A/N :: I would like to thank everyone who left a review. It really does mean a lot to me. Trust me when I say your thoughts influence this story. If you want to see more of it, well you'll just have to leave a thought or two after you read. =)
Also, I'm gonna try to update at least one a week, probably every Tuesday.
One more thing, I want to wish everyone to have a happy Turkey Day! =D If you don't celebrate it, well I'll just wish you a happy Harvest Day or whatever holiday your culture may celebrate.
The Boy in the Poster
Chapter Three
The bell rang loudly in the halls of Oakend Elementary, the empty corridors coming alive as students were released from their classes. Youngsters filed behind their teachers to be led out near the back side of the school, where the busses lined up beside the cafeteria. The others who were not bus-riders were led to the front of the building. There, teachers and staff members watched over the children as they waited for their parents. The younger students, particularly First Grade and below, were watched more carefully by the adults.
Here, Lovino Carriedo Vargas waited with his brother for their father to pick them up. His little brother was sitting behind him, singing his 'ABC's' while digging through his backpack. Out of the corner of his eye, Lovino could see his math teacher - an old woman named Mrs. Miller - talking with one of the Pre-K teachers. He didn't like Mrs. Miller very much. She was boring, strict, and gave out too much homework. Plus, she smelt odd, like his grandparent's old house.
"... E, F, G, L, M, N, O, P..." Feliciano loudly sang out behind him.
"You missed 'H, I, J, and K' again." Lovino said, hardly looking over his shoulder at his little brother.
Feliciano looked up at him, wide-eyed like he always did when someone corrected him. "Oh!" He drew out and smiled widely. Then he began singing again.
Lovino shook his head, turning to look out over the parking lot again. He couldn't see his father's car in the line, which meant he was probably going to be late. His dad was always late. All the other kids would be gone by the time he showed up. It was annoying being the last one to leave. He couldn't understand why his dad couldn't pick them up sooner. After all, his mom could always get them on time.
"Vi Vi? Where's Dada?" Feliciano asked suddenly, drawing Lovino from his thoughts.
The older sibling shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno," He sighed and sat down, leaning back against one of the four large, brick pillars.
"Dada's late again..." Feliciano mumbled with a frown and shake of his head. "Dada shouldn't be late, Vi Vi. If he don't come, then-then we can't go home." He paused then and sighed, "Ve, I wanna go home, Vi Vi."
"Dad's coming to get us, stupid." Lovino stated, rolling his eyes at his little brother. "Mamma would kill him if he didn't."
At the mention of 'Mamma', Feliciano's face brightened. "Do we see Mamma today? I wanna see Mamma. Is she gonna get us?"
Lovino shrugged his shoulders, "Probably." He sighed, leaning his head back against the pillar. It had been a week since his mother dropped them off at his father's house, which meant his mother would be coming back to get them today. That was how it worked. One week at Dad's, one week and Mamma's. That's how it had been ever since his parents stopped living together.
He didn't quite understand it all, but he knew they couldn't live together anymore. Sometimes, he wondered if it had been something he had done. His parents were quick to reassure him that it wasn't his fault.
"We still love you and Feliciano. We just can't live together anymore. You'll understand once you're older."
That's what his Mamma said to him. He would 'understand once he was older'. Except, Lovino didn't want to wait until he was older; he wanted to know now. All his friend's parents lived together, so why couldn't his? It was confusing.
"Haha, look Vi Vi! Look!"
Lovino blinked as a picture was suddenly shoved into his face. "What? What is this crap?" He asked as he took the picture from his brother, moving it to a more reasonable distance.
"It's not crap, it's a picture!" Feliciano proclaimed as he moved to sit next to him.
It was a coloring of leaves and a turkey; Autumn themed to match the season. Though the leaves were a messy green, blue and orange, and the turkey looked like a rainbow exploded on it, it was surprisingly neat. Lovino couldn't help noticing how only a few of the irregular coloring was out of the lines. The boy felt a sudden rush of pride well up in his chest at the sight.
"You're staying in the lines more, good. You're getting better." He said as he handed Feliciano back the drawing.
The younger boy seemed to glow in light of the praise. "It's for you, Vi Vi!" He said, pushing the picture back into his brother's hands. "See? I'm drawing just like you!"
Lovino couldn't help smiling a little at how pleased Feliciano sounded. His little brother might have been a pain in the butt, but sometimes he wasn't half bad. "You need to practice more and then you can be as good as me." He explained then proceeded to instruct the small child on how to color within in the lines.
