The Question Matteo Finally Asked
Chapter 17 - The Question Matteo Finally Asked
Spring brought longer afternoons, muddy shoes, and a new courage Matteo seemed to discover in pieces. He began sleeping through the night more often. He could sometimes talk about his father without crying. He liked his school, though he still kept the little photograph in his backpack.
One Saturday he asked Angelo to take him to Gabriel's workshop.
They entered together. The scent of wood shavings lingered beneath the smell of old varnish. Matteo approached the unfinished rocking horse and touched its mane.
"Daddy was making this?"
"For you."
"Why didn't he finish?"
Angelo knelt beside him. "Because he died before he could."
Matteo looked down. "Did he die because I broke his first airplane?"
Angelo closed his eyes. The question had survived every reassurance and every safe morning.
"No. Nothing you did caused your daddy's death. No broken toy, spilled milk, or angry feeling could do that."
"Then why did he go away?"
"There was a car crash. Adults are still trying to understand everything that happened. I wish I had a better answer."
Matteo wiped his face. "I miss him."
"I miss him too."
For a while they sat on the workshop floor. Then Matteo asked whether they could finish the rocking horse together.
Angelo smiled through tears. "We can try."
Over several weekends they sanded, painted, and assembled the horse with help from a local carpenter. The completed toy wasn't exactly as Gabriel would have made it. Angelo accidentally painted one ear darker, and Matteo insisted on a bright yellow tail.
But when it was finished, Matteo climbed on and began rocking.
"Daddy would've liked it," he said.
"I think so."
The boy stopped and looked toward the workbench. "Nonno, can you teach me to make airplanes too?"
Angelo touched the burned star on the old wooden toy.
"Yes. Every one you want to make."
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Outside, Sofia watched through the workshop window, her face wet with tears and her mouth curved into a small smile.
For years the room had been a place of secrets. Now it was becoming a place where a boy could remember his father without fear.
