19. Levi #2
“So, you're going to tell us how the military went?” I interrupted Ru in hopes that we stopped talking about Matteo and me.
Ru narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “No, but I don’t think I have a choice right?”
“Nope,” Matteo said, opening another beer.
I shook my head, feeling like an asshole, but I needed the attention away from me. It was selfish, but focusing on Ru was better than thinking about myself.
“It was hard, I was too optimistic when I went in and—” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “They said bullying had stopped, but they made fun of me for being famous. It was really fucking hard at first when they fucked with me nonstop.”
“What the hell?” I growled.
“They messed with you because you were famous?” Matteo scowled. “What kind of backwards shit is that? Tell me you have a small dick without tell me you have a fucking small dick.”
“I can’t believe those assholes,” I said as Ru shrugged. “What did they do?”
I was afraid to ask, but I needed to know.
“The usual shit.” He took a sip of his beer. “They made me do more laps, bathroom duty all the time. They took my things, put my shit in the toilet and once the other guys found out, it was like a free-for-all.”
I clenched my jaw knowing he was telling us the bare minimum.
“You went through this for the full nineteen months?” Matteo asked, his nostrils flaring.
“No,” Ru said quickly. “I was transferred out after six months, it got better, but some people still felt like I was entitled, even though I did everything that was asked of me.”
“Your superiors allowed them to fuck with you?” Matteo snarled.
Ru shrugged. “I don’t want to say allowed, they just turned a blind eye and I attempted to report it. Then I was dismissed as being too pampered for the military.”
He ran his hand through his hair trying to appear ok.
“Can we do something—”
“No,” Ru interrupted me. “It’s done. I’m out and all I want to do is forget about all the hateful people I had to deal with.
I already have to deal with my mind not being the same, so please can we just move on?
I told you what happened and I just need to forget about it, at least for the next few weeks. ”
Matteo and I shared a look. He nodded while I said yes. We might not agree on Vi or things between us, but we could agree on Ru and we would do anything to make sure he was ok. He deserved to be happy. We would make sure he was happy and maybe Matteo and I would be ok too.
“This is a cool castle,” Ru said, looking around as he took photos.
“Good find, Ru,” I said, looking out onto the ocean, admiring the vast blue water.
We came to visit a small island that had the fortress we wanted to tour off the coast. It wasn’t something I would have chosen to visit, but I couldn’t deny it was pretty cool.
“I’m still amazed that some of these structures still look this good,” Matteo said. “I think it’s amazing we can still see pieces of history.”
“Come on, a photo for the parentals,” I said, holding out my phone.
Matteo wrapped his arm around me and I regretted the photo immediately. I schooled my face as much as I could, thankful it was a rather warm day.
“Awesome,” I said, taking a few before pulling away.
“Good picture,” Ru said, patting my shoulder as I sent it to our group chat. “My mom will probably thank you for all the pictures, like she needed proof of life.”
“Is she that worried?” I asked, putting my phone away as we walked around.
“Yeah, I think she’s worried I’ll end up like my dad,” Ruwon sighed. “I think she thinks that it will affect me like it did him and I can see why she thinks that, but times are different. I’m a different man than my father was.”
“You have us,” I said, throwing my arm around his shoulder.
“You are not afraid to ask for help, either,” Matteo said, walking with us. “Things are different and you don’t have to suffer alone.”
“Plus, you don’t need us, you already made yourself an appt with the therapist and that's half the battle,” I said, leaning against him.
“I told her she doesn’t need to worry, but—”
“She wouldn’t be your mom if she didn’t,” I finished his sentence.
“Yeah, I just wish she didn’t,” he sighed.
“At least she is with her girls,” Matteo said. “You know they won’t let her worry too much.”
“Yeah, I’m glad she has them and I have you guys,” he said softly.
“Same, dude,” I said.
“I agree, but it's hot as hell today,” Matteo said, pulling his shirt away. “We should hit the beach before we go home.”
“Yes,” Ru groaned.
“There’s a beach close to where we depart,” Matteo said, taking more pictures.
“Have we seen enough?” I asked, hoping they said yes.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Ru said.
“Let’s go,” Matteo said.
“Great,” I said, leading them back to where we got on our boat.
It didn’t take much time for us to get back to our car and drive half a kilometer to park and walk to the beach. We quickly changed into our swimsuits, grabbing our bag we packed full of towels and sunscreen.
“Damn, the water looks great,” I said, as we found a place to sit that had an umbrella.
“Last one to the water buys dinner!” Matteo shucked off his sandals running to the water.
I dropped our bag, kicking off my sandals, shoving Ru out of the way.
“Cheater,” he yelled, catching up to me.
I thought I had run ahead fast enough, but he was on my tail quickly.
“How the hell are you so fucking fast?” I yelled, as he shoved me, getting ahead.
“Sucker!” he laughed, as I caught up and pushed him, hoping to gain the upper hand.
We fell into the water together, laughing.
“I think it was a tie,” Matteo walked up to us all wet, throwing his head back.
Sometimes, I swear, this man lived to tease me.
“I think I won,” I smirked, dipping my head in, enjoying the cool water.
“Hell no.” Ru splashed water towards me. “It was a damn tie.”
“Lies!” I tackled him into the water; that turned into each of us trying to push each other down.
I laughed more than I had in months as Matteo attempted to dunk Ru, but to no avail. Matteo wasn’t strong enough and to be honest, while Ru was strong, he couldn’t win when teamed up against him.
“Damn, I missed this,” Ru said, as we floated together like we used to when we were teenagers.
“I think that's the longest we've ever been apart,” I said, as the wave crashed into us.
“Never again. I don’t care if I have to join the military, too,” Matteo said, pushing the water out of his face.
I laughed. “You’re an idiot. I love you, but I’m not built for the military.”
“God. Knowing you, they’d put you in some fucking top-secret shit,” Matteo rolled his eyes.
“He would become some insufferable general,” Ru chuckled.
“Nah, I would build some shit or run the cyber warfare division,” I grinned. “I’ll leave you two to the fighting.”
“Fucking princess, I swear,” Matteo laughed.
“Nah, strategic,” I cackled.
“I need a drink, are you ready to get out?” Ru asked.
"Yeah, let's get some drinks and get some sun,” Matteo said.
I rolled my eyes. “Not all of us are blessed with tanning evenly.
“I just want some color,” Ru said, shaking off his hair as we started walking on the beach.
“Same, but I don’t need to burn,” I said, looking around the beach.
“Then we better get some sunscreen on you.” Matteo bumped into me.
I smiled, bumping into him. We grinned together as I thought I saw Vi. I looked around Matteo wondering if my eyes were fooling me, but there she stood, looking around the beach with her hand shielding her eyes. My heart beat faster as excitement jolted through me.
“Vi!” I yelled, before I thought better of it. She startled before finding me. She grinned, waving back.
“What the fuck is she doing here?”
“Violeta?”
Matteo and Ruwon said together. What the hell did they say? I hoped my excitement didn’t ruin our day, but it was damn good to see her.