Scene 4

Giuliano, looking bored, one hand playing with the curls of his hair, while the other twists the hair on his chest, is seen against the setting sun. Behind him, the landscape is a gentle succession of waves of scarcely populated but intensely cultivated hills rolling as far as the horizon. The boy has not abandoned his place between the single row of ancient columns to have survived centuries of earthquakes, and he still observes the other margin of the Roman swimming pool. Like vessels painted in soft pink and pastel orange, the reflection of clouds float by on the now placid surface of the thermal waters.

From his countenance, it's hard to guess what Giuliano is thinking, except that he clearly doesn't want to be there.  It would also be fascinating to guess what Gianlucca Tringtan, who plays Giuliano, must be thinking -- there is no record of when his love affair with Thaysa Tragis began, so that he might have fallen in love with her during these scenes, among the very first they shot together. Or perhaps he is feeling jealous of seeing her in the other actor's arms, who was also her lover for a while -- Adrian, from whom Gianlucca will soon snatch her.

Post coitum, animal triste. 

We see the lovers -- if love was there, in the assault we have just witnessed -- sleeping under a red bougainvillea, turned redder by the last rays of the setting sun. The floor is covered with fallen flowers, making the grass even softer for the lovers -- but Al takes Venus' breasts for his pillow, leaning his head over her chest. Embracing the thighs he has just violated, he snores lightly, in a very pacific sleep.

It would be a lovely scene, if Venus hadn't her eyes wide open. She is unquiet, but tries to be still to let Al sleep. She frowns her brows, as her whole body contracts, as if she were in pain. And she is. She then closes her eyes, her nostrils vibrating as she hyperventilates. We might think she is suffering from cramp -- if we have already forgotten she has just been raped. Her torn, now useless bikini, hanging loosely around her buttocks, is an embarrassing reminder of her shame.

She tries to keep her eyes shut. Her whole body trembles slightly, after a breeze blows a handful of dried flowers around her. But while the breezes passes, the girl's tremor won't subside. Al mumbles in his sleep. A sing tear falls, barely wetting Venus' cheek.

"What time is it?!" Al exclaims, glancing around, trying to recognize the unfamiliar place in which he has slept. "How late is it?" Meanwhile, night has fallen, bewildering him the more. "Why did you let me sleep, Venus? Merda!"

"Because you were tired?" Venus answers with another question. Quietly, not addressing his irritation.

Al looks over his shoulder, to see Giuliano still standing between the columns. The other boy is but a silhouette cut against the moonshine.

"Cazzo! We must have missed the match!"

Venus shrugs, and seeing it makes Al really mad.

"We are going to win the World Cup and you don't care? We are going to beat Brazil, and you still don't care?" 

Venus just shrugs again.

Al springs to his feet, and before Venus is on her knees too, he grabs her by the waist. Roughly picking her up, he carries the girl on his shoulder. She protests, trying to grab the bikini bottom that is loose around her flesh -- but the boy is much taller and stronger than she is, and he tows her at his own will and pace.

"Your problem, Venus, is that you don't have a family." Al hurries towards the olive tree under which the Lambretta is parked, and where they have left their clothes, also. "You don't have a home to go back to, so you don't understand..." He deposes Venus with greater care, as his anger seems to have dissipated. 

"It hasn't always been so..." Venus comments. She is clearly hurt. Heartbroken, even, at recollecting her dead mother.

"Now. I know. But you have to understand. I have something to return to. Even Giuliano has his duties to return to. And now we have missed the match, mortacci tua!" Al puts his T-shirt, while Venus finds her skirt. When she dresses it, she lets the bikini finally slip down her legs. Noticing it, Al widens his eyes. Could that be an invitation for more fun, real fun? He tries a sweeter approach with the girl. "My family worries about me, you know it perfectly! You should be grateful, Venus. They are letting you perform your play on such an important day for us!" He tries to embrace her, but Venus only surrenders to his arms after having tugged her skirt closer to her body. Both he and she seem very aware of her unprotected nudity underneath. It's a risky move for Venus -- maybe just because, having been already raped, she believes Al won't do it again to her.

"Yes. And I think we should rehearse some more..." She says.

"You are mad, girl!" Al laughs. "Night has fallen, already. We know it by heart by now, don't we?" He is trying to pull her closer to his body.

"I do. But do you, Al?" Having risked enough, Venus finally leaves his arms, withdrawing a few steps.

"Venus, who cares if I skip a sentence or two? Who will know if I change words?"

"I will!" It's she who is now getting angry.

"Carina. Maybe there is something you should know..." Al pauses for a moment, making a decision. "Your play is not the most important thing about tomorrow."

"I know. We are celebrating twenty centuries of the Roman Gardens!" She is offended, as he seems to take her for far less intelligent than she actually is. 

"Yes, that too. But the Gardens are no longer important... My father has a big announcement for tomorrow!" Al is suddenly excited to break her the news. "His words will matter the most, not ours. For the whole town of Ferraza, believe me!"

"Yes, what is it?" Unlike Al, Venus doesn't look thrilled.

"We are building a new hospital."

