With Guillermo, by car, we went to meet his mother. She lived in a shack of wood, cardboard, plastic sheeting that made my heart bleed. Guillermo had made me leave the car, carefully closed, in front of the train station, and we went walking to the slums. Guillermo had made me wear my old and simple clothes... now I understood why.
There were small children everywhere... dirty, malnourished... I had never seen so much misery in my life. And I thought that each of those children could end up like Guillermo... if he they did not die before.
We arrived at the shack. Four of the six brothers of Guillermo were scratching at the door, closed only by a curtain made from old pieces of blankets sewn together badly. The people crowded around him. Guillermo took out some candy from his pockets and handed them to his brothers.
"Mom?" he asked.
"It's inside. It's your boss, that one?" asked the child pointing at me.
"Yes." Guillermo replied, giving him an affectionate slap. "Come in." Guillermo then said to me, pushing aside the curtain and entering.
I followed him. Inside it was even more squalid than outside. A woman who seemed older than me, although Guillermo told me she was only thirty-seven years old, with a heavy make-up, her face weary and sullen, looked up at us. She was sitting at the table, and was mending some shapeless garment; I did not understand what it could be.
"Sit down..." Guillermo told me giving me a chair, so I was across the table in front of his mother. He sat across the table, between his mother and me. "This is my father, señor Daniel Savoldi, Mom."
"Ah." said the woman throwing me a glance. Then, continuing to sew, she asked: "So you want to take my son."
"Yes."
"He wants me to say that you are his father, who I've fucked with..."
"Yes."
"Well, one plus one less... why not? And how much would you give me?"
"This we have already discussed, Mom. Now you've to hear carefully what the señor Savoldi says. You must learn well your part..."
"Good. Let's prepare the play." said the woman.
Before leaving, I gave her an envelope with a first part of the money. Guillermo took it before her. Even if he knew what I had put in, he took out the money and putting the notes one after the other in front of his mother, he counted out loud. Then we left.
"Why have you done that?"
"So she can not say that you did not give them to her." Guillermo told me quietly.
"Was it necessary?"
"It was necessary. I know her pretty well."
"Next time, together with the documents, I bring her a new dress, as I promised... also to go to the lawyers office."
"Yes, and she has to wash, especially her face, I've already told her. She can not come made up so..."
"Do you think she will do as I said?"
"I think so. She knows how to play, when needed. And then I'll make her repeat until she will not make no mistakes, do not worry."
When the forged documents arrived from New York, Guillermo kept them. They were perfect, as far as I knew. An old passport with the photo of Guillermo's mother, made from an old photo that was in the house and my boyfriend had made me have... The work visa, the entry and exit stamps from the United States, with the right dates... and my letter of employment, yellowed and crumpled, with my signature... also that perfectly imitated.
Then Guillermo went to fetch his mother. We went where she had "recognized" me, where she had talked to me, we rehearsed what she said to me, what I said her. Then where I had offered her lunch to talk in peace... And finally where I did meet with "my son"...
On that occasion I bought her the dress. I had offered to buy her a new one, but he insisted that we went to a junk dealer... He chose the dress, along with his mother. I insisted to buy two, and also some for his brothers. Always under the careful supervision of Guillermo.
And, finally, I went to the offices of the lawyers Martin y Enrique Fernández Blanco. I explained that I had discovered that I had a child and I wanted to acknowledge it. They asked me several questions, asked how could I be sure, what evidence did I have. I recited my part. They nodded, and seemed to believe everything. Or at least, if they had doubts, however, they took for good my story.
I went back to the offices of Fernández Blanco with Dora Enriqueta Olivera, the mother, and with Guillermo. She showed them the documents and the lawyers made photocopies. They asked her questions, and she recited perfectly. They asked Guillermo if he agreed to be recognized by me. Everything went smoothly. The two lawyers, father and son, told me to not to worry as there would be no problem...
After ten days, the mother of Guillermo, he and I, were summoned before a court for giving evidence. Enrique Fernandez Blanco, the son, assisted us. It was just a formality. We had to put our signatures to the request for recognition. Dora Enriqueta was not able write, so she made the cross that was countersigned by two witnesses...
