Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Thirty-Three
It wasn’t that being at a family gathering for a holiday was new to me. I had gone with many friends over the years to things like this. What was weird was knowing this was my family yet it wasn’t. Rio had handled it well so far, but I could see in his eyes he felt the same as me.
These were strangers. We may share the same blood, but they were not family. Maybe one day they would feel that way but down deep, I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. Hillya had seemed happy to have us here. Emily had introduced me to many people while Hillya spent more time with Rio.
Seeing photos of Rebel in the house, ranging from a child to a young man had been oddly emotional. Simply because there were pictures of him over the years where I could see myself. Hillya was right; I had his smile. The older he got in the photos, the more of Rio I could see in him.
A teenage boy who hadn’t thought about repercussions and had been living his life not knowing what the future would hold or that his future was very limited. He’d left kids behind and for Rio, a child in a very bad situation. I was the lucky one. I hadn’t always thought that, but after hearing Rio’s story and witnessing Saul’s, I knew I had an easy life. A normal life even without a dad.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Rio asked and I turned to see him watching me study the photos lined along the mantle. He nodded at the pictures. “Seeing those. The second one from the left could have been me. I looked exactly like that when I was nine.”
I looked back at the photos and picked up the one he mentioned. I could see Rio in his eyes. I hadn’t seen photos of Rio as a child, but now I wanted to.
“You have his smile. It’s almost identical,” he said, walking up to stand beside me.
“I never thought much about my smile until now,” I admitted. “But you’re right. I can see it.”
He picked up a picture of Rebel in a football uniform, standing with a football tucked under his arm and smiling at the camera. “He was a running back,” he said. “I was too. I played on that same field.”
“Does it fill the void? Knowing who he was?” I asked. It did for me. It wasn’t the way I thought it would, but the questions were no longer there. Seeing him and the life he had made it better. Something my mother never understood.
“Yeah, it does. We all deserve to know where we come from.”
“I have more pictures, albums, if y’all want to see them,” Hillya said and we both turned to her. Neither of us had heard her enter and I wondered how long she had been standing there.
“I would,” I replied. Seeing more of Rebel’s life wasn’t the same as knowing him, but it still felt like it helped make a connection. One I thought I would never have.
“Me too,” Rio said.
Hillya smiled, looking relieved. “I’ll go get them,” she told us and left the room.
“I want to ask her why my mom left. Why your mom left. If Rebel cared about the fact he had kids,” Rio said quietly.
I knew this answer or most of it anyway. I wasn’t sure Rio needed to hear it though. “I’m sure in time she will be ready to share that with us. I imagine it’s hard for her too. It was a choice he made and one she couldn’t control.”
Rio thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, I guess so,” he finally replied. I was glad he wasn’t going to push it right now. I wanted him to get to know Hillya and hear more about our dad before he found out the truth behind Rebel and our mothers.
It wasn’t until Rio pulled his Jeep into the already crowded driveway that Saul texted. His blue Ford wasn’t amongst the vehicles outside. Rio parked and looked over at me. “That from Saul?” he asked.
I nodded and opened the text message.
Saul: Mom isn’t having a good day. I will be late.
I looked up at Rio. “Lily,” I told him. “She’s not doing well.”
Rio sighed and shook his head. “Damn. You want to stay or want me to take you home?”
Saul had said he would be late. He hadn’t said for me to go back to Gran’s. “I’ll stay,” I told him.
“Alright, just please don’t put on a bikini before he gets here,” he said with a smirk, before climbing out of the truck.
He may have been smirking, but I also knew he was serious. Saul had gotten better about me swimming in front of Drake and Rio the past week, but I wasn’t sure about the others. Especially if he arrived dark and broody from the stress with Lily.