Ordo Noctis

Chapter 19

The Colombo house was only a few blocks down from the Romanos. It was strange to think that our families were living less than a mile from each other the whole time.

We had left our stuff at the house to come retrieve later.

This house was noticeably smaller than Mars's parents,' and much older-looking. I knocked tentatively on the creaky wooden door.

"MIA, DOOR!" Came a yell from inside.

"I'M BUSY, YOU GET IT!"

"NUH-UH, LUCA SHOULD DO IT!"

"MOMMMMM!!"

A frazzled-looking woman with frizzy red hair opened the door after a minute and glanced at us critically. "Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested." Her Italian was rich and assertive. She slammed the door and left me standing on the porch, shocked.

"Well, that was... interesting." I looked back at Mars. "What now?"

Mars shrugged. "Knock again?"

Not sure what else to do, I knocked again.

"What?" She snapped, opening the door.

"Um, Mrs. Colombo -"

"Miss," she interrupted. "And how do you know my name?"

"I - uh -"

Mars came to my rescue. "Miss Colombo, we'd like to talk to you about a few things. May we come inside?"

The woman's eyes narrowed, but she stepped aside to let us in.

The house was in a state of utter chaos: chairs knocked over, rugs scrunched up, spills everywhere. And the most overwhelming thing - children.

At least a dozen of them, running around the halls, climbing onto the counters, punching each other, screaming - there were kids everywhere. Most of them looked like they were from four to twelve years old. They all had my same copper hair and they all wore dirty, tattered clothes.

Miss Colombo led us to a small living room with a stained sofa, screaming at two of the children to get them to leave. Finally, we were alone.

"So?" She said eventually. "I don't have all day."

"Um... I..." Mars, who was next to me, tangled our fingers together, squeezing my hand gently. It gave me enough confidence to continue. "I'm your daughter," I told her hesitantly.

Miss Colombo raised her eyebrows, like she was waiting for more. "...Okay, and?"

I was unsure of how to continue; this was not going as I had expected it to. "I was... wondering... how we got separated?"

She shrugged. "I have enough kids. I can't take care of all of them."

"So... you... gave me to an orphanage?"

"Nah, some dude came here when I was pregnant and asked me to donate my kid to some organization. He said something about another one down the road, he wanted them to be close together... I didn't pay much attention, I was just happy to have a place to drop it off."

I blinked, trying to stay calm and focus on Mars's hand on mine - this was a very different story than the Romanos. "And... what about... my father?"

"He left after I got pregnant with Bella, our last kid. Said he couldn't take the noise anymore. I've been raising all the kids on my own ever since."

I didn't know what to say... what to think... what to feel. She was so unfeeling. Did she even care about me? I guess she wouldn't, if she already had about fifteen more of me.

"Oh... okay. Do you... want to hear about me?"

"Nah, no time." Miss Colombo stood up. "If we're done here, I have to get back to work."

"Um..."

Her face darkened. "Oh no. Please don't tell me you're here because you need a place to live. There's no room, you know."

"I... no?"

"Good. Have a nice day. You can find your way out." With that, Miss Colombo bustled out through another door, leaving us sitting on the sofa in silence.