Chapter 3: Dinnertime
It was about 5:00.
The slick, black car pulled into the driveway of the comfortably small condo, right behind the dark green minivan.
As Valentina unbuckled her seat belt and reached for her bags, Valentine kissed her cheek.
"All right, sweet thing," he sighed. "Look- you gotta tell your mom what happened,"
Valentina began to protest. "But Dad-!"
"She has to know, Tina," he stroked her hair and kissed her again. "Okay?"
When Valentina nodded reluctantly, Valentine smiled at her. "All right, then. See you next weekend, Doll face. I love you,"
"Love you, too," Valentina murmured, slinging her bag over her shoulder and stepping out of the car. Valentine waited until she entered the house safely, and he pulled out the driveway and headed for home.
Stepping inside her mother's house, Valentina was greeted by rather loud conversation coming from the dining room. She soon realized that Clawd, her uncle, was visiting, and that there was someone else in the room as well. When she walked in, the conversation died down and all eyes turned to her.
"You're home!" Howleen exclaimed excitedly, getting out of her chair and giving her daughter a kiss. "How was your day, baby?"
It was at this moment that Valentina noticed that a family friend of theirs, Romulus, had joined them for dinner, and she used this as an opportunity to redirect the conversation. "What's Romulus doing here?"
"He just got back from his trip to the mountains," Howleen explained, ushering her daughter over to the table. "Now, sit down, and I'll check to see if the pot roast is ready,"
As Howleen disappeared into the kitchen, Romulus began to speak. "Have you gotten taller, Tina? You look bigger since I last saw you,"
Valentina nodded. "Yeah, I think so,"
"Oh, yeah? How old are you, now?"
"Ten,"
Romulus seemed surprised by this. "Really?! That old, huh?"
"Can you believe it?" Clawd grinned, gazing at his niece fondly. "I can still remember when she was born, and it doesn't seem like it was that long ago!" He turned to Dodger, who was sitting beside him, and suddenly glared at him. "Hey, what did I tell you? Put that away!"
Dodger pouted and set his little gaming device down on the table, crossing his arms and growling.
"Don't give me that look!" Clawd scolded, confiscating the device. "You'll get it back later, okay?"
Valentina looked around in confusion. "Where's aunt Draculaura? Is she here?"
"No," Dodger sighed. "She's with grandpa, and she doesn't want pot roast anyway,"
Howleen entered and began to serve the pot roast, asking, "Tina, you didn't answer me earlier. Did you have a good day?"
"W-w-well," she swallowed thickly, staring down at the chunks of beef covered in gravy that lay on her plate. "I...I..."
"She got into a fight," Dodger spoke up, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "I saw it,"
Valentina prepared to hurl an insult at her cousin, but Howleen stopped her. "A fight!? With who?"
"Stupid Victoria- that's who!" Valentina snarled. "She was picking on Anne Marie!"
Howleen let out an exasperated sigh. "Valentina, I'm tired of you getting into trouble so much! You should have just told a teacher! I-" Howleen realized that the table had gone silent, and she shook her head. "You know what? We'll talk about this later. Let's eat, okay?"
At this same time, back at Valentine's house, Anne Marie was laying her homework down on the table so she could complete it later. Valentine stood beside her and grated some carrots into a salad when he noticed a certain paper in his daughter's homework folder.
"What's that?" He inquired, gesturing to the paper. "Is that artwork of some sort?"
Anne Marie shook her head, holding up the paper for her father to see. "No, it's my family tree homework assignment. We're supposed to write down the names of people in our family and show how they're related to us, but," she pointed to a part of the paper. "Could you help me with this?"
Valentine set down the grater and took the paper, scanning it. "What do you need help with? A name?"
"Yes," she pointed again. "Right there- where that question mark is,"
"Oh, I see," he looked a little closer. "That's..." He trailed off. "That's my father, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Anne Marie took the paper back, a look of concern on her face. "What's your dad's name?"
Valentine tried to think. "I...I think his name is Erin," he mentally flipped through his memories again. "Yes, his name was Erin,"
Anne Marie nodded, erasing the question mark and writing her grandfather's name down. "Can you tell me about him? He's not dead, is he?"
"Well..." Valentine suddenly realized that he knew practically nothing about his father. Now, just like Anne Marie, he wanted answers, too. "All I know is that he abandoned me after I was born," he explained, a bit sad. "From what I've been told, he ran off and disappeared into the forest. No one saw him again,"
Anne Marie was quiet, then she asked, "Can you ask grandma more?"
