CHAPTER NINE

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I drove all the way to the mansion, it's was Tony's brother , Joe Niller.
« Where are we going? »
« Do you remember Joe and his son Ben »
« Ben? The guy that you loved»
« Yes that Ben »
When I was twelve, Tony told me that we were going on a trip , I was so excited about it , I never visited another state before , I kept talking all the way to Chicago .
We'd been driving for about ten thousand years. Or at least that's how it felt. Tony was driving so slow.
« Go faster » I urged him.
« Never touch the driver »he said « im on limited speed I can't go faster »
« Hey look dead bodies.. » Tony ignored me , and so I started to fiddle with the radio. I put a cd on , It was this song "wake me up before you go go" I left it since it was Tony's favourite . We both started to sing and dance as the music was loud .
When we finally pulled up to the house , the copy of Tony and a boy around my age were sitting out on the front porch probably waiting for us.
« Tony!! Oh my god look at you , you got so old »
« Not as old as you brother » he gave him a hug and I never saw Tony as happy as today.
« Oh you brought the girl with you I see »
« It's Taylor not girl » Very kind of him
« What is she doing here? » I heard him whispering
« She's family »Tony said looking at me « yeah...Tay that's my brother Joe and this is his son Ben , he's a year older than you , make sure to be friends » I didn't say anything to him , I just forced a smile. I went back to the car then, Tony and I unloaded it quickly, I picked up my bag and followed Ben to show me my room.
« Im at the end of the hallway if you need anything »
« Thanks »
The room was pretty old and smelled like dust. It had faded brown wallpaper a twin size bed , a couch and a desk , there was a music box on it.
I stayed at my room half of the day. Someone knocked at the door.
« Yeah? »
« Hey kiddo, having fun? »
« I wanna go home »
« What weren't you excited about coming ? »
« Not anymore, your brother hates me »
« No he doesn't he just doesn't know you , what about Ben? Have you talked to him? »
« No I didn't , can we come back to Montania now please »
«ok...let's make a deal , we're staying here if by tomorrow night you'd still feel uncomfortable here , we will comeback to Montania »
« Promise? »
« Promise , try to talk to Ben , he's a good kid »
« Ok »
Later that day Ben came to my room and brought with him his cards , comics and candies, that was the first time We had fun together, we played all night. The next day I didn't want to go anymore.

NOWADAYS
When we arrived to their house , my heart was beating fast, It was the first time I came here without Tony.
« If they ask where is Tony , just tell them that he's in Montania , and if they ask us what are we doing here we say we just wanted to say hi »
« Yes ma'am »
We getaway from the car , and went to knock at the door , my hands were shaking, I took a deep breath and knocked. Ben was the one who opened the door.
« Taylor ? »
« Hey Ben... »
« Is everything alright ? Where is uncle Tony? »
« Yeah everything's fine Tony was sick he couldn't come »
« Oh ok come in , dad is in the living room, hey...Tobey right ? »
« Yeah »
Something was weird about this house , I haven't been here in so long and without Tony around it felt so empty. I quickly said hi to Joe , it's not like he would care , I asked Ben if we could stay for the night and he immediately said yes.
We were having dinner the four of us eating frosted pizza.
Ben asked me « So Tay what brought you two to Chicago  »
« Road trip , we were gonna stay in town but the scafs attacked the whole city so we ran away »
« What about Tony? » Joe asked me
« He's sick »
« Oh i didn't know what's wrong? »
« you would have known if you called and since when do you care about Tony's life »
« Im sorry if I was too busy dealing with Teresa's death then caring about your perfect life »
« Stop acting like we didn't care about her »
« You didn't ! Where were you and Tony when she died you didn't even called don't you think it wasn't fair ? »
« We did call couples of time, you refused to answer so we came , it took us three fucking days to come here and you didn't want us to be around , you closed your door at our face and we weren't welcomed anymore in your house , don't talk about what's fair or not Joe , I understand that you never wanted me to be a part of your life but what about Tony , damn he is your brother »
« It's none of your business if Tony and I had some issues ! »
« You call this issues? Can I remind you that Tony had lost his wife and kid the same day , where were you back then? You were busy enjoying your life here in Chicago meanwhile your brother was trying his best to survive ! »
« Tay shut the fuck up , stop defending Tony as if he was your dad it's not like you belong to this family anyways »
« Dad stop »
« You're defending her ? What ? Im not wrong, the only reason why Tony adopted you was because he felt sorry for you , he never treated you like his daug... »
« Enough dad »
« I can't do this anymore, fuck you Joe , since I sas twelve I tried to be nice with you because I respected you and mostly for Tony , you could've have done the same thing now I wonder who's really part of his family » I got up and went straight to the car , I closed the door and began to cry , I couldn't stop , I was furious at Joe , he had no right to say all this shit . I wish Tony was alive , if he was , life would be perfect , no worries, we would probably do our movie night or showing me how to play guitar . Tobey came right after I left .
« We can go if you want , we can sleep in the car and will figure out what to do tomorrow »
«yeah we can do this » .
He took my hand and said  « don't worry im right by your side you're not alone Tay, this bastard had no right to tell you all these »
« I know »

