Page 94 of Bazooka
She changed too. I hadn’t seen her in years, and she got visibly older in the meantime. Her blond hair turned grey, but her eyes were as blue as I remembered them.
“Come with me,” she said, taking my hand in hers. “Your father is waiting for you.”
She led me into the dining room, where my father was standing by the window. When I came in, he turned and nodded at me. He looked different, too. He was still an intimidating man, but there was melancholy on his face I’d never seen before. His eyes, the same color as mine, weren’t as stern as I remembered them. Then, a movement in the corner of the room caught my eye, and I realized someone else was there. The person in question stood up, and steely gray eyes met mine.
I tripped over a carpet, and only my mother’s hand helped me remain on my feet. Bazooka looked equally surprised to see me, so no wonder we both looked in my father’s direction.
“I apologize for misleading you both,” my father said in a solemn voice. “I knew you wouldn’t have come if I’d told you the truth.”
No shit.
“I feel responsible for the rift between you two, so I wanted to clear the air. I owe you an explanation, Mikolaj, and I wanted to do it in front of Detective Bradley. I can’t, in all conscience, let this quarrel between you go on without trying to repair the damage I’d done.”
“Conscience,” I snorted.
My father was undeterred by my comment, to little or no surprise.
“Mikolaj, I want you to know that Detective Bradley didn’t want to lie to you or keep secrets from you. He entered our agreement reluctantly, and only after I told him it was for your own safety.”
I frowned in confusion. “My safety?”
Then I heard the rest of it. The death threats he has been receiving, and how he found out that Bazooka saved me in that parking lot. How it made him realize Bazooka was the only man capable of protecting me.
When my father stopped talking, I glanced at Bazooka, who was gazing into the distance. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he looked at me, and my heart jumped to my throat. Was he even glad to see me? His face was unreadable as always, but his eyes… they kept taking me in.
“Is that all?” I said when I got no reaction out of him. “Can I go now?”
“Mikolaj, please stay for lunch,” my mother begged, taking my hand in hers. “Your friend will join us, yes?”
“Mamo, prosze,” I murmured, feeling uncomfortable. “Please don’t. He doesn’t want to stay.”
My mother looked at Bazooka pleadingly.
“Please, Detective Bradley. You two can’t leave on empty stomachs after such a long drive.”
“I would be honored if you both stayed,” my father added. “I won’t join you for lunch if you don’t want me to, Mikolaj. I have some work to do, anyway. But please stay if you can, for your mother at least. Detective Bradley, can I persuade you to stay?”
Bazooka cleared his throat. “Yeah, erm… I can stay. Thank you.”
I looked at the bruised cuticle on my hand, feeling cornered. I was sure Bazooka did it out of a sense of obligation… could I not do the same?
“Okay, I’ll stay,” I grumbled finally. “We can all have lunch together. I can be civil for one meal, if everyone else can.”
And so it came to pass that Bazooka and I had lunch with my parents one hot summer day in my ex-family home. The meal passed in silence, except for the occasional comment from my mother, who was trying to liven up the mood. Bazookacomplimented her on the food, but other than that, he remained silent. He was sitting next to me, so I could smell him, that goddamn vanilla scent that was driving me crazy even in his absence. I could feel his body heat despite the AC being turned on, but I wouldn’t look at him. I was sure I would fall apart if I tried.
After lunch, we had coffee. Everyone seemed more relaxed now, as if we’d passed a test of some kind. My father and Bazooka chatted about their jobs, while my mother asked me about my friends and hobbies.
“My Mikolaj,” she said, brushing away a strand of hair from my forehead. “You have such beautiful hair, even more beautiful than when you were a boy.”
I blushed, squirming in my seat.
“Mom, don’t,” I muttered, feeling self-conscious. I glanced at Bazooka to see if he’d noticed her coddling me, only to see him suppressing a grin. The fucker.
When a young woman entered the room, all eyes turned to her. She was petite, blonde, and she had a welcoming smile on her face.
“Mikolaj, this is your brother Nolan’s fiancée, Rose.” My father made the introductions. “She’s staying with us for the summer. Rose, this is our youngest son, Mikolaj. Nolan’s baby brother.”
I tensed up because my brothers hated me. Did she hate me, too?
