Alek

Chapter 17: Alek Russo

Chapter 17: Alek Russo

(listen to Another Love by Tom Odell for a better experience!)

I take a sharp left turn, both hands on the wheel of my car. Beside me sits Mae, the silence in the car deafening. She's fiddling with her phone, scrolling through something I can't quite see.

It looks like it will rain tonight, the clouds gathering in the sky above like curtains and the world darkens.

As I drive, I forget who sits beside me. The world falls away and it's only me and my hands on the wheel of my car, the buildings of New York whisking past me as I press my foot harder on the accelerator. The silence settles deep into my bones and I let out a loud sigh, loosening my clenched jaw.

I let myself pretend I am alone in my car, my brother Matteo beside me instead of Mae. We're on a drive through New York to get a break from our father and the tension of the Russo Mansion. We're happy and we have all our lives to be together, to help each other. To be there for each other. He's smiling, watching me proudly from where he sits as I keep my eyes on the road. He's speaking to me, and I'm listening. He's talking about his stupid car obsession again and how when papa dies, he'll protect me and when he takes his place as boss, he will make sure I get the life I want. He is promising that we will be happy and everything will be okay.

I don't know when Another Love by Tom Odell begins to play softly into the silent car, but it makes me tighten my grip on the wheel.

"Tell me about your brother," Mae says suddenly as if she knew exactly what I was thinking about.

And for a second, I feel empty and my mouth opens almost robotically, "He was kind and caring. He always thought about Lorenzo and me before himself. He would make sure we'd eaten everyday. He'd make sure we'd taken our meds when we were sick. Our parents were never there, too busy with their own business and locked behind doors. For a long time, it was only the three of us."

Mae is quiet.

"He'd talk about what type of cars he wanted," I smile, surprising myself. "Sometimes it was a shiny red Audi and other times it was a black Ferrari. Papa used to make fun of him for wanting them and so on his eighteenth birthday, I remember using my savings to buy him that black Ferrari he always wanted and he'd hugged me so tight....I can still remember it."

The only sound I can hear is my own and the low hum of the moving car.

"He died for me," I say in a low voice. "And I will never forget him. Not as long as I live."

I say nothing else. I roll my car into the bar's lot and park my car beside the one I identify as Lorenzo's. I unlock the doors, and push mine open, slamming it gently behind me.

In another life, Lorenzo, Matteo and I would be happy, living a life we'd all wished we had.

In this life, we are chained to whatever we are born to and I am hell-bent on making it as good as I can for myself and my brother.

"That was his car, wasn't it?" Mae asks as I open the bar's door and walk inside.

I say nothing.

She's right. It was and it still is.

I still remember how annoyed he used to get when I borrowed his things. He'd turn red and anxiously run his hands through his hair before saying, "you can't just take my stuff Alek!" He'd get angry at first, mad even. But a day later, he'd forget all about it, even if I didn't give it back to him.

Hopefully, he's not mad at me for borrowing his car.

Mae is already walking towards the small group we invited that sits in the back of the bar, and I follow after her, fixing the collar of my black button-up shirt and tucking my hands in my pockets.

If this meeting goes as I hope it does, then we'll finally have a fucking plan.

And if it doesn't....

I take a deep breath.

It's going to be a long night.

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yeah the chapter is super short and so what i was depressed when i was writing this sheesh

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