Limbo

by Melania G. Mazzucco

Genres: War & Military; Literary Fiction

Synopsis

A moving but unsentimental examination of one woman's life as she navigates life after war

It's Christmas Eve and twenty-seven-year-old Manuela Paris is returning home to a seaside town outside Rome. Years ago, she left to become a soldier. Then, Manuela was fleeing an unhappy, rebellious adolescence; with anger, determination, and sacrifice she painstakingly built the life she dreamed of as a platoon commander in the Afghan desert.
Now, she's fleeing something else entirely: the memory of a bloody attack that left her seriously injured. Her wounds have plunged her into in a very different and no less insidious war: against flashbacks, disillusionment, pain, and victimhood.
Numb and adrift, she is startled to life by an encounter with a mysterious stranger, a man without a past who is, like her, suspended in his own private limbo of expectation and hope. Their relationship—confusing, invigorating—forces her to confront her past and the secrets she, and those closest to her, are hiding.
In chapters that toggle between Manuela at home, grappling with her new life, and Manuela in Afghanistan, coming to terms with her role as a leader of fighting men and a peacemaker in a country that doesn't seem to want her help, Melania G. Mazzucco limns a story of love and loss, death and resistance in terms both surprising and cathartic. Limbo asks its readers, no less than its protagonist, what it means to be a daughter, a sister, a woman, a citizen, a soldier—or, more simply, a human.

Release date: November 4, 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Print pages: 384

Sample

1

LIVE



Nothing ever happens in this city. There's a frenzy the night that Manuela Paris is to return home—not even a visit from the pope would have caused such commotion. Everyone wants to see her. It's Christmas Eve. The vendors in the piazza have already broken down their stalls, and the rides are closing, too. The cafés lower their shutters, the waiters exchanging holiday greetings with the girls at the cash registers as they turn out the lights, one sign after another going dark. Curious onlookers clump together in front of the Parises' apartment building, huddled against the gate that defends a skinny gravel path. They stare at the intersection—two streets at right angles, like a drawing a kid in geometry class would make on graph paper. Except for the Christmas decorations—arches of colored light suspended between the buildings—there's nothing to look at. Ladispoli's not a very picturesque place. The only monuments, to the fallen in World War I, aren't very compelling: from a distance they look like scrap metal left over from some construction site. The best things about the main piazza are the trees and benches. The houses are nothing special, they don't make much of an impression. Even the Art Nouveau villas along the esplanade, built at the turn of the century when a dreamer prince believed he could transform this barren coast, at that time empty, into Rome's preferred elegant seaside resort, are decaying in the salt and sun. The teachers had encouraged the children living on the same street as Manuela Paris's family to hang Italian flags from their balconies. But school has been out for two days now, and only a few of them remembered, or only a few of them own a flag, so there are only three of them. They're all faded—the last time they were dragged down from the attic was for the World Cup—and so ragged and lonely that they make for a pretty sad sight; it might have been better not to hang them at all. Worse, the biggest one is on the Paris family balcony, so it's really like there are only two. Two flags on a street with at least fifty buildings and four hundred apartments.

So the cameraman prefers not to film them, to avoid giving the impression that Italian people don't give a damn. Manuela's schoolmates—who studied tourism management with her, or say they did, even if they were in a different class and maybe spoke to her only three times in their lives—vie for attention, elbowing to get on camera. But a reporter from the local news is front and center; he is trying hard to explain—in just a few words because the story isn't supposed to run over ninety seconds—that he's outside Manuela Paris's house with the mayor. Only he has to keep repeating himself because of all the honking—cars stuck in the traffic jam. The regular correspondent is on vacation so he's filling in: a young guy nobody knows, with rectangular glasses and a blond goatee. There's a pretty good crowd, though, they'll give her a respectable welcome.

