charity project // mischa bachinski (ride the cyclone)

17 - confrontation

"I've been looking for this one everywhere. How did you find it?"

Mischa shrugged. "I did a whole lot of searching. It took me a while."

"This thermos will be helpful, too, I suppose."

Mischa, Laura and I waited for him to say thank you but he never did. There was a beat of silence until Laura spoke.

"...I am so, so sorry we treat you like that. What is wrong with me? I feel terrible. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you. I'm just- I'm so..."

Tears were forming in her eyes, on the verge of falling. Then, she did something unexpected. She stood up from her seat to hug Mischa.

"I'm a terrible person. I was so focused on seeming good on the outside, I forgot that it's what is inside that counts. Nothing I do could make up for how cold I was, but I want to do better. For starters, I don't even know what your life was like before here."

Even Mischa looked a bit choked up. "Well, I came from Ukraine. I lived a wonderful childhood with my mother and father. They were both so kind and gentle. It was just like this until I was seven, and my father died. My mother and I, we were devastated. It was hard to continue life without my father there to support and love us. But my mother was a strong woman. She got a job at the Chernobyl cleanup site. I went to school. Our family may not have been the same, but we were getting along just fine. My mother's job started to affect her. She started to be weak and sick. I had to take off school and take care of her. When I was fourteen, she passed along. I was scared and alone, I guess. My mother knew that it was going to happen, so she put me up for adoption but lied about my age. No one would want a fourteen-year-old boy. I was waiting for maybe a year for a family, and then you guys took me in."
"We must've been a huge disappointment," Laura said quietly.

Mischa nearly laughed. "Not as much as I must've been."

"No. We're going to make this right. We're going to start by redoing your room," She said.

"No."

Everyone looked to Tom, who'd been silent this whole time.

"What was that, Tom?" Laura asked.

"I said no. This boy doesn't deserve our love. We were lied to, deceived! He's no boy, he's practically a man who can live on his own. It's a waste of resources and if I weren't so worried about what the town might thing, I'd have already thrown you out!"

Laura looked horrified.

Remember what I said earlier about being calm and patient? Well, that has a limit for even the calmest people.

"What is wrong with you? Is that the only thing he is to you? Some sort of twisted charity project? Even a worm, who is quite literally heartless, could have more sympathy than you! Mr. March, are you even human at this point? Or are you the embodiment of corporalization who has no regard for what people feel?"

I was astounded with myself after that. I didn't know I was capable of anything like what I just said.

Tom stood up. "You! This is all your fault and I've had enough of it! Leave this house!"

Laura's face hardened. "No, Tom. She's right. What happened to you? Why are you so selfish?"

"Selfish? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever-"
She didn't let him finish. "Are you hearing yourself right now? Are you? You're just like your father."

Tom's face paled. "No. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Can't you see? Mischa needs a family. He's not grown. Everyone who's raised him is gone. His father was the first to go."

"Where are you going with this, Laura?"

"Your own father was the CEO of Uranium Industries. You told me you rarely saw him. You were angry, Tom. I remember it. You were angry at him for not being there for you and you were angry at the world for letting it happen. And when he died? You were angry that you didn't learn anything good from him. But maybe you can now."

Tom was finally silent and Laura looked satisfied.

"You know, Mischa reminds me of you. Lost, alone, and angry. Just like when I met you. Maybe you could be what your father could never be. You could be caring and you could at least be there for him."

Was he... crying?

"I think..." He finally said. "I think I will. If there's anything I want to be, it's better than my father, and if this is how I can finally do that, so be it."

We all looked around at each other, soaking in what had just happened.

"Well? What are we waiting for? The room isn't going to redo itself!" Tom exclaimed.

...

It's safe to say that the dinner turned out better than either of us had expected. All of the baby furniture had been donated to charity. Mischa finally had a real bed, and the three of them finally began to really get to know each other. Laura had taken a liking to me due to our similar nature and interests. We had even planned to have our Christmas together with my mom and I. She'd even told me what Mischa's gift was. It was probably a bad idea because I hate keeping surprises from people, and he would love this surprise. I was as bad as Noel when it came to that, and this was a difficult surprise to keep to myself. Thankfully, Christmas was in a week. 

a/n: guys two chapters in one day i am feeling FANTASTIC also I wrote this during spanish class i got my work done early and now this google doc is 41 pages in 11 pt font i think i have a problem 👍‼️