Roberto Part 2
It's been a week since the party and meeting Prince Roberto. It was a "nice" meeting but what can I expect, I completely lost interest after he hit on me every five minutes. I sighed heavily as I walking to La Blanc for my shift when I got a phone call from the kids' elementary school.
"Is this Marika Yoshihara?" I heard a female's voice asked me.
"Yes, this is she." I answered politely.
"Miss Yoshihara, I am Principle Fresca, this is about your nephew, Naruki Dominic Rivers. He is in my office with his sister, Haruka Rosette Rivers. He got into a fight with another student because he was bothering Haruka during recess and injured him badly. I need you to come and discuss this problem with the parents of the accused child and I." the woman explained.
"Yes, ma'am, I'm on my way!" I said. I ran towards the school while calling my boss that I won't be able to come in. He scolded me with slurred words and lots of screeching. To bad that I'm used to it or else I could have been terrified by this and ended up unprofessional in front of the principal. I entered the school building and went slowly towards the principal's office to fix up my appearance. I went in and saw Naruki with bruises, Haruka covered in dirt, and another kid with bandages all over his body. He was taller than Naruki and had light brown hair and eyes and he looked at me with disgust just like his parents were. I quickly went to my kids crouched at their sides.
"Hey, you two alright?" I asked touching their cheeks.
"Aunty!" Haru burst into tears. Naru grabbed her hand squeezed it as he looked away from us.
"Miss Yoshihara, both Naruki and Haruka accused Frederick Myers here of bullying Haruka during lunch today." the principal explained.
"Is that true you two?" I asked.
"Of course it's true!" Naru blew up. "He hurt Haru so I protected her!"
"How dare you say that!" Mrs. Myers yelled. "Our Frederick has never hurt another classmate! He is not like that at all!"
"Principal Fresca, this is outrageous. I'm a sponsor to this school and this is what I get? An accusation of bullying when my son is top of his class and is very popular among his classmates? My son does not do that, it's obvious that those two are liars and jealous of his accomplishments." his father spoke up in such a terrifying low voice. Even I had shivers down my spine, but that doesn't mean I back down so easily. I was a top delinquent back in high school after all.
"Hey, excuse me! How dare you even say that to my kids!" I yelled at his parents. "My kids never lie and I will not tolerate what your son did."
"Everyone, let's calm ourselves please!" the principal raised her voice causing everyone to stop bickering. "Haruka, would you like the explain a what happened at recess?"
"Frederick was picking on me again. He's been bothering me for a year and always does the same thing. Takes things, calls me names, pushes me around, puts things in my cubby, and other things. Today he was more mean than usual and he pushed me down a hill hard." she started to tear up more has she told what happened. "That's when Naru stepped in and beat Frederick up…" she looked away. I guess she felt sorry for dragging Naru in but I saw that Naru never took his hand away from his sister.
"That is a lie!" Frederick yelled. "I was never near her, ever!" he glared at Haru. Haru shuttered and smiled forcely.
"I...I'm lying...sorry." she smiled so sadly. I noticed her lies and I tried whispering in her ear that she doesn't need to lie, just tell the truth. She whispered back saying that it was no use. She will get a bigger punishment from him if she said the truth again so she changed her story into a lie.
"I told you! That wretched girl is a liar and that boy is too violent for this school." the mother smirked. "I want them expelled immediately!"
"God…" I said rubbing my temples. I really want to punch her plastic face. "Principal Fresca, please listen to the kids. My niece is terrified of that boy and lying to avoid getting hurt again. I agree that my nephew didn't do the right thing by beating him up, but he did to protect her. Please, believe them." I begged her. She didn't say anything for a moment until she sat up straight and looked at all of us with her dark brown eyes that were showing through her short curly blonde hair.
"Miss Yoshihara...I'm going to have to suspend Naruki from school." she said. I heard happy praise from the Myers and giggles from their son.
"What!?" I yelled.
"He did beat up a student. It might be for a good reason on his part but it is not acceptable here. He will be suspended for at least five days, but he will be able to go to the next grade still without the need to be held back a year since next week is the last week I school. I'm sorry Miss Yoshihara." she said printing out papers for me to sign. I felt Naru's anger and frustration as I signed the papers and I felt so heavy in my heart. My kids are good kids. Yeah, Naru has a sharp tongue but not a bad kid. After I signed the papers the principal excused Haru and Frederick back to class. I left the room and waited for Naru outside the building so that he can get his stuff.
"You got everything?" I asked when I noticed him stepping down the stairs. He didn't say anything and kept looking down at his feet.
"Ugh, you two are still here?" Mrs. Myers said in disgust.
"Come on honey. Don't look at them. You'll catch their poor behavior." the husband smirked. As they went past us I called out to the husband. He turned and smirked at me. I smiled back and then punched him in the face. The mother gasped and held him up. "Excuse me, what the hell is wrong with you!" he yells raising his hand to hit me. I caught It and I started to twist his arm.