« Tobey? » He didn't answered so I guessed he was already asleep . I couldn't sleep , many things were running around my brain , I needed to take some fresh air .
I was outside laying on the grass watching the sky when Ben came
« I Can't sleep »
« Me neither »
« Can I sit? »
« of course »
« Im not sorry for what I said to Joe earlier  »
« That's fine , it's not like he didn't deserve it , he had no right to tell you this »
« Why did their relationship became like this ? I mean you use to come really often to Montania and we spent a lot of time here »
« Im not sure about this one »
«Aren't you disappointed in your dad? »
« Are you in Tony? »
« Kinda, I mean Joe is the last family he has »
« he still have you , and no im not disappointed in my dad , I knew he would do that one day and Tony has nothing to do with this , it's my dad's fault »
« Expect disappointment and you won't be disappointed »
« Yeah , so ? What brings you here »
« already told you Tobey and I were passing by »
« You're really bad at lying » yes I was and he was making me feel so nervous
« Im not lying »
« I know you » I wanted to tell him everything, that Tony died , the real reason why im here, It's not like I don't trust him , i don't know something in me was stopping me . So I lied even more.
« you got me... » fuck I don't want to do this « I...missed you » Fuck you Tay « I guess I didn't completely got over you » since the beginning of the conversation he didn't look at me once , but he turned his face when I said this.
« ok » ok? That's it ? Just an ok?
« the same old Ben , cold heart »
« Maybe to everyone but surely not to you » I faced him and we had this little silents seconds where we just looked at each other . fuck I still love him.
his face was so close to mine. In a fraction of time I found his lips on mine ,he kissed me but I stopped him.
« I can't do this... »
« Oh i forgot your boyfriend is asleep »
« He's not my boyfriend »
«Mmh »
« It's just...I can't »
« Taylor what's wrong? »
« I...pff...fuck it...promise me you wouldn't tell anyone»
« Promise »
« Not even your dad »he nods  « Hmh...To...Tony passed away »
« What ? When? »
« a week ago and the reason why I am here is because I want to murder the guy who killed him , I came here cause half of the city is looking for us and we can't risk to find where to stay for the night there »
He was speechless and shocked.
« Say something »
« I don't what should I say , Tay why didn't you tell us? »
« I don't know »
« Don't you think dad has the right to know , I mean it's his brother »
« I know that but if I told him, he would stop me from getting my revenge I know him ».
He constantly whispered « Uncle Tony is dead I can't believe it » looking to nowhere, just realising what I told him . He got up wiped his hands on his clothes.  « You should have told me Tay I thought you trusted me » He sighed and said « Good night »
« Ben wait » he didn't even turned, he made his way through the house . I do trust him , fuck it , what was I suppose to do I had many things going on in my head , telling Joe would make everything worse, it's not like he gave any shit about his brother, he never called , never cared about him and surely about me . He didn't even wanted us to be here when Teresa died.
I woke up the next morning Tobey was with Ben outside.
« Morning Tay »
« Morning Tobey...hey Ben. »
« Tay can I talk to you for a second ?»
«...Um yeah... » I followed him . He looked at me in the eye and I had a flashback of yesterday, him kissing me.
« Um hey listen Im sorry for yesterday »
« I should be the one apolog... »
« Don't it's me , I shouldn't have kiss you or getting mad at you »
« That's okay »
« Can I ask what happened? »

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