The game of hide and seek had lasted nearly an hour and he was the last one hiding from the seeker, his older brother,  Antonio.  He urgently felt the urge to pee, but he would not forfeit winning the game.  Looking at his new watch, a present from their oldest brother Gino, Massimo saw there were only ten more minutes until Antonio would have to declare defeat, and Massimo would win the game. 

        “Mi arrendo, hai vinto tu,” cried Antonio several rows away from where Massimo hid.  “Mi arrendo, hai vinto tu!” 

        Massimo knew better than to believe his brother was really giving up and letting him win.  He knew if he came out before the full hour was up, Antonio would claim victory.  He'd fallen for the same trick at the Palm Sunday celebration the previous year, it wasn't going to happen again.  

Massimo heard the voices of someone approaching, yet Antonio’s voice had sounded farther away when he pretended defeat.  The only other person in the vineyard was Uncle Salvatore, who was testing the soil many rows away.  He would never betray Massimo’s hiding place to Antonio. 

Six minutes to go.  The voices grew louder.  From under the vines Massimo saw Uncle Salvatore’s work boots come closer.  He knew they were Salvatore's because of the duct tape the old man wrapped around the ankle of his boots everyday in lieu of laces. A silly quirk the family adored.  The winery's warehouse manager complained the cost of the duct tape consistently threw off her inventory budget. Her complaints were ignored, Papa always provided the tape.  Someday, when Massimo took over the family business, he planned to let Uncle Salvatore have all the duct tape he wanted.  He would never deny the old man anything.

 Another pair of shoes joined in behind Salvatore's boots, but Massimo could not tell to whose feet the shoes belonged.  They were not the typical field boots the other workers wore.  Instead, they looked like expensive leather dress shoes.  The men argued and Massimo wondered why someone would be so angry at Uncle Salvatore. 

On the other side of the row of grapes where he hid, Massimo saw a gray and brown grass snake slithering along the dusty path toward him.  He knew the snake was harmless and non-venomous, but since a few years earlier when Antonio had placed a couple of grass snakes in Massimo's bed as a joke, Massimo had been terrified of all snakes.  Their father was fascinated by the reptiles and had been as a boy.  Inside Signore Vetrano's office, was an enormous tank filled with exotic snakes from around the world.  Massimo avoided the tank of snakes.  Uncle Salvatore said if Massimo did not face his fears, he would be afraid of them forever.  Massimo didn't care, he was still not brave enough to hold the smallest or most docile of his father’s collection.

To the right, within inches of Massio's hiding place, both pairs of feet quickly stopped.  Salvatore’s boots turned away from the fancy loafers and began to walk in the opposite direction. The dress shoes quickly moved close from behind Salvatore’s, and the unknown voice hissed, “traditore” just before Massimo heard a wet, stabbing, cutting sound. 

He wondered who would call Uncle Salvatore a traitor and almost separated the grape leaves to see.  Before Massimo moved, Salvatore fell to the ground, his face toward Massimo in the dirt. 

Salvatore’s eyes seemed to recognize Massimo but clouded over quickly.  Blood pooled around his shoulders from the clean slice across his throat.  Massimo could see the spongy tissue and white cords of cartilage surrounding the Adam’s apple. 

To the left of his hiding place, Massimo saw the grass snake slither up to his crossed ankles and stop against his skin.  He gasped too loud.  The dress shoes turned in his direction and moved closer to his cluster of grapes. Much of the face that peered in was obstructed by leaves, but Massimo recognized the scar that ran through the left eyebrow puckering the corner of the eye.  Vincenzo, a mysterious man, who rarely came around the Vetrano Villa, except at night. 

A thick, meaty hand parted the drapery of leaves.  Vincenzo’s eyes grew wide with recognition when he saw the boy. Vincenzo saw the snake near Massimo's leg, reached down, picked it up, and crushed it in his hand, inches from Massimo's face.  Vincenzo threw it over his shoulder, sneered a sinister smile, released the branches of grape leaves, then turned away from Massimo.

“Paolo! Ho  fretta!”  He called out.

Massimo heard someone run to their location, stop and ask, “che ce`?”  What is it? 

Vincenzo ordered, “Afferrare piedi muoviti!”

Paolo quickly helped lift and carry away Salvatore's corpse, a man Massimo loved like a Grandfather.  Suddenly, a vine close to Massimo's arm animated and slithered, another grass snake. It slid against him, down his leg, then followed along in the same direction as the death march. Massimo couldn't believe the snake had been there, undetected the whole time.  It was well disguised.