Chapter 40
I let out a scream, a blood boiling scream. I backed up until I felt the bed touch the back of my legs, this could not be happening. Bruno said she was dead, has been dead for years now and all of a sudden she appears at our door, with sheets. Isn't it how iron because ghost are made from sheets and she has sheets in her hands? If I wasn't screaming right now, I would be laughing but then I would look insane and right about now, I think I would get a by pass.
Bruno backed up from the door and fell into the chair next to the bed. She came in and closed the door behind her. She was dressed in an hot pink tight fitting dress with a black skinny belt around her waist, her hair was in a tight bun with a swoop bang. She had on black pearl earrings, necklace & bracelet and some black pumps on. For a dead person, she dressed like she was filthy rich.
“You're...Dead..You're DEAD! You are not here..” Bruno said scared laughing
“Oh baby but I am. I'm here Bruno, alive and in the flesh.” she said
“No, I don't believe this. We buried you, I watched them put you in the ground..I watched them! I was there! I seen it with my own two eyes!!”
“Baby please, that was not..”
“Of course not! Otherwise my supposed to be dead mother wouldn't be standing in front of me.”
“Baby Mangyaring makinig sa akin masyadong maingat. I am not dead, I have never been dead.”
“Then why the funeral?! Why?! I don't understand it at all..”
Bruno put his hand through his hair and had his hand cover his face. My stomach was churning as she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched and shrugged her hand off of him, she took a step back and folded her hands together shaking her head yes. She had this look of sadness in her eyes but that just added fuel to the fire. I started to get angry at her, scolding her with my eyes. How dare she feel sad, she got no right to! She left Bruno thinking that he was motherless, for him to suffer through that funeral. She got a lot of explaining to do.
“You better start explaining, no disrespect but Bruno deserves to know.” I said boldly
“And who are you young lady to tell me what I should be doing. This is strictly between me and Bruno.”
“Excuse me but i'm Brunos wife.”
“I'm Disappointed.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me young lady and if you don’t show me some respect, i'll call my guards to escort you out of my hotel.”
“Your Hotel?!”
“Yes. My Hotel &..”
“STOP IT!” Bruno yelled
“I'm sorry baby but I don’t think you should of married a woman with no type of respect.” she said
“Mom, you don't even know her.”
“I know enough to know that you deserve better.”
Bruno put his hand up and looked at me with that, don’t you say a word,type of look and man I am boiling inside. I wanted to curse her out, who does she think she is but out of respect that I know that I have. I clamped it down and folded my arms. Bruno leaned back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. He took a deep breath and looked over at his mom. With a calm look on his face, I looked at him with curiosity, how could he be so calm? What's going through that head of his?
“You don't know Alicia, you just met her but that's besides the point..You own this hotel?” Bruno said
“Yes..after I left..”
“Oh yeah, I know,you just decided to leave your kids. Just forget us. I know, I was one of them that got left”
“No baby..”
“Yes you did. You left us there.”
“No I didn't Bruno! I left your ama...your father.”
“I know what ama means mom.”
“I didn't think that you would remember.”
“You spoke tagalog to us everyday, how could I....no,stop changing the subject.”
“I'm sorry..”
“You're not Sorry! Don't even think that saying that is going to change everything!”
“Bruno..”
“Look, I don't want no apologies all I want is the god forsaking truth from you.”
“Fair Enough...Where do I start?”
“The day you thought it was OK to leave us all.”
“Bruno..”
“Mom.”
“...It was the day I found out about Kim.”
“What does She have anything to do with this?” I said
“Well for your information, Kim was dating Peter.”
“Wait what?.”
“Oh gosh she's stupid too..” She mumbled
“What did you say?!?”
“I said Peter had an affair with Kim and got her pregnant.”
“How? I'm so confused.” Bruno said
She sighed and rolled her eyes. I crossed my legs, I have only known her for 5 seconds and we already hate each other. I guess that's the mother in laws for you, nobody is ever good enough for their sons. Not even the most holiest person in the neighborhood.
“Bruno, when E was about 2 or 3, your father had an affair with Kim and she just so happened to become pregnant. I didn't find out until I was working at the sewing shop years later and Evelyn told me that Kim had told her that she was pregnant again & it wasn't that guy she was messing with just like the first one.”
“Wait, Evelyn who?” I asked
“Bennett, she was married to..”
“John.”
“Yeah, How did you know?”
“Those are my parents..”
“Well I'll be damned.”
“Yeah..”
“Wait babe how old is Maria?” Bru asked
“25 or 26..Oh my god..No.”
“Well this is one Freaking small world.”
“Wait, who's Maria?” she asked
“Maria is my Best Friend and Kim’s daughter and now she's Brunos half sister.” I said
“Wow that heifer got around!”
“Yeah and She messed around with my dad and now they have a kid.”
“What?! Oh it all makes sense now, when she was pregnant the second time, it was your fathers child! Now I see.”
“But wait a hoot, how did you figure Brunos dad cheated on you with Kim?” I asked
“Well,Your mom and I became friends and we went on our lunch breaks together. One day we seen Kim in a car driving. I told her that was Brunos God mother and she told me that Kim was a trashy person and shouldn't be anyone’s god mother & I asked her why. She told me that Kim told her that her first child’s father was your father Bruno & that she was pregnant again by another man but she didn't know who.”
