Hello again, here's another chapter. This is a day late because, of course, I spontaneously hung out with my two friends I haven't seen in a while yesterday and I slept over spontaneously as well. I just got home! I was going to finish the chapter on my phone and post it yesterday, but I decided it would be better to finish the chapter well and it be late rather than give you guys a crap chapter on time. So sorry! Read, review, and enjoy.
Guest- I am sorry, I have held back my urge to write cliffhangers so far, but it is really difficult to keep from doing so. It's my trademark lol. Thanks for your review.
Blackjack97- Yes I very much agree, it's a terrible shame. Thanks for your review!
Eight.
Leo's first impression of great uncle Roberto was that he looked permanently annoyed. He had a wide nose like Aunt Rosa, and it was scrunched slightly as if he smelled something foul. His small dark eyes were watery and pink. His eyelids were droopy, much like the rest of his tan leathery face. His mouth was down turned in a scowl, and his hair was what Leo's mama had called "salt and pepper".
He wasn't as old as Leo had expected. Looking at his stubble covered face, Leo could have even called him handsome, at least for an older person. He looked like he could have been an actor in his younger days. Although his face was droopy and weathered, there was still a structure to it; high cheekbones, a sharp jaw. Leo could almost see the good looking ghost of the man Roberto had once been. His lips were still full, even though age had thinned them. Looking at them, Leo could see his mama. She had those same lips.
"Well?" He said gruffly. His breath smelled like cigars. "Are you coming in, or not?"
Leo felt his entire body relax, and he found that he almost collapsed to the ground. He realized then how incredibly stiff and worried he had been that Roberto would grab him and throw him to the grass. Leo's knees were shaking. He tried to swallow and found his throat was dryer than he could've ever imagined it could be.
Roberto shuffled back into his home, and Liz stepped into the door to follow. Leo took a very deep breath and went in after her. He closed the door behind him very quietly, slightly afraid that if he were too loud his great uncle would scream at him.
"So, is everything in order? You have enough food, enough drink? Clothes? Bedding?" Miss Liz asked with a smile while she faced Roberto. Roberto grimaced and nodded. Liz slapped her hands on her legs and grinned back at Leo.
"Okay then!" She breathed. The look on her face made Leo think she was eager to get out of there. "Leo, if you could wander, maybe check out the house, that would be wonderful. Your great uncle and I have a lot of private things to discuss before I leave."
Leo stared at her, and then glanced at Roberto. His great uncle looked down at him with hard eyes. Leo looked away. He glanced at Liz again and then sighed. He meandered away slowly, walking toward a hallway. He could hear the two adults as they began to talk; Miss Liz's voice was rather high and piercing while Roberto's was low and rough. Leo thought he could hear an accent in Roberto's.
Now that Leo was calmer, he allowed himself to really look around. The house was nice. It was well kept, but plain. There was a light beige carpet, and the walls were off white. There was minimal furniture, but the furniture that there was seemed to be very well taken care of and clean. The hallway Leo was slowly headed down had four doors, three of which were ajar.
He peered into the first. It was a bathroom. It had a sparkling white tile floor, a white shower curtain, and white towels. Everything was white. Even the toilet and sink appeared pristine, as if they were brand new.
Leo moved on, tracing his fingertips across the smooth painted walls as he went. He peeked into the next room. He assumed it was Roberto's bedroom. There was a king sized bed, which seemed a little unnecessary given Roberto was the only one sleeping in it. There was a quilt lying across the bed. It seemed to picture a rising sun. It was bright compared to the neutral colors of the room. It was a large room, and it was pretty empty, much like the rest of the house. There was a nightstand beside the bed and dresser beneath the bay window, which was draped with white curtains. But that was it. No books, no decorations, no pictures.
Leo was almost tempted to enter the room to investigate. He thought maybe that room could tell him more about the man who would be taking care of him. But Leo decided against it. He didn't want to face Roberto's anger if her were to get caught. He didn't know the man yet. He didn't know what to expect. All he did know was that he was a relative of Aunt Rosa's. That was enough to make him wary.
