Chapter 12 #2
Apparently, I had completely missed Seb’s bike outside. His helmet sat on the side table beside Kira’s bedroom door — her ajar bedroom door where the sound of a creaking bed and soft but heavy breathing could be heard.
I quickly exited the apartment, slightly shocked and happily bemused as I stopped in the hallway.
My train of thought was completely derailed.
What do I do?
I started for the elevator and pulled out my phone.
Dean’s voice answering my call never failed to cause a faint flutter in my stomach.
“Hey, what’s up?” It was paired with a subtle breathlessness and the sounds of the garage in the background.
“I was wondering what time you planned on getting home?” I pressed the elevator button for the ground floor.
“I’ve gotta run some errands for Mom first, but I should get to yours at five-ish…” The sounds of the garage grew faint. I figured he had stepped outside. “Unless you had something else in mind for right now? Because I could tell the boss there was a family emergency.”
My face heated, and I smiled. “I was actually wondering if your mom would mind if I visited? And maybe stay over?”
“We’re talkin’ about my mother, Lily. She adores you.”
Sofia opened the front door with a huge grin on her face.
Her long, wavy black hair was pulled away from her face with a claw clip, and her blue eyes sparkled.
In her lap was Bella, the caramel chihuahua mix puppy she was gifted so many months ago.
The puppy had grown a mere inch since then but was as bouncy as the first time I met her, wriggling from head to white-tipped tail.
“Dean told me you were on your way,” Sofia said warmly as I leaned in to hug her. “How are you?”
She knew what I went through, more so than anyone else. Not from retellings but from her own experience of how she came to be in a wheelchair. When I slowly pulled away from the hug, she watched me with a knowing look and a faint smile.
“I’m coping,” I said, adjusting the way the strap of my bag sat on my shoulder. I brought my eyes to the rest of the house, noting the sweet smell that drifted in from the kitchen in the back. “Something smells good.”
“That is the cannoli. I hope you are hungry.” She invited me in with a soft ushering of her hands before wheeling ahead to the kitchen.
I closed the front door behind me and followed, feeling as if the exhaustion from today was left on the porch. I felt better for being here. It was safe, despite my uncertainty on whether Dean had told his mother about his situation.
And the blackmail.
The subject of Sofia’s citizenship lingered in the corners of my mind as I helped her prepare the cannoli on a plate, poured two glasses of lemonade, and followed her back into the lounge room. She insisted on showing me a photo album full of memories of her home in Sicily as we ate.
“Would you ever want to visit again? Or move back?” My hands were wrapped firmly around the glass in my hand as I tried to gauge if she was aware of what was going on.
Maybe if Sofia took an impromptu trip to Italy, the surprise of deportation wouldn’t come so harshly. She could go on her own terms.
“Sometimes. But I do like it here. I have many friends here,” she smiled sweetly. “And with how I am, I don’t think I could afford traveling back home with my chair.” Her eyes lit up. “Maybe you and Dean could go one day.”
She didn’t know. Not about her citizenship, and definitely not about her son’s future.
“A trip there would be nice.” I brought my drink to my lips, taking a sip as I eyed the cannoli on the coffee table.
It’s not my place to tell her. Change the subject.
“What’s in these?” I said, picking up one of the cannoli. “Is it cream cheese?”
Sofia reached over and gently squeezed my knee. When my eyes met hers, she smiled softly, creating faint wrinkles around the edges of her blue eyes. “There is something you are not saying, Lily. You can tell me.”
“A lot is going on right now.” My attempt to brush off the topic was lost on Sofia.
She only watched me closer, waiting for a better response.
I put the cannoli down and cleared my throat, dusting crumbs from my lap.
“Well, I’ve only just started work again…
My emotions are all over the place.” I tried for a laugh, to pretend it was all fine, but that somehow made it worse.
Sofia rested back in her chair with empathy in her eyes and her smile fading. “It took me some time to feel like myself again after my accident. I also lost a little one…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring anything up.”
“Talking about it helped.”
I looked down as that all too familiar lump rose in my throat, causing my voice to come out small. “It doesn’t always feel like it works.”
Sofia took my hand in my lap, speaking gently with strength in her words. “It takes time to heal something so deep, but I promise you it will get better. You are so young. You will grow from this.”
Tears began to blur my vision. When I blinked, one ran quickly down my cheek before I wiped it away, huffing a sombre laugh.
Sofia wheeled herself closer and cupped my face in her soft, warm hands. Her own eyes were watery too as she wiped another tear from my cheek with her thumb.
“You will be okay. I promise.”
I wanted to believe her.