Valentine thought about this. "She doesn't really like talking about it, but maybe I could try to ask her," he stroked Anne Marie's hair and gave her a kiss. "If you need any more help, you can always ask me,"
"Okay, Papa," Anne Marie smiled, hugging him. Valentine wrapped his arms around his daughter and held her close, but he couldn't push the thought of his father out of his mind. Thus, he decided to confront his mother.
"Mom," he said, approaching her as she sat on the sofa and listened to the radio. "I want to ask you something,"
Vampira set the blanket she was knitting to the side and turned her attention to her son. "Yes, Kieran? Is everything all right?"
Valentine took the spot beside her, taking her hand. "I know you don't like to talk about this, but," he took a deep breath. "Who was my father? I mean- who was really was he?"
"W...what do you mean?" Vampira shifted around nervously on the sofa. "I've told you everything you need to know already!"
"But I would like to know more! See, Anne Marie's doing this assignment-"
"We are not talking about this!" Vampira snapped irritably, and Valentine fell silent. There was a pause, and Vampira gingerly placed her other hand on her son's. "I'm so sorry. But, this is just a topic I don't like talking about,"
Valentine looked down at his mother's hand, noticing the thin, white scar that covered the spot where her finger was missing. "You don't have to talk about it, Mom. I was just curious," he kissed her, and she smiled at him.
Meanwhile, a car pulled up to a large, decorative building. The words 'WELCOME TO DEADLY GARDENS' were sprawled out on a sign just near the gate, and the car slowed to a stop in the parking lot.
"I hope you're proud of yourself, missy," Darrien growled as Victoria unbuckled her seat belt. "One more bullied kid, and you're gonna switch schools. Is that enough of a hint for you to shut your mouth!?"
Victoria sniffled, pouting. "But I was the one who got hit!"
"I know, and I'm sorry that happened! But it happened because you wouldn't keep your goddamn mouth shut! Now, I need to punish you,"
She stamped her foot. "But I didn't do anything! Daddy, please!" Victoria leaned over and hugged her father's arm, looking up endearingly. "I love you, Daddy. Please don't punish me!" When Darrien didn't look at her, she burst into tears. "Please don't hate me, Daddy!"
Darrien could no longer stand it, and he gathered her in his arms. "I can't hate you," he murmured, kissing her. "But, you know what? If you get expelled from school, then you'll have to go to a new school where you might not know anybody and you might get bullied yourself! Now, do you want that to happen?"
Victoria shook her head and dried her eyes. "No, Daddy,"
They got out of the car and walked towards the steps leading to the basement of the building, which was where they lived. When they entered their home, Victoria scurried off to her room and Darrien went to go greet his mother, who was brewing some tea in the kitchen.
"If Victoria bullies another kid, she's gonna get expelled," Darrien sighed, caressing his temples. "I can't deal with this, Mom,"
His mother, Merrill, smiled reassuringly and handed him a cup of fresh tea. "You'll be fine, darling. It will work out, you'll see,"
As she turned around and poured herself a cup, Darrien remembered something. "Oh, Mom, I should probably mention- the father of the girl Victoria bullied was at the meeting and he...well, he looked almost exactly like me,"
Merrill froze suddenly. "He...what?"
"He was identical to me," Darrien went on to explain. "Only, his hair was red instead of blue, like mine, and he was dressed in fancy clothes. He tried to talk to me later, but I had to go to work. Actually, now that I think about it, he looked like Emileen, but a guy,"
Merrill's hands began to quiver. "E-Emileen, you say? He looked like your cousin?"
Darrien nodded. "Yeah, but..." He noticed how nervous his mother had become. "Are you okay, Mom?"
She turned and walked off suddenly. "I'm fine! I've had a long day and I need to sit!"
As she headed for the living room, her sister, Rowena, entered the kitchen. "Is your mother all right, dear?" She inquired.
"I don't think so," he answered a bit quietly, thinking over everything. "Rowena, where did Emileen get her red hair from?"
Rowena thought about this. "Someone on her father's side," she concluded finally. "I'm sure of it," she seemed a little off as well, but Darrien simply nodded.
"Okay, thank you," with that, he walked off.
Hello again, my readers! I hope you've been enjoying this so far. I know it's kind of slow right now, but it will get interesting soon, I promise!
What are your theories so far? Do you have any ideas about what could be going on? Let me know in your review- I'm interested!
Until next chapter, my monsters!
