Broken Hearts On Boulevard Unirii novel Chapter 40

During the war, it was business as usual for Romania as King Carol was not bad for the Jews. That all ended when Romania joined with the Germans against Russia. By May 1942, most Jews in Romania were sent to Transistria, a concentration and extermination camp similar to Auschwitz in Poland.

I vividly remember the day. I was about twenty-six years old, when the Iron Guard police of the Fascist Party of Romania rounded up the Jews from their houses. They were lined up in the street and loaded like cattle into waiting trucks. People dressed in their best clothes, thinking they were being taken on an outing, were sent to the extermination camps never to return. The Jacont, Scheinholtz and Bercovici families were among those taken, never to be heard from again. As a result, the building was left abandoned and neglected."

"How did you obtain your apartment?"I asked.

I suddenly thought how stupid of me to ask such a question. I should have realized that since she was employed by the government, she would receive an apartment in a building that was nationalized and divided among government employees.

At this point the old woman fell silent, looked at me suspiciously and asked, "Are you Jewish?"

"No, I am just asking out of curiosity, "I lied.

Now it was her turn to lie when she said, "I bought it from the communist government."

Dorina and I thanked the old lady and said good-bye. We went out into the street and breathed the cool air of Cismigiu. I could not stop thinking about the poor inhabitants of the building who didn't have the opportunity to leave their property to their children.

Fabrizio let me know that the grand opening celebration of his bar would take place at the weekend, in other words, in three days. I decided to return to Italy the day after the party.

I called Claudio and asked him if he would like to surprise Fabrizio by coming with Elia to the celebration. Initially Claudio was a bit surprised, but when he regained his composure, he said that he would make every effort to come. He promised to talk to Elia. He then asked me if I had seen Oana since I arrived. I told him that I had, but I didn't want to get into details about what had transpired between us.

Now that I was alone, I phoned Giorgina and informed her that I was in Bucharest and that I was coming to see her. The documents for the apartment on Boulvard Decebal were awaiting my signature and the keys were already in her possession, since payment in full had already been made.

At our meeting, she gave me the deeds from the Land Registry Office for the first two apartments that I had purchased. She told me that the registration for the present apartment would go much quicker because it was free of liens or loans and was registered only in the name of the current owner.

"Excellent," I said.

She then asked me if I was interested in renting out the apartments.

"Of course," I answered."As soon as the renovations are done and I buy some furniture, I want to rent them out."

"Please let me know when you're ready for that. I know a lot of business people who are looking to rent apartments, but are unable to find something suitable. Hotels are very expensive," she added.

In the taxi on the way to my apartment, I asked the driver to change direction and take me to Fabrizio's bar. When I got to the bar, I found him there alone, cleaning the counter. The bar was empty.

"Where is Luciana?"I asked

"She is ambitious and jealous. She wants me to get divorced at once.She doesn't want me to talk or to be friendly with any of the female customers. As soon as I get friendly with one, she immediately accuses me of wanting to fuck her," Fabrizio told me.

"What's going to happen next?"I asked.

"I have no idea. I don't know where all this will lead to." he replied.

After he finished smoking, we went into the bar for an espresso.

In a low voice and with tears in his eyes, he said, "She broke my heart. I am in love with her."

"Would you like me to talk to her?" I asked.

"It will probably be of no use. She found somebody else," he answered.

"Perhaps she is doing it to make you jealous?" I asked.

"She left me. I didn't leave her," he replied.