12. When Alessio starts counting to ten
TWELVE
WHEN ALESSIO STARTS COUNTING TO TEN
Lake
Since I’m returning to the guest house, I skip double- and triple-checking the rooms to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. The old wheels of my suitcases rolling over the courtyard sound like a construction vehicle rolling over the pavement. I hurry inside, if only to roll the luggage over the smooth indoor floors and make less noise.
Leo’s missing from the breakfast nook. I move through the kitchen and find him sitting on the stairs.
He rises as I walk into the foyer. “Where…where is everyone going?”
The quivering chin tells me he’s trying to hold back tears. I have no idea if he remembers his mother, but if he does, she might’ve said goodbye or I’ll be right back and never returned. Moreover, he said “everyone,” which tells me that Val already quietly said goodbye to him before departing.
Before I answer Leo, I check to see if his uncle is within earshot.
Alessio’s not at the desk. He’s standing in front of a window, looking out at his front lawn, and, like Val said, he’s on the phone with someone.
I scurry over to his nephew and crouch in front of him with a finger over my lips. “Shhh, don’t tell your uncle, but I’m not going anywhere.”
Leo points at the suitcase. “What are these for, then?”
“It’s a hoax.”
“What is a hoax?”
“A funny lie. Deceptive but fun. A prank.”
Leo frowns. “But my uncle told me to say goodbye to you.”
Shit. “The joke’s on him. You understand?” Even I don’t understand, but that’s okay. I just can’t make this kid a part of anything stupid the adults are doing.
Leo’s frown deepens. “My uncle won’t find it funny.”
“I know he won’t, but I’m doing it anyway.”
Leo hugs me. “I’m so happy you’re joking.”
“Me too.”
He releases me and pats my shoulder. “I’ll help with my uncle, don’t worry. He doesn’t like to get upset when I’m around. Says it’s because he curses too much.”
Awww, this boy is amazing. He makes my heart full.
Alessio’s voice rises, and Leo glances in that direction. “Uh-oh,” he says, “someone’s in trouble.” The boy runs on his tippy toes and presses his ear against the wall near the office door, then waves me over.
Instinctively, I open my mouth to refuse because I’m adult who knows that eavesdropping is rude, but then I remember I’m also an adult who is spying on his uncle. Shamefully, I join Leo.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Alessio growls.
A pause while I assume the person on the other end of the phone line replies.
“Do not sign anything. You can’t buy properties anywhere, let alone in the United States. Have you lost your ever-fucking mind?”
Alessio must’ve not liked the answer because he shouts, “What? You bought it already? Sell it, burn it, abandon ship, abandon the entire country. Return, return right away.” A pause, then, “No? You can’t tell me no, M…”
Darn it, I didn’t make out what I think might’ve been the name of the person on the other end.
Alessio switches to Italian, and just when I thought I could move away, Leo starts translating. Guilt eats at me, but I have no choice but to let the boy tell me what his uncle is saying.
“You want to marry her?” Leo whispers, but then makes a face that tells me his brain is working hard to find the right words. “I tried to get you to do that. Now, she’s back in her town. What? Your best man? And if I say no, you’ll ask…I see. Mmhm. If you pick him over me, I’ll never speak to you again, you hear me. Never. Dead.”
Leo starts to giggle.
“Shhhh,” I say, nervous that we’re doing this.
“You’re friends with her dad?” Alessio shouts at the top of his lungs. “The town’s sheriff? That’s it. You’re dead. Wear your best suit so you can look good when you go before Lucifer.”
I gasp.
Leo shakes his head. “It’s not real. My uncle is hoaxing.”
Alessio switches to another language that sounds Russian, and it reminds me of the language Val spoke. Is that her babies’ daddy on the phone? If so then he’s somewhere in the States, so she’s flying overseas. Can a pregnant woman carrying twins travel long-distance safely? And where is this small town Alessio mentioned?
Leo knows. He knows. I’m sure he knows because once Alessio hangs up, Leo rushes back to sit on the bottom stair. Quickly, I join him, and we sit there quietly while Alessio curses.
I should ask about the person on the other end of the phone line. It can’t be the same man as Val’s boyfriend because Val said the man was Alessio’s enemy, and that conversation, while heated, sounded passionate and not antagonistic.
