The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3)

by O. E. Boroni

  I was glad however, that she’d agreed to attend the visitation- especially since it would be more intimate than the funeral- because I expected that it would grant her some closure. But now she wanted the room to be empty when she walked in which I didn't think was possible, so we continued to wait. Eventually we stood up when we saw that most of the visitors had left and went to peep into the room.

  There were about five people there. Lenora was standing with a woman that had bright red hair, while Roque was leaning on a wall at a corner of the room with his arms folded against his chest. The other two men were a few feet away from him and like the rest of them, solemnly looked on at the open casket in front of the room.

  At first Elizabeth hesitated, but then I gently pulled her along with me and we went up to Lenora, whose lips were parted in surprise at the sight of the both of us.

  "Hi," I greeted, and she managed a nod.

  "What are you doing here?" She asked, and then turned to Elizabeth.

  "Hey," she said softly but Elizabeth didn't respond. Her gaze was already transfixed on the casket. She eventually let go of my hand quietly walked towards it.

  I sighed deeply as I watched her, and then turned to look at Roque as he watched her too. Did he know she was his mother? I wondered. He wasn't acting like it. He had on his usual aloof expression while the others in the room seemed curious as to who she was.

  A few minutes passed with her just staring at the body, but then just as she was about to softly lay her hands on it in farewell, someone yelled from behind us.

  "Don’t you touch him!"

  We all turned to see what was going on.

  An elderly woman was marching into the room with her eyes firmly fixed on my mother. She started speaking even before she reached her, her tone heightened and then to my surprise, she stuck her bony fingers in Elizabeth’s face.

  Offended, I went over to Elizabeth and caught her hand to pull her away but she refused. The woman kept yelling at her in Portuguese and soon, a few more of the relatives whom had left the room earlier came hurrying back.

  I wished I could understand what the woman was saying as it had driven Elizabeth to tears again. Eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore so I started to reach for her, but suddenly, the woman struck her across her face and yelled out what was definitely a curse. She pushed Elizabeth and if I hadn't quickly stepped in, she would have fallen to the ground.

  With my body, I shielded Elizabeth from her as she tried to hit her again until two men came and gently restrained the elderly woman.

  "Mom let's go." I said but still she refused and shrugged out of my hold. She ran towards the body and sunk to her knees, her hands cradling his face. She tried to press her face to his but her shirt was pulled which jerked her away, and drove her to the ground.

  I exploded in anger at the sight of my mother being treated like garbage. Before I knew what was happening, my hand shot out and pushed the old woman away with more force than I had intended. She flew away from me with a cry and was barely stopped by the men beside her from crashing into the wall. I bent down to help Elizabeth up but as I straightened someone's fist drove into my face and temporarily blinded me. I took a few seconds to recover as the pain reverberated through my head and then tried to stand back up but I wasn't given a chance.

  I was half-dragged out of the room, and out to the corridor.

  "Alex let him go!" I heard Elizabeth yell, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. In the second that followed, another punch was driven into my face. I received the next blow to my stomach and doubled over from the pain. After that I was allowed a few moments to recover so I used it get my pain under control. As soon as it was, I got up, caught Roque by the collar and began the most deadly fight I'd ever been. As we threw punches at each other, struggled on the ground and then jacked each other up against walls, I could hear the gasps of horror and complaints around us.

  The damage to my body was severe but I couldn’t stop. Eventually we were separated, and he yelled at me. "You bastard! This is my father’s funeral. This is my father’s fucking funeral."

  He tore himself away from the hold of the person that had restrained him, and turned around to walk away. I tried my best then to get up and Elizabeth rushed to me in tears.

  “I'm so sorry." She said but I didn't care. All I wanted was to get the both of us out of there. Somehow I found the strength that I needed to pick myself up, and in no time we were heading over to the parking area. There was a taxi waiting but then, Elizabeth let go of my arm and turned. I looked up to see her watch as Roque was about to cross the road.

  "Alex!" She yelled but he didn't respond. Before I could stop her she left my side and hurried towards the road. "Alex!" She called again, and this time, he stopped and turned. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and but then he turned back around and continued on his way across the road.

  The sight tore at my heart, so immediately I started to head towards her so that I could bring her back. However, she ran after him, blinded by her grief and humiliation, and forgot to pay attention to where she was going. Before I could even call her name, two cars had barely missed her. With my heart in my throat, I immediately started running to her but before I could reach her, an SUV ran into her and flung her into air.

  "Mom!" I cried just as she hit the windscreen of the car, and then rolled down the hood before eventually crashing to the ground. Like a maddened person, I forgot the aches in my body and ran towards her. When I reached her, I crouched down to touch her but hesitated at the sight of her bloodied head. She wasn’t moving so I kept my hands to myself so that I wouldn’t make anything worse.

  "Call an ambulance!" I cried. "Call a fucking ambulance." She was too still. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn't supposed to happen.

  There was a lot of movement around me but I couldn't pay attention to any of it. Eventually I gently put my hands around her and lifted her enough so that she could rest against my chest.