He walked to the next door, his feet skimming over the carpet softly. He peered inside. He guessed that this was his own room.
It was small, but in a comfortable way.
The walls were a very light yellow, and the carpet was beige. The bed was a single, like the one he had slept in back in the apartment. Its linens were white. Leo swallowed hard and entered the room. There was a bookcase tucked snugly into the corner beside the bed, but it was empty. A dresser was at the other side of the bed. Leo walked over to it and opened the drawers gingerly, one by one. Then he clambered up onto his new bed. He laid his head against a pillow. It was so soft. It felt so good. It was the first time Leo had lain in a real bed since the fire.
He felt his eyelids sliding closed as he stared up at the white textured ceiling.
"Leo."
Leo jumped and quickly sat up in his bed, as if he was afraid he had done something wrong.
Liz was at the door, her body leaning against the door frame.
"I'm going to head out, Leo. I'll see you in a couple of weeks."
Leo hesitated, then gave her a slight nod. He wasn't very sad to part with her. She wasn't the nicest lady he had ever met. But he was still nervous to be left alone with his great uncle. What if this had been an act?
Could he be waiting for Miss Liz to leave before he yells at me?
"Alright then. Behave." Then she was gone.
"So," said Roberto with his slight accent. His voice was gravely. "We have much to speak about."
Roberto sat on a cushioned white chair across from Leo. Leo himself sat on a beige recliner.
"Yeah?" Leo choked out nervously. He shifted uncomfortably and wrung is hands. His back was stiffer than a board. He felt so tense. He was expecting something, anything, something violent even. He kept imagining Roberto lunging forward and punching him in the stomach. Or in the face. Or both.
"Si, Leo." He sighed. He leaned forward on his hands. Leo stiffened even more at the action. He felt himself press his back deep into his chair. "We need to talk about what's happened."
"You mean about my mom? She's dead." Leo said crossly. He felt it again. The anger. It bubbled red in his stomach.
What does he care? He's never even been there for us, nobody has. This whole family hates me. They all hated me then and they hate me even more now. If he was going to pretend to care about me and mama he should have done it before, before the fire, before everything. He should have helped us.
Then Leo held his breath, horrified. His great uncle would surely hurt him for being so rude.
Roberto furrowed his thick eyebrows and took a deep breath. He wasn't angry at how Leo had responded. He wan't angry at all. He looked a little sad. His eyes had softened since Liz had left. They looked kinder. Perhaps even worried. How could he look so much like he cared? He must have been acting. Lying.
"I mean, we have to talk about all of it Leo. Everything. Your madre, the fire, your Aunt Rosa." Roberto explained. Leo pursed his lips and rubbed his nose. This was confusing to him. He wasn't sure what he was feeling.
Or maybe it was just that he was feeling too much in the same moment.
This man in front of Leo was his relative. Although Leo was very suspicious about Roberto's intentions and his truthfulness, Leo still couldn't help but think maybe, just maybe, his great uncle cared what Leo felt. He seemed to want to help. He really did. He could be lying, but really, why lie? He had already gotten his chance to hurt Leo. It had come and gone.
So he really cares?
That made Leo feel upset, and that in itself confused him. It also made him suspicious.
Leo was also confused by the fact that he wasn't all too affected by what his great uncle had just said.
"I lit the fire. I killed my mama. Aunt Rosa thinks I'm a demon bastard, more than she did before. I think everyone else in the family thinks that too." Leo said. Now, his voice was monotone. Most of his anger was disappearing as he stared into those kind brown eyes.
It was so different now. In just a couple of days he acted so differently when speaking of the fire. It bothered him to speak about it, but more than anything he just felt that awful rage when the thought of it crossed his mind. Either that or he felt almost nothing. Numb.
At the moment, it was the numb.
"I don't think that. And you shouldn't believe everything your tia says, Leo. She takes her anger out on others. And she should be more respectful of those born out of wedlock. I'm a bastard too, and I practically raised the girl."
Leo looked up at Roberto with large eyes. His body relaxed a little.
