Seasons of Change

33

It was the last week of August, time for Junior and Sophia to return home with their father in Nebraska. It was a bittersweet time for everyone. Sophia cried as she packed her things, "I don't want to go home," she sniffled at Nina.

Even the normally stoic Junior was emotional, "Why can't we just stay with you?" He asked.

Nina wished they could stay but knew that she was even lucky that Fabian had let them stay the summer with her, especially after the crap he pulled earlier in the year when he was seeing that woman Lourdes and it was inappropriate to tell the kids that.

Fabian had flown in and rented a car to pick the children up, he planned on driving home so they could stop and visit family in eastern Washington and Idaho along the way, as well as make it a sort of end-of-summer fun.

He arrived at Nina and Dom's house in the early part of the afternoon, standing on the front porch wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans, his short black hair slicked back. Nina opened the door, inviting him in as the kids were still doing some extra last-minute packing still, or procrastinating anyway.

"You can come in and have a seat if you'd like," Nina gestured for him to have a seat, she motioned towards Dominik who was seated in front of his PC engrossed in a game of New World with Marisol's husband, Chris online, "This is Dominik, my boyfriend."

Dominik took his headset off, walking over to shake Fabian's hand, "Nice to finally meet you."

He took a seat beside Nina, wrapping an arm around her shoulder protectively. Dominik wasn't a jealous man but he had heard about how disrespectful Nina's ex could be towards her and wasn't about to allow that to happen in his home.

Fabian gave him a nod, cracking his knuckles anxiously, "Thank you for letting the kids come and stay in your home this summer. Junior told me you like computers just as much as he does."

Dominik couldn't help but grin, "He's a smart kid, really knows his stuff. May have even taught me a couple things while he was here."

"He is a smart kid, I don't know where he got it from, not from me or Karla," Fabian shook his head, "I heard about what happened with her, by the way? Has she been sentenced?"

Nina nodded, "Life without the possibility of parole."

"I knew there was a lot she was capable of but I never thought she would do that," he told him solemnly.

"I think we are all pretty surprised, honestly," Nina admitted.

"How is your brother doing?" He asked.

"Well, he's Fernando so he is somehow making the best of it. He is tattooing in an actual shop now with Krist's brother."

"Glad to hear he is finally staying out of trouble? I'm assuming?" Fabian smiled.

"He is doing really good given the circumstances, the first few months were rough. I think we all anticipated him relapsing and he has been clean since he was shot, well, off the meth anyway, he isn't ever going to stop smoking weed."

Fabian chuckled, "Yeah I can't see that happening. Speaking of which, I haven't drank all summer, the longest I've gone without a beer since I was thirteen."

Dominik smiled, "Hey, that's an accomplishment! I had a hell of a time quitting before Nina and I moved in together. The hardest part now is going places where there's alcohol."

Nina nodded, "By places, he means my family...you know how Frankie gets."

"Oh, Frankie...yeah, good luck in telling him you don't want a drink."

Dominik let out a hearty laugh, "Ayyyyye come onnn!"

"As he hands you a shot," Fabian grinned, shaking his head, "Miss that pendejo though."

"You should stop but and see him on your way out?" Nina suggested.

"Like your man said, he's not the best to be around sober"

Fabian visited for maybe an hour altogether and it was actually enjoyable. He was respectful and seemed to get along with Dominik well and from what Nina could tell, he was finally working on becoming a good man.

Watching the kids leave was heart-wrenching, it felt like they'd only been there a few weeks. Fabian had agreed to bring them to Portland during Christmas break, spring break, and summer.

Nina buried her face in Dominik's thick chest quietly weeping, "I miss them already," she said, laughing through her tears.

He stroked her hair, "I know, sweetheart, but they'll be back before you even know it. It's only, what, three and a half months away?"

"I know," she sniffled, "I just want them with us all the time."

****

After a long heart-to-heart talk, Fernando and Sabrina had mutually agreed they were better off friends. Fernando genuinely liked Sabrina and her companionship, she was a good woman but as he gained his independence, they both realized they just weren't meant to have anything beyond friendship. Payaso had been right, he'd fallen for her simply because she was there when nobody else was.

It was the first time since he'd been a teenager that was single single. No wife, no girlfriends, no fuck buddies, just him. And he was realizing, it wasn't that bad. His tattooing was improving by the day, he was spending time with Kataleya and Leilani more than he had and Lil Sicko, Victor, was living with him. He'd even made an effort to build some kind of relationship with Nando and Rosie though they didn't understand he was their father.

On top of that, Payaso had been a good influence on him. Payaso was a firm believer in building up the community and doing everything in his power to positively impact those around him. Whether it was handing out food to the homeless, doing toy drives on the holidays, or offering Holiday meal boxes to needy families, he was out in the streets "slangin' hope" as he called it.

Most recently, he'd organized a back-to-school backpack giveaway where he had gathered up fresh school supplies, purchased by him or donated, and set up an event at his Church. A few of his old homeboys came out to do free haircuts, another one set up a grill with hotdogs and burgers. Even Fernando had brought Victor out to help distribute items to the other kids. He wanted his son to see that he could be gangster as fuck and be a solid-ass dude who built up those around him, not destroyed his community.

Fernando wasn't going to say that becoming paralyzed had been a good thing but he did believe it was life's way of forcing him to choose between becoming a good man or a dead man.

He chose life.