  “Mom!” I cried, but she didn’t respond. I looked up then to seek out Roque. I needed to see what his reaction was at the disaster that he’d just caused. To my surprise he was nowhere near and had instead remained in the same spot he’d been in before the accident. I watched him take in the scene for a few seconds, and then he just turned around and walked away.

  I wanted to pound my head against the concrete ground. I didn't have the strength to yell out at him. So I just looked down on my probably dead mother and tightened my arms around her. "You bastard.” I muttered. “You fucking bastard. I'm going to kill you, I swear, I’m going to kill you."

  Nathan

  I went straight to the hotel room and locked the door behind me. Leaning against it, I struggled to breathe. I could feel the heat all over my face, the burning in the pit of my stomach, and the anguish at what I had just seen, threatening to drive me mad with sorrow. Grabbing my head, I wandered into the bathroom, and when the image of her lying covered in blood came to me again, I yelled until my throat ached. Tears were pouring from my eyes. What had just happened? Had my mother really just died? And had I just walked away?

  I turned around and drove my fist into the mirror… but it wasn’t enough. I turned and found the shower glass, so I drew my fist back and with all my strength drove it into it. It shattered and so did my hand.

  Gripping my wrist in pain, I backed up against the wall with my eyelids clenched shut, as blood gushed from my hand. I needed something to overtake the pain in my heart right now and this was perfect. I slid down to the floor and hung my head. My phone started ringing then and I ignored it. But when it wouldn’t stop, I pulled it out from my pocket with my good hand and flung it at the wall. After watching it shatter into pieces around me, I lowered my head and reveled in the pain that had completely taken over my body.

  Lenora

  The entire family was shaken by what had happened today, and it was all worsened by the fact that Nathan was nowhere to be found. I suspected that he’d gone to the hotel room but
I thought it best to give him the time that he needed to get himself together, so I stopped myself from going over.

  When I'd come out to see what had happened to Elizabeth, my heart had almost failed me. I, along with Nathan’s brothers had hurried over to the hospital to see how she was doing, but when night fell and we hadn’t been able to get any word about her condition, we’d all returned to the house. I tried reaching Nathan through his phone but it was fruitless. So I waited for him to show up at the house, hoping that he was alright and praying that Elizabeth would be okay too. That would give him one less trauma to deal with, and a chance to maybe eventually reconcile with his mother.

  The possibility that he might not get to do that tore at my heart. Eventually I couldn’t remain at the house anymore, so I left and headed over to the beach. I laid on the sand and just stared up at the sky. I wanted everything to be okay but today had just been a disaster, and it had all happened so fast that it still felt unreal. I remained there for a while and then returned to the house a little past midnight. But still, he hadn’t showed up.

  *

  Two days later, the only word we had received on Elizabeth was that she had been stabilized but was in critical condition. Nathan on the other hand still hadn’t come home, and his absence was slowly driving me crazy. When I didn't see him at the service or procession, I thought he would miss the funeral but at the cemetery, I’d searched for him and eventually sighted him amongst the crowd.

  He was standing still, and just staring straight ahead. I wanted to go to him, but I knew that it would be wiser to stay put so I did. However as soon as the ceremony was over, I hurried to find him but he'd disappeared again.

  I hurried back to the house, hoping to see him there, but again he wasn't there. There was a small luncheon going on for close friends and family so the house was pretty busy. I found his brothers and asked for where he'd gone, but no one had seen him. Then I'd gone to Beatrice and she told me that he'd stopped by to pick up his things.

  "What do you mean?" I asked and she sighed deeply.

  “He said he had to leave and that he was going back.”

  "Back to where?"

  "Back to New York. He told me to tell you that he was sorry, and that he would speak to you in New York."

  "Okay." I forced a smile. She handed me a glass of wine which I thanked her for, but then discarded as I found my way out of the house. I hurried over to the hotel and asked for a spare key. When I got to our room, my heart was pounding so violently that I had to take several deep breaths to try to settle it.

  "Nathan?" I called when I walked in, but there was no response. I went further into the room, and looked around. He was truly gone. I didn't know how to feel so I just sat on the bed, and stared into space. Eventually, I got myself together and started packing my things. I went back to the house to say my goodbyes and by the next morning, I was on my way back to New York.

  Lenora

  Two Weeks Later

  Being back in New York was difficult for me, because between the short time I’d been away and now, a lot had happened to destabilize me. Nathan's dad had died, his mom was still hospitalized and in a coma, and Nathan himself had disappeared. Since the glimpse of him at the funeral, I hadn't seen him and no one had been able to contact him. I was sure he was in his apartment but no one could confirm it since he never answered the door.

  I still wasn't clear on exactly what had happened outside the funeral home. Damian had brought his mom back to New York to continue with her treatment and I'd been to see her a couple of times but I couldn't speak to him. Whenever I arrived, he ignored me and left the room temporarily and when he came back, the look on his face always clearly sent the message that it was time to go.

  I wondered if Nathan suspected that Elizabeth was his mother. Because that would be a good explanation for why he had suddenly disappeared. That level of compounded grief would be almost impossible to bear, but I wished that I could reach him so that I could help in some way. I also wished that he hadn’t just fallen off the grid because Elizabeth’s condition didn’t seem to be improving and therefore she was expected to pass away at any time. I’d hoped that with a little time he would at least come to know her but if she passed away without him finding out that she was his mother, I was terrified at what his reaction would be.