"You raised her? Does that mean you raised mama too?"
"Only for a little while. Mostly her father and mother did. I took Rosa in because her parents felt she needed to loosen up a little. She was always so unhappy as a child. She needed some fun."
"You're fun?" Leo asked with a slight smile, and he relaxed even more. Roberto chuckled heartily and sat back in his chair. He groaned as he reached over to a small round table and grabbed something from it. A cigar. Leo had seen the guys at the mechanic shop smoke them sometimes. They smelled weird. Roberto lit it and pulled it's smoke into his lips with a sigh. He breathed out the bluish mist to the side, away from Leo.
"Believe it or not, I can be a pretty interesting man. Your mom liked to visit me because of that reason. She was a very fun girl. Too fun, sometimes. She could get herself into trouble."
Leo felt a warmth in his stomach that had nothing to do with anger.
"Mama got into trouble? She always told me to keep from doing anything bad." Leo started to relax into his chair. He liked Roberto. He had seemed intimidating at first, but as Leo talked to the man he saw that he was soft. He was kind. Though from experience he knew, sometimes kind people could do bad things too. They could be mean. They could lie.
"Only when she was much younger. When she was in school, other children would often make fun of her for being Mexican. She wasn't great at controlling her anger. She was constantly getting into fistfights. Though once she reached fifteen she really straightened out. She learned to ignore ignorance"
Ignorance? Mama said that's what the mean people are, right? The ones who say bad things because they don't understand?
"Oh." Leo breathed. He sunk into his chair, feeling very relaxed for the first time in days. He looked at the window. The sky was lightening up. He thought he could see clouds in the distance, though. Maybe it would rain. Leo liked rain. It made him feel like he wouldn't lose control of his fire. It made him feel like he was safe.
Roberto looked out the window as well and made a distressed noise.
"I really hope those clouds don't start spitting. It makes my job difficult when it rains."
Leo asked, "Why? What's your job?"
"I own a Lawn care business."
Leo wrinkled his nose, and Roberto raised a questioning eyebrow. He frowned deeply.
"What is that face for?"
"Something my mama would say. She told me to never work on lawns. She said it's a job I would get bullied for."
"Bullied for? That is true, people look down on me often. But when they start acting as if they own the world, I just remind them; I own a business, they don't. That usually shuts them up."
Leo snorted, smiling brightly at Roberto. Then his face fell.
How can I be doing this? How can I be acting so happy? I killed mama and I act like nothing happened, I'm laughing like nothing happened.
I don't deserve to laugh.
I don't deserve to smile.
Roberto seemed to sense the change in Leo's mood.
"I know you probably don't want to talk about what happened to your mom, but we are going to have a long discussion sooner or later. If you are going to live here with me you will have to deal with yourself. I know you're not alright, and I don't expect you to be, but I'm going to help you out chico, even if nobody else will."
Leo stared at the mans face. He stared long and hard, his dark brown eyes looking at every line and every crevice in Roberto's expression.
"Why do you care?" Leo hissed. It was back in a flash, that new anger. It flushed his face and filled his belly.
Roberto was unmoved.
"Because you're my family, sobrino. I look out for family. However troubled you are, I'll make things right. I looked out for your mama, and I will look out for you."
Leo was breathing hard, his pace racing. That acrid feeling was rushing through him, making him want to scream. But as he stared at that man, that man whose face was full of compassion, Leo's intense anger turned into an incredible sadness. A lump began to form in his throat, and he had to try incredibly hard not to fall on the ground and cry.
More than than sadness, though, it was relief.
And even though he was trying so very hard to keep from looking like a little baby in front of his new caretaker, those relieved tears fell from his eyes. He couldn't stop them, it was like something inside of Leo had just broken and everything was pouring out. Leo put his hands to his face and bent over, crying into his knees.
He felt a warm hand rest on his back.
"It's going to be better now, Leo. You'll be safe, here. I Promise."
Leo believed him.
Again, so sorry for the lateness, but I'm happy with the end result. Though there are still probably typos, I apologize. Please review you lovely people!