Chapter Four
R owen approached the house her family lived in with trepidation.
She’d grown up in Boston because this is where her father moved after things went down and her grandpa was moved to prison twenty some odd years ago.
According to what her mom told her, her dad was ordered to keep an eye on Leon and report to her grandpa when he went to visit him in the clink.
Rowen remembered growing up, listening to her parents fight day and night about what her dad was doing.
She was grown up and ready to leave when her mom beat her to it.
She finally walked out on her family four years ago, leaving behind a twenty year old Rowen and a ten year old Calli.
Her little brother. Calli, as she thought of him, had some issues and he was the only reason she was still here. .. the only reason Rowen had stayed.
Her father was useless when it came to Calli.
He’d been diagnosed with Autism when he was only three.
They had learned over the years that he could speak he just wouldn’t speak but he was highly functioning otherwise.
He was a bright kid but also he hated being touched.
He would freak out if anyone he didn’t know got too close.
He had to take online classes for school but he didn’t learn like a normal child his age.
He was very advanced for a fourteen year old and there were times when Rowen watched him she could almost see him figuring out things. His brain processed things quickly.
As she entered their house, she could see the mess that had been made while she was gone. Calli and their dad had had another fight. She sighed and began the clean up. She knew her dad was long gone to work by this time and Calli was probably alone in his room.
After ten minutes of cleaning, she made her way to Calli’s room.
When she pushed the door open, she could hear him sobbing.
Stepping into the room, she looked around and shook her head.
Calli always kept his room nice and neat, as messes upset him but she knew her dad had made this mess.
Calli’s clothes were strewn all over. His stuff was broken lying on the floor.
Stephano had done a good job of turning his son’s life upside down.
Clenching her fists at her sides, Rowen had reached her limit.
She stepped carefully around the mess and found her brother sitting in the corner crying his heart out. She knelt in front of him and called his name softly, “Calli, are you all right?”
Calli stopped crying and shook his head. He hadn’t looked at her directly yet.
Rowen knew why. Stephano always made his son feel ashamed of his condition. There was no shame in autism, Calli just processed things around him in a different way than everyone else. She looked around the room again and said, “How about we blow this popsicle stand?”
Calli snapped his head up and looked at her with questions in his eyes.
Rowen smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I mean it. Dad has his own worries and he sure as hell doesn't care about you or me anymore. In fact, he hasn’t cared about us for a long time, if ever. You and me can do better on our own, can’t we?”
Calli wiped his tears away and stared at her for instructions.
Rowen nodded then told him, “Take everything you can pack in one suitcase and I’ll do the same. Then we’ll leave and go somewhere he can’t find us. Do you like that idea?”
Calli nodded, then he smiled and reached out to her.
Rowen didn’t move or try to take his hand. With Calli you had to wait for him to touch you, not the other way around.
He finally touched the back of her hand and patted it.
Rowen smiled at his touch and she nodded. “There you go. Now, let's get to packing and then we’re off for bigger and better places.” She stood and waited until Calli got up before she moved away. “Remember to take only what you can pack in one suitcase.”
Calli nodded and began gathering his clothing.
Rowen went to her room and opened her closet. She brought out her suitcase and then began transferring her meager amount of clothing from the dresser to the suitcase.
When she was all packed, she went deeper into her closet and dug up the floorboard.
Lifting the board up, she reached inside and took out her secret stash of money she had been saving up for just this certain event.
She’d been putting money away for years just waiting for her dad to fuck things up so badly that she would have to protect her brother and leave his house.
Today was that day.
She zipped her suitcase up and grabbed it off the bed then went to find her brother.
Calli sat waiting for her and his clothes were all packed.
She motioned for him to come with her.
Picking the case up from the bed, he then grabbed his backpack and followed her out of the house. His gaze avoided the broken coffee table and the busted lamp in the living room. When they got outside, Calli took a deep breath and moved over to Rowen’s car.
They put the suitcases in the backseat and then got into the front seat and buckled up.
Rowen looked over at her brother and asked, “Are you ready for this?”
Calli looked at her and nodded.
“Well, let's get on with things,” Rowen said. “First off, we have to find a place to stay.”
Calli pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to her.
Rowen paused and looked down at it. Calli had written a name on the paper, just one name. She looked at him and he pointed to the paper. “You want me to warn Leon about grandpa and dad, don’t you?” she asked softly.
Calli nodded and stared at her.
Rowen nodded then said, “I already did. That was where I was this morning when Stepahno apparently lost it.” She didn’t call him dad, she always used his name. He never acted like a real dad, so she’d avoided saying that he was a father to them at all.
Calli shook his head and pointed at the paper again. Then he brought out his laptop and patted it like he had something important on it. Then he pointed at the paper again.
Rowen finally got it. “You have something Leon needs to see?”
Calli nodded.
Rowen started her car. “Ok, we’ll try to go see him then. I just hope he’s home today.”
Rowen retraced her journey of earlier today and soon found herself sitting in her car staring at the mansion behind the fence. She turned to look at Calli and told him, “Well kiddo, this is Leon’s house. Are you sure you want to go in there?”
Calli paled a bit but he finally nodded.
Rowen let out a sigh and moved her car to the driveway where someone asked her through a speaker what he could help her with.
Rowen swallowed hard, then cleared her throat and said, “I need to see Mr. Vincinti, please.”
“Mr. Vincinti is very busy. What is your name and what is your business with him?” the voice asked her.
“My name is Rowen Caldousce and I need to see him,” she replied to the speaker.
There was an immediate reply, “Please wait and someone will bring you to the house,” the voice told her.
Rowen looked at Calli and shrugged. “That was quick. I really thought we would get turned away.”
A few minutes later, a man walked down from the main house and the gate opened. He motioned for Rowen to pull forward and when she did, he directed her to pull over next to the garage. Turning the car off, both her and Calli got out and he motioned for them to move toward the house.
Calli moved ahead but Rowen could see he was afraid. “Easy does it, little man,” she told him softly. “It's gonna be okay.”
Calli nodded but the closer he got to the mansion the more scared he looked. When he got to the bottom of the steps, he froze. He gripped the laptop with a white knuckled grasp and just stared at the steps.
Rowen stopped as well and squatted down to speak to him.
The guard came up to them and asked, “What’s wrong with the kid?”
“There’s nothing wrong with him, he’s just scared,” Rowen told him as she stared at Calli. “Can you give him a moment?”
The guard snorted and reached for Calli’s shoulder to move him along.
“Please don’t touch him!” Rowen called out. “He doesn’t like to be touched.”
Just then, the front door opened.