Evangeline (Unedited)

05

N O N N A

I stayed under the tree for a while, sitting with the tombstones. For some odd, maybe twisted reason, I felt just a little bit less lonely. I wished that Elio would have had a nice burial like this; pretty flowers, a shady tree to hide from the scolding sun, complete privacy. But he didn't. Instead, he sat in a small urn, in a small bag on my own. He deserved at least that, he deserved more, and I had much hope that by the time I settled into whatever was awaiting me, I'd be able to give him just that. If a little late.

I started heading back once the sun on my arms was replaced by a chill breeze, and my teeth chattered in response. I followed the same path I took down, much faster going up this time. My eyes darted around me, eyeing the trails and trees along the horizon as well as the now-cloudy sky. I walked into the room at the end of the hall and sighed when I felt a hug of warmth immediately touch me. My legs carried me up wooden steps and planted on the porch.

"Was your adventure enjoyable?" Alessandro's voice blows through the wind, and I startle as I snap my head towards him. He's sitting with his left leg across his other, filling out a crossword puzzle. "See anything interesting?"

Unable to respond, my eyes stay locked on him. He doesn't look up, but a small, happy smile graces his lips. He beckons me over and folds his crossword, setting it down on his lap. I rub my forearm, debating if I want to. I settle on that I do, and walk over to the white bench he is on. My movements were unsure, much like I was. He had given me no reason to feel that way at all, but I couldn't help it. Alessandro doesn't speak but he examines me; my face.

"It was very beautiful." I politely say, looking at my feet. I debated asking him about the hallway, the pictures, and the graves, but I decided that if he didn't want to tell me, he wouldn't. "What was all of it?"

"You mean the tombstones?" He checks after a few seconds of silence. He looked from me to the vast fields, and I worried I said something wrong. I nod.

"Well, all of it." I quickly say. "It was very pretty. I just don't really understand. I've never seen anything like this place."

This makes him smile and a sigh escapes his mouth.

"This was our nonna's cottage. She loved this place more than life." He told me, smiling fondly at the memory of his nonna. "She never told us why it meant so much to her, but I have a few guesses." His eyes found mine again and I took note of the intensity swirling in his own.

Animals bellowed in the background, the wind blew the trees, and music from the cottage played lightly, yet I couldn't hear anything but the sound of his emotion. In the way that some people can hear colours or taste sounds, I felt like I could hear his feelings. They were loud and clear; adoration and bittersweet sorrow.

"It is very beautiful," I add. He nods, leaning back even more. He looked incredibly relaxed and I tried to mimic his body language. "I can see why she loved it."

"I think if it weren't for her responsibilities, she would've stayed here forever. She would've died here too if it were up to her." Alessandro chuckles and looks at me. "This is a family home, been passed through generations, hence the very old architecture and designs. Our nonna wanted to be sure that nobody in our family was forgotten, that no memory was taken for granted, and so she kept up the old tradition her grandparents, and probably the ones before them, created."

"The photos." I begin to understand the meaning behind all the photos. "Everyone in that room—in those pictures—is family?"

"Anyone who steps foot in this house is family, Evie. That's what this cottage stands for; family, love. A vast difference from our usual lives. Life is important, and it's cherished here. Everyone has a place, she made sure of that. And she made sure we would make sure of that when we got older too."

"That's a really amazing way to put it. I would've loved to meet her."

"You did as a baby. You wouldn't remember, of course." He looked between my eyes and my hair, and I could see himself holding back from reaching to touch. "Nonna loved you dearly."

"So... how often do you guys come here? Why did you bring me?" I blink at him and twist the tips of my hair in my hands.

"We come here for holidays, mostly. Although I wish we could get away more." Alessandro sighs. "Our lives are... busy. We live in uptown New York and most of us work or study day and night. I don't wish to make you carry all of that, so I'll see to balancing it more when we get home. And as to your second question, I thought it would be better for you to meet the rest of the family somewhere quiet. Somewhere you can feel safe. Comfortable. You do, oui?"

I nod quickly, rolling my lips into my mouth as I think.

"When will I meet the rest?"  

"Soon. Everyone will be here tonight, but if you choose to keep out of your bedroom, I'm sure you'll run into most of the boys before that."

"What are they like? What if..." I quiet down. I didn't want to burden him with all of my insecurity, especially since he barely knew me. He seemed to catch what I was going to say and he shook his head, standing up and gesturing for me to follow him. I do.

"That's nonsense, Evie. And I think you're aware of that." His voice is stern, commanding me to listen. We walk into the house and take a right into the kitchen, then through another door, and down some stairs into a cold basement. It had stone flooring with twine rugs layered on top so your feet didn't freeze. I felt goosebumps tickle my arms and wrapped them around myself to conserve some heat. Alessandro sees this and looks back briefly, before grabbing a sweater from the back of a chair and handing it to me. I feel weird putting it on but I'm a little bit desperate for some warmth. "I apologize for the cold. This room is hardly used, and it gets no sunlight." He turns the light on and I can see everything much clearer.

Cleaner than the photo hallway, there are some framed pictures of the family. Mostly professional sports, from what I can tell. There is a table with board games littered on top and chairs messily pulled out and pushed in. I see a piano, and a guitar, and various items around that make me extremely curious. I didn't fully get why he was bringing me here though.

"This is the rec room." He tells me, and walks to the table, tidying it up. I watch him from a few feet away. "The kids don't use it much now that they're older and addicted to their phones, but before this is where their time was spent. We would play board games for hours." He pauses and looks at me with a smile. "Do you like board games, Evie?"

I think about it. I had only ever played a few with Elio and his friends when they brought them. I never had any of my own so it was always dependent on whether they wanted to and needed an extra person. My mom and stepdad didn't care for spending money on stuff we would never play with again, even though I think I would've, so they didn't buy any.

"I think so." His eyebrows furrow slightly, and he beckons me over. I listen and stand beside him. It's only now I notice the mere height difference. I am by no means small, but this man is a giant.

"You think so?"

"Yeah. I never played board games much growing up."

"You're still growing up, coccinelle."

I don't respond for a minute, and I watch as he pulls out a box from under the table in a little compartment.

It looks like a kid decorated it with stickers, glitter glue, and paper shapes. It looked silly, my lips quirked up. I see a scraggly blue name on it made from pipe cleaners and I can't figure out what it says.

"This was Leo's." He hands it to me, and I take it carefully, setting it down in front of me. I stare at it, and he opens it. "Don't be shy, Evie. What's mine is yours, remember that." I nod and filter through, pulling out various arts and crafts and broken toys. "Every member of our family has a box like this. An old box we decorated as a child filled with things that made us who we are or made our childhood. Nonna did this with our father, and he, us."

I looked away from the box and at him, who was staring at me. He tapped his fingers quietly on the table, leaning forward on his hands and pushing himself off. Alessandro looked nervous, unsure, which I hadn't seen on him yet.