by Fournier, C
I started laughing. The fact that he was scared of my mothers was actually quite funny. But at times they could be rather scary. I stopped laughing and looked up at Antonio.
“Alexander is gone, my brothers still like you and I can deal with my mothers,” I replied smiling. I hadn’t realized that I’d felt stressed trying to hide my emotions, until I stopped hiding them from myself and everyone else. Antonio smiled my favourite crooked again.
“You know you ruined my plans to try to win you back,” Antonio replied motioning for me to stay where I was. He walked over to his bike, flipped up the seat and pulled something out. When he turned around he was carrying a rather large picnic basket. I started laughing again and I could hear Antonio chuckle too.
“I know it’s a bit old fashioned but I thought that you would like it,” Antonio explained and I could see him blush a little. “After all a picnic in a romantic location while I explained my stupidity is pretty romantic, and I had a last resort just in case you wouldn’t listen.”
I cocked my head to the side not sure what he was talking about. He placed the basket on the ground and lifted up the lid. Up from the basket popped a little head of a husky puppy. He yipped from the basket and wiggled around excitedly.
“Awwww he’s so cute,” I commented as Antonio picked him up from the basket. I walked closer to get a better look. The puppy was mostly white but he had a large grey patch on his back, kind of like a grey mask on his face and it looked like someone dipped his tail in grey paint. He had one brown eye and one blue eye that just made him look cuter.
“Well I’m glad you think so because I’d gotten him for you,” Antonio commented holding the puppy out to me. I was stunned. I didn’t know whether to be offended or to be super happy. I took the puppy and stopped being offended. I mean how could I be? He had gotten me a dog and I haven’t had a dog since the one that I had during the tornado in Alberta with my grandparents.
The dog began licking my face and I couldn’t help but start laughing. I looked up and Antonio was smiling shyly at me. Kind of like he knew that he had done something wrong but that he wasn’t ashamed of it. I shook my head but continued to smile.
“So what do you want to name him?” Antonio asked to change the silent subject. I looked to the husky puppy in my arms. He was wiggling around trying to settle down I guess.
“I think I’ll call him Tornado,” I replied looking back to Antonio who had picked up the basket and started to bring out the rest of its contents. There were some sandwiches, a bottle of red wine and a couple types of cookies. He had even set out a blanket for us to sit on.
“That’s a very interesting name,” Antonio commented as he sat down on the blanket and began to pour the wine. “Any specific reason for the choosing that name?”
“I don’t know I guess it kind of reminds me of the day everything changed, and besides he’s all jumpy,” I replied smiling down at the dog in my arms. I walked over and joined Antonio on the blanket after Tornado had calmed down a little. He had poured me a glass of what looked to be some fairly expensive Cabernet wine. I didn’t normally drink unless it was a special occasion but I guess this was kind of a special occasion.
So we sat and had a couple of drinks and some of the sandwiches. Tornado had fallen asleep in my lap after I gave him some meat to chew on. Antonio and I were lying on our backs looking up at the starry sky and pointing out constellations. We were laughing as we tried to beat each other at finding the stars and connecting them together. I caught a glimpse of my watch as I was trying to find one of the stars in Orion’s belt and sat up quickly.
It was really late. I was supposed to be home a long time ago. My mothers were going to kill me and so was Kevin. Antonio sat up too and grabbed Tornado so that he wouldn’t run away.
“I’m very, very late,” I told Antonio as I got up. “I was supposed to be home almost an hour ago.”
I heard Antonio curse under his breath and he got up too. We packed away the blanket and the left over food and wine. Antonio handed Tornado over to me and packed away the basket under his bike seat. We threw on our helmets and got on the bike. I held Tornado with one hand and grabbed Antonio with the other. We sped off towards my house. I barely held on but I was able to stay on the bike without burning myself or losing the dog, which had fallen asleep in my arms again. We made it to my house in record timing. Antonio parked the bike and we got off. I took off my helmet as I walked to the door and handed it back to Antonio, who was still standing at his bike, so that I would have a free hand to knock on the door.
