How can I change that? said Ulysses.
You can’t. Time will. One day you’ll wake up and it will all be different, and he clicked his fingers, but there was no sound because his hands were sweaty.
He lit a cigarette and Claude squawked.
And you have a refrigerator, he added quickly.
Is that what this is about?
Understand. At Michele’s bar, there is an unofficial communal icebox. People store their milk or Sunday meat next to his gelati. And you – you’ve walked into the square and you have a refrigerator.
Arturo had a refrigerator.
Be patient, my friend, and Massimo finished his coffee and stood up. Shall we?
They turned back onto Via dei Calzaiuoli.
Have you thought about what you want to do? said Massimo.
Not yet, said Ulysses, stopping in front of a tailor’s window display.
I’d like to make globes again, he said, distracted by the loafers and fashionable styles.
Ah, mappamondi! Bellissimi! said Massimo. You like those trousers?
I do. And the shirt. And those shoes, said Ulysses. He turned back to Massimo. I’d need to find a workshop first. For the globes, I mean. And I’d need to source the right paper.
Too easy, my friend.
And someone to print the gores.
We’ll find someone. Moon or earth?
I’ve only ever made the earth.
Palazzo Castellani, said Massimo. The Institute of the History of Science. There you will find both celestial and terrestrial globes. Of infinitesimale beauty. You want to go and see about the trousers?
Would you mind?
Mind? Shopping is my other great love.
After what?
Dancing.
Massimo cornered a street kid and had a robust conversation about Claude. They shook hands and Massimo turned to Ulysses and said, I told him if he waits here with the pappagallo I’ll pay him well. If he runs away, I told him you’ll chase him down and kill him. Bene. Let’s go in.
Ulysses followed Massimo up a flight of narrow stairs that smelt of leather and aromatic smoke. Waiting for them at the top was Piccolo Nico, a small （of course） wizened tailor with a tape measure around his neck, and a sigaretto in the corner of his mouth.
Massimo explained what Ulysses was after and in no time at all, the tailor had measured him for a suit, an extra pair of trousers and a couple of shirts. And then Nico frowned and said, Un momento, before disappearing into his workshop.
He came back holding a pair of cream cotton trousers described as ‘summer light’ that had been made two months before for a young man who had died suddenly. Exact same measurements as yours, apparently, said Massimo. You can have them at a bargain price if you’re not superstitious.
If they fit well, I’m not superstitious, said Ulysses and he took the trousers into the changing room.
The trousers fitted well. He paired them with soft brown leather loafers worn without socks and he felt transformed.
Lucky for you the man had good taste and bad genes, said Massimo.
Lucky for me, said Ulysses. I’ll take ’em, signore. Trousers and shoes both.
Twenty minutes later, he came out of the shop dressed like an Italian, his old clothing bundled up in brown paper under his arm, the suit and two shirts ready to be collected in September.
As they crossed the Ponte Vecchio, Claude flew on ahead and Ulysses said, I was thinking, Massimo. What about a telephone?
Massimo stopped and said, What about a telephone?
What if we got one installed?
Oh no no. Too soon.
Too soon?
Trust me. Too soon. Not after the refrigerator.
They entered the square in time for aperitivo and Claude flew from tree to tree and performed an impromptu aeronautical display for a group of American tourists coming back from the Brancacci chapel. They took a table at Michele’s and Giulia came out to greet them. She was always friendly and always elegant, dressed that day in a black and green housedress that accentuated her wide rumba hips that Massimo said had danced two girls into the world twenty-three years before. Her hair was held up with amber combs that had once belonged to her favourite grandmother. How do you know all this? said Ulysses but before Massimo could answer, Giulia said something that made him laugh. She took their order of two Campari sodas, and turned back towards the bar.
When she’d gone, Massimo leant across the table and said, She thinks you look very handsome in your new clothes.
Ulysses blushed and lit a cigarette. He offered his last one to Massimo.
Thank you, said Massimo. And you do look very handsome.
People from the neighbourhood began to arrive. The elderly women took their place on the stone benches and called over the young waiter for a tray of vermouth. Massimo said, You see that woman on the left? You recognise her?