In the days following Dro's 2-week deadline, I thought of all the ways I was going to make him suffer and when those weeks turned into months my anger became something indescribable, but something happened in the last month or so... I literally stopped caring. That's not to say I didn't love him, because unfortunately I still did... it honestly stopped being about me and had more to do with OUR son. I hated having to look into his innocent eyes and tell him that his dad was 'away for business' or come up with some excuse as to why Dro couldn't call... I stopped wanting revenge for myself and wanted it strictly for Julio. Now... knowing that Dro was back in town and Julio could've possibly (definitely) seen him my plan to cause great bodily harm to Dro went out the window... at least temporarily. As I drove to the penthouse, Julio buzzed with excitement, he LOVED spending time with his Uncle Rico and knew given the direction we were driving that's where we were going; little did he know that his dad would be a short elevator ride away... But Julio couldn't see Dro, not yet.... there were some things that we needed to talk about before ANY reunions could happen.
"How's his Spanish?" Rico asked, he was standing outside waiting and I was thankful that he had left Dro upstairs.
"A little too good if you ask me, he's been spending way too much time with Adrian and of course, he's been teaching him to speak Spanish.... his Portuguese isn't that great though." I said in Portuguese much to the irritation of Julio, who loved to ear hustle.
{Well he's upstairs, I didn't tell him why I was leaving but he was respectful enough not to ask.} Rico said in Portuguese. {I figured you'd want to talk to him first and I didn't tell him you were coming... I can take Julio to get some ice cream if you want.} Rico said and I thought about it for a second.
"I'll come with y'all... I don't think I'm ready for... that just yet." I said in English and Julio seemed confused but didn't ask any questions. "Come on, we're going to get some ice cream since Mcdonald's machine was broke." I said and he couldn't contain his excitement, thankfully the shop was just up the block and that gave me time to gather my thoughts.
{You nervous about seeing him?} Rico asked as we made our way down the street, instead of answering I shrugged while keeping a firm grip on Julio's hand.
{I wouldn't say nervous... but I need to figure out what I'm going to say, though there's really not too much I can say. Dro is the one who needs to do all the talking... and possibly dodging because I MIGHT swing on him} I said not realizing my mistake.
"Y'all talking about my dad?" Julio asked and I knew he had caught his dad's name and I couldn't exactly lie to him, so instead I just nodded. "I seent him earlier... he cut his hair." Julio said matter-of-factly. I glanced at Rico who confirmed what Julio was saying with the slightest of nods.
"So what kind of ice cream do you want nephew? I'm thinking chocolate." Rico said and just like that Julio's attention was diverted away from Dro and now focused on ice cream. After getting our personal favorites, we walked over to the park and I watched as Julio ran around playing. "Dro just texted me... he's wondering where I disappeared to."
"I guess there's no point in delaying in longer." I said getting up. "Keep an eye on Julio... this shouldn't take that long." I said walking off.
With every step I took towards the penthouse was filled with a million different scenarios on how I was going to react when I saw Alejandro for the first time in nearly nine months. Fighting him was out of the question because I didn't believe in DV plus there was a strong possibility that fighting could turn into something else that started with 'F' and I wasn't taking that chance. I could simply go in there and play the quiet game, simply not speak to him because I knew how crazy it drove him when I went silent. My final idea was, in my opinion, my best one... I simply turned my ass around, went back to the park for Julio, and took my ass home. Why should I go to him... he was the one who left, so he should be the one to come to me.
