THE CORRUPTION OF RUDI RIESENKAMPF (part 3 of 4)

THE CORRUPTION OF RUDI RIESENKAMPF (part 3 of 4)

The next morning the sun was  shinning through a clean ashed sky, and over breakfast, Roy, Larry,and Antonella talked overtheir plans, and decided they would travel inland with Rudi to the cherry festival.

They broke down the tent and walk d into town to the sound of the synchronized cicada's. They bought more food for the journey, then caught a bus. They were headed for a village called Balia, where, Rudi had been told by someone, he would be able to find work picking  herries. The others were not interested in working, but thought it might be an interesting place to see, because it was deep in the mountains. They had to make a bus change. And had an hour's waitoutside a small village for the next one. They sat at the bus stop under a towering bright sky, where the hills went on in a dream, and they smoked another spliff, ate cacti fruit and wondered if the bus would actually come.It did come, right on time, and two hours later, suffering from the hot parched air of the bus they reached their destination,which was clinging to a mountainside. A wind blew the fiery air around them. They walked into a lifeless, one street village. They could see a small bar with chairs and tables outside, of which, one of the tables under a hoarding, was occupied by four or five old men, and a small group of children were sat on the ground around an over-turned bicycle, they all stopped their talk and stared owlishly at the newcomers as if they were Martians. 'So the locals think us pretty weird,' said Roy.

'They're just in the process of defining cool,' said Larry.

The aliens took one of the tables, also under the hoarding to be out of the fire of the sun. A very fat waiter in an dirty grey apron, who had been sitting in the shadow of the doorway, out of of sight, talking to his customers, now came over to them to  take their order. A lot of toing-and-froing went on between Antonella, the waiter, and the locals, in which the bar's menu was pointed at, and waved about a bit, and they finally got three glasses of beer, and a glass of orange juice for Rudi. One or two of the children came over to them and stood  around the table mesmerized by these new, and very strange looking people... Doors along the street suddenly began opening, and the people stood watching them from their doorsteps. The kids were soon growing in numbers, and getting ever closer to their table. People suddenly came strolling own the street to the bar and joining the old men, or sitting at the empty tables, also to take-up the staring...

Antonella began talking with the children, and the local men, because that was what they were, only men. The children now braver in their numbers, swarmed around them, they were fascinated with Roy and Larry: looking, only one inch away,into their blue eyes, touching their blonde hair; which, Antonella explained was due to the fact that the children had never seen these before. Everyone here was very dark. 

The locals were very interested in Antonella's violin, so she took it out of its case and began playing. She played  traditional Italian tunes and everyone seemed suddenly enthralled... the children danced, the men were smiling and tapping their feet, and more and more people now came from their houses to the bar.

Drinks of the local hard liquor appeared, courtesy of the barkeeper. Roy in return bought a bottle of the stuff, and began giving it out to the men, with salutatory toasts to what... they did not know... Then Larry bought another bottle... and more toasts followed...

'To the Queen, and all who sail in her!' Roy joked.

'May your blood scream,' echoed Larry.

Antonella realized Rudi had also begun drinking... but neither they nor he commented on it... The drinking and the music carried on. Bottle after bottle was consumed. Rudi, glassy eyed, and sweaty looking had become louder and louder. Then all of a sudden he leapt to his feet, and began a drunken clownish dance with the children. Whooping and kicking his baggy crutched trousers up high, springing elated into the air, which sent the children into an ecstasy of glee... his clowning then edged into the middle of the road. Then he commandeered and mounted one of the children's tiny bicycles, riding it around and around, chased by a throng of riant kids. The locals from the bar also laughed and began calling out 'commedia dell'arte!' More drinks flowed. The music would stop, while Antonella took a break, then after more requests would resume with ever move vigour.

A teenage boy, at one point, approached their table and spoke with Antonella for a few moments. She informed Roy and Larry that the boy was inviting them to eat with his family that evening. Did they want to go... Yes, they replied. So Antonella thanked the boy and told him they would come.

Antonella, thoughtful as ever, told Roy and Larry they should all go outside the village and find a place to pitch their tent, while it was still light, for the time, somehow, seemed to have warped, and the sun was suddenly going down behind the bar. She also pointed out how drunk Rudi looked. They called the waiter and paid the score, and said good bye to the people at the bar. They managed to free the hysterically drunken Rudi from his waggish games with the children's Bicycle, and began to walk – having to support him as he staggered and waved his arms about, and loudly sang in German -- out of the village, followed, like Pied Pipers by a large group of the children.

