Chapter XIIII: Home Life
The expansive kitchen was quite large with two center islands, beautiful wood carved cabinets, state of the art refrigerator and every other modern luxury one could imagine. It set the tone for what someone would see if they ventured into the rest of the two-story suburban town house. In fact, this house, from the outside anyway, would be considered the pinnacle of modern American success.
As morning slowly gave way to the midday sun, Gabrielle Morales slowly makes her way into the kitchen. Gabrielle is in her late forties, but still just as radiant and beautiful as she was fifteen or even twenty years prior. Her long dark hair showed just a hint of gray and her tanned skin was just as smooth and soft as any of her younger contemporaries. Her face was equally as well kept, the tiniest of smile lines beginning to form around her mouth complimented by the seductive beauty mark that sits just inches above the right side of her lip. However, in contrast to these attributes were her eyes. Even though they were a shade of hypnotic brownish green, there was something worn and diminished about their appearance. They seemed cold, hopeless and lacking any spark of vitality. Gabrielle starts to rummage through one of the top cabinets, shuffling through liquor bottles in various states of emptiness.
After a moment she stops and hangs her head in a defeated manner "Adri, baby…you know what happened to the Vodka?" she says and after another moment of silence she yells "Adrianna!"
Another few seconds pass before Adrianna Morales rounds the corner into the kitchen, holding an empty Vodka bottle "Sorry mom, Ruben and I kinda polished it off last night."
Gabrielle sighs in annoyance "That was the last goddamn bottle I had."
"So I'll buy you another one tonight, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is you know that I have to start my days with a Vodka Tonic." says Gabrielle getting more irritated.
"Start your day? Jesus mom, it's twelve thirty in the afternoon. Just drink something else, god knows you have plenty to choose from." says Adrianna as she swings open the liquor cabinet "SoCo, Jack, oh here's one you haven't guzzled in a while…Grey fucking Goose." she says as she slams the Grey Goose onto the counter "What'll it be?"
"I don't want fucking want Grey Goose, I want my Vodka!" screams Gabrielle as she smashes the bottle of Goose into the sink, the bottle breaking into several pieces.
Adrianna stammers back, frightened by her mother's outburst, so much so that her eyes begin to water. Gabrielle crouches down near the sink than lays with her legs to the side as she holds her head in her hands and sobs lightly.
"Alright, I'm sorry, ok. I'll get your stupid Vodka." says Adrianna, her voice trembling as she walks past her mother on the floor.
"No wait, I'm sorry. It was my fault." says Gabrielle as she tries to compose herself, raising to her feet.
Adrianna turns around and just stares at her mother, not quite knowing how to react. Gabrielle wipes her eyes and blows her nose as she breathes deeply "So how is Ruben, you two starting to get serious?" asks Gabrielle in a feeble attempt to get a normal conversation going.
Adrianna walks back over "Look mom, I think you need to see someone, we both do."
"…and tell them what Adri? What am I supposed to say to people anymore?" asks Gabrielle as she bursts into tears once again.
"I don't know mom…" Adrianna says as she sits down next her mother and rests her head on the older woman's shoulder "You know you should've been there."
"What do you mean?"
"When I visited Dad."
"No I couldn't. Truth is I don't know if I could ever face your father again. He destroyed our lives."
"But I know you still love him."
"No, I didn't know your father. No one did."
"Oh please. Just drop the fucking act mom! I pass by your room all the time and hear you talking to his picture, toasting with a drink in your hand…and yes I know what your about to ask. He did ask for you, asked how you were doing."
Gabrielle's eyes seemed to widen when she heard this from her daughter "…and, what else did he say?"
Adrianna smirks "You see, all I have to do is mention dad and boom. You know what your problem is, you can't be honest for a single solitary second with me or yourself!"
Mother and daughter just take a long and awkward pause to stare into each other's eyes before Adrianna breaks the moment "I have to go, Ruben's waiting." she says as she quickly gets up and walks towards the front door.
"Wait…wait!" quips Gabrielle as she hears her daughter walk out the door "What else did he say?" the woman hysterically calls out as she shrivels up into a fetal position and cries.
The large wall mounted television blares with the typical background laughter common with that of a studio audience. Ruben Alvarado, 24, sits content eating popcorn as Adrianna snuggles next to him watching to the TV with a sullen expression. Ruben looks over and notices that his girlfriend doesn't seem to be enjoying herself.