"Wow, you were actually going to hit a woman." I said sarcastically. "How sad. I thought you had better manners than I did." I said shrugging as he was crying pain. "I guess that makes you liars too." I smiled and pushed him away. Him and his wife walked away quickly to get away from me.
"Aunty Mari?" Naruki said with such a surprised look on his face.
"Come on, let's go!" I smiled, grabbing his hand. When we left the school grounds and we walked to his favorite ice cream parlor. We sat outside at his favorite seat near the window so he can look at the people from both sides while feeling the sun on his back. I got him Rocky Road, his favorite and I got green tea ice cream, my favorite, and handed him it. I ate my ice cream with pleasure while he stared at his.
"Aunty, what's with the ice cream?" he spoke up.
"This is the only time I will ever praise you for standing up for your sister." I said putting my ice cream down. "Like I said, I do not like you to fight but you did this for Haruka. So for that I am grateful that you protected her. Just next time just get an adult alright."
"I wasn't able to even do that!" he shouted, getting looks from others. "She denied she was getting bullied by him! I did that to help her but...it's not enough! She's still in trouble…" this is the first time I have ever seen Naruki cry since the death of his father. My heart was breaking at the sight but I stayed strong. I made myself promise not to cry in front of anyone to show that I was strong and that I could take care of everything. Right now I'm literally about bite a huge chunk out of my cheek to stop my tears.
"Naruki, what you did was a amazing and I am so proud of you." I said holding his hand. "I'm so glad you did that but violence isn't the answer you know that. What I did wasn't acceptable either so that makes me a hypocrite." I smiled.
"Yeah, it does."
"Quiet, I ain't done!" I said. "What I am saying is that you can't take someone else's problem into your hands. You can help by going to a teacher or even me. Why didn't any of you come to me?"
"I just learned about this today. I didn't know that she was being bullied so I got angry."
"I'll talk to Haru when she gets home. Now, eat your ice cream, it's melting. This is the ONLY time I praise you for fighting because there is something wrong with that family."
"You were pretty cool too. I mean you punched a guy! Are you really a girl, Aunty?" Naru joked.
"What's that suppose to mean!" I yelled but we ended up laughing together instead.
…..
Every day, I tried to get Haru to talk to me about Frederick but she always somehow gets past me. She goes to school earlier than usual, when she comes home she locks herself in our room and doesn't come out for anything. When her friend Beatrice came over, Haru quickly gets dressed and drags her out before I even get the chance to ask anything. To be honest I was getting impatient. Her clothes were getting ruined everyday, dirt, blood, more dirt and there isn't much money to get her new clothing at all. She didn't smile anymore and that's the big deal for me.
Her smile made my day so bright and made me work harder just to come home to see her and the others. I felt ashamed about myself from not noticing. I'm not home until ten most nights and some nights I don't come home until two in the morning because of my janitor shift at a bakery nearby so I don't get to see much of the kids. Maybe if I was around more I could have notice and stop it from happening.
My Haruka is hurt and I wasn't able to be there to stop it.
Finally, it was summer vacation. School's out, the kids are singing and dancing about no more teachers, homework, and other childish things. My boss suspended me for a week because of what happened last week, so I decided to pick the kids up.
I went to the front gate and saw Haru quivering with that Frederick kid standing tall with four other kids. Quickly, I went to her without much thought.
"What are going to about it, baby!" one kid pushed her.
"What a big baby!" another shoved her violently against the wall.
"I can't believe she's the same age as us. She's such a crybaby!" Frederick laughed kicked her knee. I finally reached her and covered her when he kicked the second time, kicking me in the back instead of Haruka.
"Who's this old hag?" one kid questioned. I stood up and turned around slowly with the most ugliest glare I have ever made, making them tremble in fear.
"We are not scared of you!"
"Should I care?" I asked them looking down on them. They stepped back a little still having fear in their eyes. "Because all five of you are in trouble." I grabbed them by the ears and dragged them to each of their parents.
"We are terribly sorry!" one couple bowed forcing their kid to bow as well. They hit him on the head forced him to apologize. When he did, Haruka didn't say anything and shyly went behind me.
"He doesn't mean it. He'll kept doing this to me…" Haruka cried as she grabbed the hem of my dress. "All of them are…"
The other kids' parents all apologized but their kids didn't bother to mean it. I picked Haru up and she cried in my shoulder.
"We are truly sorry about our Richard's behavior. Is there anything at all that can make this better?" one mother asked.
"I don't know, you figure it out." I hissed. Just punish the kids, don't cover it up. I picked up Haru into my arms as I looked at Frederick. "Where are your parents, kid?"
"Working...my nanny picks me up." the kid doesn't look at me at all when he answered me.
"Then I'll wait here then until your nanny comes." I said feeling Haru tremble in my arms.
