Bianca's Napoli Bar — Thomas M. McDade

This story takes place in Naples, Italy. Central is a bar ruled over by a most interesting and feisty woman named Bianca. It is a sailor destination but for Tom McCall, a signalman on the USS Ramply (DD-810), this watering hole with a jukebox full of Country Western Music is much more than boozy relief from the rigors of shipboard life. For Tom this is a port call for the ages. I am most grateful to The Rumble Fish Quarterly,(Editor-in-Chief, Katie Sions) previous publisher of this story under the title “Vesuvius Watching.” Cover art by Louis Berrone, Ph.D, Professor of English, Emeritus, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT. (The print is a gift of John Skoyles, author of Driven, A life in travelogue, MadHat Press, 2019)