Anthony
A small two-story villa in the middle of a cherry orchard greeted Tony with soft light from the windows and a kids laughter that could be even heard from the street.
Tony parked his car in the courtyard and headed for the entrance. First of all, he pulled the handle and, as expected, the door was open. How many times does he need to explain that the door needs to be locked ?!
The hallway was filled with the warm smell of food and spices. The walls were entirely covered with photos of family members and children's drawings. Two screaming kids rushed through the hall one after another without even noticing the uninvited guest. A girl in simple jeans and a sweater ran out after them.
"Judy, Thomas, stop running, you'll break something again! I'll tell on you to my grandmother!" - She shouted trying to catch up with tomboys. No sooner had her words echoed through the hall, as in response there was a crush from the living room, where the children were hiding.
" God!" - The woman threw up her hands and rushed to save the restless kids or furniture.
Tony smiled, watching all this clamor from the shadow of the hallway. This house has always been filled with life. Even from the walls relatives and friends in the picture appear to smile watching of the usual commotion.
At first, Tony demanded that his mother should take off pictures of the father and brothers from here. Too much pain and unhappiness they brought to this house. But the mother stood her ground firmly.
"Perhaps these people have committed three lives worth of sins and the Lord will never forgive them. But we are their family, and in many ways, they did all this for us. We may not approve of their actions, but we can't delete them from our lives. We don't have a right to forget them."
Tony had been arguing with the mother for a long time because of this, but it's not so easy to convince a woman like that. And over time, these photos began to bring less pain, as if the wound, which was left alone, didn't faster, but dried out and started to heal.
But today it was unavoidable to disturb this scar again. Tony sighed, trying to gather his courage and walked out into the light. Immediately, three-year-old Judy crashed into his legs. Swaying and retreating a little, the little girl looked up at her uncle confusedly. But as soon as she realized who had become her unexpected obstacle, her sweet face immediately lit up.
"Uncle Tony!" - She squealed. The man did not hesitate, picked up the girl in his arms and twirled around him. Then he began to kiss her plump cheeks until giggling girl didn't start to fight back.
At that moment, the flushed Maria ran to the hall. Even though both wives of Tony's older brothers got married for the second time, Mrs. Natalie Akardo kept everyone to herself and accepted new husbands as family members. There was the only way to get out of this family, and the new husbands were in no hurry to meet the Lord just yet. She gave her love and care as a tsunami, even if you don't really want to, you don't have a choice anyway ...
"Anthony!" - Noticing him, exclaimed Maria. - "Why didn't you call? Mom is already all on the nerves. She has been making homemade spaghetti for an hour, and you know what that usually means! "
She spoke, gesturing emotionally, while not letting the second baby out of her hands.
"Oh! Yea! It means that when the dough ends, I will be next in line." - Tony chuckled and kissed his sister-in-law on both cheeks. - "Maria, how do you do it, did you find the serum of youth? You look like a teen!"
"God, Tony, when are you going to mature a little!" - The girl giggled excecly the same way as her daughter, blushing slightly and slapping the man on the shoulder.
"Of course, when you decide to leave your husband and marry me finally," Tony smiled slyly, winking at her.
" I heard you say the same thing to Gabby." - Maria became jokingly indignant and plunged a finger into the guy's chest.
"Oh! Honey, I have enough love for everyone!" - Purred Tony and immediately got a new slap. Only this time it was not Mary. Tony turned around and came across the keen gaze of the caramel eyes, that belonged to a short, slender woman. Her short dark hair was in impossible neat hairdo, and the close just screamed - proper lady! Only a bright red apron with huge roses somewhat spoiled the overall image of a harsh woman.
"You little ungrateful bugger, where were you all this time?!" - she hissed through her teeth, waving a towel.
"Mom, mom! Wait, I'll explain everything!" - shouted Tony, covering his face with hands.
"Five seconds," - the woman clarified shortly.
"OK OK. In short, we were with Greg in his country house. There was his new girlfriend with children and her brother. It turned out that they were all werewolves and after her brother had blown up all the cars while hunting a raccoon, we had to harness them into a buggy and ride like this to the city for half a night." - He blurted out in one breath. And then he received a whole series of blows with a towel on the head and on the ass.
"Oh, you miserable liar! Couldn't think of anything better? Again you got drunk to green drooling with your nasty buddies?!" - screamed the mother, smacking her negligent son.
"Ouch, mom! Enough! I'm telling the truth ... Hey! Okay as you say. It's my fault! All of it! Just stop beating me!"
The anger of the mother of the family subsided as quickly as it came.
" Wash your hands and get to the table!" - She threw over her shoulder, disappearing into the kitchen. Maria shook her head, stuck her tongue out condemningly and followed the little commander too.
