Our Vices Pull Us Down

"Hey, are you okay?" Destiny asked, leaning over to talk to Bianca who seemed to be lost in thought. She was startled but smiled after realizing that it was just destiny.

"I'm fine" she nodded," you excited for today's trip?" she asked.

"I have heard a lot, but it looks like quite a simple building from the outside," she said.

"Oh, if you think that then you're in for a surprise. We will be climbing Monte Pellegrino though, so I hope you don't get motion sickness there" she joked.

"I do actually... I come on the bus only with medication" Destiny seemed worried about the journey but Bianca found it funny and let her be a little worried about it anyway.

"So guys, We are going to be driving up the Monte Pellegrino and do look out the window because it's beautiful, in fact it was called the most beautiful promontory in the world by Goethe in the 18th century. So we should see the best view pretty early on in the climb." Bianca instructed the bus. This was her favorite part of the tour, and she always found it to be extremely peaceful.

However, as they began the drive up, she felt uneasy, recalling the events of the night before. She desperately wanted to talk to her father about the strangers who had shown up to the garage and at her home. The couple from France hadn't shown up, and she was worried now. She had decided to go check in with the police again as soon as this day was over.

One thing she did feel bad for was Andrea. He had seemed shaken up by the whole ordeal. She remembered how tough it was to shift to Palermo to be closer to her father. Everyone in their hometown of Marsala knew that her Luca had been imprisoned. Andrea was only nine when it did happen and she herself was nineteen. The state had offered her full custody, and she had taken care of Andrea ever since. She had brought him to Palermo to give him the stability that he had lacked for most of his life. However, the garage was slowly slipping out of her hand, and with the incident, she wondered if she should shift again. Perhaps to Rome?

The only thing she could do was to talk to her dad as soon as she could and maybe as soon as this mini-tour was over, she could do so.

"Guys... look" She pointed at the view, smiling as her ears were greeted by gasps.

Destiny stared at the view dreamily, the jagged mountains gave way to the city that ended in a semicircular line where the blue waters met the land. It looked like one of those paintings one would recreate when told to describe what peace felt like.

Taking in a deep breath, she wondered if this scene would have been better had it been with ... her ex-fiance. Then, recalling that he hated heights she realized she never would have been able to enjoy this moment with him. Smiling in satisfaction to herself, she decided she was better off exactly in the way she was.

Looking over at Bianca, she realized the girl was looking at the view but not really taking it in. A sort of lost expression loomed over her face.

"What is this gulf called?" She asked the girl trying to distract her from whatever it was that she was thinking about. She knew how it was to go off on a tangent in your own mind and be morose about it.

"It's called the Gulf of Mondello," Bianca said, grateful for a diversion, immediately telling her more about the gulf and its history.

"It looks like paradise," a voice said, distracting Destiny for a second toward the man.

"Ah, Andrew! Sit down" One of the other retirees pulled him down to his seat. He chuckled and sat down adjusting his wooden leg as the view went out of the line of vision again.

"Yeah continue" Destiny urged Bianca who went back to talking.

Kore watched as the old man- Andrew Paul, readjusted the socket where the residual limb met his prosthesis. She wondered if it even counted as a prosthesis, considering the fact that it was just a peg leg. As far as she knew the man was traditional and liked things old school.

It was rather curious to see him bath mouth all these 'newfangled' technologies.

Looking at the other two women who accompanied him, she sighed. They were rather boring. Nothing stood out about them at all. Both widows and mothers. Their children, both successful and settled down. Just boring women, she reckoned.

As they traveled upward, she leaned back in her seat and looked up at the silver-painted roof of the bus. She was not interested in any sights that Palermo had to offer. What good was a pretty sight going to do for her?

Her ears perked up as she heard one of the retirees talking. One of the old ladies- Edith or Mary perhaps; she couldn't care less about which was which, they talked about Destiny.

Her interest piqued, and she adjusted herself subtly, so she could hear more of what they were saying, she could read lips, but they were close enough to be audible without effort.

"She always does that" Edith shook her head disapprovingly," I do not understand why young women need to wear such short dresses!"

"Indeed," Mary agreed," In my day we covered ourselves up in a dignified manner…" she went on a rant about how dignity was amiss in the generations that had come after them.

Kore smirked as she looked at Destiny who was wearing normal jeans but with a top that was quite deep. She did have a Jacket on, along with a scarf, and had taken them off momentarily deciding to wear them when they reached. She had been known to wear tops that left little to the imagination, but she always tried to compensate with jackets and scarves so Kore wondered why these old women had an issue. As they continued to talk, she realized that their anger was rooted more in racism than in her wardrobe.

Leaning her head back, she simply looked out the window and began to enjoy the view, after all, she loved learning about people... especially the things they hated.