I Can't Remember To Hate U

CHAPTER 1

         On the nine hour flight to Venice I kept looking at the pictures of my mom on my phone. According to the reports, my mother and eleven others had taken the lift from the 10th floor around three o'clock in the morning. The elevator unexpectedly malfunctioned and descended to the last floor killing everyone in it.

What made my mother go to the hotel that night? I wondered as I decided to look for my aunt Pauline as soon as I landed. I had tried to contact her since the news but her phone was turned off and I couldn't reach her on all her socials. Something was clearly going on. First my mother dies and suddenly aunt Pauline is missing.

The Venice Marco Polo Airport is relatively small compared to the John F. Kennedy International Airport which made it easy to find my way out. I thought of the man on the news who had said that they were raising funds for the bereaved families. I wondered if he felt a shred of guilt going back to that hotel after what happened. I wondered what he was going to tell when he saw me.

When I walked outside the airport looking for a cab, I inhaled the air and it finally felt like I was back. I grew up going back and forth between Venice and New York but I had finally settled for New York.  

The weather forecast on my phone registered 80 degrees. It would be a great day to go to the beach if the reason for my visit wasn't my mother's death. I was on my way to say goodbye to the person who was practically everything to me. How dreadful.

I actually got a cab in about fifteen minutes and went straight to Devil's Forest where my aunt worked. My Italian isn't good but I knew my way around people. I asked the driver to drop me near the bar. Fortunately, I didn't bother to carry many bags. I only had a suitcase that I barely even packed. What for? I had thought.