JENNIFER found herself hiding in the closet listening to a conversation between her children. Except it wasn’t the children of her future husband Prince Lorenzo but of Marty because their grandparents turned out to be George and Lorraine McFly and it was the year 2015.
“I can’t believe this window is this broken.” said Lorraine.
“Well, when the screen machine repairman called daddy a chicken,” explained Marlene, “daddy threw him out of the house and we can’t get anybody to fix it.”
Lorraine pulled up the screen saying “Look how worn out this is. Your father’s biggest problem is that he loses all self control when someone calls him a chicken. How many time have we hear it, George?”
“‘I can’t let anyone should think I’m chicken.’” said George in unison with Lorraine. Then, he said by himself “Well, you’re right. You’re right.”
“About twenty-eight years ago,” said Lorraine, “your father tried to prove that he wasn’t a chicken and got himself in an automobile accident.”
“You mean when he crashed into that new gallery?” asked Marlene.
“That’s right, Marlene.” said Lorraine, “That accident caused a chain reaction that sent both Marty and Mrs. Jandick’s life straight down the tubes. If not for that accident, your father and Jan’s life would’ve turned out very differently. Mrs. Jandick wouldn’t have lost her business and become an alcoholic, her husband wouldn’t have pressed charges, Marty wouldn’t have broken his hand and given up on his music and spent all those years feeling sorry for himself.”
Then, Jennifer woke up.
Thursday, October 28, 1473
6:30 a.m.
Florence, Italy
She sprang up from her bed saying to herself What a nightmare. I was back in the future reliving that trip to 2015 and…and…Wait a minute, Mrs. McFly didn’t say thirty years ago, she said twenty-eight and Marlene didn’t say Rolls-Royce, she said gallery. Jan’s gallery. Then it hit her. That dream was so real that it’s as if I was..was…
Then, reaching back into her own memory, she began to have a feeling that she really heard it that way. She started to hit herself on the head with the palm of her hand. She hit herself so hard that the translator fell out of her ear and landed somewhere on the floor.
Getting out of bed, she frantically looked for it. There it was. But there was something wrong, the battery that went with it was missing. She felt the rug for it, but then she hear footsteps.
Oh no! she said to herself, The maids are coming for my bath.
Immediately, she picked up a chair to put it against the door. As she did, something caught her eye. It was the battery. Picking it up, she put it in the translator of which she put back into her ear and reactivated it.
Then, after putting the chair back into it’s proper perspective, she returned to bed. Just in time. There was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” she said.
“Simonetta.” said Prudencia’s voice.
“Come in.” said Jennifer.
The maid came in with a robe and towels saying “It’s time for your bath.”
“Thank you, Prudencia.” said Jennifer as Prudencia put Jennifer in the robe.
As they left the room, they ran into the prince in the hallway.
“Good morning, my love.” he said.
“Good morning, my prince.” said Jennifer as they both kissed.
“Two more day, and you’ll be my wife.” said the prince.
“Isn’t that wonderful?” said Jennifer. And Marty will be out of my life for..for…Then, she stopped in her thoughts. There was that guilt of what she did again. This is crazy. she said to herself, Why is it that now dumping Marty and marrying a prince is the wrong thing to do?
“Simonetta.”
Jennifer’s thoughts were interrupted by this as she looked up at the prince asking “Yes?”
“Is something the matter?” he asked.
Jennifer nodded. “No. Nothing is. Listen, I have to take a bath. I’ll join you for breakfast afterwards.”
Once again, they kissed and went their separate ways.
In the bathroom, Jennifer realized something. “Excuse me.” she said, “I have to use the outhouse.”
“By all means.” said Prudencia as she was preparing the bath.
On her way there, she overheard the prince talking to someone. It was Botticelli.
“It’s been a week and you still don’t know where she came from?” she heard him ask.
“No.” said the prince, “Don’t worry, by Saturday night she’ll will be in my bed and will tell us what we need to know.”
Jennifer reeled back in shock! Oh my God! she said to herself, He’s doing this to find out about my life. And if I tell him about my past, I’m telling him about the future.
++++++
Marty didn’t come home last night. After him and Jennifer parted ways, he went to the tavern where he first met Simonetta.
He did ran into an interesting fellow there, however. It was Leonardo Da Vinci.
Marty ordered a drink saying “Wine. And keep it coming.”
The bartender saw this with great concern. “Are you sure?” he asked, “You’re the one that’s been upset over seeing…”
“Just give me some.” insisted Marty.
“Alright.” said the bartender, “Enjoy.”
Da Vinci overheard this and said “It’s a woman, isn’t it.”
“It sure is.” said Marty as he was given a cup, “I had her once then something went wrong and now I lost her forever to a prince.”
“Don’t worry.” said Da Vinci, “There are more fish in the sea.”
“Not for me.” said Marty, “She was the love of my life. No one can replace her.”
Da Vinci produced a sketchbook saying “I have the same feeling when I’m trying to find a model for a new painting I’m cooking up.”
Marty looked at a drawing. It was that similar to the Mona Lisa. But there was no face.
“I keep looking and looking.” Da Vinci went onto say, “I don’t know if I’ll ever find the right woman for the picture or not. Only the future will tell me.”
“Mister.” said Marty, “Let me tell you about the future.”
++++++
Simonetta knocked on the door of the room where Dumas was spending nights but there was no answer. Turning to the servants, she asked “Has anyone seen Alexander this morning?”
