Alberto stood their, infuriated at the sight of his father. After all he'd done to Alberto, why was had he even decided to return?
Massimo looked confused. "Alberto? Do you know this man?"
Alberto was breathing heavily, trying to form words, but he couldn't say anything. He had never felt so angry before. "GET OUT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
Alberto lunged towards his father, not wanting anything to do with the man. Massimo stepped in and grabbed Alberto by the collar. Alberto was in a blind fit of rage as he swung his arms around in the air, desperately trying to reach his father.
"Let GO of me!" Alberto screamed.
Massimo pulled Alberto away and held him in his arm, effectively preventing him from moving around.
"Alberto.. what has gotten into you?" Massimo asked in a concerned tone. "You have no reason to attack this random man."
Giulia, who was observing them from the stairs the entire time, stepped forward and tugged on Massimo's sleeve. "That's.. not a random person Papà that's..."
Alberto's father stepped forward, "Alright, cut it out! I'm just here to see my boy.."
Massimo looked at the man standing in front of him, then looked back at Alberto, who was barely keeping himself together.
"Alberto- this is your father?" Massimo asked slowly.
Alberto looked down at the floor and nodded, his face red with anger. Alberto had only ever told Luca and Giulia about what his father was truly like. Sure, Massimo knew that the man had abandoned Alberto, but he didn't know exactly why.
Massimo was silent, trying to comprehend the mess he was in. He looked over at Alberto's father and talked in a gruff tone, "Signore, I think you should leave."
Alberto's father shook his head repeatedly, "No- no no. I just want to see my boy, I haven't seen him in years. You're gonna deny me that, huh?"
Massimo didn't back down, "I said.. I think you should leave, Signore."
"Alright alright, first off, the name's Bruno. None of that Signore crap," he snapped back. "Second, I'm here to see my boy. I saw him walk over here with some boy."
Alberto was shocked. "So... you were following us the whole time? Seriously?"
Bruno grunted, "I'm your dad, Alberto. I can do whatever the hell I want!"
Alberto scrunched his nose up in frustration, "I don't wanna see you.."
"Well too bad! I'm here to take you back home, where you belong. With me, eh? Just like old times," Bruno smiled as he grabbed Alberto's arm.
Alberto quickly pulled away, "I don't wanna go ANYWHERE with you!" Alberto resented seeing his father. Not only has he abandoned him all of a sudden one day, leaving Alberto alone, but he also treated him horribly for a long, long time.
"You're a MONSTER Alberto!"
"You'll never be good enough!"
After his dad had left, Alberto had learned to shut his dad up; he learned to shut the voice up that was always in the back of his head. That's where Alberto had started to say 'Silenzio Bruno.' In fact, he still told himself that regularly.
Bruno scoffed, "Alberto, stop being such a baby. This isn't even your home."
Alberto was furious; he felt like his head was going to explode. Not ever again did Alberto want to hide in the shadows. He needed to finally stand up to his father.
Alberto clenched his fist. "I already have a home, and it's here. And I already have the best dad in the world, anyway- and it's NOT you."
Bruno looked into Alberto's eyes and frowned.
Alberto felt a boost of confidence inside of him. He wasn't going to let his father take control of him any longer.
Bruno shook his head, "No no no. I can't.." he looked up at Massimo who was standing behind Alberto and pointed to him. "This man.. is your father? HA! That's funny, Alberto. Real funny.."
"Stop it!" Alberto yelled
"No, you stop!" Bruno yelled. "Stop being so difficult!"
Alberto looked his father dead in the eyes. "Massimo is the best dad ever, better than you ever were!!"
Alberto felt Massimo put a hand on his shoulder, which comforted him. Alberto looked over at his father once again, who gradually started to move closer.
"I- think you need to leave.." Alberto said grimly.
Bruno frowned, "Look, Alberto.."
"Please, just leave. Now!"
Bruno scoffed and stood up, looking over at everyone else in the room. His eyes scanned them all and he shook his head in disapproval. "Do you realize how long it took me to get here? You haven't changed one bit Alberto, eh?"
Massimo was still placing his hand on Alberto's shoulder."I think Alberto is right," he said.
Bruno frowned, "Yeah yeah- it's time for me to go. I get it.. have it your way."
Alberto refused to look at his father, who was starting to pack up his things to leave. Alberto just couldn't trust him. After the years of lies, he refused to even go with his father, even for just one day. Besides, he already had Massimo and Giulia, the best family he could've ever asked for.
Bruno looked over at Alberto, "Pathetic.."
Alberto felt his blood boil, knowing that this was the typical behavior of his father.