"Why? I don't need you!" Frederick yelled at me. "What do you want from me? Money? Power?"
Oh...I see. He must been used a lot because of his father. Maybe that why he takes his anger out on Haru. Since he's a popular kid the others joined in. Poor kid.
"No. What would I even do with all that money and power?" I asked.
"Push others around, get anything you want? Are you stupid or something?"
"The only one person who is stupid is you for grouping me up with people like that." I said looking down on him. The kid hesitated and became frustrated. "Most people do that and there are only a few who don't. I have enough money to get by, by working hard and I don't need power from others when I already have my own. Others do it because they are lazy and don't want to do it on their own. You, kid have your own power to not let people get to you like that. You don't need money nor power. Strength and honesty is all that you need to gain whatever it is you need. You got that?" I said crouching down to meet his eye level. He didn't say anything else and looked down at his shoes. "Look your nanny is here." I said looking behind and saw a teenager standing there watching.
"Hey, miss," Frederick pulled the hem of my dress. "Is...there a way to apologize for what I've been doing to Haruka?" he was a deep red and his voice was quivering with regret.
"What do you think Haru?" I asked Haru when I put her down. She gained the courage and sticks her hand out.
"We can start over as friends." she said making herself look strong.
"Even after all I've done to you?" I could tears in his eyes.
"Aunty Mari says that when you have done a big mistake, you can either fix it or leave it. Its up to us to see if it is fixable or not. What I think in this...it is fixable." Haru smiled still keep her hand out. "Hi, I'm Haruka Rivers, what's your name?" Frederick hesitated to shake it as he stared widely at Haru. Tears were rolling down his face and looks away wiping his tears.
"I'm...Frederick Myers…" he said taking her hand weakly.
"It's nice to meet you, Freddy! I hope we can be friends and play together next school year!" Haru cheered. Frederick gasped at the nickname like he has never heard anyone say that. "Is it okay to call you Freddy?" Haru notices and begins to worry like she has made a mistake.
"No!" Frederick yelled. "I've never had a nickname before…" he said in embarrassment. "I guess...Freddy is fine…" Haru smiled brightly and Freddy blushed tomato red. Oh no, you're too young to be in love!"
"Come on brat! You're going to be late for piano lessons!" the teen yelled angrily. Freddy said his goodbyes and turns around and leaves.
"Yo, Freddy!" I called out to him. He stops but doesn't turn to look at me. "Stop by at our place anytime." I said. He gives a little nod and leaves with the teenage nanny.
"Are you sure that's a good idea Haru, Aunty Mari?" I heard Naru come next to me. I looked down and see a worried expression on his face with Kai hiding behind him.
"It's up to Haru's judgement, not me." I answered.
"I think he was just hurt is all." Haru said with a smile. "All he needs is a friend is all."
"if this backfires, I will step in." Naru holds her hand. "If he hurts you again, I will step in. If he yells at you, I will step in. Anything that makes you cry, I will always step in! For anything, Haruka."
"Me too." I ruffled her hair. Kai raises his hand like he is saying that he will also protect her as well. Haru had tears in her eyes so I carried her in my arms all the way back to the apartment.
In front of the apartment was a black limo with Altarian plates. I saw a familiar man in a red jacket leaning against the limo. The man looks over and his eyes lit up. Oh crap...why is Roberto here?
"Princess!" he cheered as he ran towards me. I put my guard up and I put Haru down and pulled the kids behind me. "I am so glad to see you! I have great news!" he smiled grabbing both my hands. "You are all invited to stay at my place for the whole summer!"
"WHAT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Wow a vacation!" Haru smiled. Then the kids suddenly went into the complex.
"Wait hold on! What do mean your place?" I asked.
"Like I said, you are going to spend the summer there with me!" he said kissing the back of both hands. "My butler, Al, found out when your kids get off for the summer and I decided to invite all of you!"
"Why?"
"Because you have gained my heart, princess." he said kissing up my arm. I pulled away and stared daggers at him.
"Why me?"
"You're different than any woman I have ever met before and I-"
"Will do anything in my power to have you." I finished his sentence. "Yeah, that's every romance formula ever." then the kids came back with four cases and his butler helped them. "Kids, I didn't say we will go!"
"Aunty Mari, this is the only chance we get to go on an actual vacation." said Naru, helping Kai in the limo.
"We've never been on a vacation before so this will be fun!" Haru cheered.
"VACATION! VACATION! VACATION!" the twins chanted with Kai mimicking them.
"You see! Come on let's go!" before I could even disagree he pushes me into the car with the wider grin I have ever seen on a person.
"I'm terribly sorry about this, ma'am." his butler apologized. He was the same guy who barged into my apartment! "I am Alberto. It is a pleasure to meet you and I will do the best I can to serve you and your children properly." he said and then slammed the car door.
"Yay! We are going!" the kids were cheering as we went on our merry way to Altaria.