The Registrar told us that it would take a few months for the transcription. So I made some phone calls, and handed some bribes, and after less than a month, finally, I received the certificate that Guillermo Olivera Savoldi was my son. Guillermo then went to his mother and made her return all the false documents, so that she no longer had any compromising papers in her hand, then gave her the last money we had promised.
I immediately went to the Italian consulate and asked to see the consul, which I had already met several times, personally. I was immediately received.
"Dear Dr. Savoldi, good to see you again!" The consul received me ceremoniously.
"How are you, Dr. Berardi? Everything all right?"
"Thankfully, yes. Just too much to do... but... that's life."
"I'm sorry to bother you, but... I need your help."
"Any problems? If I can be useful..."
"It's a personal thing, rather delicate, so I preferred not to talk to employees and asked to speak with you."
"Tell me."
"You see, Dr. Berardi, in 1983... I was only twenty-five years old... I worked in the U.S. in our offices in San Francisco. You see... I hired a maid in order to keep the house, prepare me something to eat, and do laundry... "
The consul looked at me and listened, probably wondering why I was telling him that story of almost eighteen years before. But he had a polite smile on his lips.
"She was an Argentinean girl... she was nineteen years old... had a room in my apartment... I was young, she was young... and you know how it happens... maybe a little thoughtless both of us... so... she and I... "
"Yes... I understand... a story was born..."
"Yes, exactly. Nothing really serious, I mean... is not that we were in love... but... we both wanted to... to..."
"Have fun." suggested the consul nodding, without changing his professional smile.
"Exactly. Except that... at that time I did not know and she did not tell me anything... in May she said that she returned to Argentina... so she left the States..."
"But she was... she was pregnant with you."
" Yes. As I said I did not know that..."
"And... how did you come to know it, then?" he asked curiously. "She wrote to you?"
"No. She could not write. I then went away from San Francisco, she could not track me down... not a single mother, illiterate and without means... of humble walks of life..."
"I see. So what?"
"But a few months ago... I was walking on Avenida Cordosa... a woman stopped me and asked me if I was Daniele Savoldi."
"It was that girl."
"Yes, at first I did not recognize her. She told me that her name was Dora Enriqueta, and then I remembered. And she told me about my son..."
"That now should be about eighteen years old..."
"Yes, he will turn eighteen in December."
"But you, how can you be sure he is really your son? The woman asked for money, I guess..."
"No, she did not ask for money... she asked me if I wanted to see him, if I wanted to meet him... Dora was not fooling around when she was in San Francisco. She had no friends, I do not think she had gone, done it also with others... it must be my son... "
"Did you see him? You met him?"
"Yes."
"And does he resemble you?"
"He could be my son. He resembles more the mother, but he could well be my son..."
"And now you want to take them off of the way... or do you want to recognize this boy?"
"I have already recognized him, at least for the law of Argentina. I'm sure he's my son. I could not escape my responsibilities, you know... for eighteen years the boy had no father."
"And so you have recognized him. Haven't you perhaps rushed things a bit? Forgive me, but..."
"I had rushed when I was twenty-five years... not now."
"You think you've done well to take the step that you did?"
"Yes, I am convinced that I did what I had to."
"So, I guess, now you want a transcript of paternity in Italy."
"Exactly. And I would like to know what documents I need to produce... and I wish this thing would remain confidential, if possible."
"With a child who appears out of nowhere? Everyone knows that you are not married..."
"It's a problem, this, according to Italian law?"
"No, no. And it's pretty easy to make the necessary practices. I do not know them in detail, but I can get you all the details. So you can send me the required documents... and I will personally take care of this case, if that's what you want."
"Thank you, Dr. Berardi."
"My duty. I can send everything to your bank?"
"I would be grateful. Then... it will take a long time to regularize the matter?"
"I do not know, but I do not think. We will do all the practices here at the consulate, then simply will communicate the data in Italy for the transcription."
"Soon I will be transferred to Italy, in Rome... and I would like to take my son with me."
"I see. As soon as this child will be registered, we can prepare the passport of the boy. As he is your son, he will have the Italian citizenship. And he will have your last name, of course."
"Yes, he already has it... his name is Guillermo Savoldi Olivera."
