Exit A:

I opened my eyes. Michele, wake up. Papa was sitting on the edge of the bed shaking my shoulder. “I’ve got to talk to you,” it was dark. But a patch of light bathed the ceiling. I couldn’t see his eyes and I couldn’t tell if he was angry. In the kitchen they were still talking. “Michele, what did you do today?” Nothing. Don’t talk nonsense. He was angry. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I swear, Felice found you with that boy, He says you wanted to free him,”
I sat up.
“No! It’s not true! I swear it! I took him out, but I put him straight back in again I didn’t want to free him. He’s the one who’s lying,”
“Keep your voice down, your sister’s asleep,” Maria was lying face down hugging the pillow. I whispered
“Don’t you believe me? “He looked at me. His eyes glittered in the dark like a dog’s.
“How many times have you seen him? Three. How many? Four, Can he recognise you?” I thought about it.
“No, He can’t see. He always keeps his head under the blanket,” “Have you told him your name?”
“No,”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“No…not much,”
“What did he say to you?”
”Nothing, He talks about strange things, I can’t make head nor tail of it,”
“And what did you say to him?”
“Nothing,”

Exit B:

The grown-ups had gone, the cars were there but they weren’t, the houses empty, the doors open, we all ran from one house to another. Barbara was agitated
“Is there anyone at your house?”
“No what about yours?” “There’s nobody there either where are they?” Remo was out of breath. I’ve looked even in the vegetable garden
“What shall we do?” asked Barbara
“I don’t know,” I replied
Skull was walking along the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets and a grim face, like a gunfighter in a ghost town who cares good riddance
“I’ve been longing for the day when they’d all just fuck off,”
He spat Michele I turned round my sister was in vest and knickers outside the shed with her Barbies in her hands and Togo following her like a shadow. I ran over to her
“Maria, Maria where are the grown-ups?” she answered calmly “At Salvatore’s house why?” She pointed at the sky “the helicopters what that’s why the helicopters went over and afterwards they all came out in the street and they were shouting and they went to Salvatore’s house, why I don’t know,” I looked around Salvatore wasn’t there anymore.
“What are you doing here?” Mama told me I’ve got to wait here she asked me where you’d gone and what did you tell her I told her you’d gone on the mountain what are you doing here Mama told me I’ve got to wait here she asked me where you’d gone and what did you tell her I told her you’d gone on the mountain.