But a sharp, nasty drizzle begins to fall, and Manuela Paris is late, and no one knows if she's coming by train from Rome or by car from Fiumicino, no one knows anything, it's cold, it's getting late, and the spontaneous welcome committee dissolves. A woman in a beaver coat leaves a bouquet of roses on the ground beneath the doorbell, but a neighbor throws the roses away, saying they bring bad luck: they look like those sad flowers people place along the side of the road or on lampposts after an accident, and Manuela Paris is hardly dead. Only the mayor—a woman herself—stays; she really wants to give Manuela a token of the city's appreciation, a little artsy something commissioned from a local sculptor that's supposed to represent the region's traditional product: a golden artichoke. Artichokes have been the pride of Ladispoli since the 1930s, and sometimes it seems as if they're the only thing the forty thousand people who live here care about, even though they're really grown by only a few farms out in the countryside. The rest of Ladispoli's residents work in factories or shops, just like anywhere else. At any rate, the mayor, draped in a tricolor sash, has to present this symbol of indigenous virtue to the illustrious citizen who put Ladispoli on the front page. Because otherwise the city gets talked about only during April, during the artichoke festival. Or if two drunken Bulgarians knife each other in a brawl. Or some retiree drowns on the first Sunday in June. So the mayor stays to deliver the golden artichoke, and to convey the admiration of the entire city council. Majority and opposition may fight each other on everything else, but all agreed when it came to honoring their fellow citizen, a model for young, hardworking Italians—in short, a hope for the future of our country.

The mayor waits under an umbrella with Manuela's sister. Everyone's stunned to see them together, because there's always been a lot of gossip about Vanessa Paris, for all sorts of reasons, and at any rate, the mayor never would have said a word to her if she weren't Manuela's sister. With her platinum blond bob, asymmetrical bangs, green eye shadow, false eyelashes, and bold fuchsia lipstick, Vanessa snags herself an interview with the TV reporter. She's remarkably self-assured, as if she'd been giving interviews all her life. "My sister's totally normal," she says, her cat eyes staring straight into the camera, into the viewers' eyes, "she hates pretentiousness and would never want people to think of her as a hero, or a victim—she was just doing her job, like when a bricklayer falls off scaffolding, or a factory worker gets splashed by acid. She chose that life, she knew the risks, and she didn't let the difficulties get to her, that's why I think it makes sense to talk about Manuela Paris, because young Italian women today aren't all bimbos with no brains or values who only think about money, they're also people like my sister, who have dreams and ideals, and the courage to try and fulfill them." The reporter asks for her number as soon as the sound engineer turns off the mike.

Vanessa Paris will be a big hit when the story airs the next day, because she's still a knockout even though she's over thirty. Prettier than her sister, who dresses like a truck driver and never wears makeup, at least that's what everyone says, but then again, they haven't seen her since she went away, and she was just a little squirt back then, maybe she's changed.

Little by little the houses light up, Christmas trees twinkle behind curtains, and the smell of fish wafts from kitchens. It's strange to see the place so full of life. Usually Ladispoli empties out in the morning, when people leave for work, like a hotel at the end of the summer. For seven months, until the beach clubs open again, all you see are children, old people, and out-of-work foreigners. Manuela Paris's house is the last one on the street, opposite the Bellavista Hotel, on the esplanade. Esplanade is a pretty pretentious word for that narrow strip of street that runs between the two drainage canals that define the city center and is besieged from behind by huge buildings that loom over the older villas, as if preparing to crush them. The walls and beach huts obstruct the view, so you only get glimpses of the sea. You can hear it, though. In Ladispoli the sea roars. Open sea, slapped by the wind, always rough. People who have traveled say it's like the ocean. Don't get the wrong impression, though—the place has a certain charm, even if it never did become the hoped-for elegant beach town. To Manuela it had always seemed perfect, and she wouldn't have wanted to be born anywhere else. But when—it's already after eight—she finally gets out of the car, she looks around disoriented; she doesn't seem all that happy to be back.

