Aiden Vasilakis
My mother kicked me out.
I had insisted on staying the night but she kicked me out, telling me that she was fine, that she had woken up feeling brand new this morning. But deep down I knew that that couldn't be further from the truth, I knew my mother well enough to know that one of the things she despised most was being a burden to people. She would hold off on telling me things until it was unbearable for her to withhold.
Which was why it took her so long to open up about her illness. It was one of her weaknesses in life.
I stayed for as long as I could, trying to convince her that it would be best if I stayed over like I had done the night before.
"No, I am not letting you sleep on that couch again, Aiden, I'm fine I promise," She told me for what felt like the thousandth time but the stubborn and persistent part of my brain wouldn't fully believe it. She sat in her bed, her usual pile of pillows behind her back supporting her up as her hands worked skillfully knitting a top that she was planning to give her nurse, Candice.
Her knitting was a form of reassurance that she was feeling better than she was the day before when she didn't have the strength to do so. Yet I still couldn't bring myself to fully believe it.
Perhaps I was becoming paranoid, the inevitability of losing her was getting to me. The thought of losing her was on my mind every waking moment, it's all I thought about. Knowing that at any moment I could receive a call with the news of her passing was absolute torture, knowing that the only person who ever loved me unconditionally was living on borrowed time was eating me alive.
"You have to take me to one of your races soon, remember? I told you that I wanted to see you happy and I know how much happiness racing brings you," Her voice echoed in my ear, she had told me this right before I left her room, a soft smile was lifting her hollowed cheeks. She spoke in a tone of excitement and anticipation but I couldn't help but catch the underlying meaning of her request. She could feel that her time was near. And right as she told me that, a lump formed its way into my throat but I hid the turmoil going on inside me with a smile and a nod. Her smile only grew when I assured her that I'd take her to my next race which just so happens to be next Friday.
The chilly outside air hit my face, cooling me off and sending a wave of relief down my body that I didn't know I needed, I shut the front door to my mother's wing of the house and took a few moments to take in the fresh air. Inhaling the fresh air like my life depended on it and exhaling like all of my worries would leave my body alongside the carbon dioxide. The sun was long gone and the stars coated the dark canvas of the sky, that was one of the perks of having a house away from the city; the nights were always clear.
The door to my father's wing of the house opened, pulling me out of my thoughts. A large bush separated the two doors and made it impossible to see who was on the other side but that mystery was quickly solved when my father's grating voice filled my ears.
"Gentlemen, I hope you found interest in my offer and I hope the boss finds interest in it too," A chuckle erupted from his throat, one that carried no humor with it and instead had a shakiness to it, almost as if he were nervous.
I turned on my heels about to go back inside the house just until he was gone, I couldn't bring myself to have more interactions with him than absolutely necessary. With my hand on the door handle I was stopped in my tracks, "For your own sake, I hope he finds interest in it too. Your time is running out and you are nowhere near getting us everything you owe," A deep disembodied voice that made my father's sound like that of a little boy's said, a strong Italian accent laced in the deepness.
I pulled myself away from the door and moved closer to the bush curiosity getting the best of me, "I will continue to work tirelessly to get you everything I owe but in case I fail to do so. . . my offer will come in handy. I can assure you that he will be of great value to the organization,"
He was met with a few moments of silence, "9 months is all the boss is giving you. We will get back to you with his thoughts about your offer,"
"Gentlemen, always a pleasure," And that was my cue to leave, I opened the door to my mother's wing of the house and stepped back inside as silently as I could. I shut the door behind me with a deep exhale.
I always knew my father was a shady man but something told me that things had gotten out of his control, that he somehow hadn't anticipated that getting involved with dangerous people would have consequences, dire consequences.
I can assure you that he will be of great value to the organization. My first thought was that my father was involved in some type of human trafficking ring, I wouldn't put it past him. An uneasiness rose and rested in the pit of my stomach, the contents of my stomach doing a flip from how casually he was able to say something so vile. A second flip accompanied the realization that my father had once again proven to be the absolute scum of the earth.
I stood in front of the door letting that thought sink in. Could I be overthinking it? Yes. Could that have just been a completely normal interaction between businessmen? Sure. But with my father's track record, you had to always assume the worst. And yet he always found a way to outdo himself.
My phone vibrated in my pants pulling my mind away from the man who took part in conceiving me to the name on my screen. The name on the screen brought a smile upon my lips that had no place being there after the possible discovery I had just made.
I brought the phone to my ear before saying, "Hey,"
"Hi," After hearing her voice for the first time yesterday I came to the realization that it matched her face perfectly, soft, tender, that left a feather-like sensation behind, "I'm really sorry if I'm calling at a bad time, it's just. . . it's getting late and I didn't know if you'd be spending the night at your mom's place again, and I really just wanted to explain myself regarding yesterday,"
I pulled on the door handle and stepped back outside to find no sight of my father or the mysterious men he was with, "You called at the perfect time, I'm leaving my mother's house right now and I could use some company on my drive home," I said unlocking my car, getting in.
A faint exhale of relief filled my ears as I turned on the engine, "How's your mother doing?"
I finished connecting my phone to the Bluetooth before replying, "Well I mean she's still dying," A loud gasp rolled it's way through the speakers of my car and filled the space, "but other than that she's fine," I added pulling out of the gate of my parents house.
"Aiden, you can't say things like that," She said, sounding deeply disturbed by my twisted humor.
I let out a snicker, before giving her the serious answer, "She's doing a lot better than she was yesterday," Tall trees on either side of the road consumed my car in complete and utter darkness only penetrable with the help of my head lights. "So did you get in trouble last night?"
"Oh no I just-," She paused for a moment and let out a soft chuckle that just like her voice had a soft feather like effect that run all over your body, "you probably think it's ridiculous that a 24 year old woman was acting like a teen who was just caught doing something they shouldn't have. But I just. . . don't want her to have another reason to worry about about me, she already has enough to worry about,"
"Like what?"
"Like. . . keeping me alive," For a second or two it felt like all the air was sucked from my lungs, I opened my mouth but she beat me to it, "and no I will not elaborate, remember; we're trying to keep the element of suspect here,"
"Hey see, that's not fair, you now know about my mother which puts me at a disadvantage here. Come on you gotta give me something," I said with a chuckle.
A moment or two of silence filled the space before her voice did, "Fine, you can ask me one question,"
The smile on my face grew bigger than it possibly could as I thought long and hard about the question, "Okay, I got something. What's your favorite food?"
"Wait what?" She said in disbelief, "I give you the chance to clear all your doubts and you ask me what my favorite food is?"
"I can't lie and say that I'm not curious but I want you to tell me things willingly, I want you to be the one to tell me things when you feel ready,"
"Oh, we got a gentleman in our hands," She said, a smile visible in her words.
I chuckled, "You have no idea."
"To answer your question, it's lasagna, specifically my aunt's lasagna, it's truly heaven on earth. I wholeheartedly believe that you have not had good lasagna until you've tried Aunt Jenna's. I would totally bring you a slice the next time she makes it but you know I'm like stuck inside or whatever," She said the sarcasm oozing from her last words.
"Oh trust me, if it's nearly as good as you're making it seem I will not hesitate to climb up to your window for a slice," I said, earning a giggle from her. I seemed to have been driving on autopilot because I found myself somehow already pulling into our street. "I'm nearly home, you mind coming to your window? I wanna see you,"
"I'm already at my window,"
Thank you for reading!! I appreciate every single one of you.
Chapter 12 should be out very soon!
Love, J