But I didn’t have to because as soon as I got to the door it swung open. I had to jump back so that I wouldn’t get hit by the angry swing of the door. Standing in the doorway were my mothers Jean and Betty, and my brother Kevin. They all looked very, very angry. Oh I was in for it this time and I highly doubted that they would let me explain or let me get a word in edge wise.
I was considering my options when I felt someone come up behind me. I didn’t have to look to know it was Antonio. It was very brave for him to come forward, especially since I could see the bulge of a gun on Kevin and on my trigger happy Momma Jean. My Momma Betty didn’t like using guns and she didn’t like violence all that much, she prefers to solve things peacefully. Everyone looked very surprised to see him, with me, at such a late hour.
“I’m sorry for keeping her out so late but I had to explain a couple of things,” Antonio apologized and bowed his head slightly forward in respect. I could tell that my mothers were moved by this and Kevin was a little bit impressed. As for myself I was really confused as to what was going on. I looked to Kevin for help but he just gave me the “I’ll tell you later” look.
“Well I guess we can look past it just this once,” Momma Betty replied smiling, and then she turned her attention to me confused. “Stephanie, what are you carrying?”
I looked down at my arms and saw Tornado. I had almost completely forgotten that he was there. He had been so quite and he hadn’t moved.
“Oh, this is Tornado,” I replied and tilted my arm down so that they could see. Tornado yawned and opened his eyes a little bit. He made a noise and he started to wag his tail a little.
“Is that a-a dog?!” Momma Jean asked surprised. Then she smiled and walked over to me. Momma Jean scratched the little puppy on the head and under the chin. Tornado yipped at her playfully and wagged his tail faster.
“Can I hold him?” Momma Jean asked reaching for Tornado. I nodded and held him out to her. Jean took him and cuddled him close. Tornado licked her face and chewed on her fingers with his dull teeth. Momma Jean started laughing and tucked him to her side.
“Why are we still outside, it’s chilly,” Momma Jean commented, then smiled brightly. “Come on inside and I’ll make some hot chocolate to warm you up.”
Chapter 22
Antonio Caine
Boston 11:48 pm Friday May 18th 2029
Her mothers surprisingly didn’t chew us out for being out late, or for me breaking their daughter’s heart, or for them getting attacked by Hayley and Darcy. God I still feel really bad for that. But could I have stopped it from happening, I don’t know. If I had tried to stop Hayley and Darcy things could’ve turned out a lot worse I suppose. They could’ve been killed.
I sighed and took a sip of my hot chocolate. It was really good. Man, Betty is an amazing cook. I mean I saw the cupboards when she opened them and they were almost bare. But she had found some things and made this wonderful hot chocolate that wasn’t really hot chocolate.
We all sat in the dining room and chatted about our day and about work. I didn’t really talk much and they didn’t mind when I did say something. This felt like a real family. I haven’t felt like this since my mother died back on New Years Eve when I was younger. I had promised myself to not get close to anyone, but since I met Stephanie I don’t mind that much.
Once we had finished our hot chocolates, Stephanie went with her mothers to their room to talk and I went with Kevin
to practise downstairs. I practised my fighting skills on the makeshift punching bag and with Kevin. By the way Kevin was still a little sore from being shot at a little while back. After a little bit I had to go to the bathroom, I swear the hot chocolate just goes right through me. Kevin told me where it was and I left to go find it.
As I was walking around trying to find the bathroom, I heard voices coming from one of the rooms. I didn’t want to eavesdrop but than I heard my name and paused for a second. The voices were hushed but I could make out a few words if I got close enough to the door.
“…you’ve got protection right?” I think it was Jean that had said that. But what were they talking about that they would need protection?