* * *

"We're proud to have you here with us again," the mayor says simply, shaking her hand. Her constituents wouldn't appreciate a lot of pomp, which they're all strongly opposed to. That's why she avoided a ceremony in city hall, agreeing instead to this intimate, informal encounter: hers is a tightrope walker's existence. Manuela doesn't mind, though—in fact, she had begged her mother not to tell anyone she was coming. Instead, to her dismay, she has become a celebrity, and has to endure the ceremony of the golden artichoke and the city pennant. The reporter already used up all his questions on Vanessa, so he merely asks her what she's feeling. "It's good to be home, but I can't wait to go back, there's so much to do over there," Manuela says. Few words, spoken quickly, eyes lowered, not even a hint of a smile. She's always been gruff with people she doesn't know. She hugs her mother. Manuela is a head taller than she is, and Cinzia Colella, minute and shriveled, disappears inside her daughter's big green jacket. "When are you going to let your hair grow back?" she asks, running her hand across her daughter's forehead. She doesn't say "I missed you so much," or anything like that. Just that unfortunate question, which in truth implies another: Do you have to have another operation on your head? Nothing remains of her daughter's long black hair, which used to shine like an Indian's. It's really short now, a crew cut, like a man's. Her chocolate-colored eyes seem too big for her naked face. Her mother hadn't been able to contain herself, because for her, a woman without hair isn't a woman: she's a lunatic from the asylum, a prisoner of war, or terminally ill. Then the chaos starts. Neighbors and relatives, filled with pride, clasp her hand and vie for her attention, a kiss on the cheek, a pat on the back, even her cousins Claudio and Pietro are there, with their kids, and Uncle Vincenzo, the one with the mustache and a hardware store behind Piazza della Vittoria—they all want to kiss her, and her uncle's and cousins' wives don't want to be left out, even though they're not sure Manuela recognizes them, and everyone forgets her mother's instructions—she had begged them to avoid mentioning what had happened—and, adopting sympathetic expressions appropriate to the circumstances, they ask, how are you, how are you, and she answers distractedly, almost irritated, fine, fine, I'm better now.

But she isn't fine at all. She still walks uncertainly, leaning on her metal crutches, hopping on her good foot, as if she's scared to put weight on the other one. Seeing her hobble like that shocks and silences them all, and all their celebrations, all their questions and congratulations stick in their throats. None of them had realized that her injuries were so serious, or that her rehab wasn't over. If the young reporter hadn't mentioned it in the story that will air tomorrow at lunchtime, no one would even know that Manuela has undergone four operations on her foot and knee, three on the vertebrae in her neck, and two on her skull. It's more comforting to think that her convalescence is over and that she is coming to spend the Christmas holidays with her family, like everyone else.

Manuela starts dragging herself up the stairs. There's never been an elevator in their building and there never will be, because the stairwell is too narrow. Her crutches tic-tic mournfully on the stairs, and her mother can't keep from crying. She weeps silently, sniffling and wiping her eyes on her coat sleeve. Cinzia had never resigned herself to the idea that her daughter could get herself killed one day, and for such lousy pay, when she could have become a lawyer or a notary or an astrophysicist. Yet she was the one who, ever since Manuela was little, always told her that independence is everything, that a woman needs to think about herself, choose the profession she wants, and never depend on a man. So if Manuela grew up with those ideas in her head, her mother is partly to blame.

Manuela stops on the second floor because the stabbing pains in her ruined leg are piercing her head and she needs to rest. Vanessa wants to help and offers her arm. Manuela pushes her away, brandishing her crutch like a rifle. "I can do it myself," she grumbles stubbornly, "I can do it." Vanessa thinks that, despite everything, maybe her sister really is better.

* * *

At dinner Manuela is seated at the head of the table. They have given her the seat of honor, facing the balcony windows. In the evening darkness, the sea is a sheet of lead that the waves splinter into a thousand slivers of light. The neon sign for the Bellavista Hotel is on, but the shutters are lowered in all the rooms, and the place seems closed. The restaurant is dark. After all, why would anyone come spend Christmas Eve at the Bellavista? Manuela has never seen anyone there in winter. Off season, there are only weekend guests. Clandestine couples usually, married professionals and their young female friends. Manuela tries all the appetizers—the wild salmon, the mushrooms in olive oil, the baby artichokes, the Russian salad, the anchovy and caper rolls, the duck liver pâté, the eel—because the unusual abundance tells her that her mother has spent the entire day in the kitchen, and Manuela is the only person in the world she'd do that for. It's all delicious, but it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth: of salt and waste. She only picks at the linguine with clams, the grouper with capers, the artichokes; she resigns herself to the ritual slice of panettone. While Vanessa gets up and, hips swaying thanks to her stiltlike heels, heads toward the kitchen, followed by the bovine stares of the three Colella men, Manuela notices with surprise that a light has come on in the window across the way, on the third floor, behind half-lowered shutters. Someone's there. In the Bellavista Hotel, on Christmas Eve.