Time passed quicker than Lovino anticipated and, when he looked up again, he could see his father's dark blue car coming to a slow in front of the school. After stuffing the papers back into Feliciano's bag, he stood up and, with his brother's hand in his, went to his father's car.
"You're late." Lovino stated bluntly as he climbed into the car after Feliciano.
"I know, I know," Antonio sighed as he turned in his seat to help his youngest buckle in. "I had to wait for someone to take my shift and they were running late. I couldn't leave until he got there."
Lovino didn't look convinced. If anything, he just rolled his eyes and looked away to stare out the window. "Whatever." He murmured, so soft that Antonio almost didn't hear it.
"Don't 'whatever' me, Lovino." Antonio stated firmly, though not harshly. He really didn't want to start a spat right now, not when he had just picked them up. When he received no response from Lovino, he turned back around in his seat and started the trip home. Almost immediately, little Feliciano began his normal chatter, lightening the mood instantly with his tales of how school went. Even Lovino stopped sulking to join the conversation. Antonio listened to every detail, from Lovino's recount of a fight between two Fourth Graders to Feliciano's elaborate story of the mysterious rocks that appeared in the bathroom. Lovino pointed out that his tooth hadn't fallen out yet, but it was a lot looser than it had been. Antonio made a mental note to tell Caterina when she arrived to pick the boys up.
"It sounds like you both had an exciting day!" Antonio said finally, smiling as he glanced at them in the review mirror. Feliciano nodded enthusiastically and, may have started off in another tangent if Lovino hadn't spoken first.
"So, what time is Mamma coming?" He asked curiously.
"Later tonight." Antonio replied.
'In other words, she didn't tell you.' Lovino thought with a frown. He didn't know why his parents couldn't just sit down and talk like normal people. It would make his (and Feliciano's) life so much easier if he knew what was going on. Most of the time, he didn't have a clue. The adults just kept all the facts to themselves. It was irritating. Maybe if he started keeping stuff from them, they wouldn't be so secretive.
After a quick trip to the grocery store, Antonio and his sons head home. With the help of his boys, they managed to put away the groceries in record time. Afterwards, the boys hopped onto the couch and turned on the TV. While they watched cartoons, Antonio took the opportunity to call his ex-wife. She didn't get off work until around five o'clock but she normally answered her phone. It was a good thing her boss didn't mind.
To his surprise, the call went straight to her voicemail. Thinking she might be on the phone, he waited a little while before trying again. He got the same result.
'Weird,' Antonio thought as the automated voice played. 'She must have her phone off.'
He decided to leave her a message, asking her to call back as soon as she could, then hung up. There was nothing else to now but wait.
"Did Mamma answer?" Lovino asked, looking over the back of the couch at his father.
"No, she didn't." Antonio replied as he put the phone back on the hook. He turned just in time to catch the disappointed look in his son's eyes and quickly added, "But no worries~! She'll be here."
Lovino mumbled something inaudible as he turned around to resume watching cartoons. He didn't need to say anything for Antonio to know he was upset. He'd never been quite right after the separation. Both he and Caterina noticed behavior problems beginning to emerge and Lovino's teachers said he sometimes acted out during class. They tried talking to the boy but couldn't get anything out of him. Before, he and Lovino used to be so close and could freely talk about anything. Now, it took some talk from Feliciano to get Lovino to speak up. He didn't know what he could do to help Lovino, except just make him feel loved an appreciated.
With a smile, Antonio went over and sat down beside the boys, gathering Lovino up onto his lap. "Looks like someone needs a cheer up charm~!" He grinned, ignoring Lovino's protests as he hugged the boy.
"Cheer charm! Cheer charm!" Feliciano chimed next to him, crawling up to wrap his little arms around his brother.
"I don't need a-ahaha" The rest of his words dissolved into giggles as Antonio began tickling him. He struggled, trying to get away and failing horribly. Antonio held tight and even Feliciano joined in, his little fingers worming around his brother's body.
"S-Stop it!" Lovino laughed, trying in vain to protect himself. "Me rindo! Me rindo!" He shouted finally, resorting to Spanish in an attempt to make them stop.
The tickling did stopped with Antonio gathering both children into his arms and giving them a tight hug. "Mis niños~" He cooed over them then released them. "Ah, who's hungry?"
"Me~!" Both siblings chimed and scrambled off their father's lap as they ran to the kitchen. Antonio trailed after them, managing to stop any digging through the fridge and cabinets.