Besides, whoever is on the other end wants Alessio to be his best man, so they’re not enemies. The sadist will want to know who it was. But I promised myself I wouldn’t ask Leo about things that I would later use against his family. I don’t think I could live with myself if I were to extract information from a child who trusts me.
I’ll find another way.
Alessio marches out of the office and heads straight for the front door. He opens it wide and gestures with his hand.
“After you,” he says calmly, as if he didn’t just have a heated argument.
Wow, Alessio compartmentalizes better than most people.
I check the big clock near the door. Val said Alessio would be on the phone for another fifteen minutes, but he hung up, and if Val didn’t manage to steal Alessio’s plane by now, she’ll have to stay. If she needs fifteen more minutes, I have to give them to her, or I’m fired.
Not only will Alessio succeed in firing me, but I would break my promise to Leo. That would make me feel shitty. But, the saving grace is that the guilt and sadness wouldn’t last long because the sadist would shoot me on the spot.
I’m disturbed by how fast I flipped the worst situation I’ve ever been in into something positive, like getting shot. Maybe I should visit a psych ward. Might as well. I’ve already got my bags packed and all.
“Did you say goodbye?” Alessio asks Leo.
Leo nods. “I did, Uncle.”
“I’m sorry that Ms. Wilder must go,” Alessio says.
Leo shrugs. “Me too.”
This kid should take up acting.
“Can I have a minute to freshen up?” I ask, hoping he’ll cave in, given how my face is swollen from crying and general stress.
Alessio checks the clock. It’s two minutes past ten, and I can see his jaw tighten. “Go ahead, but make it quick.”
I kiss Leo on top of his head and enter the guest bathroom downstairs, where I prop my palms on the counter, trying to figure out how I’ll buy Val an extra ten minutes. Using the bathroom takes only a few minutes, and Alessio will wonder what I’m doing. Regardless, I’m staying in here.
I sit on the toilet cover, obsessively checking my watch.
Sure enough, after two minutes, a soft knock comes from the door.
“Ms. Wilder?” Leo says. “My uncle says to hurry up.”
I bet he does. “Coming!” I answer. That buys me a minute.
A knock again. “He says to come out right away.”
“Tell him I can’t.”
“She says she can’t,” Leo shouts, then waits. “He wants to know why you can’t.”
“Um…” I look around the bathroom. “I got my period.”
“She has period. That makes no sense, Ms. Wilder.”
I’m still on governess duty, so I might as well teach him. “When a woman says she’s on her period, it means she is on her monthly cycle.”
“What’s that?” Leo asks. “Oh wait, my uncle says there’s famine products under the sink.”
“Feminine,” I correct.
“Okay, and also, he says to grab the whole box and come out of the bathroom. Ms. Wilder, he used the f-word. You know what that means, right?”
“Thank you, Leo.” Damn it. I remain inside the bathroom.
Something slams against the door. I jump off the toilet.
“Ms. Wilder.” Alessio’s voice drifts in. “You’re stalling. I’m going to count to ten, and you will open this door and walk out. One. The alternative is that I break down the door and drag you out. Two. Same outcome, very different experience for you. Three.”
Alessio’s fond of counting. When he spanked me over the bar stool, he counted backward from ten. Now it’s forward. (Don’t know why my brain supplied that info right now, but there you have it.)
“I can’t come out.” Yet. I need five more minutes. Universe, please deliver.
“Do you have belly pain?” Leo asks. “Sometimes when I have pain in my belly, I sit on the toilet for a looooong time.”
This is embarrassing. I rest my elbows on my knees and catch my head in my hands. Gawwwdddd.
“She does,” Leo answers for me. “She has stomach pain and can’t come out, Uncle. Maybe she needs tea.”
“She’s not staying for tea, Leo.” Alessio can’t hide his annoyance.
“I can put her tea in my go cup,” the boy says. “For the trip.”
A pause. I bite my lip, sweating like an untrained spy in enemy territory.
“Seven,” Alessio says.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Leo protests. “You skipped numbers.”
“I counted in my head,” Alessio says. “Eight.”
Oh my God, this man is relentless.
What can I do? I turn around in the bathroom, looking for something, anything, but it’s just walls with sandy-white tile and dark wallpaper.
“ Nine, Ms. Wilder. Leo, stand away from the door.”
I grab the box of pads from under the sink. Sweat drips from my brow, I’m so damn stressed out. “Wait, I’m coming out.”