Chapter 47 Antonio Is The Answer To All Questions

I woke up to my mother's urging, and as she wrung a hot towel for my eyes, I sneaked a glance at the wall clock. 2:15 PM! I was shocked. I had slept for four hours! Since the accident, this was the best sleep I'd had, and I don't usually take naps.

"Sisi," my mother called from the bathroom, "come wash your face."

I slipped into my slippers and hurried over, not noticing the bounce in my step until I received my mother's gentle chiding. Well, it wasn't exactly a chiding since even her admonishments were tender.

"Stop, don't run, Sisi! Watch your feet," she cautioned as she came over to support me. "Your ankle is injured, and although the doctor said there wouldn't be any lasting effects, that's only if you don't run or jump or further injure it."

"Poor child, what have you gone through with all these injuries on you."

"It's okay, Mom. I feel fine now," I said, smiling unconsciously along with her.

"Mom, I love you."

"I love you too, baby," she said, stroking my hair tenderly, her eyes filled with compassion. "Why won't you come live with me?"

I didn't know how to respond, and my silence was taken as a refusal, which saddened her. "Vince is your and Val's father, and I don't want to speak ill of him in front of you. But trust me, Sisi, I can give you a better life."

I could see her disdain for my father, and my own wasn't any less. Of course, I longed to escape him, but escaping didn't mean I wanted to return to living with my mother.

I was grown up now, about to graduate, and I'd find a decent-paying job and live on my own. I couldn't tell her about my plans for the future. I knew she loved me, and it would break her heart, something I didn't want.

"I'll come to visit often, Mom," I assured her, hugging her and rubbing my face against her shoulder affectionately.

She patted my back and sighed softly, "Alright, dear, you should have the right to decide your own life."

I felt respected, a sensation I hadn't experienced with my father or Antonio. Damn, why did I have to think of him again, Antonio.

As my mother picked out clothes in the wardrobe, suggesting, "How about a skirt? How about this one?"

I was secretly checking my phone and not really looking at the skirt. I'd like whatever she chose anyway. "Sure."

My phone screen lit up, but there were no messages from Antonio in my contacts, emails, or social media. Perhaps he had forgotten me. I clutched at my racing heart, unsure whether I felt more relieved or lost.

In the process of changing, my mother inevitably saw the scars on my arm, and her eyes welled up with tears. "That must have hurt a lot."

"It's all in the past, Mom," I comforted her. "The doctor did a beautiful job stitching it up."

"Don't worry, Sisi, I'll help you. You won't have a scar," she assured me. "Now we should go downstairs. Paolo has prepared a lavish afternoon tea. Do you like coffee? Iced Americano or latte?"

I guessed she knew about the gunshot wound's origin and must have many questions, like why I arrived in Philadelphia a week ago but didn't come to see her right away. Where had I been? Who was I with? Why did I go to that park where the riots happened?

But she didn't ask any of those questions.

I didn't feel neglected or unloved; I was relieved because all the answers involved Antonio, and I couldn't give them.

I pocketed my phone and followed her downstairs, answering her earlier question, "Hmm, a latte, please."

The garden was in full bloom, the sunlight perfect, and Paolo had set up the afternoon tea outside.

The coffee beans at my mother's house weren't like the ones I had at Starbucks. She brewed the coffee expertly, pouring the aromatic drink into an expensive cup.

Just then, a white Samoyed burst through the flowers, chasing butterflies, and wagged its tail madly by my mother's feet.

"Hey, Caesar," she greeted, lifting the fluffy dog. "How are you today? Oh, your paws are all muddy; you're so dirty."

She cleaned the leaves and twigs off him and had the maid take him for a bath.

"I remember you always wanted a puppy."

"Yes," I sipped my coffee. But my grandmother was allergic to dog hair, so we couldn't have pets at home.

After she passed away and my parents divorced, I was heartbroken, and the plan to adopt a puppy was shelved onceagain.

"Did you ever get one?" she asked.

"No. I went to boarding school later, and it wasn't convenient to come home often." I couldn't tell her that I went to boarding school because my father had taken up gambling and accrued debts. Debt collectors who couldn't find my father often loitered around our apartment complex.

Eventually, I started working part-time, managed to pay off some of his debts, and things gradually got better. Since then, I had been too exhausted running between school and work to even think about keeping a pet.

"Poor child, you must have suffered a lot," my mother said, looking at me with guilt.

"It's okay, actually. My studies went well, and I met many friends willing to help." There was so much I wanted to tell her.

"Is Valentina studying in New York?" I shifted the topic, not wanting to keep the focus on me. We both needed to learn to let go of the past.

"Oh, you haven't met Valentina yet," she said with a worried frown. "Her fiancé is sick, and she's taking care of him in the hospital. But don't worry, she'll be back tonight."

"Will it affect the engagement party?"

"Just a minor ailment," she reassured me, smiling. "I've arranged a dress for you; it will be delivered tonight. My Sisi has to look her best."

"That doesn't seem right; it's Valentina's engagement party."

"It's okay, Valentina won't mind. You need to be prepared, Sisi. I will introduce you to the guests at the party. It's important. You're my daughter too."

"No!"

I instinctively rejected the idea. For some reason, I felt I couldn't afford to be too prominent at the moment.

Antonio's shadow still loomed over me.