"Babe you ok, want some popcorn?"
"No, I'm fine" she says in a low an uninterested tone.
"Well what's wrong, I thought this was one of your favorite episodes?" asks Ruben.
"It is, I used to watch it all the time with daddy."
"Ya know I wish my parents were into Seinfeld as much as you say you and your dad were."
Adrianna smiles "You know I always remember the very first time he sat me down and showed me Jerry cracking a joke with Kramer. I was about six and the episode was The Ex-Girlfriend. I laughed so hard that I had chocolate milk coming out of my nose."
"You were lucky you shared such good times with him." Ruben says warmly "I mean ya know, not counting the whole serial killer thing." he says as Adrianna raises an eyebrow "Ok that came out completely wrong…"
"It's ok, let's just not talk about my parents anymore, huh."
"Sure, I'm cool with that. But if you do need to talk, I'm always here, you know that."
"I said forget it Ruben, I'm gonna go lay down for awhile." she says as she storms off the couch and down the hall to Ruben's bedroom in the small apartment.
The young man sits, somewhat despondent as he continues to watch television and munch on his popcorn. Twenty minutes later he's in better spirits having gotten engrossed in the sitcom once again when he hears soft crying coming from his room. He immediately shuts off the TV and goes to check what's going on. He knocks gently on the door and a moment later quietly enters to find Adrianna laying on the bed with tears flowing down her face.
"Hey babe, I didn't mean to upset you. Tell me what's wrong." he says kneeling beside the bed.
"I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to snap at you…it's just that I had another fight with mom this morning. I just feel like everything's falling apart." she says sitting up as Ruben embraces her.
"Hey it's ok, you don't need to apologize for anything. I know how rough this has all been for you." says Ruben as he kisses her on the forehead.
"I'm lucky to have you." she says through emotional induced stuttering.
Ruben rubs her hair and picks up her chin "No I'm the lucky one. I think I might be the luckiest guy in the world." he says chuckling a bit.
Adrianna laughs in turn and the young couple start to kiss "Promise me you'll never leave." she whispers.
"Your not getting rid of me pretty lady." says Ruben as the two continue to make out, eventually leading to them tumbling onto the bed in each other's arms…
Gabrielle sits near the kitchen counter and happily pours a helping of vodka into an awaiting glass. Just a few inches in front of her is a poignant photo of herself and Marcos cutting into their wedding cake. She sits and drinks, lovingly staring at the photo as the television plays in the background.
"I'm gonna try and guess what you said about me Marc. Adri doesn't understand how important this is to me. She tried to get me to drink SoCo first thing, can you imagine Southern Comfort when you first wake up? Fucking uncivilized if you ask me." she says giggling in a drunken haze "Did you tell her how much you missed me? Or how much you know that I can't carry on the perfect life that we had, because without you, people talk Marc. They think I'm a failure" she says taking another long swig "But I did everything right, it was you who fucked this all up. We had it all and one day you decided you wanted to be some psychotic son of a bitch who liked to bomb people."
As Gabrielle lays her head down ,a news report begins to broadcast "Coming to you with late breaking news this afternoon. Reports are now confirming the tragic bus crash that happened early this morning. A prison transport from Deathridge Maximum swerved off the road near Providence Road and I-90. Carrying over twenty inmates all of whom were to be transferred to Whately Island Correctional. Police are investigating the crash but we are told there were no survivors."
Gabrielle slowly brings her head up and stumbles into the living room, still carrying her liquor glass. She grabs the remote and raises the volume as the report continues "…inside the wreck were the charred remains of convicted rapist and killer Monroe Chalice, mafia hitman David Dexter Ward and possibly most notorious of all, Marcos Miguel Morales, the infamous Prophet Bomber. Police are still trying to determine the cause of the crash but…"
A pale look crosses Gabrielle's face as her mouth hangs open in shock. A single tear falls from her face as the glass slips out of her hand and shatters on the ground.
Adrianna snores lightly as he arm brushes up against Ruben's sleeping form. Unconsciously she pulls the sheets closer to her chest and turns in bed in order to lay in a more comfortable position. No sooner does she settle back in, than the shrill ringing of her cell phone, breaks the room's silence.
The young woman reaches for the device and glances at the caller I.D. which indicates that it's her mother "Hello…mom?"
"Adri, it's your father…"