May 3rd 2023 - New things
I hold the bowl of grapes as I walk throughout the house. I pop one into my mouth hearing the crunchy chew.
It's been a week since the whole cancer bomb dropped on us. I haven't left the house since in respect of Massimo's phobia. Although, I knew I couldn't be locked in here forever.
I pop another grape into a mouth passing the door to the basement / dungeon.
"AUUYYYYGGGH." A muffled sound comes from the other side of that door. I stop in my tracks.
Another muffled moan comes from underneath my house. I put the bowl of grapes down on a nearby table.
I open the door to the basement and head down. Accompanied with the harsh dark lighting and the cemented walls and floors, my brain Imediate like transfers itself into a prison.
Another muffled moan only louder is sound again.
"Uhhh.." I mumble to myself.
A bang and another moan is heard, I walk towards it. I find Verona in a room with a disfigured member chained up to the ceiling by his hands.
I turn away immediately and look up. "Who is that?" I ask on the edge of throwing. "It's Dominico." She says effortlessly.
I watch as she walks to a table filled with tools and instruments. Leave it to the Moretti's to enjoy such explicit torture.
"Um, why is he still here?" I glance a bit down to his body. Which im not sure if he's alive.
His body is littered in bruises and wounds, he's basically unrecognizable. His hand chained from above and his head limped with his bleached blonde hair.
He sheds one singular tear out of his eye as if he's too weak to shes anymore.
"He's suffering." She shrugs. "Clearly." I say prying the new weapon I can't even name out of her hand.
"What are you doing, Vero?" I ask after sighing. "I'm obviously torturing him. Now will you move? We both know you don't have the stomach for this." She says.
"I mean you are right, but I do have a heart." I say sarcastically. "Good for you."
"You have a heart too, Verona. You don't do this. You're an acting geek who goes to white girl black out parties and has dreams of being on broadway or something."
"Since when do I want to be on broadway?" She cringes.
"Look, the point is this," I circle my finger in Dominico's situation without looking at him. "Makes you just like him." I finish.
Verona gives a cold hard glare, for a second she resembled her brother.
"Do you know how sacred a woman's virginity in Italy? Fuck, in the mafia?" She asks. "I gave everything to him. I thought he was my forever. Now no one else will ever want anyone used like me."
"I'm sure that's not true." I say. "Yea? And how would you know?" She asks.
"Well, I did meet your brother pregnant and all so.." I trail. "But you aren't going to shunned by our whole family. Everyone just thinks Massimo hid a secret family, they don't know the truth!"
"But he does. And he still wants me." I say.
She falls silent. "You're family, they're all crazy. I haven't even met all of them but I'm certain of this statement so it doesn't matter what they think. Your person is out there, Verona. Not in this basement while you do this highly disturbing thing."
Her face morphs into a funny one. Tears start slipping from her eyes one by one before she starts sniffling.
I hold my hands out for her to enter into my arms. She hugs me immediately. I stroke the back of her head. "Its okay..." I say.
"I'm such a terrible person." She sobs I glance at Dominico's figure then away out of disgust. "Maybe a little bit but that's okay." I whisper.
"Look, you know what you need to do." I start. I pull away from the hug and walk to her table of death items. I pick up the gun and hand it to her.
"Put him out of his misery."
She takes the gun from me with teary ears and positions it between her fingers.
She holds the gun up to the figure. I glance at it again quickly looking away. "You know what? You're right, I don't have the stomach for this." I clear my throat slowly backing away.
Without looking at me, Verona tilts her head in confusion then defeatedly slams the gun on the table. "He's already dead." She states.
"Oh?"
"Yep. Dead as hell." She runs her fingers through her long thick hair. "Are you sure?" I ask. She walks up to .... It and puts her two manicured fingers up against it's neck.
"Yes, he's dead." She says seemingly as she jabs his jaw. "Okay maybe still shoot him to be sure?"
"Okay." She shrugs. "Without me! With! Out! Me!" I yell as I run out the door.
I close the basement door behind me quickly and kept my back against it, resting my head on my black painted wood.
I breathe heavily trying not to throw up from such a disgusting scene. "Ma!" "AH!" I jump up.
My son who nearly looks like a grown man with all of his new height from his growth spout.
"Shit!" I curse out. He looks unhappy and ready to sass me.
"When did you get back from school!?" I ask. "You mean the private tutor upstairs I now have because no one's allowed to leave the house?" He asks.
"Uhh.. yea. That."
"It's horrible. I miss my friends and I want to go back to school." He says. I sigh.
"It's only been a week, baby." I say as i pick up the bowl of grapes again and walk to the kitchen. Artemis follows behind me.
"And how many more weeks will it be?! I need to see the sun again." He exclaims. "Oh my goodness." I chuckle, putting the bowl of grapes in the kitchen.
Staff takes the bowl from me before I thank them. "Anytime, Donna." They say.
"This isn't funny, mama!" He exclaims again as we walk out of the kitchen. "What can I do so he isn't mad at me anymore?"
"So who isn't mad at you?" I ask.
"Massimo."
I stopped in my tracks. "Why do you think he's mad at you?" I ask him. "Well for starters he's turned me into a homeschooled freak." He squints at me.