  Eventually I couldn’t stand his absence anymore, so I decided to go in search of him. I headed over to his building one evening after work and pounded on his door. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to leave until he responded so I knocked continuously for about twenty minutes, until my knuckles were bruised. Upset and on the verge of tears, I sank down to the floor and buried my head in my arms. He was in pain, I understood that but I wished he’d have considered that the people that cared about him would be worried. I’d contacted his brothers several times and even they hadn’t been able to get a hold of him.

  Just then, a waiter rolling a trolley was walking past me and stopped when he saw me on the floor.

  "Are you alright ma’am?" he asked.

  "I'm fine." I replied without looking at him so that he wouldn't see the tears on my face, but the sniffling was hard to conceal. "I'm just looking for the idiot who lives here."

  "Mr Roque?" He asked, and immediately I lifted my head.

  "You know him?"

  "Um," he looked reluctant to respond and I understood why. I immediately got up.

  "Please," I said. "I've been trying to reach him for more than a week. Do you know where he is?"

  "Um, I-I can't say."

  "Please, I'm his fiancé. I need to speak with him." His eyes widened slightly at my claim but when he looked down to see my empty ring finger, he frowned.

  "He hasn't given me the ring." I said, nervous that he would walk away. True enough, he looked at me like I was really strange and then turned around to leave.

  "I have to go." He said but I immediately grabbed his hand and dropped to my knees. His eyes popped out then and he lowered himself with me. "Oh my God, please get up." He said and tried to pull me up but I refused. The tears rolled down my eyes. "Please, I need to speak with him."

  He sighed and the moment he closed his eyes I knew that he had conceded. He pulled me up and spoke, the unhappiness apparent in his voice.

  "He’s not here. He’s staying at the Marriott oriental in the north tower."

  "The hotel? So he's in the building."

  "He is, he's just not in his apartment."

  "What’s his room number?" I asked and he sighed again.

  "Please don’t make me get fired for this. I really need this job."

  "I won't, I promise."

  "He's in 608. Just take the elevator down the hallway and it'll take you to the hotel’s floor."

  "Thank you so much. Thank you."

  I brought out a tissue from my bag and dabbed the tears on my face as I hurried towards the elevator. In no time I arrived in front of his door and inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself before I went in but it didn't work. So I just knocked on the door and pressed my ear against it to listen for any movement. I heard some and so I knocked again. Eventually it became really quiet so I guessed he was currently at the door and had probably seen me through the peephole.

  "Nathan, open this door." I said, and knocked on it again but still he didn’t respond.

  I pounded on it. "Nathan open this freaking door,” I half-yelled, and just then he did. It clicked open, and there he was in sweat pants and a black t-shirt. I took a deep breath and glared at him. He looked terrible. His eyes were blood shot, and his face was covered in what was probably a two week old beard.

  I didn’t know what to say to him. I wanted to yell at him but at the same time I wanted to pull him into my arms, and comfort him.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  “I am.” He replied. He didn’t make any move to invite me in but instead stood guard at the door.

  “Well I just wanted to make sure.” I told him and turned around to leave.
He didn’t follow or even try to stop me and it broke my heart. I got to the elevator and pounded in frustration on the button until the doors eventually slid open. I got in, but just as it was about to slide shut, he showed up and shot out his arm to stop it.

  I glared at him and he stared right back at me. Neither of us said anything for a few seconds, and neither of us looked away from each other.

  "I'm sorry," he eventually said. “I know you’re worried but I need to find a way to help myself. I’m not okay Lenora, and I don't know how long it's going to take for me to become better but right now, I don't want to be around anyone. I’m not ready to face reality right now. I need to heal, fast, and this is the only way I know how.”

  He let go of the door then so that it could slide shut but just before it did, I stopped it. “I want a key.” I told him.

  It took him a while to make up his mind but when he saw from my expression that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer, he eventually nodded. I held out my hand and he placed the key card on my palm. I closed my hand around it and stepped out of the elevator. Lifting myself on tip toe, I encircled my arms around his neck and embraced him as hard as I could. He looked so sad, and it tore at my heart. I gave him a small kiss, and looked into his cold eyes. “Please be alright.” I told him and he nodded.

  I brushed his hair out of his face and gently stroked his cheek with the back of my knuckles. Then I turned around, got into the elevator and went on my way.

  « CHAPTER 8 »

  Damian

  My entire life had turned upside down.

  As I watched my unconscious mother, her life barely supported by the machines all around her, all I could think about was the fact that barely a week earlier, she had been perfectly fine. Now she was struggling for her life with almost no chance of ever recovering.

  The brain aneurysm caused by the head trauma from the accident had ruptured on our way back to the states, and now she was left to deal with a hemorrhagic stroke. She couldn't eat, or move. She couldn't even breathe on her own and day after day I was left staring at her, wondering how so much disaster could have happened so quickly. Tears filled my eyes for the umpteenth time but just then I heard my name so I quickly wiped them away and got up. It was my lawyer- Anthony Chang.