as the small procession turns repeatedly to the right and the left to the left and the right until all sense of direction is lost
then we climb a narrow stairway semi-darkness suffocating with long flights high steps aching tugs at the chains hurting the wrists and at the end of the last flight the light of a small door and we come out high up at the top of a stairway tiers spreading into an enormous room brightly lit full of people moving down there beneath us all of a sudden against my leg I feel an animal muzzle that growls threateningly the black pupils dilated the large eyes protruding two long very white teeth bared by the tight red mouth a huge massive dog the smooth black fur on end on its back arching its ears pointing up quivering all the time the carabiniere holding its leash is impassive in his bullet-proof overalls the latest in anti-terrorist style
from where we are the tiers fall away steeply to the floor of the room and from there rising all around up to the ceiling thick cylindrical iron bars varnished in gun-metal grey the enormous cage is full of officers in bullet-proof overalls in gun-metal grey everywhere we turn with more big black dogs growling and nervous one after the other the carabinieri remove our chains take the handcuffs off the sore red wrists the photographers’ blinding flashlights flare on our faces they too are dogs no jackals and they writhe they bend they stretch up on tiptoe an anxious ballet arms raised straining higher and higher with the sleeves of their jackets slipping back to the elbows higher and higher
we rub our red wrists we light cigarettes we walk up and down the steps a bit we wave to relatives we sit down together in twos and threes talking quietly the photographers below us get on their knees they jerk their torsos to right and left like contortionists in the circus they lean towards the animals inside the cage they try to get their heads sideways through the bars sliding their long lenses between the legs the arms of the carabinieri who form a motionless barrier their fingers twitch in a frenzy they jiggle the cameras up and down they shoot pictures and let off dazzling flashlights at the faces inside the cage then in a faraway corner an even more dazzling light goes on and the whirr of the television cameras starts up
I sit down on the highest step of all and far beneath me I can see the lawyers with their black gowns thrown carelessly back on their shoulders chatting calmly among themselves in small groups behind the tables of peeling wood on the right parallel to the cage the court is assembled with the investigating judge dour lost in thought sitting in the middle on a high-backed chair so high it rises well above his head then the assisting judge perched sideways on another great high chair and to the right and left the jurors men and women nearly all with their faces hidden behind wide dark glasses the broad tricolour sashes across the pale pullovers the puffed blouses with their starched collars the double breasted jackets in various shades of grey the ties greenish blueish yellowish and at the far end on the right there’s the public prosecutor’s solitary little stand
above the heads of the court millions of small fragments make up a vast mosaic dusty and faded reaching the ceiling and depicting a scene of confusion a furious battle on the left are the forces of evil represented by strange beings contorted monstrous entangled in dominant colours of green and mauve and on the right the forces of good angelic transparent harmonious blue and feather-light clashing in the centre in a furious battle but the forces of evil are already clearly defeated they are beating a retreat pursued by the implacable forces of good below in a gilded oval stands the imposing figure of justice blindfold holding in one hand the sword in the other the scales a little lower the legend in relief says the law is equal for all
on the left behind the barricade of carabinieri are the wooden screens behind the screens is the public gallery it’s almost totally empty but for some relatives mother father sister brother cousin uncle sister-in-law no friend no comrade because they’re all afraid because seen from outside the law-court looks like a stage-set for war metal screens and barbed wire cordons of police and carabinieri a succession of barriers and armoured cars in strategic spots while other armoured vehicles circle the building continually then dogs and metal detectors at the door and searches questioning files threats warnings hints and all the rest
the small door behind us opens once again and in the midst of another swarm of carabinieri emerging at the top of the steps are the women they too in chains and all of them handcuffed we all get up and go towards them the cage is filled with shouts with greetings with smiles with different perfumes all of them have dressed in the brightest of colours long skirts bright shirts bright scarves rings on their fingers necklaces chains brooches bracelets pendants on their wrists big fantastic earrings clasps in their hair in the chaos the carabinieri get edgy they shout orders the dogs growl menacingly the photographers’ flash guns burst into light again the journalists make frenzied notes in their notebooks the handful of relatives wave and shout hello behind the screens and other shouts and greetings answer them
one after another the carabinieri slip off the chains and remove the handcuffs the girls run to us we run to them on the steps we mingle we entwine we entangle in a mosaic of embraces of hugs of kisses of voices all that interests us now is to talk talk about so many things talk about everything at last to talk to talk as long as we can to touch and hear one another as men and women together everything vanishes around us the courtroom the carabinieri the photographers the dogs the judges everything that’s on the other side of the bars is alien to us it doesn’t exist presents get passed across good luck tokens small objects everything that could be brought there right into the cage we exchange clothes too shirts sweaters kerchiefs scarves
a bell rings out from the court bench and the investigating judge dourly begins reading the long list of individual charges this one that one charged with etcetera etcetera with having etcetera etcetera this one that one charged with etcetera etcetera with having etcetera etcetera in accordance with the law in an unvarying monotone hurried offhand this one that one charged with etcetera etcetera with having and so on and so on he rushes through it he slurs his words in his haste this that armed band association and so on and so on you can follow none of it he hurries to the end and then come the preliminaries and the lawyers with no conviction and as pure formality bring the usual futile objections therefore recess and the court’s withdrawal to decide on the defence’s objections and a few minutes and they’re back already and the bell’s rung again to say that of course all the defence’s objections are overruled and the bell’s rung again and the court declared in session and the investigating judge declares debate open
2
The agreed day arrives and early in the morning before they open the gates we’d put up a big poster to announce the mass meeting and inviting everybody to come along we are taking the meeting not asking for it it says in big letters and underneath Gelso had added as well as everything else we need the headmaster Mastino gets in first as usual and he starts reading the poster then his face turns ugly and he scowls at us stares at each of us as if to say I’m marking you down and I’ll see to you later then the teachers get there and they read it without saying a word just look at us as though we’re crazy a few minutes later out come a bunch of janitors that Mastino has told to pull down the posters
the bravest janitor who was also the stupidest one reaches up to remove the poster but Cocco gets in front of him in a rage with his arms raised with his long black overcoat with the scarlet lining and he lets out a scream at him the janitor stops in his tracks taken aback and then the rest of us get in front of the janitors they don’t know what to do they look up at Mastino who looks down at them from the window of the headmaster’s room but in the end they decide to go back inside because they realize if they push it it’ll come to blows the first students to arrive have seen what happened they start talking it over with us and they don’t go in and gradually the group gets bigger then Mastino decides to make a move himself and he comes out under the arcade so we can see he’s there and he starts pacing up and down
I feel as if I’m watching the boss pacing in front of the factory in those stories I’ve read about the first workers’ struggles the first strikes the same kind of intimidation and in fact the students get scared somebody starts saying he wants to go inside they come
