Bitter Sweet

5. Haven

Julio came through the door and found his mother sleeping on the couch. Her breathing was so slow and deep, he knew she had medicated herself with sleeping pills. He knelt before her and watched her as she snored softly. She was a beautiful fifty-two-year-old woman. She didn't deserve to rely on medications to live her everyday life.

She had gone deep down that black hole called depression when her husband died two years ago in a car accident. Julio had joined the army immediately after high school, like his father had when he was his age. When the accident happened, he was stationed in Korea missing his funeral. Once he was told he would be in inactive duty until further notice, he flew straight to Arizona to help his mother with his siblings, Sergio, who was now sixteen, and Lorena, who was now eight. His mother had built for him a small building behind the house which now served as his house. It was a small studio kind of place but it had the necessities, he couldn't complain.

He brought a blanket from his mother's room and covered her with it. He turned the TV off and went out the back door. He found Lorena playing on the dirt with her dolls. She had made a hole and filled it with water making a pool for her toys. Julio knelt beside her.

"That water is kinda dirty, don't you think?"

"They're taking a mud bath. It's good for their skin," she replied confidently.

Julio laughed. "You better get inside, it's getting dark."

Lorena nodded and abandoning her dolls in the mud bath, she ran inside. He gathered them and rinsed them with the hose. As he dried them with the same towel they used to dry Bob, their Pitbull, he saw Sergio crossing the street. Julio watched him attentively. Sergio walked rapidly as if not wanting to be seen, and he adjusted his pants before he opened the door. Julio knew very well what the adjustment of pants meant. He went inside and met him in the kitchen.

"You're home late."

Sergio laughed stupidly, like teenage boys usually did. "Yeah, I had after school detention," he replied. Julio saw him grabbing his groin and adjusting one more time.

"Is something happening down there?" Julio asked.

Sergio eyes widened but still held to that dopey smile. "No, nothing. I got some homework to do," he replied hurriedly and disappeared down the hall.

Julio looked after him fighting a smile. Poor Sergio, he thought. He doesn't know what to do with his hormones. He heard the door to his room lock and nodded at himself. Yes, he did, he corrected himself.

He constantly fought with the idea to give him the sex talk. Their dad died when Sergio was fourteen, before he had the chance to do it himself. Julio didn't know if he should speak to him. And tell him what? To be respectful towards woman? To use protection? It would be hypocritical of Julio to speak of him about safe sex with the love of his life when he had constant booty calls with the rich lady down the street. It wouldn't feel right.

He walked out to his little studio and though it was already dark, he worked on the car his father never got around on fixing. He was an avid fan of Knight Rider and managed to buy a Pontiac Trans-am, or in other words, KITT, the talking car. Julio could remember the smile on his father's face every time he tinkered with that car, it was as if he was reliving his childhood. Now, Julio tinkered with KITT when he needed his mind to unwind, it made him feel closer to his father and it brought peace to his mind.

But he couldn't focus this time. His thoughts kept going back to Stephanie's face when he spoke to her. She looked like he had barely woken up and she didn't seem to care, he liked that. The way she had asked him why she should remember him when he graduated high school two years before her, made him smile. She was brutally honest, and he liked that.

Truth was, he didn't even know why he remembered her to begin with. They never had a class together, they never spoke, then why was he so taken by her when he saw her arriving with her gym bag on her shoulder? When she stepped awkwardly to speak to her friend? He watched her and watched her and he couldn't look away. He smiled at himself, he wanted to see her again.