Victor didn't go straight home after school. Instead, he went to his aunt Ivy's house. He needed to talk to someone about the message he got during lunch, and, while his dad seemed to be opposed to talking about Victor's mom, he saw how talking about her hurt him. Ivy was also like a cool older sister to him, so he always came to her with this kind of problem.
When he made his way to the apartment, he saw that Penny, Ivy's girlfriend, was caring out her box. "This is the last one," Penny called out.
"Good, now I never want to see your face again," Ivy shouted. Penny stared at Victor with a defeated look. Even though Penny and Ivy had been dating for years, they barely knew each other. Most of the information he knew about her was from Ivy. It depended on the day on whether the information was flattering or not.
Once Penny was on the elevator, Victor entered the apartment. Ivy was standing in the kitchen, making some vegetarian chili. "Did you guys have another breakup?" Victor asked.
"Yeah, but this time we're over for good," Ivy stated. "I found out she's been cheating on me with her boss for months, and now she's pregnant. She just told me, and now she's going to stay with her sister because I kicked her out."
"That's horrible," Victor said.
"Eh, our relationship has been going downhill for a while," Ivy shrugged. "One of us was bound to cheat. Sorry for unloading all of this on you. How was your first day of school? Did you ask out that Mia girl?"
"Yeah, we're going out this Friday," Victor said.
"Awesome," Ivy said. "I'm glad that one of us is having a successful love life."
"I'm excited about it," Victor said. "But that's not what I've come over about. I got a Facebook message earlier during lunch. It was from a girl named Veronica Salazar. She claimed to be my mom's sister."
"That's something," Ivy said, shocked.
"I don't know whether I should believe her," Victor said. "This could be a trick. But I've always wanted to learn more about her, and I can see bringing her up hurts my dad. This could be the perfect chance."
"Do you know anything about her family?" Ivy asked.
"I know that they threw her out after they found out she was pregnant," Victor explained. "She tried multiple times to reach out while she was pregnant, but they weren't receptive. I think only her dad and one other family member showed up to the funeral."
"I think you should talk to your dads about this," Ivy said. "Make sure she's actually your aunt. And, if she is, talk to him about next time your in Creekwood meeting up for coffee or something."
"Thanks, aunt Ivy," Victor said.
"No problem," Ivy stated. "I mostly work from home, so you can come over whenever you need to talk."
"Thanks for that," Victor said. He then slipped on his black bag and walked to the door. "By the way, Penny is a loser for cheating on you."
With that, Victor left the apartment. He bought a bus ticket and that took him to his end of town. He turned on his phone and saw that neither of his dads had responded to his text. He figured they were both busy with work.
Once he arrived at the apartment building, he went straight to his apartment. Once he walked inside, he saw all of the lights were off, except the bathroom connected to the master suite. "I'm home," Victor called out.
He went to the bedroom. "Hello?" he asked. He then turned to the bathroom and saw his father lying lifeless on the floor.