“Wow, I wonder if my dad knows about this.” I said
“Who knows, that heifer is a liar and she has ruined so many peoples lives. Including mine” she said
“Yeah, I see that now.”
“So, Kim and John had a baby?” she asked
“Yeah, didn't they get married babe?” Bru asked
“Yuppers” I said
“..See that is exactly why I couldn't trust her! I'm sorry to say this but soon she'll cheat on your dad, it's just something she can't help and that's what heifers do. Screw around.”
It was quiet, letting all of this sink in because this is just too crazy right about now. Kim is a cheater and makes men cheat and she had two kids with two different guys and one of them just had to be my father. So here's the break down, Maria and Bruno both have he same dad so they are half siblings towards each other. Then LJ & Maria have the same mom so they are half siblings too..wow. Like Bruno said, small world.
“Ok, but I just don't understand the funeral. Why?” Bru asked
“You're going to have to ask your father on that one.” she said
“Why can't you tell me.”
“Because I don't know why he planned all of that!”
“Why don't you know? It was your freaking funeral mom.”
“Look baby, All I know is that I get a phone call from that heifer telling me that I was dead to your father and the kids hated me for leaving and other things..”
“So you just stayed?”
“..Yeah.”
Bru closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip so hard it was turning white. He inhaled and put his head down again with his hands in his hair. I looked down at the floor, feeling so bad for him. How could she just believe Kim’s lies like that? How could she not have gone back anyways just to see if Kim was lying. I don't care what she says, as a mother you go back for your children but she didn't. She ran away from her problems and found a place where she had none.
Lifting my head back up, I look over at Bruno and now, I feel an understanding. He get's it all from his mama. That whole running away thing that he dose is from her, that's her blood and I hated that. I look over at his mama and she's just sitting there with her legs crossed. I hate how calm that she looks but looking back at Bruno, he looks the same way. Calm.
“How did you get this hotel?” Bru asked
“..Baby, I know you're upset..” she said
“MOM!...Please, no..Just..Just answer the question. I don't want to hear it”
“Ok Bruno, OK...Well,When I left, I had money saved up & I bought this building from an older cat. I became friends with a lot of people here and let their out of town families stay here for a cheap fee then I went on from that and then we got more known. One day an announcer on the radio stayed here, enjoyed himself & the rest is history.”
“But Why Hawaii? Out of all the places in the world why here?”
“Because baby, Hawaii is the only place that I had great memories with. Don’t get me wrong, I love home but I didn't want to go back there & plus It's Paradise. Obviously you think the same.”
“True..” Bru said
“Listen baby, I know you don't want to hear it but I am truly sorry.”
“Why didn't you come back?”
“I..I couldn't..”
“What do you mean you couldn't!”
“Bruno..I..I Just, couldn't”
“STOP LYING TO ME!”
“I'm not baby..”
“GOD! I'm not your fucking baby!”
“You Will always be my baby Bruno.”
“Well if i'm your baby, why didn't you come back?.”
“.....Bruno..”
“Look, let's just be honest here OK.”
“What do you mean? I am being honest with you.”
“No you're not..Look, just say you didn't want to come back.”
“No.”
“Why? It's the truth!”
“No it's not Bruno! I told you...i couldn't.”
“What ever mom..”
“Listen Bruno i'm..”
“Stop, I don’t care anymore. Look i'm glad you're alive and all but I just...need some time.”
“..Ok Bruno. OK, I understand but before I leave, I have one last thing to say to you. I would never lie to you and I know that you're upset right now but sometime in the future you'll forgive me and when you do, we'll be a family again..”
Her voice started to crack and she just cleared her voice and got up. Bruno got up and started walking towards the curtains, he flew them open and I can see a balcony. He slid the glass door open and with his hands on the railing, he stood there. Looking out onto the ocean. I turn back around and seen tears streaming down her face, once she realized I was looking at her. She blinked several times and wiped her eyes. I walk over to the bed stand,grab some tissues and walk over to her. She grabs the tissues I offer her and dabs her face.
“You take good care of my son.” she said
“I already do.” I said
“Good.”
She put her hand on my shoulder, sad smiled at me, fixed her self up and then left the room. I turn towards the balcony and see Bruno with his head hanging down. Huh, what a great honeymoon start to be ruined by reality. This just proves that no matter where you go, your problems go with you. Damn I feel like I’ve just been slapped in the face.
I walk over to Bruno and lay my head on his back listening to him breath. It sounds strange like he was crying so I walk to the side of him and grab his face. He looks at me with a blank expression and I know that is how he's feeling right now. Empty. I pull him towards me and hug him, I feel him ball up my night gown but I don't care. I want him to let it all out. See this is the time that I need to be strong for him, all those he stood by me, this is my time to stand by him.
I feel him shaking and it scares me. I hold him tighter and swagger in a slow motion. Trying to calm him. I wish that I could say or do something to make him feel better but this is all I got for Bru right now. Just me.
After a while he pulls back and looks at me. I look at him, expecting him to say something . Anything but what could he say? I don't even know what I would say if I was him. I grab his hand and pull him along. He follows me to the bed and helps me put the clean sheets and comforter on the bed. Bru wraps his arms around me as I lay my head on his chest and listen to the crash of the waves hitting the beach. As his breathing slows I feel myself drift off into a deep sleep.