"How unfair!" - Grumbled Tony, rubbing his bruised buttocks. - "Once in my life I told the truth, and no one believed me. As if I'd do it again after this ..."
Dinner was held in the usual warm and noisy atmosphere. Natalie sat at the head of the table and watched as a howk so that everyone ate their vegetables and did not throw food at each other.
"Tony, stop feeding the dog under the table. Eat your broccoli!" - Mrs. Acardo barked at her dissolute son for the umpteenth time. - "Look at you. You are puny like a half-baked chicken. What a normal girl will look at you!"
"Mum! You have no idea how many girls look at me!" - retorted Tony, puffing his lips.
"Tony, those brainless hens you are talking about simply cannot focus their eyes for a long time on anything other than money. So don't flatter yourself. While staring at you, they are just trying to figure out how many branded bags you can afford for them. And knowing the average abilities in maths of such people, this process usually takes a very long time."
"That's why I always carry this with me." - Tony smiled cunningly, taking coupons from fast food joint out of his breast pocket. - "And as a last resort, I always have my limited edition pony cards. Do you want to see?"
Mom immediately rolled her eyes. And Mary hurried to close Judy's ears and mouthed the word: "Pervert!" to him.
Dinner ended in the same light and relaxed atmosphere. The girls quickly helped to clear the table and Tony, as was customary in their family, went to wash the dishes. He always hated this duty with all his heart and tried to shove it at someone else with every means, but today it became a somewhat salvation, delaying the moment of the conversation at least another twenty minutes.
But Natalie, as always, did not give him that opportunity. Mom had a sense like a hound when someone in the house had something wrong. Therefore, not a couple of minutes have passed since Tony, grimacing, lowered his hands into the frothy water, as her quiet, but at the same time heavy voice came from behind
"Speak."
Tony flinched but did not turn around. Right now he didn't want to meet his mother's gaze at all. There was silence in the kitchen, but Tony knew perfectly well that this woman would not just let it be until he vomits the last bit of the information. Therefore, taking a deep breath, Tony started from afar.
"Mom, I know you don't like to talk about it. And you know how I hate this topic. Therefore, I hope you understand that I am not starting this conversation from a simple curiosity ..."
Anthony felt his mother's gaze literally burning into his back, but she was silent, giving her son the opportunity to speak.
"I wanted to ask you about father's friend, Ian." - He said quietly as if he had not yet decided whether he wanted his mother to hear his words.
There was a heavy sigh from behind, then footsteps and gnashing of chair legs on the floor.
"Leave those damn dishes and come here." - He heard a tired voice of the mother. Without thinking, Tony threw away a sponge and went to the kitchen table, sitting in a chair opposite. For some reason, Natalie's face in the muffled kitchen light now looked much older, and her eyes, peering attentively at her son's face, as if searching for the cause of such a question, became tired and pale. After a moment of silence, she finally began in a slightly hoarse voice.
"You know, your father and Ian were like fire and ice. So different that it was always not clear to me why they came together. Although I would not call them friends. Ian was strange. He appeared and disappeared. And each time he managed to bring me to a state of absolute rage. I hated him! All so prime and proper. As if his presence alone made me feel dirty."
Natalie paused as if struggling with something inside. Her hands on the table were clenched into fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. But the silence did not last long.
"Yes, I suspected what your father was doing," - she finally said softly. - "I am not a fool and quite understand everything. But you do not know, my boy, through what I had to go before that. If I could go back to the past, I would close my eyes tightly again and block my ears. I would do everything only never to see the hungry eyes of my children again. You don't know what for a nursing mother it is like to see your breast milk turn into water, plain clear water. Just because you haven't eaten for a very long time. You can't imagine how much I thought about cutting my own leg just to feed my kids with it."
Her voice broke off. Tony has not seen his mother like this for a long time. Her face was always solemn, but everyone knew how soft and loving she could be to her family. What a big heart beats in her chest.
"Mom .. " - began Tony without even knowing what he wanted to say.
" Tony, I know my sins and am quite ready to jump into the same pan with your father after death. But then I was not prepared to hear the whole truth from this person. Ian warned me more than once. Every time he came and spent much more time with me than with your father. He was asking a tone of questions, warned me, even offered to take me and you guy away from all of this a couple of times. What kind of bullshit was it? I knew perfectly well that he was married and he also had two children. He made me so furious trying to right our lives as if he was some kind of saint! I thought like this back then. How stupid I was, ha?! And even that day he came to warn me. Fool! Such a foolish man!"
The woman's face twisted into a grimace of pain. Tony did not ask anything further. Why? He still saw this day in nightmares himself. That's why the picture that appeared before him seemed increasingly unreal, unnatural. The man who saved them with his life that day, covering mom and young Tony with his body from Uncle Monty's bullets, just couldn't ...