“I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning.” said Cynthia.
“That’s odd.” said Simonetta, “Nobody seen him come home last night then?”
The servants nodded negatively.
Worried, she went out to find her husband.
Upon finding him, she said “Marco, Alexander hasn’t come home last night. If something has happened to him…”
“Simonetta.” assured Marco, “I think he could take care of himself.”
“Maybe.” said Simonetta.
“Simonetta.” said Marco, “You seemed to be attracted to him. Is it because he looks like the man you lost long ago?” Simonetta didn’t answer. So, her husband said “We’ll organize a search for him.”
“Sounds fair.” said Simonetta.
Immediately, a search was organized.
++++++
Jennifer arrived at the studio. As she entered, Botticelli was talking to some man.
Seeing her, he said “Simonetta. I want you to meet an old friend of mine. Leonardo Da Vinci.”
Jennifer smiled weakly. “Nice to meet you.” she said.
Da Vince looked at her saying “Bravisimo. This is the face I’m looking for. I have heard that you are betrothed to the prince.”
“That’s right.” said Jennifer trying to hold back the tears, “Why do you want my face?”
“For this!” said Da Vince as he held out a drawing.
It was a faceless woman in the same pose as the Mona Lisa.
“I’d be honored.” said Jennifer, “Excuse me.”
She turned to go into the changing room.
Once inside, she tried to take off her clothes but then she sat down and started to cry.
Oh Marty! she said to herself, What have I done? I didn’t mean it to happen this way. I didn’t mean to ruin the future for everyone. What can I do? What can I do?
She wept uncontrollably.
++++++
Simonetta, was searching about town looking for Alexander. When she came to the tavern where she first saw him, she looked inside. There he was holding a cup and talking to everyone about the future
++++++
Marty continued his dissertation. “Five hundred years from now,” he said, “We’re going to fly in humongous man made birds called airplanes that’ll take people miles and miles in hours instead of days or months. Five hundred years from now, people will ride in carts that aren’t pulled by horses. They’re called automobiles.”
“And what will happen to the horses?” asked a patron.
“Oh, they’ll still be ridden.” said Marty, “But only for recreational purposes.”
“Horse-riding for fun?” asked another patron, “Is that all?”
“Yep.” said Marty, “And five hundred years from now, man will walk on the moon.”
The patrons in the tavern laughed as Simonetta entered.
“Alexander.” she asked, “Where were you last night? We were worried about you.”
“Simonetta.” said Marty, “I lost her. She’s going to marry the prince and I’m stuck here. There’s nothing I could do about it.”
Noticing the cup of wine he had in his hand, she asked the bartender “How much wine has he had?”
“That’s his first one.” said the bartender, “And he hasn’t even sipped it yet. He’s been holding it in his hand since last night just telling the customers about the future as if he’s going to miss it.”
Simonetta was startled at this. “I don’t understand.” she said.
“I do.” said the bartender, “Listen Mrs. Vespucci, I have seen some weird people come and go in this place. Like for instance, this guy named Columbus came in here last week saying that he’s going to Spain to talk to Ferdinand and Isabella about financing some ships to sail to China by going west.” He laughed saying “As if the world was round. Then, this guy here says it is and that there are photographs taken by space shuttles and satellites to prove it. But we have to wait five hundred years to see them.”
“No.” said Marty, “That’s not what I said. I said that in five hundred years, we’ll have things called satellites and man made birds called space shuttles taking photographs of the earth confirming what Christopher Columbus has been saying all along: That the world is round.”
“Alexander.” said Simonetta, “Let me take you home.”
Realizing that Doc should’ve been in the city by now, he said “I’m okay.”
“No you’re not.” said Simonetta, “Listen, I’m so worried about you. You looked so much like the man I once loved. I don’t want to lose you too.”
“You do have a man to love.” said Marty, “And by the way, how did the first guy die?”
“Tannenio killed him.” said Simonetta, “Just as he would kill anyone who would keep him from claiming me.”
“Claim is a strong word.” said Marty.
“Anyway.” said Simonetta, “I was betrothed to a man named Martinio of an Irish family called the McFlys.”
“McFlys?” exclaimed Marty.
“That’s right.” said Simonetta, “And Martinio was my beloved. I called him Marty.”
Marty gave Simonetta a curious stare. “Your boyfriend’s name was Marty McFly?”
“Yes.”
“And what happened?”
“Count Tannenio. He lusted for me. But I didn’t want to satisfy his lust.
I met this Irish family who was visiting in Venice. I fell in love with Martinio
and a marriage was arranged. But Tannenio found out about it and found out about
him.”
“And that was…”
“What Tannenio learned that Martinio couldn’t help it when someone called him a coward. That he lost control every time someone called him that.”
Just like what happened to me when someone called me chicken. said Marty to himself.
“When Tannenio confronted us at one of the canals,” Simonetta went onto say, “he pulled me away from Martinio saying that he doesn’t deserve me because he was a coward. Martinio got mad and said ‘No one calls me a coward.’ And immediately tried to grab me from the count but the count had him by the scruff of the throat and shoved his head into the water until he drowned. I was crazed with grief for a while but I overcame it and came here to Florence a year later where my family met the Vespucci’s and arrainged the marriage with Marco. And where I met Botticelli and the prince. My life got better after that.”
While Simonetta was making her dissertation, Marty had a flashback triggered by the drowning incident in Venice. The flashback was his trip to 1978.