The party is in two days, I can hold out that long, but it’s getting harder. I know something’s going on back at the house, but Gabriel isn’t talking, and I can’t blame him because I’m the one who asked to drop it until after the party. “I know you’re pissed, but you can’t hurt yourself; let me see your hands.”
“My hands are fine, I just….”
He still removed the gloves and checked for himself anyway. “Let’s go for a walk in the gardens.” I wanted to tell him that wasn’t going to work this time but felt like an ungrateful brat, and then I remembered. “I can’t; I have to practice with the girls in about ten minutes.”
“What is it that you all are practicing anyway?”
“I can’t tell you; it’s a surprise.” And one of the only things I look forward to these days. I felt honored when the twins invited me to join the dance; they and a few of their friends had planned for their special night. What I hadn’t expected was to be asked to take over the choreography after the first day or for them to praise my efforts when I turned it into so much more.
It’s a nice distraction, and I’m not sure the twins hadn’t suggested it just to keep me preoccupied, but whatever the reason, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a while, especially with dance. Gabriel hasn’t left my side since I met with Greta except for when we’re at school, but even there, he hovers. It’s almost difficult to remember what things were like just a few short weeks ago. The rapidity in which things have changed on campus is something I thought only happened in movies.
I have friends, acquaintances, and in the twins, accomplices. They still keep things from me at the order of their brother, no doubt, but some things they share. That brings me to why I’m so pissed this time. Victoria, in the middle of one of her online rants, had denigrated my mother’s memory.
I guess they would’ve kept that from me as well, but Tasha, who doesn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to know, mentioned it in front of me, and now I want blood. But I can’t tell Gabriel that; he’d only tell me not to worry that he’ll take care of it. “Okay, keep your secrets; I’ll be in the study room if you need me.”
Huh? Oh, he’s talking about the dance. Of course, he is; he’s not a mind reader Gianna, he can’t possibly know what you’re thinking. “Okay!” I felt guilty when he kissed me because I wasn’t being honest, but if I don’t do what I have in mind, I think I’ll suffocate. He’s going to be pissed, but it can’t be helped.
I walked down to the studio where the others were starting to gather, pleased that I’d learned how to navigate this place in such a short time. I felt guilty, too, about what I was about to ask these girls to do. “Anna, Rosa, I need a favor.” I looked around at the rest of the group. Tasha, Eliza, and Monique, “we’ll be right back.”
I took the twins’ hands and led them to the other side of the room. “I need a favor. I need you to get me out of the house without Gabriel knowing.”
“Huh! Where are you going?”
“I need to go to my house; I won’t be long.” Anna studied me as if she could see through the bullshit.
“Tell me the truth, why do you want to go there?” Rosa was the one to ask. I couldn’t lie to them, not after everything they’d done for me.
“I need to have a conversation with Victoria about what she said about my mother. I can’t let her get away with it.”
“Fine, we’ll help you.” Anna agreed.
“Anna!”
“It’s okay, Rosa, she has to do this. Think about what we’d do if it was Ma. Now help me figure out how to get out of here without anyone noticing.”
“Oh, you don’t have to come with.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. My brother is going to find out one way or the other, and when he does, it will be better for us if he knows we went with you than if we let you go on your own. Besides, we won’t help you otherwise.” There was no way around it, and I needed their help. Who better to know the hidden places needed for escape?
We got the others to cover for us by going on with practice while the twins showed me how stealthy they were. We walked down to the garden without haste and then made a little side trip to the wall along the back of the property and out the back gate. It was barely five in the evening but already dark enough for streetlights to come on.
We jogged the twenty minutes or so to my house, which is all it took, and I couldn’t believe we were doing this. It was so out of character for me, but the twins were pumped. It was only when we reached the driveway, and I noticed that my dad’s car wasn’t there that I breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t matter if Becky was here; in fact, I hope she is, but I was here for Victoria this time.
Although the words she’d spouted couldn’t have come from her since she was little more than a child herself when mom passed, she’d said them and posted them for all the world to see. The fact that she’d say those things about a woman who’d fought for and lost her life, a woman who’d been nothing but kind to her and her snake of a mother is the reason I can’t sleep until I look her in the face and tell her what I think of her.
Her years of torment were nothing compared to what her words about my mother made me feel. Mom is not here to defend herself, so I have to be the one since I no longer trust Felix to do it. “You two can wait out here; I won’t be long.”
“No freaking way are you nuts? Gabe might forgive us for bringing you here, but he’d have my ass if I let you walk in there alone.” Anna denied me.
“Suit yourself.” I rang the doorbell and waited for it to be answered. It was Victoria herself who answered.
“You, what do you want?” She looked past me to the twins before trying to slam the door in my face. I pushed it open and followed her down the hallway, where she headed for the parlor room, claiming she had nothing to say to me.
“What do you want?”
“You forget I live here. This was my home long before it was yours. Why did you say those things about my mother?”
“What? Did I lie? She couldn’t take care of her own kid, so my mother did, and what thanks did she get? She got you turning the Russos against her with your lies. You think you can say shit about my mother, and I can’t say anything about yours? Dream on. Your mother was a weak bitch….”
I’m not sure what my intentions were when I made up my mind to come here. I couldn’t see past the anger to think clearly enough. But her dismissive attitude after the ugly things she’d said pissed me off beyond measure. My hand connected with her face, and that’s the last thing I remember because I didn’t stop there. Years of pent-up rage found their way to my fists, and I just let it fly.
I’ve never been so close to committing murder as I was then. I released all the anger I felt on her, evading each blow she threw at me. The twins didn’t interfere, in fact, they didn’t make a sound after the first slap, but I had no doubt they’d have stepped in if Victoria had overpowered me.
GABRIEL
“What the fuck? Gianna?” It can’t be. I ran from the room and headed down to the studio with my heart in my lungs. I saw all I needed to when I opened the door and saw just my sisters’ three friends in there. I took the stairs three at a time in my haste to get outside to the car that waited at the bottom of the steps.