“What, you mean condoms?” I was pretty sure that was Stephanie’s voice. I backed away from the door slowly. Condoms?!?! Uh oh, I really shouldn’t be listening to this kind of conversation. I quickly walked away and found the bathroom at the end of the hall. I quickly went to the bathroom, than rushed back to the basement so I wouldn’t accidently hear something I shouldn’t. Well, anymore than I already had.
I trained for a little while longer with Kevin before Stephanie came down to join us. We only did a little more before we were all really tired. As we walked down the hall I found out that we were all going to be sleeping in the same bedroom. Kevin walked into the room first and flopped on to the bed that was on the left side of the room, and Stephanie sat down on the other bed. She looked up at me from where she sat.
“You know you really shouldn’t eavesdrop on other peoples conversations, you may hear something that you don’t like,” Stephanie commented as she pulled her knees up to her chest. She smiled but didn’t take her eyes off of me. How did she know that I was outside the door? She saw my surprised expression and laughed.
“Yeah, we knew you were outside the door,” Stephanie replied to my expression. “It’s an odd instinct that we’ve learned how to do over the years.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was confused and not sure what she meant by “instinct”. She saw my expression and rescued me.
“Everyone has their own distinct set of foot steps and the sounds of them are very distinct also,” Stephanie explained smiling as this little tidbit of information settled into my brain. “So as soon as you learn what that person ‘sounds’ like you can tell when they are getting closer to you or further away.”
I flushed and turned my head away so that she couldn’t see the utter embarrassment on my face. I’ve never been this embarrassed since I walked in on my dad punishing a maid when I was too young to understand what it meant. The door opened a crack and Tornado padded into the room. He came over and sat down at Stephanie’s feet wagging his tail. Stephanie reached down, picked Tornado up and placed him on the bed beside her.
I watched Tornado as he clambered his way on to Stephanie’s lap. Then curled up in a ball on her lap, yawned and went to sleep. I smirked at the little fuzz ball asleep on Stephanie’s lap. But I wanted to lie down beside her and talk a little bit longer. I picked up Tornado and laid him down on a pillow at the head of the bed. Tornado had awoken when I had picked him up, but as soon as I put him down on the pillows he curled up and went back to sleep.
Stephanie was going to protest me moving Tornado but she had kept her mouth shut and waited to see what I was going to do. At least I think that’s what she was doing. She might’ve been considering how to knock me to the floor without hurting the puppy in the process. However Stephanie relaxed when I put the puppy down on the pillows.
I sat down beside Stephanie and stretched out onto the bed. I patted the length of bed beside me and watched her reaction. I could tell that she was on the fence about it. So I waited for her to make the decision, I wasn’t going to force her into anything she didn’t want to do. Kevin snored lightly into the otherwise silent room.
Stephanie cautiously crawled up to the top of the bed and laid down on her side, facing me. I turned so that I was on my side too, facing her. We just stared at each other waiting to see who would make the first move. Just above Stephanie’s head Tornado yawn and stretched before curling up into a ball again.
“Stephanie, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell about the whole Mafia thing first but I was just waiting for the right time to tell you because I-I…” I was rambling I know but I had to try to say what I needed to say or it would haunt me the rest of my life. “I really like you and I don’t know if you feel the same or if…” Stephanie put a finger to my lips and I stopped talking.
“I really like you too,” Stephanie replied smiling just a little bit. “And yes the Mafia thing threw me for a curve, but I guess I was just hurt that you would hide that from me. Well the marriage thing also infuriated me, but it wasn’t you I was mad at. I guess I was just mad at myself for letting it go this far, Hayley I mean.”
I nodded and listened. She talked about all the stuff that has happened in her life, the good and the bad. I talked a little bit too. I talked about my mom, my time in the Mafia and about Darcy, but mostly about my mom. When I was done Stephanie asked the one thing I had thought she was going to ask a while ago but apparently she had wanted to wait.
“What did you do to Hayley that made her steer clear of me and my family?” Stephanie asked then added. “Not that I don’t like it but I’m curious.”