Anthony
A small two-story villa in the middle of a cherry orchard greeted Tony with soft light from the windows and a kids laughter that could be even heard from the street.
Tony parked his car in the courtyard and headed for the entrance. First of all, he pulled the handle and, as expected, the door was open. How many times does he need to explain that the door needs to be locked ?!
The hallway was filled with the warm smell of food and spices. The walls were entirely covered with photos of family members and children's drawings. Two screaming kids rushed through the hall one after another without even noticing the uninvited guest. A girl in simple jeans and a sweater ran out after them.
"Judy, Thomas, stop running, you'll break something again! I'll tell on you to my grandmother!" - She shouted trying to catch up with tomboys. No sooner had her words echoed through the hall, as in response there was a crush from the living room, where the children were hiding.
" God!" - The woman threw up her hands and rushed to save the restless kids or furniture.
Tony smiled, watching all this clamor from the shadow of the hallway. This house has always been filled with life. Even from the walls relatives and friends in the picture appear to smile watching of the usual commotion.
At first, Tony demanded that his mother should take off pictures of the father and brothers from here. Too much pain and unhappiness they brought to this house. But the mother stood her ground firmly.
"Perhaps these people have committed three lives worth of sins and the Lord will never forgive them. But we are their family, and in many ways, they did all this for us. We may not approve of their actions, but we can't delete them from our lives. We don't have a right to forget them."
Tony had been arguing with the mother for a long time because of this, but it's not so easy to convince a woman like that. And over time, these photos began to bring less pain, as if the wound, which was left alone, didn't faster, but dried out and started to heal.
But today it was unavoidable to disturb this scar again. Tony sighed, trying to gather his courage and walked out into the light. Immediately, three-year-old Judy crashed into his legs. Swaying and retreating a little, the little girl looked up at her uncle confusedly. But as soon as she realized who had become her unexpected obstacle, her sweet face immediately lit up.
"Uncle Tony!" - She squealed. The man did not hesitate, picked up the girl in his arms and twirled around him. Then he began to kiss her plump cheeks until giggling girl didn't start to fight back.
At that moment, the flushed Maria ran to the hall. Even though both wives of Tony's older brothers got married for the second time, Mrs. Natalie Akardo kept everyone to herself and accepted new husbands as family members. There was the only way to get out of this family, and the new husbands were in no hurry to meet the Lord just yet. She gave her love and care as a tsunami, even if you don't really want to, you don't have a choice anyway ...
"Anthony!" - Noticing him, exclaimed Maria. - "Why didn't you call? Mom is already all on the nerves. She has been making homemade spaghetti for an hour, and you know what that usually means! "
She spoke, gesturing emotionally, while not letting the second baby out of her hands.
"Oh! Yea! It means that when the dough ends, I will be next in line." - Tony chuckled and kissed his sister-in-law on both cheeks. - "Maria, how do you do it, did you find the serum of youth? You look like a teen!"
"God, Tony, when are you going to mature a little!" - The girl giggled excecly the same way as her daughter, blushing slightly and slapping the man on the shoulder.
"Of course, when you decide to leave your husband and marry me finally," Tony smiled slyly, winking at her.
" I heard you say the same thing to Gabby." - Maria became jokingly indignant and plunged a finger into the guy's chest.
"Oh! Honey, I have enough love for everyone!" - Purred Tony and immediately got a new slap. Only this time it was not Mary. Tony turned around and came across the keen gaze of the caramel eyes, that belonged to a short, slender woman. Her short dark hair was in impossible neat hairdo, and the close just screamed - proper lady! Only a bright red apron with huge roses somewhat spoiled the overall image of a harsh woman.
"You little ungrateful bugger, where were you all this time?!" - she hissed through her teeth, waving a towel.
"Mom, mom! Wait, I'll explain everything!" - shouted Tony, covering his face with hands.
"Five seconds," - the woman clarified shortly.
"OK OK. In short, we were with Greg in his country house. There was his new girlfriend with children and her brother. It turned out that they were all werewolves and after her brother had blown up all the cars while hunting a raccoon, we had to harness them into a buggy and ride like this to the city for half a night." - He blurted out in one breath. And then he received a whole series of blows with a towel on the head and on the ass.
"Oh, you miserable liar! Couldn't think of anything better? Again you got drunk to green drooling with your nasty buddies?!" - screamed the mother, smacking her negligent son.
"Ouch, mom! Enough! I'm telling the truth ... Hey! Okay as you say. It's my fault! All of it! Just stop beating me!"
The anger of the mother of the family subsided as quickly as it came.
" Wash your hands and get to the table!" - She threw over her shoulder, disappearing into the kitchen. Maria shook her head, stuck her tongue out condemningly and followed the little commander too.
