< Luca >
Utter shock is visibly shown in my face and I unconsciously stand up. My older brother on the other hand sits there, astonished. Then the next thing he does is to give our father a welcoming hug.
“Congratulations, pops!” Crispin grins and pats on his father’s shoulder. “It took you too long to propose to her, huh?”
“Well, I’m trying not to marry while I was still under the spotlight,” our “father” says while giving a chortling laugh.
“You are always in the spotlight wherever you go,” Elina chimes in, cheerfully. And I just gaped at her.
“When you proposed to me, the paparazzi took a shot at that right moment and we were in the tabloids for months.”
As they continue with their chatter on with the facade of a happy family, all I can think is that, yes, I am definitely the normal one in this family.
Either that or I left my sanity back in the US.
“Seriously?” After coming back to my senses, I look at the three as they stop and stare in my direction. “Are you fucking mad, mother? How could you talk normally to him after he left you with that woman?!”
“Luca—”
“I’m sorry for my language, mother. But I do care and love you, really,” I retort, cutting her off. “But I won’t let this slide. Remember back then, he declared that he was in love with someone else? And then, he shoved you the fucking divorced papers soon afterward! How did I know? Because we were there when we saw it!” I continue with my outbursts.
“Mother, open your eyes. What kind of a husband does that to his wife? He is the father of your two sons, after all.”
I don’t give her a chance to speak before I turn to Rodrigo. “And then you.” I sigh before glaring at him. “You have the guts to come back. Aren’t you happily living with your tramp?”
“Don’t you dare call her that, Luca.” This time Rodrigo glares back. I hit a nerve there.
Good.
“Oh yeah? What should I call her then? A bitch? A whore? A gold digger?”
“THAT’S ENOUGH, LUCA!” Rodrigo slams on the table, standing up and ready to strike me.
Before that happens, Elina immediately grabs her ex-husband’s arm and my older brother grabs me from behind.
“Luc…”
“Let me go, Cris! You know he deserves to get punched!” I bellow.
“But still…” Crispin hesitates for a while before releasing my arms. “You have to listen to him first.”
Now what?
“I know I haven’t been the best father, Luca,” he says, his eyes showing guilt and of course, regret.
I roll my eyes. “Well, about time you realized that.”
“Luca, please, calm down,” my mother shoots me a glare then she turns to her ex-husband. “He is still hurt about your actions…and I should be one talking to him.” She sighs.
“If it’s about him, I will take my leave then.” I have had it. I don’t want to argue with my mother and seeing him there is just going to be difficult.
“Before you leave, Luca, hear me out.”
I sigh, conceding to my family’s wish. The weariness takes a huge toll on me and I just want this to end. “I’m all ears.”
“Luca, since from the very beginning, I respect your father’s decision to choose the path he always wanted just as he respected my choice to continue our arranged marriage and have the children that I wanted.”
I know. I am fully aware that my parents married out of my grandparents’ wishes. A part of me was hoping that since they did get along well, they married out of love.
Now that she has two capable sons, in that sense, Elina doesn’t need Rodrigo anymore.
“Actually, there’s another reason why I called you here.” She smiles.
“Do you remember Nina Caulfield?” She asks as she sips her tea again. “You met her during my fifty-fourth birthday.”
How could I forget? Nina, the daughter of Rodrigo’s tramp, was just a child when we first met. I scared her off with my threats and I…didn’t mean to frighten her, really. It wasn’t even my intention to traumatize her. It wasn’t one of my brightest moments and I allowed anger to take control. I shouldn’t have held her like that.
And ever since then, I tried…to forget her existence.
“You’re damn lucky, bro.” I roll my eyes once more. My carefree older brother shows a hint of jealousy in his eyes. “I haven’t met her yet.”
Oh, you didn’t know.
“Anyway, as you know Marina and her daughter Nina live in a small town in the US called Freedomville. It’s not too far from where you are.”
Oh, I don’t like where this is going.
“Rodrigo and Marina are planning to get married in his hometown in Spain but she wishes to have her daughter graduate her remaining year in the US.”