"You mean..." Venus freezes for a few seconds. "Over the Gardens?"

"Of course. Where else? It's right next to our hospital. The new and the old buildings will be joined by a suspended gangway. It's so cool, you'll see!" Al claps and laughs, a bit childishly. 

"You mean..." Venus is at a loss for words. "You are... tearing the Gardens down?" She frowns, as she considers the consequences of such news. "But what about the sculptures? What about the frescoes? And the Roman walls? The tower?"

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you, cacarella? The sculptures and frescoes will be displayed in the new hospital's lobby, I think. I don't know about the walls. Or the tower. They are old. They should be demolished, I guess. But wait until tomorrow. My father has all the answers." Al doesn't conceal his pride.

"I can't believe you are letting this happen, Al! They are tearing the Gardens down and you don't care..."

"But Venus, Ferraza will have a new hospital! Didn't you hear that part?"

"Sure, and your family will make more money! That's all that matters to you! Not Art, not History. Only money!" 

"History? What are you talking about?" Now his pride of a moment ago is hurt. "It's just some bushes and bricks that will disappear. Your beloved Art will be preserved..."

"People have been using the Gardens for centuries now. We walk on their steps when we wander there. Our Roman ancestors... Don't you see?"

"My ancestors, you mean. It was my family who lived there, in Roman times. A noble family! It's up to us to decide, don't you think?" He retorts, and puffs.

 "But it's the whole town's history." Venus is disconsolate, and it's with much melancholy that she adds, "And ours, too. We met there..."

"You mean the Gardens are our special place?" Al grabs his crotch, aware that Venus is closely watching him. "Like, if I had taken you there, you would let me fuck you? We should go, then..."

"How can you say that, Al?!" Venus whines. She looks at Al as if seeing him for the first time.

"I'm joking, Venus." Quite haughtily, he turns his back to the girl. "Why do humble people have to take everything so earnestly? Like it were a daily matter of life and death, as if they were starving?" Al asks to himself.

But loud enough for Venus to hear it. She has been offended before, when in other occasions -- not rare at all -- he has tried to imply that being poor has hindered her education and integrity of character. But tonight she won't fight for anything but her position.

"You have to detain it, Al!" 

"Are you hungry, Venus? Do you have food at home?" He teases her a little further, but quits upon seeing she is not aggrieved. She won't stir from her track so easily. "It's unstoppable." He shrugs. "The plans have been approved by the mayor, already. They are from an architect based in Rome." He nods to himself, as if only now realizing the importance of this fact. "And why would I stop it, if I could? It will be good for everyone."

"No! Talk to your father."

"Porca Miseria! It's my father who wants to build the hospital!" He slaps his own forehead, in the gesture implying that it's the most obvious remark he has heard. "Why would he stop, even if I asked him?"

"He does anything you ask." She insists.

"Now. That is not always so!"

"Don't you care about the Gardens? Don't you care about the city?"

"Don't you care about the city?" Al retorts, indignant. "How can you not want a new hospital?"

"You can tell your father to build it somewhere else! You don't have to destroy the Gardens!"

"Where, Venus? The Gardens are the perfect location. The hospital will expand! More people will be treated. People who have to leave Ferraza for specific treatments will be taken in here!"

"It's only about the money, isn't it?"

"When I become a physician, Venus, I want to work in a better hospital in my own hometown!"

"Ah! So now I see." Venus claps. "As usual, it's all about you!"

"Of course it's not solely about my future! It's the future of our town!" Vexed, Al stamps his feet. So rarely contradicted, he is currently more surprised and hurt than angry. "Why are you acting like this, carina? After what has happened today? Do you want to spoil our... next to first time, cacarella?"

Clearly annoyed, Venus turns to leave.

"Now. Stay." Al raises his voice. "You like to play it hard, don't you? And you've got me hard again... Here, feel it." He seizes her arm and tries to place her hand on his crotch.

"Giulano!" Venus screams, and we cannot tell if she is feeling real panic or faking it. "It's time to go home. So that you can learn the result of the match..." She shouts it, so that the boy on the other margin of the swimming pool can hear it, too. "Get your hands off me, Al."

He let go of her immediately. In a gesture of disdain, as if she were contaminated -- or maybe she is sweaty -- he cleans his hand on his shirt.

"Dio cane! Why the fuck are you acting like this? It's our last days together..." 

Al is hurt. Her rebellion stings him. How can she disdain him, when he is the most coveted prize for any girl in town? And especially for a humble chick like her? Pride is the key, the director has noted on this scene in the script, and Adrian Çellon is acting accordingly to his instructions. Hurt pride, in this case. But most of the time it's only his pride, while Al doesn't care about anyone else's.

"Leave me, Al." Venus grabs her last piece of clothes -- but won't put them on -- along with the harp. "Just leave me."

"Leave you?" Al is astonished. "Why? Why are you acting like this? It's like you don't... want me anymore?" He remains still as she walks away in a hurry, to where she left her bicycle. Barefoot, holding the sandals in her hand. "Venus? You will be there tomorrow, won't you? We still have a play to perform, don't we?"

"Let us see, Al. Ciao."