"How unfair!" - Grumbled Tony, rubbing his bruised buttocks. - "Once in my life I told the truth, and no one believed me. As if I'd do it again after this ..."
Dinner was held in the usual warm and noisy atmosphere. Natalie sat at the head of the table and watched as a howk so that everyone ate their vegetables and did not throw food at each other.
"Tony, stop feeding the dog under the table. Eat your broccoli!" - Mrs. Acardo barked at her dissolute son for the umpteenth time. - "Look at you. You are puny like a half-baked chicken. What a normal girl will look at you!"
"Mum! You have no idea how many girls look at me!" - retorted Tony, puffing his lips.
"Tony, those brainless hens you are talking about simply cannot focus their eyes for a long time on anything other than money. So don't flatter yourself. While staring at you, they are just trying to figure out how many branded bags you can afford for them. And knowing the average abilities in maths of such people, this process usually takes a very long time."
"That's why I always carry this with me." - Tony smiled cunningly, taking coupons from fast food joint out of his breast pocket. - "And as a last resort, I always have my limited edition pony cards. Do you want to see?"
Mom immediately rolled her eyes. And Mary hurried to close Judy's ears and mouthed the word: "Pervert!" to him.
Dinner ended in the same light and relaxed atmosphere. The girls quickly helped to clear the table and Tony, as was customary in their family, went to wash the dishes. He always hated this duty with all his heart and tried to shove it at someone else with every means, but today it became a somewhat salvation, delaying the moment of the conversation at least another twenty minutes.
But Natalie, as always, did not give him that opportunity. Mom had a sense like a hound when someone in the house had something wrong. Therefore, not a couple of minutes have passed since Tony, grimacing, lowered his hands into the frothy water, as her quiet, but at the same time heavy voice came from behind
"Speak."
Tony flinched but did not turn around. Right now he didn't want to meet his mother's gaze at all. There was silence in the kitchen, but Tony knew perfectly well that this woman would not just let it be until he vomits the last bit of the information. Therefore, taking a deep breath, Tony started from afar.
"Mom, I know you don't like to talk about it. And you know how I hate this topic. Therefore, I hope you understand that I am not starting this conversation from a simple curiosity ..."
Anthony felt his mother's gaze literally burning into his back, but she was silent, giving her son the opportunity to speak.
"I wanted to ask you about father's friend, Ian." - He said quietly as if he had not yet decided whether he wanted his mother to hear his words.
There was a heavy sigh from behind, then footsteps and gnashing of chair legs on the floor.
"Leave those damn dishes and come here." - He heard a tired voice of the mother. Without thinking, Tony threw away a sponge and went to the kitchen table, sitting in a chair opposite. For some reason, Natalie's face in the muffled kitchen light now looked much older, and her eyes, peering attentively at her son's face, as if searching for the cause of such a question, became tired and pale. After a moment of silence, she finally began in a slightly hoarse voice.
"You know, your father and Ian were like fire and ice. So different that it was always not clear to me why they came together. Although I would not call them friends. Ian was strange. He appeared and disappeared. And each time he managed to bring me to a state of absolute rage. I hated him! All so prime and proper. As if his presence alone made me feel dirty."
Natalie paused as if struggling with something inside. Her hands on the table were clenched into fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. But the silence did not last long.
"Yes, I suspected what your father was doing," - she finally said softly. - "I am not a fool and quite understand everything. But you do not know, my boy, through what I had to go before that. If I could go back to the past, I would close my eyes tightly again and block my ears. I would do everything only never to see the hungry eyes of my children again. You don't know what for a nursing mother it is like to see your breast milk turn into water, plain clear water. Just because you haven't eaten for a very long time. You can't imagine how much I thought about cutting my own leg just to feed my kids with it."
Her voice broke off. Tony has not seen his mother like this for a long time. Her face was always solemn, but everyone knew how soft and loving she could be to her family. What a big heart beats in her chest.
"Mom .. " - began Tony without even knowing what he wanted to say.
" Tony, I know my sins and am quite ready to jump into the same pan with your father after death. But then I was not prepared to hear the whole truth from this person. Ian warned me more than once. Every time he came and spent much more time with me than with your father. He was asking a tone of questions, warned me, even offered to take me and you guy away from all of this a couple of times. What kind of bullshit was it? I knew perfectly well that he was married and he also had two children. He made me so furious trying to right our lives as if he was some kind of saint! I thought like this back then. How stupid I was, ha?! And even that day he came to warn me. Fool! Such a foolish man!"
The woman's face twisted into a grimace of pain. Tony did not ask anything further. Why? He still saw this day in nightmares himself. That's why the picture that appeared before him seemed increasingly unreal, unnatural. The man who saved them with his life that day, covering mom and young Tony with his body from Uncle Monty's bullets, just couldn't ...
