Roses and Thorns

Chapter 7

Athena Pov

    It has been two weeks since I first met Lucio. He has come over every single day to talk to Nonno. I never hear their conversations and they are very secretive. I asked Nonna why Nonno and Lucio are having secret conversations but she just avoided the conversation. I wonder what is going on. I decided that when Lucio comes over today, I will secretly listen to their conversation. My curiosity is killing me. "Athena! Lucio will be here soon, will you help me clean up the office before he arrives?" Nonna calls to me from downstairs. "Yes Nonna, I'll be right there," I call back from my room. I head downstairs and towards the office where the secret conversations are held. I see Nonna picking up books off of the ground and the desk before walking towards me. "We need to put these in the right places or Nonno will be upset. You know how he gets when things are out of place." She sighs. I grab the books and set them on the desk examining them. "I've never read these books before, did Nonno recently buy these?" I ask but Nonna never answers my question. She has never acted this way before. Is she going deaf or is she deliberately not answering my questions? It has gotten strange since Lucio has returned from war.

     After cleaning and organizing the books Nonna ushers me out the door and closes it behind her. "He'll be here any second so go out and do your business." She shoos me away back up to my room. I hear the front door open and people walking around. I want to hear what's going on in that room. Quietly, I walk back down the stairs and look to see if anyone is there. Seeing that the coast is clear I quietly run to the office door putting my head up against it. I hear muffled talking but I can't make out the words. All of the sudden a hand rips me away from the door and puts a hand over my mouth. "What are you doing?" Nonna is grabbing me with a crazed look in her eyes. She takes me back up the stairs and into my room shutting the door behind her. Turning to me she says, "Never do that again." Her breath is heavy and panicked. "You can never do that again you understand me?" She looks at me with urgency in her eyes. I am stunned. "Nonna-I-" She cuts me off. "No, I need you to understand that you can NEVER do that again." I can't say anything. Why was she so scared? "You can't do that Athena. What you did back there," She points to the door, "was absolutely idiotic." I snap. "I want to know the truth! I hate how people keep secrets from me!" I yell at Nonna, watching her face go from shock to anger. "You need to stop being so childish Athena! There are reasons why they keep secrets and they don't need to tell you everything. You have your own secrets, so why do you need to know about everyone else's!" Nonna looks furious and I can't say anything. I'm stunned. I never realized how stupid I was. How could I be so selfish? "I'm sorry..." I look down at my feet with tears filling up my eyes. "I never thought about it that way... I'm so sorry..." Tears fall as I look back at Nonna and her face softens. She walks over to me and she takes me to sit on the bed. "You need to understand that people don't tell you things because they want to protect you. They keep things from you to keep you safe." She puts a hand on my face and wipes my tears away. With Nonna's words, I begin sobbing feeling all the emotions hit me at once. I release all of the pent-up emotions that I have been holding in for so long. I feel like I can release all of my pain in front of Nonna. She sits patting my back as I empty all of the tears and snot. She doesn't judge me or say anything, she just sits and pats my back comforting me. "I- I really didn't know Nonna. I really thought that I was doing the right thing." I continue crying. "I 'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Without noticing I keep repeating the same words as my breathing quickens. "Honey, honey. It's alright now, shoo it's okay." Nonna reaches out and pulls me into her embrace holding on with all her strength.

    An hour passes as I lay still in Nonna's embrace feeling completely empty, swaying gently Nonna looks down "My sweet girl, I love you so much that at times I become scared for you, I know that at times it may seem like we are hiding things from you but I need you to understand that it's not because we don't trust you because my god we do. It's because there are really bad people out there that would do horrible things to you without any hesitation." She continues to rock me back and forth. I hear a light knock at the door and a person comes in. I don't look up but I know it's Nonno. "Is everything alright?" He whispers to Nonna, Glancing up she shakes her head no. He gently sits on the other side of the bed glancing at Nonna and I. He's concerned as to why I was upset but doesn't say anything. We sit there in silence.