“Its not something I’m proud of doing and it’s not something I would like to talk about,” I murmured looking down at the blanket.
“Oh,” Stephanie replied, it sounded like she kind of figured it out. “I see.”
I heard Stephanie move around on the bed and the weight changed so that it was further away. She cursed under her breath and the weight came closer again.
“We should really be going to sleep,” Stephanie said and without changing her clothes she went under the blankets. I followed suit and turned so that I was facing the wall of the room. I just didn’t want to make her feel any more uncomfortable than she already felt. Stephanie flicked the light off and then we were in total darkness. But I couldn’t sleep at least not until I felt Stephanie’s back against my own. Then I relaxed and fell into the darkness of sleep.
I woke up in the morning to a strange sound. It was still dark out so it was probably fairly early in the morning. I heard the sound again and then a scream. I looked around the room but no one was in the room. I grabbed for my gun in the back of my pants, and rushed out of the bedroom and to the front door of the house. Someone had set up stadium lights in the yard, but what for?
I saw figures move in the yard and then I heard another scream. Oh god no, not now, not them! I pulled open the door as fast as I could and fired at the first person that I could see, which, thank god, was someone I didn’t know. I looked around quickly to gain my bearings on what was going on.
I saw a couple people that I knew and as I looked closer I saw my father, Darcy, Devin and Markus. There was also a bunch of people I didn’t know. I looked at the feet of the groups of people and saw Stephanie, Kevin, Anthony, Andrew, Jean and Betty. Each was surrounded by their own group of people. Everyone was looking at me, well everyone but Stephanie who hadn’t even lifted her head off the ground or moved at all.
I felt the anger build to an extent that I’ve never felt before. I saw my hand start to shake before I had completely registered what was happening. I felt a cold chill go up my spine, this was absolutely unforgivable. All of a sudden I felt really calm, and I don’t normally feel like this unless I’m trying to scare the crap out of people. I could tell it was working by the expressions on everyone’s faces.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in a cold clipped tone as I stared directly at my father. My father, David I guess I should call him now, took an involuntary step back, before he realized what he was doing. I could see that he was not happy about giving up the high ground to me.
“We came here to find you, since you didn’t come home last,” David replied trying to smile but it looked so false that I almost walked over and punched
him. “We’d thought that they had kidnapped you, and it turns out to be true.”
What was David trying to pull? What was he trying to prove? I saw the men start to move again but I knew how to stop it. I started to laugh and even to my own ears it sounded dark and menacing. I could tell without even looking that everyone had stopped moving again.
I looked straight at David and smiled. He gulped but tried to act unaffected.
“So what if they did?” I asked I knew I was walking on thin ice now. “What do you care you’re not my father.”
It was David’s turn to laugh but his sounded shaky and nervous. “What are you talking about? You are my son…Oh dear, they must‘ve brainwashed you. Gentlemen…”
“You lay another hand on any of them and you won’t make it out of here alive,” I said clearing my face of any expression. That got everyone’s attention. I don’t normally make the threats I usually just carry them out as David’s little puppet. But I had a mind of my own no matter what anyone else thought and I didn’t do everything David has ever told me to do.
I stepped further away from the house and a couple of the guys took some steps back while others looked frozen where they were. I could see Markus shaking his head but his open mouth was quirked up to one side. I kind of wanted to smile back but I was afraid that it would give him away.
Markus and I were kind of like brothers, we trusted each other with secrets and stuff that we weren’t supposed to know about. One thing that Markus told me that I just remember is that he likes a girl but he has similar parent problems to what I have.
He hasn’t gotten up the balls to tell his parents that they are getting married soon. But he had the balls to tell his girlfriend that he was in the Mafia. The guy was gutsy when it came down to it. I don’t think even Markus’s sister knows about his girlfriend and I hope that Hayley never finds out for the girl’s sake, also for Markus’s peace of mind. I had never seen him so at peace and happy any other time than when he’s with his girlfriend.