"By the law of Argentina. Under Italian law, he will only be Guillermo Savoldi. He can not have a double surname."
"He can keep the Argentinean name Guillermo, or must he change it?"
"No, it retains his name."
"And once he has an Italian passport, he can come to Italy with me, right?"
"Sure, no problem. And once in Italy, he may request the residence. The only problem..."
"Yes?" I asked alarmed.
"Your son will have to do military service in Italy... you know this? The boy knows?"
"I did not realize that, but... I believe that there is no problem."
"Is it not better to talk to the boy, with your son, before we send out the forms?"
"Yes, I think so. However, in the meantime, let me know what documents should I submit, please."
"Certainly."
Guillermo was waiting in a cafe next to the consular office. When I entered, he stood up and looked at me questioningly.
"So?"
"Sit down. There is one thing I must tell you..."
"Any problems?" he asked with a look a little alarmed.
"I think not. One thing that I had not thought about..."
"What?"
"See, all male Italian citizens, and you become an Italian citizen if the consulate records your documents, must do a year compulsory military service. So, if you come with me to Italy, when you turn age 19 you too should do it. "
"One year... and I have to live in the barracks and not with you?"
"Exactly."
"And I could not see you for one year?"
"No, there are short and long leaves, bonus leaves and sometimes also weekends... we could meet about two or three times a month."
"That is... I might also spend the night with you?"
"Yes, at least one night, sometimes more."
"Well, then it is fine with me. I will also do this military service. But how can I do not knowing Italian language?"
"You will learn enough before you have to do military service. Taking courses and living in Italy, you will learn quickly enough. It is not difficult for those who speak Spanish to learn Italian."
"Yes, I will learn. Maybe you could already start talking to me in Italian, no?" he asked, and the smile was back on his lips and in his eyes.
Also the documents at the consulate were done pretty quickly. Everything turned out easier than I thought. It did not even cost me too much. When Guillermo received his passport, he was so happy, that he danced around the apartment, he was spinning around me, and laughing... it was a pleasure to see his joy.
So, in December 2001, just a few days after celebrating the eighteenth year of Guillermo, after sending all our personal things in Italy, we left for Rome. Before leaving Guillermo went to greet his mother and brothers, and brought them some more money, beyond what we had promised his mother.
We arrived in Rome on December 20. My bank had already prepared a temporary apartment in which to accommodate us so that I could then find a lodging to my liking with calm. I immediately took service at our headquarters and in the meantime also went to the registry office to register both Guillermo and me.
Past the Christmas and New Year holidays, I brought Guillermo to enroll in a private school of Italian for foreigners. We found a nice apartment on the second floor of an elegant house in Piazzale S. Pancrazio, a few steps from Villa Doria Pamphili. The apartment was wide, so I told Guillermo, since he had to study, and I wanted to take a housekeeper.
"But I can do everything myself..." he protested.
"No, the house is large, and you will be busy, to study, then maybe get a driving license... and sooner or later also find a job..."
"I can do it... and as a job, why should you pay someone else? If you had a wife, she would do the housework, wouldn't she? Can't I be your... houseboy?"
"I do not want you to be always in this house. You must have your life. And then, sooner or later, you'll also go in the military - who will clean the house in that year?"
"But having a person around the house... if she understands about the two of us... especially now that for everybody I am your son, it would be embarrassing, is not so?"
"I can find a gay guy, so we would be freer. You told me you will like to study, and I'd be happy if you took at least a high school degree. You should study seriously, to recover the years that you've lost. No, I think it's better if we take a person to do the housework. "
I managed to convince him. So after some research, we found a Filipino boy, gay, and we hired him. His name was Neyo, he was twenty-six, was nice and friendly and worked quickly and well. He came every day except Sunday, and worked at home by ten o'clock in the morning till six in the afternoon. I hired him regularly, with the employment card. He was in Italy for five years and spoke fluent Italian. For three years he lived in an apartment in Trastevere with his boyfriend, a charming twenty-two years old Korean, named Kim, who was a cook in a restaurant.
It was the evening of March 26, 2002. We had dinner and we were watching a movie sitting on the sofa in our living room, half embraced. Guillermo was crouching next to me, and had his head resting on my arm, almost on my shoulder and caressed me gently.
