Chapter 13
The tape changed the case.
Milena’s voice was clear.
You could hear the boarding house heater rattling in the background.
You could hear my younger self crying.
Then Milena.
“Take the money and disappear, or I will make sure your mother loses her home and your brother never finishes school.”
I listened once.
Only once.
Then I left the room and threw up in Dominic’s office bathroom.
Angelo waited outside the door.
He did not touch me.
He just stood there.
“I am sorry,” he said.
I wiped my mouth.
“I was so young.”
“I know.”
“I was alone.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“No,” I said, anger rising fast. “You do not know. You slept in that mansion while I worked double shifts with swollen feet. You mourned a lie while I lived inside it.”
He took the hit.
He deserved it.
“You are right,” he said.
That made me angrier.
I wanted him to defend himself.
I wanted a fight.
Maybe because fighting was easier than grief.
Luke found us in the hallway.
He looked from me to Angelo.
“Are you mad at him?”
I softened instantly.
“Yes,” I said. “A little.”
Luke nodded.
“Can I be mad too?”
Angelo’s face broke.
I answered before he could.
“Yes. You can feel anything you feel.”
Luke looked at Angelo.
“You should have found us.”
Angelo swallowed hard.
“You are right.”
Luke’s voice shook.
“I needed a dad for my science fair.”
Angelo covered his mouth.
“I am sorry.”
“I needed one when kids asked why I didn’t have your last name.”
“I am sorry.”
“I needed one when Mom cried and thought I was sleeping.”
That one destroyed me.
Angelo sat down hard in the hallway chair.
Luke stared at him.
Then he whispered, “Don’t say sorry if you’re going to leave again.”
Angelo looked straight at him.
“I won’t leave.”
Luke did not smile.
May you like
But he nodded.
And for that day, it was enough.
