment with a nod of her head.

Tullio, wearing one of his bright red and blue and yellow silk scarves, bowed forward and spoke quietly. "And so how is she, Signora?"

Mama held her head up. "I would say that she is doing extremely well." Mama smiled. "I know that because every afternoon, late in the day, she spends an hour or two lying on her bed, with her journal, and one of her glass pens!"

"Ah yes, the glass pens. Giovanni showed me the set of them before he gave them to her. Quite a lovely..." here he hesitated, making the decision not to say the word, wedding! "A truly lovely gift."

"I admire my daughter, Tullio. Others in her position might have given in to sadness, or something worse. But she has been able to lift her spirits."

"She is remarkable," he agreed.

And then both fell silent. Both were thinking the same thing: she is doing well now, but how would Filomena fare next month when she had to part with her son?

Tullio chewed slowly on a slice of the sweet orange. He took one more. After he swallowed that one, he spoke.

"I am here to give Filomena her share of G's estate. There will be some additional money after the sale of the house is complete, but I thought it a good idea that I deliver this portion as soon as possible."

"She will be very grateful," Mama says. "But you should know, Tullio, that she never speaks about the money. Ever. It's as if it didn't exist."

"That's admirable. And in this case, quite fortunate. Because Giovanni had far less money than I expected. For one thing, the house in San Lucido, which needed so much work, was heavily mortgaged. There is a buyer who is interested, but we must pay many bills once the sale is complete."

Mama nodded. "God knows, we live so simply, it is hard to imagine..." she shrugged, "the situation he was in."

"Well, just so you know, G was not in the habit of saving money! He lived off of the trust his mother had established for him, and he managed to spend it down quite low, what with his travels, and his constant desire to acquire paintings, and the fine way he had the San Lucido villa restored!"

Filomena was standing behind Tullio by now, and she managed to hear his last statements. Mama reached out to take Fi's hand and Tullio swiveled to face her. And then he stood quickly.

"Hello my dear Tullio," she said embracing him and kissing his face softly. She wobbled a few steps and lowered herself into a chair. "Are you here to tell me that Giovanni was dead broke?" She laughed. "I was half expecting that, because I know how much he liked to spend money!"

"I'm glad you are laughing, Fi," Tullio replied. "Honestly, I was dreading coming here with this sack that is only half full of lire." He lifted the white cloth bag and handed it over to Filomena. She set in on the table.

"You will find 20 bundles of lire, each bundle containing 100 bills."

"Ha!" Fi said, peering into the sack and then holding it open so Mama could see inside. "I promise you Tullio this is far more money than Mama and I have ever seen before!"

He nodded. "Yes. I understand. But honestly, I was hoping to give you ten times that! As I was telling your Mama, G had leveraged the villa at San Lucido and so his estate is worth far less than I realized. I have started to sell a variety of things, including the carriage that you rode in so often. I will be selling all of the paintings, and sculptures, too, except for one, which he wanted you to have."

"I'm pretty sure I know which one."

Fi pictured the statue: a mother, smiling, and holding a child to her breast. When Filomena first saw the sculpture at the villa, she was shocked that the woman's breast was bare. But over time she grew to love the piece.

"You must come to the villa sometime soon..."

"Oh yes," she laughed, placing a hand on her belly. "I guess it must be very soon. Getting there might be difficult however."

"I could offer you a horse, but...?"

"No, no, Nunzi has a cart, and there is a horse, although he has seen his better days. Nunzi says that she's certain that he will make it to Amantea at least one more time, whenever that turns out to be!" She patted her belly. "I haven't had a chance to tell you, Tullio, that I will be going there to have the baby."

Tullio, thinking about the delivery, suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "Well, Fi, you know I will be praying for you, and for the baby. May it be a very safe delivery, una consegna molta sicura!"

"Thank you dear friend."

He spoke tentatively. "You must be...a bit nervous?"

Fi shook her head. "Yes, but I will be safe, with Nunzi, and with Mama," here she put her hand into both of her mother's hands. "We will get through this together!"

Mama chimed in. "Yes, with God's will!"

Tullio chatted a few more minutes and then excused himself.

After he left, Fi picked up the sack of money. "We will need to find a hiding place," she said to her mother.

Mama smiled. She walked to the back wall of the kitchen and wiggled one large loose stone out of its position. "It will fit nicely in here, and no one will be the wiser!"

Fi stood and carried the sack to her mother. She handed it over.

"Don't you want to count it, Fi, or at least hold the bills in your hands?"

"No," Fi said, shrugging, "what does it matter? We must decide how much to pay Lina. But not today. Is that OK?"

Mama agreed. She slid the sack into the wall and replace the large stone.

Fi retreated to her bed, where she lay with her journal and a glass pen. It was that afternoon that she decided to write her baby a letter!