The pursuit

The next two days went by normally. Sleeping until noon, eating enough to keep me from starving because I simply didn't feel like eating because of the heat, doing odd jobs, walking through the cemetery, showering and in bed. One day I went for a walk. I took a street behind the park and walked up the hill. The houses were nice, identical, colorful, with neat little yards and lots of flowers. I talked to the locals. I explained to them that I was a foreigner, I told them that in our country everyone did their house and yard as they saw fit, then renovated it again at their own discretion. It couldn't be like that here. You can't even change the color of your house without permission from the municipality, let alone do renovations or construction. I spotted a few useful objects – a mobile operator office, a clothing store, an ATM. On the way back, I walked through the park and entered the small church. Behind the building where I lived, there was a Salumeria – a sausage and meat shop. I bought some German salami, a type of bacon. It was greasy and very salty.

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 1 – I'm going abroad

The evening at work was uneventful. Unlike my drive home. I passed through the cemetery again, because there were three trucks in the parking lot. When I got to the intersection with the bar, there was no one there. But shortly after I passed it, I heard the sound of a motorcycle. I turned around - it was one of the motorcycles I had noticed one evening on my way home, I remembered it because it was bright red and I liked it... not that I know anything about motorcycles.

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 2 – I got lost

The biker caught up with me, passed me, and stopped shortly after. I was walking. As I approached him, he turned and lifted his helmet visor. To my great surprise, it was the same guy who had been staring at me when I was staring at the bar, trying to remember the direction. I stopped, more surprised than worried. We looked at each other in silence for a while longer, and before I could ask him what he wanted, he started to pull away with a dirty gas. And so on several times – he drove, waited for me, and then drove off furiously. I got nervous. At some point, I realized that he knew my direction, because he was waiting for me to approach him and then drove off in my direction, but it was on a different street.

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 4 – Moroccan Honor

By then I was already scared. I couldn't wait to get to the overpass to escape him. I jumped over the railing, he couldn't see me anymore because he had taken the underpass. I ran, went under the "corridor" at the back of the building to shorten my route and came out on the square on the side of the park, in the parking lot. To my horror, the biker was waiting for me right in front of my entrance, he had put one tire on the sidewalk. So he knew in advance where I lived... I stepped forward and stopped. It was well lit... at least that much. We stood and looked at each other. And then I noticed at one end of the parking lot that there were people in a car. A man... and a WOMAN. What a relief! The car door opened, they were talking to each other and not paying attention to me. I confidently walked towards them.

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 5 – I'm going to Padua

But after just a few steps, my pursuer spun his tires, sped off again with a dirty gas, and disappeared into the darkness. I never saw him again, and I didn't really understand what his goal was. If he wanted to attack me, he could have done it at least a few times along the way. I ran to the entrance and, although my hands were shaking, I managed to unlock it quickly. In two breaths, I took the stairs to the third floor and, trembling, but careful not to make too much noise, I unlocked the front door. I went back to my room and cried. I took a shower, but I didn't feel like sleeping, and I didn't feel like eating. I found some alcohol in the fridge, it wasn't mine, but I didn't care. I poured myself some and went out onto the terrace to smoke.

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 6 – The Sabotage

I fell asleep late, the sun was already rising. I got up in the late afternoon. Milena and the Rat were in the apartment. They asked me if I was okay, I was pale. I told them about the midnight chase. Milena was genuinely worried and offered to give me a bike. However, he categorically refused. He even laughed and mocked me that nothing had happened. I told him in a spiteful tone that if anything happened to me, there was someone to look for me, he frowned and left.

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 7 – Expelled

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 8 – A Night Under the Stars and Three Days on Camels

FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 9 – Subsequent revelations

© 2025 Iliana Dechkova