Her uncle, cousins, and mother are all shouting, or at least that's what it feels like to her, because she's no longer used to this much noise. In the hospital, footsteps are soft, voices low, sounds muted. You can almost hear silence screak, time breathe. For months all she did was stare at the rectangle of her window, which framed a magnolia tree, and listen to the rustle of leaves and the chirping of birds hidden in its branches. That bright green tree and those chirpy, chattering birds were so unreal, so ridiculous, that at times she would ask herself if she were really alive. The leaves were green in the fall and green in the winter: it was as if time had stopped.

"You should come see me at the store," her cousin Claudio is saying. "I'll let you pick out a dog. It'll keep you company till you're back to regular duty. Toy Russians are really in now—they're tiny, affectionate, totally fearless. I've got one that's perfect, a real purebred, barely six pounds, you can put it in your purse. And I won't let you pay either, it's a gift." Manuela bites into a piece of white nougat, hard as a rock, and stares at him in bewilderment. She wasn't listening. She's wishing she were somewhere else. She had known she wouldn't feel like seeing anyone, and had begged her mother to keep her homecoming a secret, but her mother didn't hold to their agreement, and now she's trapped at this noisy family dinner, as exhausting as a march with a full pack. She doesn't feel like making small talk; listening to other people's conversations interests her even less. People talk merely to air their tongues, and she doesn't want to waste time with that nonsense anymore. It's as if she'd done a kind of detox therapy, ridding herself of everything superfluous. As the months passed, the things that really mattered turned out to be fewer and fewer. In the end all that was left were health, freedom, and life.

"Leave her alone," Vanessa whispers in her cousin's ear, "she's tired." Vanessa has kept an eye on Manuela all evening, and her listless expression puts her on edge—and that's made her eat too much, stuffing herself to ease her anxiety, and now her stomach burns, as if she's swallowed a sea urchin, spines and all. She has missed her sister, tremendously. She doesn't know how to tell her, though, and she also doesn't know if the closeness that once existed between them can ever be rekindled, or if it's gone forever, or if it even still means anything to Manuela. The girl with the shaved hair at the head of the table, huddled in a chair too big for her, looks first at them and then around the room, as if she were lost, as if she were a complete stranger who ended up here by chance on Christmas Eve.

Vanessa uses her nails to rip off the silver wrapping on a bottle of Asti Spumante, shakes it, and pops the cork. The louder the bang, the better the luck it brings. It simply doesn't occur to her. Manuela starts to her feet and goes white as a sheet. Blinded by a flash of light, deafened by a piercing roar, her heart starts pounding like crazy, her forehead is covered in sweat, her legs tremble and give way. She staggers forward, flailing her arms to keep from falling, and a crystal vase goes flying. It crashes to the floor and shatters, flinging water, leaves, and flowers all over her jeans and shirt. A nice vase, one she'd never seen before, the only thing new in a room otherwise exactly the same as when she'd left it, all those years ago. Exactly the same, but aged somehow. She manages to sit down.

"Idiot," her mother hisses in Vanessa's ear. "The doctor told you, no explosions, no sudden noises, Manuela's brain is sensitive." This is what Cinzia says, but in truth she really doesn't know what's wrong with her daughter. She only knows that in practical terms they have to avoid reminding her about what happened. Every time Cinzia went to the hospital to see her, Manuela told her it was too soon, she didn't want to talk about it. But more than six months have gone by since she was repatriated, and not only does Manuela not want to talk about it, but she still loses it when someone pops a bottle of spumante.

"Hey, honey, everything's okay," Vanessa whispers, her hand on her shoulder. "Hey? Are you there? It was just a fucking cork, I'm sorry." She gathers up the shards of crystal from the floor and deposits them carelessly on the soaking wet tablecloth. It's too bad about the vase. It was really pretty and probably cost a lot. Could it be a sign? Youssef had given it to her mother last Christmas. Last Christmas, Manuela was in Afghanistan, and Vanessa's boyfriend had come to wish Cinzia a merry Christmas. Not knowing what to give a woman he had never even seen and whose hostility he sensed, he had bought that Swarovski vase because sparkling crystal makes a good impression. Vanessa is sorry Manuela won't get to meet Youssef. Manuela's a better judge of character than she is, she's good at sizing people up, sees deep inside them, as if X-raying their hearts, and Vanessa wants to know what she'd make of him. If he seems right for her, if their relationship will last, because last Christmas she was convinced it would—if not, she never would have introduced him to her mother—but by New Year's they were already fighting over every little thing, and now she's not so sure that Youssef is the love of her life. If one even exists, and if there's only one. But Youssef won't be back from Morocco until February, and Manuela will already be gone by then.

