Difficult Conversations

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Alberto spun around, looking his Father in the eye, and slowly swam forward. I couldn't see his face, but based off his body language, he was angrier than I had ever known him to be.

"No." his voice cracked "You can not come back after all these years and call me Son! You abandoned me."

"And look how well you turned out because of it."

"No, I'm not okay because of you. I'm okay-" he looked back at me for a moment, then turned back to his father. "I'm okay, because I found friends, and a real family. So no, don't come back calling me son after you left me alone in that tower. I waited for you to come back, and eventually, I got tired of waiting, so I went out and I found friends- No, I found family. I found A man who is more of a father to me than you ever were, I found an entire town who accepts me for who I am. and I found Luca-" he looked back at me and held out his hand. I swam to him and grabbed it. "So leave me, and my family- alone."

"Son-" Alberto's grip on my hand tightened and he narrowed his eyes "Alberto, I-"

 "I said go away, Bruno." My eyes widened as I looked between Alberto and Bruno. Was that why he was always so mad at the voice in his head? Was it his father's voice? There was visible hurt in Bruno's eyes, and I felt bad, but I also agreed with Alberto, you can't just show up after so long and try to get back into your son's life. I stared Bruno down next to Alberto.  It had to be hard for him to talk to his father like this. I'd seen the marks in the wall, I knew how long he had waited for his dad to come back. I'd heard the sadness in his voice the night he had run away to the tower.  Alberto turned around and swam back in the direction of Portorosso pulling me along beside him, without a single glance back. We arrived back on the surface at the place where Alberto had revealed himself as a sea monster in front of Giulia. He walked up the hill in silence, the rocks crunching beneath his feet, leaving me to follow behind him.


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