I woke up very early the next morning to the sound of my father having a very loud conversation with whoever it was on the other end of the phone. Then, eventually, I learnt that all the screaming and shouting was him answering a call from someone from the hospital. He spoke so loudly as if he was deaf in one ear or as if he wanted someone outside to hear whatever he was discussing. Then, I heard him marching around the house as if he were part of the army, and then he walked past my bedroom door, and the steps became louder. “TORI!” he called out for me as he banged on my bedroom door. He swung the door wide and came in. He was all sweaty and panting, perhaps from all the yelling and pacing around he did earlier. “GET DRESSED, WE ARE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL. NOW!” he ordered and then marched out of my bedroom, leaving the door wide open. Still feeling exhausted and sleepy, I tiredly rolled out of bed and grabbed my bathing towel and dragged my tired feet to the bathroom. “You can’
The 3 of us all hesitated to walk towards my mother, afraid. It was as if she was going to bite. She just looked different from the person we had been crying at for a while. We could not believe our eyes. “Well, come on over here, I don’t bite.” she smiled.My father, in all his shock and confusion and all possible emotions combined, slowly walked over to my mother with his eyes all puffy and red, ready to burst into a puddle of tears. “Mary…” he wailed as he dived on the hospital bed to hug my mother. She held him back tightly, leaving Roni and me completely confused and in shock. She was lifeless and practically dead the past few days, and then suddenly, she had all this energy. I eventually took a few steps towards her bed, initially hesitant, wondering if she was actually okay or if it was an act. “I hope you have been behaving, Tori,” she said as I hugged her tightly. “You know, your father isn’t as tough as me. He is fragile.”“HEY!” my father exclaimed after hearing my mot
A week had gone by since my mother’s death, and we were all in the house getting ready for the funeral. Russo had been very supportive and was always in the house, helping my father get over the grief. I was in my bedroom, fixing the top buttons of my dress and then slid on my black gloves on my small hands. “You look very beautiful.” a male voice said from my bedroom door. I slowly turned around and saw Russo standing by my door. His hands are in the pockets of his trousers. With him looking very smart and elegant in his all black suit. He unhurriedly walked in further into my bedroom with his hands still in his pocket. He closed the door and continued to walk up to me as I panicked, wondering what he was going to do to me. “Are you nervous?” he asked “Nervous about what?” I questioned back“Nervous about everything. Nervous about today. I mean, your mother was loved by everyone. Everyone will be there.” he replied “Well, I am going there to impress people and care about their
“Tori! Roni! Let’s go!” my father yelled as he banged on our bedroom doors. “And where the hell is Alessandro?!” Alessandro blinked at me as if he was thinking about what he was going to do and what he was going to say when or if he saw my father in the hallway. It was as if he did not expect my father to be looking for him. “I think you should leave,” I whispered, hoping no one else who may have been on the other end of the door would hear us.“No, I can’t,” he replied in a hushed tone“Why not?” I asked back, feeling all panicked and sweaty. It was not as if we had done anything, but we felt guilty. I mean, it did look wrong that my father’s good friend was in my bedroom when the door was closed.“It will look even more weird for me to come out of the room right now when he sounds very angry. Let us first wait for him to cool down or hide away then, we can go out,” he whispered. “TORI!” my father yelled again. I heard Roni’s door being opened and the sound of her shoes clicking
The tension was so awkward in the car. Roni was not helping by giggling and making comments under her breath after my father asked that awkward question. “Alessandro, why was the door closed?” he asked againHe did not even bother asking me because he knew I would find a way to change the story and make my father look like the bad person. “I guess the door just closed.” Russo finally shrugged. My father laughed, and Roni giggled in the backseat as if that was very amusing to her, while I was the only one sweating. I mean, I had not done anything fishy with Russo, but it just felt weird for my father to be pressing, my sister to be giggling, and Russo to be panicking. At least we reached the destination, and the second Russo opened the door, I hopped out. I needed air. Roni and my father walked ahead with everyone else as if we were the royal family or something while I was still at the car with Russo. “Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice.“I think you should go ahead, or I sho
I continued to kiss him until everything rushed back to my head and hit me like a tonne of bricks. What was I doing? I immediately separated from him and just blinked at him. He looked as confused as me. I suddenly realised what I was doing. And I knew it was all wrong. “I am so sorry. I- I- I did not- not realise what- I was- what I had done.” I stammered as I tried to step away from him“No- no,” Russo said as he tried to grab me back.I quickly stepped back and tried to head to the rest of the cars to hide myself. But he followed me. It scared me even more that he followed me. “Russo, I am sorry. It should not have happened. I am taking advantage of you. I am not in the right state of mind right now, and what I did to you was wrong.” I said as I began to tear up“No, you did not take advantage of me. Relax,” he said.He was trying to assure me, but clearly, it was not working because all I could feel was guilt. “Russo, my father was already very upset that you were in my bedro
“Do you think she will tell your father?” Russo asked in a low voice, hoping that Roni was gone by then“I don’t know. We better hope she does not.” I shrugged I was about to walk away when he grabbed my hand again. “Russo… I can’t. Roni just caught us, and I have to go look for my father and find out why he needs me.” I sighed “Well, you need to fix your makeup. Anyone who sees you there will know for sure what you were doing,” he informed me. “But now I don’t have a mirror. How am I supposed to fix it?” I asked as I panicked, wondering how did I look “Here, you can use my phone,” he said as he took his phone out of his pocket. It just hit me that I could have used my own, but I remembered Roni had my bag because it had the makeup, meaning she also had my phone. I opened the camera and saw how my face looked. It was not too bad, but for sure, anyone who saw it would know that I was probably kissing someone. I pushed my hair back, wiped my face a bit, and then handed him the pho
Roni did not give any more information after saying something like that. Instead, she walked away as if she did not leave me confused and wanting to know more. I had just to tag along until we were close enough to my father and the other random people he kept taking us around to meet. But once all of that was done, I pulled her aside, desperate to know more. “What do you mean by you have been there before?” I asked in a hushed tone“Tori, that’s all I am telling you, and that’s it. You will have to find out the rest on your own. Now, we have to go back home and prepare for the prayers.” she replied. ***The drive home was the most awkward thing. I was still in between Russo and my sister in the backseat, wondering why Roni could not sit in the middle or why my father could not sit in the backseat instead. I wondered why Russo was even driving around with us like he was my father’s brother or even my mother’s brother when my own blood relatives were seated at the back and entering t