After a five minute walk they found a grassy area set back about fifty metres from the narrow road. The children watched them very funnily and slowly put up the tent, and then Antonella told them they were going to sleep..., but the children just sat watching... The three laughing, drunken friends then struggled to get a desultory Rudi, and themselves into the tent. Once inside Rudi fell immediately to sleep, while Roy put a spliff together, and passed it around, before they all fell quiet.

Antonella had set the alarm on her little travelling clock for 7 o'clock – their dinner invitation being at 8 o'clock. It now woke them all, but Rudi, from a strange green slumber. Roy jumped out first to go to toilet. He returned and reported that the kids were still there, sat quiet by the road, he had had to go out of sight behind the tent to piss.

Larry followed, but Antonella said she would wait while they got to their dinner date. They got themselves dressed, then woke Rudi, who didn't look too clever, as Larry put it. 'Sheepish, and lost', Roy joked. Antonella now spun a pre-dinner spliff for the road, which actually seemed to pull Rudi together a bit. Then they set off back to the village, again followed by the throng of kids.

They were met by the teenage boy outside the house, and was led around the side of the house, then up some wooden stairs and onto a large flat roof, which to their surprise, in the middle, was set a long table and chairs under a thatched canopy. On both sides of the roof were more thatch areas,
which under one was a TV, and on the other side was a small pool-table, and a flipper machine. There were a few adults and teenagers and younger children playing, or watching the television.

The teenage boy introduced them to the adults: his father, his mother, two sisters, a couple of uncles and aunties, and some neighbours. The teenager explained, he had a brother who was studying in Britain; In York, and they had heard from people at the bar that Roy and Larry were English. So it was for this reason they wanted to invite them to eat with them... Antonella asked a few questions, then informed the others that this place was a kind of café, which the parents of the boy had set up as a place for the bored local teenagers to come to
and hang out. Later, the boy explained, after they had eaten, more local people would come.

They all now sat down at the table where food and wine soon appeared, there were plates of all kinds of local dishes: fish, chicken, pastas, and sweet stuffs. Again Rudi drank wine... and Anotella, when she realized, whispered to him not to drink so fast, that it could be a long evening. Rudi also ate heartily of every dish he was offered, it seemed his vegetarian diet, like his other abstinences, was now forgotten.

After the meal, more and more people began arriving... mostly teenagers, but also some adults. Some of the teenagers had a smattering of English, and Roy and Larry were surrounded with their questions. But with this smattering – even combined with Roy and Larry's little and inadequate Italian – it was often not enough, and all had to be clarified by Antonella's Italian.

And later, once again, it was Antonella who was called upon to supply the entertainment. And to bring the evening to a close with her faithful fiddle.

And despite Antonella's warning to Rudi; not to drink too much, at the end of the evening he had again to be helped back to the tent by Roy and Larry.

During the evening they had been told that the main events of the Cherry Festival, which was older than the Renaissance, happened in Velon... the principal town of the area, and that the high point would be the following day, which would be a Saturday. And that there would be music and many other traditional celebrations. And on Sunday there would also be all kinds of things happening there.

The next day when they awoke they decided they should take the bus to Velon. When they came from the tent they were amazed to see the small group of children already sat, again discreetly fifty metres away from the tent, quietly waiting for their objects of mystery and wonder to appear. And after they broke down the tent the children followed them back to the bar in the village, where they were greeted warmly by the large barkeeper and the same group of locals they had met the day before. Antonella enquired about the next bus to Velon, which they informed her would come at noon. So it being then ten o'clock, they sat down and ate a large breakfast of eggs and cheese, before saying their goodbyes. And once again they were accompanied by the children as they walked out of the village to the bus stop. They waved goodbye to the children as they drove off with the bus, and after one more quick change they arrived in Velon at around two in the afternoon.

They found a quiet secluded place outside the town where they pitched their tent. And after smoking yet another spliff they strolled back into the bustling little town. A large wooden stage had been set up in the main square, and was being furnished with a back drop of colourful paintings, and a sound system was being checked for the evening's concert. There was a feeling of pending excitement among the people. Everywhere they wandered around the town centre dressed in all kinds of traditional clothes of many colours. Bright reds, blues, yellows, and whites squared designs on smocks, and suits, crowned in all-shaped hats all in the style of the Renaissance.