I roll my eyes and proceed walking as he follows. "And he hasn't been talking to me."
"He hasn't been talking to anyone." I say. "What? Why?" He asks as if this was news to him. "He's just going through a rough time." I explain.
Well no one has told Artemis about anything. I know he is very mature and smart but he's still a kid, my kid and I just prefer to tell him when we know for sure.
"Well whatever rough time he's going through with me, I know what it is." He states. "He's going through his own thing, nothing with you."
"It has everything to do with me!" He exclaims. "Boy, hush." Every room I turn inti he follows me like the plague. I had passed by the room I originally wanted to go into like five time's trying to shake Artemis off.
"It's because of Aaron, isn't it!?" "Aaron? Mariana's kid? Why would it be him?" I ask.
"He probably found out he kissed me and now he's mad, right?"
"Excuse me?" I freeze to my spot. "He did what?"
"You don't have to pretend you don't know, I know you guys talk about these things in private." He says. I turn to face him.
"What things?" I ask giving him a deadly stare. He gives me a scared look.
"I don't know."
"What things?!" I ask.
"I'm too little to know what I mean." He says guiltily.
"I'm not gonna ask you again." I warn.
"No but really I'm just a kid. Kids say stupid stuff all the time its science proven." He slowly backs away from me.
"Artemis Alexander Amoretto."
"Okay well, I kind of have a very confusing thing going on with Aaron. I really like him but I also really hate him and he makes me itchy and mad when he beats my rankings in music so thats why we fight all the time but I think he likes me too because he did kiss me. But I don't think he likes that he likes me because he's finding trouble admitting it to himself which makes me hate him a little more. I ready a study the feelings of love are similar to hate so maybe I'm confusing the two and I really do hate his ugly face." He rambles.
I refrain from reaching into my hair and pulling it out.
"You are Ten!" I shout.
"I'm eleven."
"Same thing! Eleven year olds should NOT be kissing." I exclaim. "Well, Aaron is twelve if that helps." He says.
"I didn't grow Aaron in my uterus so I don't care." I say. "Was it like a peck? or.. worse."
"It wasn't really a peck, it was actually kind of long." He answers honestly. I cover my hand to my mouth. "Oh my. You made out with another little boy." I say in disbelief.
"That's what making out is?"
"How did you learn to do that?" I ask frantically. I think we can all agree eleven is a bit too early to make out with anyone.
"They do it on the tv." He answers.
NO MORE TV EVER!
"Okay, I know what you're thinking. I do know how sex looks like because of the tv but don't worry I didn't try it because I know two males cant have sexual relations and I know I'm too young." He says proudly.
"What?"
"What?!" He asks confused about my confusion.
"You think two men can't have sex?" I blink.
"Well. It wasn't really in my textbook so I think so? Can't they?" He asks.
I could choose the right thing to do and be a good mother and sexually educate him. Or I can be a bad mother and not have him trying it out himself like a lunatic.
"No. They can't you're correct but kissing is also bad." I scold.
"Well it didn't feel bad." He shrugs. I shut my eyes tight deciding to ignore what he just said. "Massimo knew about this lip locking business?"
"Well I don't think he knew about that. Or maybe he does and that's why he's punishing me."
"What else does he know about!?" I ask. "Well nothing really. Other than what I had already said." He answers.
"Oh, brother." I swipe my hand on my forehead tiredly.
"Ma,"
"Yea?"
"You good?"
"Mhm."
"I mean if you really don't like this stuff we don't have to talk about it." He says.
I breathe out. "Its fine. I just really didn't expect you to grow up this fast. Literally. Like this is elite stuff."
"Well it was just one kiss."
"But you know what? I will talk to Massimo. I can't believe he kept all of this from me I'm going to kill him!" I say stomping away to his office where I know he is.
"Can you ask him why he's mad at me while you're in there!?" T shouts over me.
I make the walk to Massimo's office letting myself in and closing the door.
As I walk in a sense of reality hits me. Massimo is in no mood to start and argument right now. I don't even think he knows I entered the room.
He in his work attire sitting at his desk signing some paperwork over and over like clockwork.
His phone beside him rings repeatedly over and over as I watch him. I don't know how long I stood there, I just know it was long.
Something about it makes it seem like he's stuck in a time capsule he doesn't want to get out of.
He is scared.
The most fearful I've ever seen him. Yet regardless of the time I spent watching him ignore life his phone kept ringing over and over.
I walked over to his desk and pick up his phone. It's not like he's going to stop me anyway, he doesn't acknowledge the existence of anything.
It was Helder calling him. The call end due to failure to pick up so I check through his recent calls that he's gotten. All helder.
Oh gosh, he's sick, Isn't he? Was my first inital thought. But I also thought he could be trying to desperately reach out the good news too.
I don't know. I just know it need to be heard.
"I'm going to answer this, okay?" I say softly.
No nod no grunt or anything. Not a single flutter or an eye away from his papers. Like nothing else but him exists.
I answer it and put the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?"
————————
A/N: Isn't it crazy whicked cool how were like three chapters away from ending the book (im crying my shit out😔)