The Secrets We Leave Behind | George Weasley

Chapter 9

Eli Mento stood on the sidewalk in front of their brownstone, once again attempting to reason with his parents. The June heat wave the greater Chicagoland area had been experiencing the last several days continued to beat down on their Lincoln Park neighborhood, the combination of humidity and the annoyance he was feeling making his throat tight and the air hard to breathe. He had a deep frown etched into his face as he argued back and forth with them for what felt like the hundredth time that week.

They were leaving again. Where? Couldn't say. For how long? Who knows. All Eli knew was that, after less than two weeks of being home from their most recent four month trip, their parents were once again jetting off to some mystery location for another undisclosed reason.

And Eli was pissed.

"You have a 13 year old daughter! When are you both going to start acting like actual parents instead of forcing me to?!" This was a frequently recurring argument between the Mento parents and their oldest child. He loved Vivian, would have sacrificed anything for her, put aside his own life entirely for the sister that needed him, but that didn't change the fact that he shouldn't have had to. He shouldn't have to be a parent to his 13 year old sister at only 20 years old himself. He shouldn't have to tell his parents that their daughter needed them just as much as she needed him.

Despite the fact that his anger levels were skyrocketing, he worked hard to keep his voice low - his attempt at shielding Vivian from the realization of just how much of a letdown their parents had truly become to him. His childhood had been taken from him, but she still had at least a few years left of blissful ignorance. She didn't yet need to know that their parents would never put them first, would never risk disappointing their beloved Evander Canmore II, even for the sake of their own children.

He of course had no way of knowing that Vivian was already well aware of their parents shortcomings. That she had spent nights crouched at the top of their stairs listening to Eli plead with their parents to stay with them for once. That she knew exactly where the two Mento children lay within their parent's hierarchy of importance. And in the heat of their continued argument, neither Eli nor their parents noticed when Vivian stepped onto the porch after Eli, overhearing the entirety of their discussion once again.

"Eli, we understand your frustration-" their father began, his voice riddled with irritation to be having this conversation again.

"No I don't think you do!" Eli cut him off, his anger growing more palatable by the second. "And I don't think you realize what all these "trips" of yours are doing to her! Or to me!"

"We don't have a choice son. You know that," their mother tried to soothe him with a gentle pat to his cheek that was quickly brushed off by a furious Eli, who was in no mood for her weak attempts at nurturing.

"You do have a choice! We all have a choice and we are choosing wrong!"

"Eli," the warning for his son evident in their father's tone.

"You think Canmore gives a single shit if one of us lives or dies? We're nothing to him! Instantly replaceable! As long as he can use us as pawns in his game, he's going to keep sending us out on his suicide missions-" Eli's words were cut off by a hard slap from their father. Heat rose to his face as Eli lifted a hand to soothe the burning sting his father's strike had left. Their parents didn't use physical punishment often, certainly not as often as some of their peer's parents, but neither of them were strangers to good old fashioned corporal punishment.

"Never, ever let another person hear you say that, Eli. Do not be a fool," their father's low voice was angry but his eyes betrayed him - he was afraid.