Lonely Together

00

Crouching on the floor beside his bed, Valentino listened as gunshots rang throughout his house below him.

Tears fell from the little boy's eyes as he clung a teddy bear to his chest, wondering when the gunfire would be over.

This wasn't a new occurrence for him; in his six years of life he had come to get used to this. Still, he wondered why people were so mad at his father and decided to do this. He wondered if they were mad at his father for the way he treated his mother.

The gunshots continued for another hour, leaving the little boy paralyzed by fear. When they finished, he heard a soft knock on his door, letting him know that it was one of his parents. He prayed that it was his mother or one of his older brothers...not his father.

The door creaked open and in stepped his father, the splitting image of the little boy. They had identical green eyes, noses, and dark curly hair.

"Stop crying, figlio," The man spoke in his harsh, cold voice as he crouched down in front of his child.

He roughly wiped away the boy's tear before saying, "Shut up. You're fine...you might be in my position one day."

Valentino looked up at his father, not sure how to respond because he was terrified. He didn't want to be like his father, he didn't want that for his life.

Just then, his mother walked through the door, Valentino's brothers trailing behind her as tears rushed down her face. She swiftly made her way over to her son, pulling him into her tight embrace and running her hands through his hair, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"You're overreacting, Ximena," Valentino's father snapped, roughly pulling the woman away from her child.

"I an not! I do not want my sons living like this. You promised that this would not happen, you promised we would go back to America. Yet we are still here," Ximena sobbed, her head in her hands.

Valentino's heart broke as he watched his mother cry. He admired everything about her, but he hated to see her cry as often as she did. He didn't understand why his father was so mean; his mother and nanny always told him that being mean was never something he should do. So why did his father do it?

"Look at me Ximena," His father said softly and lowly, his eyes dancing between his youngest son and his oldest boy.

Ximena raised her head to look at her husband just as he cocked his hand back, connecting it to her face. Valentino let out a gasp at his father's action before rushing to wrap his arms around his mother as she cried even more.

His father laughed at his actions, shaking his head before turning to look at his older sons.

"You should have seen me down there boys. All of them...dead," He laughed, making them chuckle as well before he led them out of the room.

Valentino stayed in his mothers embrace until she was able to calm herself down, his anger for his father simmering below the surface.

That day, he knew he would never be like that monster no matter how much they looked alike. He wanted so desperately to go to this America that his mother often spoke of, although he knew he had been there before—he just couldn't remember.

The years began to go by and the same events in Valentino's life continued—the gunfire, the crying, the abuse of his mother.

Yet he was no longer the one crying, he was no longer affected by the fact that his father's life could be over in just a split second. He grew hatred for everyone: his father, his brothers, and even his dear mother.

He felt alone. Completely lonely.