"Maybe we'd better get going," Uncle Vincenzo murmurs, glancing sympathetically at his sister. Cinzia mumbles something about the fact that Manuela hasn't fully recovered yet, it takes time, the trauma was severe, these things leave deep scars, it's not just the broken bones … but she doesn't insist they stay. The Christmas spirit has evaporated. Embarrassed, the cousins and their wives get up, say goodbye to Grandma Leda, but avoid looking at Manuela or drawing attention to themselves, as if they were ashamed of their cumbersome bodies, of their shoes squeaking on the waxed floor. Except for the television, forgotten but still on in the background, a forbidding silence has fallen over the living room, as if someone had died. The flat ring of a phone makes everyone jump. It's music from Psycho, the shower scene, and it gets louder with every ring. Very disturbing. Vanessa fishes her cell out from under the cushions on the couch, glances at the display, and decides not to answer. "Is it Youssef?" Alessia teases. "No, sweetie," Vanessa says, surprised. "It's not Youssef."

"Thanks for everything, terrific dinner, I always said you should open a restaurant, Merry Christmas," Aunt Pia whispers to her sister-in-law, while Pietro's wife gets her purse, their daughter, Carlotta, puts on her coat, and little Jonathan stares at the strange girl, white as a ghost, who is panting, mouth and eyes open wide. A rose hangs by a thorn from the sleeve of her blouse, which is soaking wet and completely transparent. Cousin Manuela isn't wearing a bra. She doesn't need one, she's flat as a board, but her nipples are like small buds. His father has to drag him away. One after the other the Colellas leave, apologetically repeating "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas," without turning around, as if they weren't supposed to see or know, as if they had spied on some forbidden truth.

"Feel better now, hon?" Vanessa whispers, and Manuela nods. The explosion no longer rings in her ears. Even the nauseating smell of burnt flesh is fading. Her heartbeat is slowing, the tingling in her legs is fading. She gives her sister a painful smile, which, instead of reassuring her, pierces her heart. What the fuck did they do to you?! she would like to scream. She plucks the rose from her sister's sleeve, but she can't muster a single word. When her sister enlisted, Vanessa was pregnant. She gave birth the day Manuela was sworn in. Her mother had to choose. She couldn't be in the barracks and the hospital at the same time. Obviously she chose the hospital. Manuela took it hard. Two hundred and fifty female soldiers of the third echelon were sworn in on the parade grounds of the Ascoli Piceno barracks. The army chief of staff was there, along with generals, dignitaries, and family members, eyes wet with tears. Manuela was the only one without any relatives; she had given her classmates the tickets reserved for her family. Not even her grandfather came, because no one could take him. Parkinson's had already destroyed Vittorio Paris, he was all skin and bones, as frail as a dried spider; he weighed all of ninety pounds, and could no longer drive or even take a bus. But it wasn't Vanessa's fault that Alessia was born by cesarian, scheduled well in advance; the doctors don't postpone a C-section just because your sister is swearing allegiance to the flag. To Vanessa, not being there for Manuela that day had seemed like an unforgivable betrayal. She really should have been there. She'd been the first to learn that her sister had enlisted, and, unlike Manuela's mother, or friends, or other relatives, to Vanessa it seemed like the right decision—even if at the time there weren't many female soldiers and everyone said it was unnatural, because a woman's biological destiny is to give life instead of death. But Manuela would reply that human beings have freed themselves from the fierce, obtuse tyranny of nature. People aren't zebras or kangaroos, dominated by instinct, or train cars limited to specific tracks. "We don't have just one path before us—we're free." Vanessa had helped her fill out her application, and had gone with her to the recruiting office. When Manuela disappeared into the barracks, Vanessa bawled like a fool.

