“Gino Minozzi, Aldo Minozzi’s son...” He waved his hand in the air:
“Here, I’m here!”
Forcing his way through the crowd, he managed to get close enough to the man to make himself heard.
“Here I am! I’m Aldo Minozzi’s son.”
“Oh, good!” the man exclaimed with satisfaction, and despite his small thin frame began elbowing his way vigorously towards Gino.
“Welcome. I’m Luigi Badiani, a friend of your father’s.” He grasped Gino’s hand and shook it hard.
“Pleased to meet you. But where’s my dad?” Gino asked anxiously.
“He’s sorry, but he couldn’t come.”
At this Gino felt his throat tighten and couldn’t hold back the tears. Luigi saw his distress and quickly added:
“He wanted to come, but he couldn’t leave the job. He wrote asking me to come and get you: I’m a friend of his. Don’t worry,
