Revenge

Chapter 57

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Bosco just looked at the expression on his mother's face. He'd just finished telling her the whole story - as he knew it. He told her how the man that had kidnapped, tortured and then tried to kill not only him, but Faith, was the brother of the woman who he thought he had a chance at a future with - the mother of his child - if it was his child. She'd lied about so many other things, how could he know for sure that the child she was supposedly carrying was his. If she was so much in love with him and thought he loved her too, how could she keep the fact that she was pregnant with his child a secret from him?

"Oh my God," Rose said finally, putting a hand over her son's as they sat at the table, their now-cold cups of tea in front of them. "How could she have let that happen to you?" Rose asked, unable to fathom how someone could knowingly let something like that happen to another human being - let alone someone they proclaimed to love.

Bosco looked down at his cup of tea, next to his now-empty bowl of soup and just barely shook his head. "I don't know, Ma," was all he could manage. He reached over and picked up the bottle of vitamins that remained on the table. He shook it and gave a half-hearted laugh at the sound of the pills against the plastic bottle resembling the sound of a baby rattle. He drew in a deep breath to regain himself as a tear began to form in his eye as he saw the future that he thought he'd finally have fading away. He placed the bottle soundlessly on the table and stood up.

"Ma, you can go home," he told her, walking over to empty his cup in the sink.

"No. I'm staying here with you, Maurice?" Rose asked him, standing up herself.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine," he said, grimacing at the pain in his side and shoulder as he worked his injured shoulder in an attempt to prevent it from getting too stiff.

"Do you want some of your medicine? It'll probably help you get some rest too," Rose told him.

He looked at the clock and wasn't sure if he should take another pill. He'd taken two of them before and he'd slept soundly. Then again, maybe he should take a couple more - that way he could sleep through the pain that no medicine could take away.

"Yeah, I probably should," he said, walking into the kitchen and taking two more pills out of the bottle. He filled the cup in the sink with water and washed the two pills down. He put the cup back into the sink and walked out to the living room, standing in the middle of the floor.

Rose looked at her son. She'd never seen him look so lost and it broke her heart. She half-wanted to go over to Trisha's apartment and get to the bottom of things. She wanted to make things better for her son. He'd been through so much throughout his whole life. She thought he'd finally found someone to share his life with. She'd seen the two of them together. They truly loved each other, she felt. There's got to be a way to get them through this. God knows she'd made enough stupid mistakes in her life. Who's to say that Trisha hadn't just been a victim of her own stepbrother - that he hadn't manipulated her from day one after their parents had died, and in particular, after he seemed to have snapped when he'd killed his own wife and children. There was definitely a chance of that.

She walked over to where Bosco stood and wrapped her arms around him, careful not to hug him too tightly.

"Maurice. I wish I could make this all better for you. I really do. Why don't you get a good night's sleep and we'll talk again in the morning when you're fresher and rested," she suggested. "C'mon. I'll tuck you in like I used to when you were a little boy," she teased him, getting a small smile from him.

"Ma. Go home and get a good night's sleep in your own apartment, where you can be comfortable. I'll be fine. You can come over in the morning and wait on me all you want. I'm just gonna go to bed. Hell, you know how hard it was to wake me up before. I'll probably sleep right through the night," he told her.

"I don't know," she said, not sure if she should leave him alone.

"Ma. I'm not 8 years old anymore. I can take care of myself. I promise. I'll be fine. Go home," he said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Okay, but you have to call me if you need anything. I'm only five minutes away," she said, shaking a finger at him. She knew that arguing with him wouldn't do him any good. He always liked to be alone - especially when he was hurting.

"I promise," he said, following her to the door and helping her put her coat back on.

She turned and gave him another hug. "Call me. I mean it," she ordered.

"You'll be the first," he assured her. He grabbed his keys off the table near the door. "I'll walk you down and get you a cab," he said, following her out the door. Standing on the curb, he drew in the cool night air. He flagged down a cab and despite Rose's protests, he put some money in the cabdriver's hand and gave him the address. He walked back into his building. As he entered his apartment and closed and locked the door behind him, he heard the sound of the answering machine resetting. He walked over to the machine and pushed the play button and listened as Trisha's voice filled the queit room.

"Hi, Maurice. It's me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay - not doing too much. Are you there? Please pick up. I'm worried about you. You aren't alone are you?" she asked, her voice cracking as she tried to hold back the tears.

"Maurice? Please? Please talk to me," she said, waiting and hoping for him to pick up the phone. He just stared at the phone, the pain from her deceit cutting into him.

After a moment, she must've realized that he either wasn't there or wasn't going to pick up the phone - more likely the latter. "I do love you, Maurice," she said finally, hanging up.

Bosco continued to watch the message light on the machine flash and then walked down the hallway to go to bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, the effects of the other pills no doubt continuing to make him sleepy. He hoped that he could sleep the night.

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TBC...