But it was our troop that once again caught the the attention of the locals. All eyes noticed and followed them. Rudi looked like a Chinese coolie boy in his strange get-up; his tinkling bells on one ankle, bare chested and barefooted, with his shaved head, he had somehow lost is bamboo staff and hat, and Roy and Larry with their strange yellow hair styles, and Antonella in a very short denim mini-skirt, braless, with only a thin white tee-shirt covering her large thrusting shapely breasts.

They were all thirsty, so they found a shady bar out of the hot sun, and ordered large beers. Rudi also again drank beer. They sat quiet watching the colours walking by like a mobile Mondrian square paintings.

Still feeling tired from the late night, they decided to find a quiet place to lay down and maybe sleep for a while. They followed the river that ran through the town until there were no more houses. There they found a grassy place under some large trees over hanging the river. Roy, Larry, and Antonella took out their books, while Rudi soon fell to sleep.
Sometimes they could faintly hear music from the town drifting on the air, but other than that, there was only the sound of the running river and the drone of insects... One by one they fell into a sound sleep.

In the late afternoon they all came out of their slumber to the sound of tolling church bells.

'Food!' said Roy.

'Yes, that's it,' said Larry, 'food – I could eat an albatross!'

'Food!' said Roy again for Antonella, and again for Rudi's benefit, who had not fully roused themselves. Antonella looking sleepy went down to the river and knelt to splash water on her face and neck. All on their feet, they strolled back along the river and into town in search of food.

The town now was even busier than before. There were groups of young men in traditional dress singing and laughing, and bafflingly each carrying a wooden chair... They watched one of these groups stop at a bar take a drink, make some loud dramatic toasts, drink up then then carry their chairs on to the next bar, and repeat it all again.  Every few minutes a another group would appear.

'A mass pub crawl,' said Larry.

After wandering around a little they found a restaurant with a small garden with a barbecue full of meat.

'Hey look, Shep, more dead animals!' said Roy elbowing Rudi in the ribs. Rudi only smiled and followed the others to a table. 'Hey Larry, you might get lucky with your albatross here, ha ha... 'Antonella, find out what's cooking here, will you.'

Antonella went over to a short man with a ridiculously large moustache in an apron tending to the meat on the grill. She spoke with him for a while, sometimes laughing. She came back and asked them what they wanted to drink. Beer was their decision. 'Quatro …..' she called to the cook. Who wiped his hands on a cloth and went into the restaurant.

'He's not from here, he's from the Genoa.' She said. 'He's also not sure what all this theatre with all the chairs is about. Something for boys to prove they are men. They must drink all around the town, but many will get too drunk... so then they must stay boys and do it all again next year., ha ha. But tonight in the Piazza there will be some traditional singing, how do you say?' From here...' She put her hand to her throat.

'Ah throat singing,' said Larry.

'Deep throat...,' joked Roy.

'Obertongasang,' said Rudi.

'Oh yeah, we had one of those but the wheel fell off,' cracked Roy.

They all ate barbecued chicken, mutton, and some small birds on spits, which they figured out were in fact quail. 'Sparrows from Rome', joked Antonella.

A large group of the young men now trooped noisily into the restaurant's garden with their chairs, singing at top of their voices. They ordered a round of drinks. One guy paid in advance from a pouch from his belt. Another jumped onto his chair, and led a kind of call-and-response, with lots of hand jives and punching of the sky, until their drinks arrived, at which point, the one on the chair made some kind of long toast. Then they all threw back their drinks, and began singing again.

The young man on the chair now noticed the strangers watching them, and jumped down and came over to their table. He spoke a little English, and invited them to a drink. Which they accepted, and soon they were talking and laughing together about groovy chair carrying, and such stuff. Then the young man said he had to go with his band of friends, but would Roy, Larry, and Rudi like to join them on their quest, as he called it. He apologized to Antonella; explaining it was an all-male tradition. To which Antonella responded with no more than a rise of her particular nose. Roy, Larry, and Rudi accepted, and arranged to meet up with Antonella later in the main square for the concert. When Larry pointed out they didn't have any chairs, the young man assured them it was no problem, explaining that within an hour or so many chairs would be abandoned by those too drunk to continue, and that all the chairs were marked under the seat and would be rounded up and claimed the next day. Then they all marched
off accompanied with a loud song.

Link to part4

http://www.abctales.com/story/chris-whitley/corruption-rudi-riesenkampf-...