"Y'know, nobody's ever gonna love you if you act like this, Alberto," Bruno said accusingly.
Alberto felt the anger boil inside of him. How could his father have the audacity to say something like that?
"At least I'm not YOU!" Alberto shouted back. "And you're wrong, I already have someone who loves me, and I love him back just as much!"
Bruno had a disgusted look on his face. "I should've never even came back in the first place. You're a monster.."
"GET OUT!" Alberto yelled.
Bruno frowned at his son and walked outside and aggressively slammed the door shut. Alberto refused to look at him or even acknowledge his father. Right after the door shut, Alberto felt himself calm down now that he was alone with the people he cared about most.
Massimo and Giulia both comforted Alberto, who was still staring out the window angrily.
"I'm so sorry that happened, figlio," Massimo said sympathetically. "I know that must've been frustrating."
It was, Alberto thought to himself. If he was being honest, the last person he was expecting to enter that door was his father. Alberto didn't even know that Bruno wanted to see him again? In fact, was that even why he had returned? It felt weird knowing that Bruno just sort of appeared randomly: there was no warning whatsoever. Alberto just wasn't sure how to feel about if, but he knew that he didn't need to worry about him. He already had an amazing father.
Alberto felt better and stood up. "Don't worry, papà. I'm okay."
Massimo smiled, "That's good. Now, I think it's time we go to bed, how does that sound?"
Alberto smiled and nodded back at his father. "That sounds great."
Giulia and Alberto headed upstairs for the night, with Alberto replaying what had just happened in his head. He knew that he had to keep moving forward and to not worry about his father. I don't need him. Yeah! I don't need him!
"Buona notte," Massimo said.
Alberto was about to enter his room before Giulia came from behind and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you gonna be okay, Al?" she asked.
Alberto nodded, "Yeah, don't worry. I'm not afraid of him anymore."
Giulia smiled at Alberto and walked into her room. "We can hang out with Luca tomorrow if you want!"
Alberto smiled awkwardly, "Oh yeah, totally!"
Giulia eyed him suspiciously, "Oh yeah... how did- you know- tonight go?"
Alberto smiled, "I- uh.. told him how I felt."
"Yeah I know that, stupido!" she laughed. "What I meant was- how did Luca take it?"
Alberto remembered the events that occurred earlier that night. He smiled just thinking about it.
"He uhh.." Alberto didn't know what to say. "He kissed me.."
Giulia squealed like a little kid getting candy and ran forward to hug her brother. "I knew it I knew it I knew it!" she yelled enthusiastically. "It took long enough!"
"Too tight, Giulia!" Alberto managed to spit out. Giulia let go of him, still grinning from ear to ear.
"Sorry sorry!" Giulia apologized. "I'm just- so happy for you, Al. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear that.."
"What do you mean?" Alberto asked confused.
"You two were PERFECT for each other, I saw how Luca looked at you," Giulia explained. "But.. you were just too stupid to notice!"
"Oh shut up!" Alberto joked.
"Or.. maybe you were just so madly in love with Luca that you were too distracted to see what I saw.."
Normally, Alberto would be annoyed that Giulia said that. This time, though, it didn't matter to him. He loved Luca, and Luca loved him. There was no need to try and hide his feelings all the time any longer.
"I guess you're right.." Alberto admitted. "I love him- a lot!"
Giulia exclaimed, "Yeah, lover boy, I already knew that."
"Okay that's enough!" Alberto laughed. "I'm going to bed, 'night Giulia."
Giulia walked back into her room and shut the door half way. "Goodnight Al."
Alberto rested his tired body on the bed, feeling a lot more tired than he usually was. After all, it was definitely an eventful day.
Before falling asleep, Alberto thought about what he was going to do after the race ended. The day after the race was when Luca would be leaving him again. Alberto didn't want to go through all of that over again. He had already been able to spend weeks upon weeks with Luca, enjoying the time they spent together more and more every day. How could Alberto possibly leave Luca again! I can't lose him again..
Alberto remembered how Luca suggested that he could join them in Genova. It wasn't a bad idea, but Alberto just wasn't sure. The new environment seemed like it could be too overwhelming. I'm not as smart as Luca, Alberto admitted to himself. How would I even stand a chance?
Alberto decided to think about it another time. Right now, he needed to focus on getting some sleep. He laid down on the bed and stretched his legs out, looking over at a picture of him and Luca on his nightstand. Alberto reached over and grabbed the picture frame, smiling when he saw Luca's face.
Goodnight, my love.
I'll see you tomorrow.