“So, I want you to take good care of her until their wedding day.”
“What? I have to babysit her?”
She smiles, knowingly that I am not comfortable with the situation and knowing that I don’t usually rebel against her.
“Something like that. But she’ll turn eighteen this month from what I’ve heard.”
“So, she’s legal then. She can rent her place.” I mean, isn’t it strange for my mother to make me the guardian of a barely legal adult?
“It is my wish that you will get along with her, Luca. I also want her to feel welcome in our family. After all, she will be your sister soon.”
The word “sister” makes me sick in the pit of my stomach. Yet, I know that if I continue to argue against her, it would unleash her wrath.
This is something I don’t want to experience again in my adulthood.
I may have taken over the CEO position but I would never, EVER, dare to anger my mother.
“I take it that she will be living with me from now on?” The more I ask, the more ridiculous it sounds.
“Well, until the wedding day when Nina moves to Spain.”
“And when exactly is the wedding day?”
My mother sounds amused at my frantic questions that I wish I shouldn’t have gone here. I should make some lame excuses and be done with Rodrigo and his affairs.
But she wants me here for this specific reason. And I feel the lump stuck on my throat as she sips her tea before staring at me with calculating eyes.
“After her graduation which is next year.”You can say I’m not really that lucky. True, I may be lucky to have a kind-hearted mom who worked three or four jobs to support me and a great supportive best friend. But I’m far from being fortunate, really.Earlier at school, I was easily caught by my bullies and locked me up in the janitor’s closet room. I kept banging the door, calling for help so loud to interrupt nearby classrooms. Fed up with the noise, one of the teachers told the janitor to unlock the room and I was finally free!It wasn’t being called brave or smart or anything. Nope, it was far from it.I’m just really claustrophobic, that’s all.Then when I came back to class, I had already missed four periods. Apparently, the teachers took this opportunity to give surprised pop quizzes during my confinement. They didn’t believe my excuses and just threw four consecutive Fs in my face.Well, not that it matters. I mean, I would still get an F even if I showed up. And in the afternoon, there was a dodgeball game
My birthday doesn’t have to be a big occasion. My mom feasted us with my favorites and she even put party hats for the three of us. I feel flustered at her grand gesture since we rarely had this opportunity to celebrate my birthday given how heavy her workload is. It felt normal at first, she keeps chatting on and on about her work and occasionally teases me with Gene since she sometimes calls us “love birds” to my embarrassment. I love my mom but sometimes she’s jumping to conclusions with my relationship with Gene. We’re friends, that’s all. And when she reveals the news during our meals, my jaw drops, no longer interested in defending myself from her teasing. “Y-You’re getting married in Spain, mom? T-To Rodrigo Gomez?” Of course it has to be him. Rodrigo Gomez, her long-time boyfriend of eight years has finally decided to kneel on his one knee before proposing to her. I thought their whirlwheel romance is just a phase, since she hasn’t mentioned him a lot recentl
There is a sound of a spoon drop on the table as Gene looks at my mom, completely stunned.Surprisingly though, Gene has been handling it so well that he didn’t speak his own thoughts like he normally does.“I was opposed to it at first of course because I don’t want to bother Luca.” Has my mother ever thought that this is actually the LEAST of the problem? Sometimes I’m envious of my mom’s ditzy nature.“Does he mind at all?”“Of course not, Elina said he would like to see you again soon.”I sure doubt Elina even knows her own son.“Besides, you will be staying there until the wedding. We tried inviting Luca but for some strange reason, he doesn't have time to attend."Oh for the love of God. My mom can be oblivious to situations like this. My stepbrother (can I call him that?) is probably being forced to do his mom's bidding. Otherwise, he could flatly say no and we can all just live alone in peace, thank you very much.“Also, Nina, honey, you will be staying with him in