"Are you happy, Daniel?" he asked.
"Happy? More than happy, Guillermo. And you?"
"I still feel like I am living a dream. It's only two years we are together, but so many things have happened in these two years. You know that the more I'm with you, the more I love you, Daniel?"
"Yes I do. I love you too."
"We will always love each other so?"
"Maybe not... maybe over the years, we will love each other in different ways. But I know, I feel that we will love forever and that we will increasingly need each other."
"You... you need me?" Guillermo asked me.
"Every day more, love. Every day more. It had never happened to me before, you know? But now when I'm in the office, I always watch the watch and cannot wait to get home to be with you. "
" I too need you, Daniel, even now... I need you to... I need to feel you in me, I need to make love with you."
"Do not you ever get tired to make love with me?" I asked him, caressing him more intimately.
"I? Never! And you?"
"What do you think? I have ever looked tired?"
"Yes..." he said with a wry smile.
"Yes? And when?"
"Just two nights ago... after the third time that you came... you said that you needed to sleep!" Guillermo chuckled.
"And of course! It was two in the morning! But I was not tired of you, love. It was the third time that I came, precisely..."
He chuckled. Then said: "Daniel, I want to do the blood test."
"The blood test, and why?"
"It is now two years that I make love only with you. I checked... and if I have a disease, if I have AIDS, now they can find it. And if I do not have it... I wish we used no more condoms. I do not go to bed with anyone, so if I am healthy, what need to use it? I would rather stop. "
"I could have AIDS. Before I met you, although I always took my precautions, I went to bed with many guys and I would not to be me to infect you..."
"You too do the test then. And if we are both clean, we can stop using condoms, right? I wish that when we make love, your seed remained inside me. At least I have a part of you still with me. "
I kissed him: "Then we're going to take the blood test, love."
"But now..." Guillermo whispered caressing between my legs. He smiled: "It is already nicely hard..."
"For me it's enough to be so close to you, to desire to have you..."
"Why have you not yet done anything, then?"
"We cannot do it continually, right?"
Guillermo began to unbutton my clothes and caress me more intimately. We kissed and I began to undress him. After a while we were both naked on the couch, while the film, now forgotten, was still flowing on the small screen. He came on top of me and kissed me passionately on the mouth, rubbing his strong erection against mine.
We fell, laughing, on the carpet.
"It is not better we go on the bed?" I asked.
"No... Here it's all right." He sighed happily.
"But for now we still have to use condoms and..."
"I have some here..." he said, taking his pants from the floor and pulling out a packet.
"Ah. Did you anticipate it?" I said with mild irony.
"Sure."
"And if I said no?"
"Come on now! I am not perhaps irresistible? How could you say no?" he said jokingly.
I kissed him again: "You're right, love; no, I would never be able to say you no... You are truly irresistible."
"Take me, then." he whispered and kissed my hard member and after put the condom on it.
He lay on his back. I took his legs and made them lean on my shoulders. Guillermo smiled invitingly. I settled better and I got ready to penetrate him. I watched his beautiful body that the most matured the most I liked. It was really incredibly beautiful, at least to my eyes.
My hard member spotted his flesh rosette, and rested throbbing on it. Guillermo looked at me with bright eyes, waiting with eager pleasure for me to take him. I started pushing and I felt him open beneath me, take me within him, and welcome me. It was something sublime feeling so strongly desired, so joyously welcomed.
I invaded him slowly, in one light but determined push. Then I started to move inside him in a series of calibrated and vigorous strokes. Guillermo was holding me by the arms to no slip away with my every lunge and pulled at me to get penetrated better. Our eyes never moved away, and were lost in each other.
Seeing how much pleasure I was able to give him, gave me a sense of incredible sweetness.
"You're mine, Daniel, my love..." Guillermo whispered.
"Yes, I'm all yours."
"And I will never let you go." He added tightening the muscles his ass while I sank back into it.
"I love you..."
" I too am all yours."
"Yes, love."
I had had so many guys, and all different from one another - some very beautiful, others truly expert, some passionate, some tender... but none as special and complete as my Guillermo!