Months later, Vanessa had watched the video of the swearing-in ceremony, which Angelica Scianna's parents had taken. All the women looked perfect in their uniforms, with their lip gloss and clear nail polish, the only makeup that regulations allowed. But Manuela, wearing neither lip gloss nor nail polish, her black ponytail tucked under her cap, her expression serious, made the most believable soldier. In the video the women shouted in unison: I SWEAR! and then intoned "Fratelli d'Italia" at the top of their lungs. It gave Vanessa goose bumps to hear the national anthem sung by all those female voices.

* * *

At a quarter past midnight, Alessia is asleep on the foldaway bed set up in her mother's room, Cinzia is loading the dishwasher, and Vanessa, cell phone pressed to her ear, is leaning out the bathroom window, because the Bellavista blocks the signal in the Parises' apartment. She's whispering. Manuela is still awake and Vanessa doesn't want to be overheard talking to some guy she met for ten minutes and who's already calling her on Christmas Eve. Manuela is pretty strict. She says a soldier is like a priest: you cant just be religious in church. And so she behaves as if she were in uniform even when she's not. Manuela's romantic life—at least as far as Vanessa knows—is almost humiliatingly monogamous. She only ever brought home one guy, Giovanni Bocca, and even though Vanessa found him uninteresting and untrustworthy, she'd resigned herself to the fact that Manuela was going to marry him. Manuela had already asked her to be her maid of honor. They had talked with the parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, and had even asked if they could be exempted from premarital counseling. But then, last year, before she left for Afghanistan, she broke up with him. Without telling anyone why.

The young journalist with the blond goatee is named Lapo. He sounds happy, even euphoric. Maybe he's been drinking, or he's popped a pill, or maybe he's playacting, trying to seem cool. He asks if she's busy the day after tomorrow. He's dying to see her again. "I can't," Vanessa hesitates, "I have to spend time with my sister, I don't want to blow her off, she's not doing so well, and besides, she moved up north a long time ago and doesn't know anyone around here anymore." "What if I bring a friend?" Lapo asks.

When all the lights in the house are out and she knows she won't be surprised by anyone anymore, Manuela goes out onto the balcony and lights a cigarette. The balcony runs along the living room, makes a right angle, and comes to a dead end outside the kitchen. It's empty except for Alessia's little bike and a drying rack gnawed by rust. Her mother doesn't care about flowers, and Vanessa is too scattered to remember to water them. The geraniums are dying in their plastic vases, the basil is a shriveled black stump, and the jasmine has lost all its leaves. The nicotine makes her head spin. She smoked the first cigarette of her life just a few months ago, in the courtyard of the military hospital. Twenty-seven years without wanting so much as a puff, not even in school, not even in the barracks, not even at the base, where all the soldiers smoked, and now she can't live without it. What an idiot. She leans on the railing and gazes at the Bellavista Hotel. The light is out in the room on the third floor, the curtains are closed. But someone is on the balcony, in the dark. Smoking. All she can see is the glow of a cigarette—otherwise, she wouldn't even have noticed the shadowy figure in the dark, leaning against the railing, just like she is. It's a man.

The mistral blows the vague scent of aromatic tobacco her way. Manuela taps ashes into the pot and wonders what he's doing there, all alone in an empty hotel, on Christmas Eve. Maybe he, too, suffers from insomnia, and is afraid of going to bed. Afraid that images, smells, sounds, and voices he'd like to forget will reemerge from the darkness. Sounds most of all. That sound. At least that's how it is for her. The worst moment of the day is the last, when the light fades and she rests her head on her pillow. She feels fragile in the dark, defenseless against the nightmares—even against the memories. She hasn't been able to get to sleep naturally for the last six months. She puts off going to bed until the artificial drowsiness starts to fog her mind. But now, even with the drops, she remains stubbornly alert. So even after she puts out her cigarette in the damp potting soil and slips the butt into her pocket to avoid leaving any trace, she stays leaning against the railing, watching the man across the way; he's wearing dark clothes, with a lighter color scarf around his neck. He scans the street below—not a single car goes by. From where he stands he can see the Paris family's flag, which flaps against the balcony with every gust of wind. In the silence of Christmas Eve, all you can hear is the rustle of the flag and the sea, which hurls itself against the sand monotonously, maliciously, angrily. But as soon as he realizes that Manuela is looking at him, he starts, tosses his cigarette into the street, moves the curtain aside, and disappears into his room. He doesn't turn on the light.



Copyright © 2012 by Melania G. Mazzucco