The day of Lidia’s funeral was overcast, the city seemed tranquil, I felt tranquil, too. Then Nino arrived and all he did was talk loudly, joke, even laugh, as if we were not at his mother’s funeral. I found him large, bloated, a big ruddy man with sparse hair who was constantly celebrating himself.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Epilogue: Restitution,” Chapter 1
I know it seems impossible, since he was already the worst person in the world, but I think Nino has gotten worse with age.
Nino, with his usual ability, slipped out of the trap he had ended up in. Imma found out and was very pleased. She asked to see him, but he disappeared for a while, it was difficult to track him down. When we made a date he took us to a pizzeria in Mergellina, but he didn’t display his usual liveliness. He was nervous, distracted, to Imma he said one should never rely on political alignments, he described himself as the victim of a left that wasn’t a left, in fact it was worse than the fascists. You’ll see—he reassured her—papa will fix everything up.
Later I read some very aggressive articles of his in which he returned to a thesis that he had espoused long ago: legal power had to be subject to executive power. He wrote indignantly: it’s not possible that one day the judges are fighting against those who want to strike at the heart of the state and the next make the citizens believe that that heart is sick and should be thrown out. He fought not to be thrown out. He passed through the old parties now out of commission, shifting farther to the right, and in 1994, radiant, he regained a seat in parliament.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 43
UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH
That very evening the television showed a particularly cheerful image of the former socialist deputy Giovanni Sarratore—who was not exactly a youth, at the time: he was fifty—and inserted him in the increasingly crowded list of corrupters and corrupt.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 39
I’d say this is evidence of divine justice, but jail isn’t anywhere near a harsh enough punishment for Nino’s sins.
[Imma] repeated her support for her father and when he asked her to stand next to him in a campaign ad she was enthusiastic.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 38
This piece of shit will even stoop to exploiting his own children for professional gain.
‘You don’t play at being a rebel, shed real blood, and then cry: we have rights. Do you understand, Imma?’
‘Yes.’
‘Yes, papa.’
‘Yes, papa.’
‘And if the teacher mistreats you, call me.’
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 24
Great lesson to teach your daughter, A+ parenting.
I looked for reliable lawyers, I even decided, through telephone calls, to track down Nino, the only member of parliament I knew personally. I never managed to speak to him but a secretary, after lengthy negotiations, made an appointment for me. Tell him—I said coldly—that I’ll bring our daughter. … But in the following days the place and hour of the appointment changed continuously: the Honorable had left, the Honorable had returned but was busy, the Honorable had an interminable sitting in parliament. I marveled at how difficult it was to have direct contact—in spite of my modest fame, in spite of my journalist’s credentials, in spite of the fact that I was the mother of his child—with a representative of the people.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 24
“Honorable” lololololololol
With Pietro in recent years I had never had any problems. He contributed money for his daughters’ maintenance punctually (from Nino I had never received a lira) and was as far as possible a conscientious father.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 19
Pleeeeeeeeeeeease write a newspaper column publicly shaming Nino for not paying child support, Lenù, do it for the greater good!
I hadn’t voted and I had done nothing to get people to vote for him, but I had shown the flyer to Imma and she had asked if she could keep it. When her father was elected I explained briefly the meaning of people, elections, representation, parliament. … After his electoral success he had been in touch only once, with a letter as hasty as it was self-satisfied, which he asked me to read to his daughter, Dede, and Elsa. No telephone number, no address, only words whose meaning was an offer of protection at a distance (be sure that I will watch over you).
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 19
I have never been so afraid for the people of Italy as I am with Nino Sarratore in office.
Nino remained the bigger problem. Occasionally he telephoned, said some sweet thing to Imma on the telephone, she responded in monosyllables, end. Recently he had made a move that was, all in all, predictable, considering his ambitions: during the elections he had appeared on the Socialist party lists. For the occasion he had sent me a letter in which he asked me to vote for him and get people to vote. In the letter, which ended with Tell Lina, too! he had enclosed a flyer that included an attractive photograph of him and a biographical note. Underlined in pen was a line in which he declared to the electors that he had three children: Albertino, Lidia, and Imma. Next to it he had written: Please read this to the child.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 19
Congratulations, Nino, you’ve acknowledged paternity of your child, the bare fucking minimum expected of any father!
Men, women, even gangs of kids spent days and weeks looking for Tina, ignoring the police and television. All the relatives, all the friends were mobilized. The only one who turned up just a couple of times—and by telephone, with generic phrases that existed only to be repeated: I have no responsibility, I had just handed the child over to Lina and Enzo—was Nino. But I wasn’t surprised, he was one of those adults who when they play with a child and the child falls and skins his knee behave like children themselves, afraid that someone will say: it was you who let him fall.
The Story of the Lost Child, “Old Age: The Story of Bad Blood,” Chapter 3
Nino’s priorities:
1. Sex
2. Nino’s reputation
…
12,738. The safety and well-being of children