Later, after the snacks were gone and little hungry filled, Feliciano ran off to play in his bedroom and Lovino sat down at the table to do homework. Antonio busied himself by tiding up the house. If Caterina was coming over, he couldn't have a dirty house. She would fuss and do that cute scowl that made Antonio wonder what happened. Then she would continue to nag and yell at him until he was reminded exactly why they'd gotten a divorce.
Somewhere, deep inside, Antonio knew he still loved Caterina. To some degree. It wasn't the love he once felt; it was a different sort of love. He still cared for her, of course, but now it was more for the children's sake rather than hers. Aside from that, he wouldn't be a man if he just abandoned her. Not that he could do that, especially not with two adorable, wonderful children to care for.
Speaking of children, he couldn't hear any noise coming out of the boy's bedroom. In fact, it had gone very quiet.
Antonio paused in washing the dishes and looked towards the hallway. "Feliciano, you'd better not be in my room." He stated loudly, letting a subtle warning carry down the hall.
Hardly a second later, he heard a squeaky 'Ve' that was quickly followed by the rush of little feet coming from his bedroom and stopping once they entered the boy's room.
With a small smile, Antonio continued with the dishes. He was very glad Caterina had taught him that trick.
At the table, Lovino set his pencil down and slide off the chair. "Can I go outside?" He asked as he knelt down by the door to put on his shoes.
"Did you finish your homework?"
Lovino huffed, "Yeah, so can I go?" He finished tying his shoes and stood up, arms crossed over his shoulder and scowling in the direction of his father.
Antonio glanced behind him at the wall clock then at the table. "Well... Since you finished, I guess it will be all right."
The boy's scowl changed into a grin and he was halfway out the door when he heard his father say, "Stay at the playground! And don't go too far!"
"Okay!" Lovino replied and shut the door. From the kitchen window, Antonio watched as the boy scampered down the concrete steps and ran off, disappearing around the corner of the building.
The playground was small in comparison to the one at his school. Instead of plastic, the majority of the play structure was made of wood and metal. The only plastic on the structure were the slides, which had been replaced only a year ago after too many complaints of burnt bottoms. The swings and seesaw showed signs of years of use and the long dark wooden planks that outlined the sandboxed play area were missing huge chunks, allowing the sand to mix in with the grass surrounding it.
There were a few children already playing when Lovino stepped up into the play area. He recognized them all. On the swing set was Michelle, a little dark-skinned girl from apartment 1302. Her hair was always in long pigtails with red ribbons. Next to her, playing in the dirt, were Leon and Eirík. Both were older than Lovino and looked completely opposite. Leon was dark headed and had thick eyebrows where else Eirík was very light headed and impossibly pale. They were both, however, very quiet and preferred to keep to themselves. Coming down the slide was Lili, whom was in Lovino's class. He thought she was pretty, even after she'd cut her blond hair short. Her older brother Vash scared him though. He was sitting on the benches nearby, watching his little sister under careful supervision.
Then there was the strange man standing beneath the tree near the swimming pool. He appeared to be smoking a cigarette but he was staring at the play ground. For a moment, Lovino could have sworn the man was staring directly at him. Though the stranger stood beneath the tree, Lovino could tell the man was dark skinned, much like his father. The thing that disturbed him the most, however, was the mask. The stranger wore part of a mask that covered the upper portion of his face. The boy frowned at the stranger, unnerved by his presence.
"Lovi!" A rush of pink fabric and yellow clouded his vision as Lili ran to him. She smiled sweetly at Lovino, causing his cheeks to warm.
"H-Hi Lili." He replied bashfully, managing a smile in return.
"Do you wanna play tag?" She asked as she twisted and turned, causing her pink dress to twirl with her. "Me and Chelle were gonna play against Leon and Eirík."
Lovino nodded enthusiastically, "Sure!" He smiled widely and followed her towards the swings.
Underneath a nearby tree, the strange masked man slowly blew out a puff of smoke. He watched the children running about, climbing and crawling around the play structure. His dark-colored eyes followed the children as they played, shifting from the dark-toned girl to the little boy with the odd curl. A smirk formed on his olive-skinned, bearded face as he dropped the cigarette and rubbed it out with the heel of his boot. With one last look at the playground, he turned and walked down the sidewalk towards the parking lot.
Author's Notes
Me rindo :: I surrender (roughly) (Spanish)
Mis niños :: My boys (Spanish)
Names
Michelle :: Seychelles
Leon :: Hong Kong
Eirík :: Iceland
Lili :: Lichtenstein