“You want me to stay over?” Gene blinks, unsure of what he heard.“It’s getting late, Gene,” I answer, with a sheepish smile.Besides, I don’t want you to stay outside for the whole evening while your family locks the door. I thought.He only nods as he mutters to me a thank you.I think I must be crazy to ask him to stay. But after the events that happened earlier, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking that I will be moving away.“Well, I have nothing against Gene staying here since I trust him. But as your mother, it’s my responsibility to say that he has to sleep on the floor,” my mom says after I told her about the plan.She was busy washing the dishes when I told her about my plan. It’s been a while since Gene had any sleepover. The last time he did come over to sleep was… when we were eight.“Sure thing, mom.”“Also,” she quickly adds after she turns off the tap water. “Make sure to be extra careful unless you want to give me a grandchild,” she says with a wink.“M
It’s strange really. At first, I was worried about my future predicament and Gene’s as well. But here we are chatting about the most ridiculous gossip we’ve heard from school. “I didn’t know that Mr. Roacher writes poems.” “Apparently, he has a huge crush on the cafeteria lady and he thought women like poems.” “We’re in the 21st century, you know?” Gene arches a brow. “Well, old-fashioned romance isn’t that bad. If Mr. Roacher finally marries, he won’t be so cruel to you anymore.” “Nah, he’s probably worse, knowing the cafeteria lady’s temper. Besides, I’d rather if he gives me the toughest equations because I’m starting to question his ability to teach.” I turn to his direction with a frown. “Sometimes, you’re harsh, Gene.” In return, Gene just looks at me with a deadpan expression. “He started it.” We keep talking about random stories we’ve heard from school, more like Gene just listens and asks questions as I talk about the most random things. Occasionally we gigg
It was a spur of the moment and regrettably, I almost made her trip when I pushed her inside the bus. A part of me thinks that I shouldn’t let her go. In any case, she just moves on and finds better friends in Dawn City.Another part of me, my selfish side that I had secretly been hiding from her, handed over my cross so she will keep it as a keepsake.A reminder of me, even if it’s just a bit.But I should have known Nina, she is too unselfish and prioritizes her loved ones over her own sake.You will be safer there than here.This line has been in my mind for these past three days like a replay button is being pressed repeatedly.I shouldn’t involve Nina with my problems anymore. She has suffered enough already and every time I looked at her bruised eye, I knew that I couldn’t protect her all the time.Yet, regardless of what I thought, I still handed over my cross.Have I regretted giving up my brother’s cross? Nah, I entrusted it to her no matter what.“Move aside, kid,”
“This is 12 Quartz Square Bound C Express train. The next stop is Dawn City. Stand clear of the closing door, please.” Just one more stop. I have been moving from one train to another and it’s the very first time I’ve been in many places. The last two trains I’ve ridden are packed with people like sardines in a tin. For the entire trip on this last train, I’ve been standing and holding the pole, while my other hand is carrying my travel bag. My hand is getting numb thanks to its weight. Mom and I didn’t go around a lot since she’s busy working a lot of jobs and I don’t go out often. It’s a new experience for me. It was no joke when Gene told me an eight-hour trip tires anyone out. I feel really tired but my mom told me not to sleep in the train alone or else I’ll definitely miss my stop. And it’s just a few minutes till I’ve reached Dawn City. All throughout the trip, I keep wondering if Gene is going to be fine. It keeps me awake, thinking about his safety. As soon a
“Do you mind eating Italian pizza?” I shake my head, my thoughts are more focused on finding a payphone. As we enter the pizza parlor, my eyes are scanning for a payphone in this area. “Are you looking for something?” I hesitate, looking down on the helm of my hoodie as I say, “I’m just looking for a payphone so I can call my friend.” “Well, why didn’t you say so?” he chuckles, and then he hands me his phone. “You can just call your friend using mine.” “B-but, I can’t do that! What if you have some emergency calls from your job or something?” Like Luca checking up on us or something like that. “Don’t worry, it’s just a phone call.” “Are you sure?” I ask reluctantly. “If you are going to be Luca’s family, then I’ll treat you as family. So, be a good kid and just take it.” I smile and give him a thank you before accepting his phone. “You can call and wait on that available table there,” he says, gesturing to the table farther from the cashier. He is definitely being c