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ANGELA

Clara’s having visions again

It’s the Fourth of July If ere back ho water fun of tourists Instead we’re in Rohetti with the whole Zerbino clan, my aunts and uncles and cousins crammed shoulder to shoulder around the table We’re a loud bunch, the Zerbinos Borderline obnoxious The aunts are gossiping about the woman who lives next door, who seems, as far as they can tell, to have three separate-but-equally-serious boyfriends who don’t know about one another They’re gabbing so loudly about it I’m sure the lady next door can hear them I look across the table at Clara like can you believe I’m related to these people? but her eyes are completely blank I ask her a question, and she doesn’t answer She doesn’t hear me

She’s seeing the future

Does it make me a bad person that I find it funny, the way she stares off into space, a single strand of spaghetti stuck to her chin?

But then the fork falls fro loudly onto the table, and my relatives notice that Clara’s not with us anyht Soently She doesn’t respond The room erupts into a flurry of frantic Italian My uncle Alberto, who’s sitting next to her, starts thu about allergic reactions and para over the table, her face inches away from her plate Oblivious

In iving her the Heimlich

“She’s not choking!” I yell in Italian atto hurt her!”

He keeps right on thu

“Stop, Alberto, stop!” orders Nonna

He stops Everybody always listens to Nonna

Suddenly Clara takes a deep breath and sits up She blinks a few tiot here It ht to wake up to, everyone at the table staring at her in alarm

“Sorry,” shea lovely shade of red She clears her throat and tries to smooth her hair behind her ear, and I notice that her hand trembles before she tucks it back into her lap “I’m okay Sorry about that”

More staring Then Bella says, “What’s wrong with her, do you think?” and everybody starts talking about how she could have some sort of medical condition, possibly narcolepsy, which is a funny-sounding word in Italian, narcolessia They shift to discussing how strange Clara is, even for an Arief, because her o Or that she has a delinquent brother who’s —how do they even know this, I wonder? Have they been listening in on her phone calls to Billy when they’re talking about Jeffrey? Orproblem

They don’t think she can understand what they’re saying But of course she does She can understand any language on earth I ive her an understanding sel-blood, but it’s always good for a few laughs, right?

She doesn’t sible and slips away from the table I take a moment to try to explain to s, and (b) she doesn’t need a doctor I take the grief angle and run with it