Bell for Adano, A - John Hersey [35]
Mayor Nasta whimpered in Italian: “What are you going to do with me? If you are going to kill me, please tell me first. Don’t shoot me from behind.”
What Major Joppolo did with Mayor Nasta was to take him up to his office. Everyone, even little Zito who had once worked for Mayor Nasta, even D’Arpa, the weasel-like vice mayor who had once worked with him, everyone made faces of disgust when they saw Mayor Nasta, and some made obscene remarks within his hearing.
When word passed around the Palazzo that Mayor Nasta was back, many people stuck their heads in the door at the end of the Major’s office, which had once been the Mayor’s office, to have a look at him in his disheveled condition, and to laugh at him to his face.
Major Joppolo said to Zito and Giuseppe: “I want to have a talk with Mayor Nasta alone. Go and tell the people in the other offices that I do not want to be disturbed, not even by a cracking open of that door. I do not even want to be disturbed by the brushing of ears on the keyhole.”
“Yes, Mister Major,” Zito said. “No, Mister Major,” Giuseppe said.
Major Joppolo sat at the desk and said brusquely: “Sit down.”
Mayor Nasta sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
“Well, what is it that you wish?” Major Joppolo said. Mayor Nasta brushed his hand along the wood of the desk pathetically, and he said: “It seems strange to be sitting on the wrong side of this desk.”
Major Joppolo said: “It may seem stranger to sit on the wrong side of the bars of your municipal jail. What do you want?”
Mayor Nasta rearranged the pince-nez on his nose, but he did not look Major Joppolo in the eye as he said “I just want a chance, Mister Major.”
“You want a chancel” Major Joppolo spoke angrily. “To whom did you ever give a chance?”
“I have thought it over,” Mayor Nasta said. “I have been all alone for days. It was awful at night. I have thought it over, Mister Major. I want to help if I can.”
“How many years were you in office?” “Nine, Mister Major.”
“After nine years in office, you have thought it all over, have you? After nine years of graft and stealing and keeping these people down, you’ve thought it over, you want to help, do you?”
“You have other Fascists in office here. I saw the face of D’Arpa a minute ago. I saw Tagliavia who was my Maresciallo of Finance. I saw Gargano of the Carabinieri. If you could use these, why not Nasta, the Mayor?” “I have a new Mayor, and a better one.”
This hurt. “Who is this Mayor?”
“ Bellanca the Notary, an honest man, much more honest than the former Mayor.”
And the former Mayor said: “Yes, Bellanca is honest. But surely you have something for Nasta to do? I would accept something less than Mayor.” Nasta rubbed the wood of the desk wistfully. “There is not much left of the old Nasta,” he said. “I would accept something less than Mayor.”
Major Joppolo’s eyes grew angry. He stood up abruptly. “Oh, you would, would you? Yes, I have something for you to do. You are to report every morning to Sergeant Borth of the American Army. You will find him in the Fascio. That is all you have to do each day. But see that you do it, Nasta, or you will be put in jail.”
“You mean that Nasta has become a common probationer?”
“Oh, so Nasta is familiar with the practice of putting people on probation? That is very genteel of you, Nasta. I thought all your punishments were more ingenious than that.”
“Please be generous with me,” Nasta said. “Please give me some work to do.”
“Generous? In the name of God, Nasta, what do you expect? For the crimes you have committed against the people of Adano, you deserve to be shot outright, without a trial. You certainly never would give a fair trial, unless it brought you some kind of profit. I am being more than generous. I am putting you on probation. See that you behave, you Fascist.”
Mayor Nasta was obsequious now. “Yes, Mister Major,” he said. “What did you say was the name of the American officer to whom I must report?”
“His name is Borth, and he is not an officer. He is a sergeant. You are not worth an officer, Nasta.