CHAPTER 16

The influence of her grandmother was still there and when she'd gone to the old fabric stores where her grandmother used to buy from they were all more than willing to donate materials after learning of what she wanted to do.

Coming to the decision that living in a comfy condo in the Amalfi coast, with a nice view and wallowing in self-pity would do nothing to save her marriage, Naomi found a place to rent in Napoli to figure out how to make herself useful.

With her monthly allowance she bought second-hand sewing machines and other sewing equipment and supplies.

On the far end of the room there were four sewing machines set up on stools being used and in the middle was the long dining table where the hand stitching, decorating and sketching happened. Fanning herself with her hands she slowly walked around providing help when asked. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, she looked up briefly to the large fresco of the Lord's Last Supper plastered on the ceiling which was probably one of the few saving graces to the whole building, as from the outside it could be said to be in a total state of dereliction.

The general noise of the thirty or so teenagers talking animatedly amongst themselves, brought a smile on her face.

They could be children again.

The world wanted to sterilise their creativity and summon them to the rigidity of being an adult – but no. Seeing them laugh with one another when there was so much they could be crying about filled her with great joy. For a couple of hours they could leave the battleground of their families behind.

The only difference between being a child and adult is money and sex, Naomi had concluded. Many of the teenagers currently sitting in the church's prayer room, had dropped out of school, loitering around the neighbourhoods, biding their time by pick-pocketing or prostituting until they were inducted into the Mafia lifestyle.

The Camorra was a part of many kids lifestyle at home and her motive was too save as many as possible before they got in too deep.

For a few days after coming to Napoli and getting the approval of the church to run a weekly sewing class, she went round with her handmade poster in her apartment block to advertise it and also to the market stalls.

So on the first day when about fifty children between the ages of four and eighteen turned up, she knew she couldn't do it by herself.

And for that reason, she had got the church to ask the fashion design students in the university to volunteer their time. At first seeing the sketches and the way the undergrads taught a class made her undermine her talent and have doubts creep into her mind.

And the only person she'd turned to apart from God, was Saint. He was always a call away and reassuring her that she was more than capable enough to handle it and she shouldn't be intimidated.

It'd been over two months since she'd last saw him. And with each day, she missed him more intensely so than the last and so the night before during their phone conversation – she'd told him she was putting on a fashion show in one month and had invited him to come.

The idea of having a fashion show had only come to her that morning whilst having her silent time in church. It was a very vague idea, one that she didn't really have solid plans for but once she opened her mouth to tell her estranged husband Naomi knew that she had to follow through.

Because even though it taken her time to realise this but the truth was – Saint was her Boy Capel and she could not lose him.