Lost Lombardi

Chapter 19

It was around 6 am when Dino woke up. It was the first day of his new school, and he felt anxious. When Dino lived in Johnson's house, Dino had to wake up earlier, afraid of not getting breakfast if Dino was late. He had to compete with Christy for the bathroom. Christy knew if Dino arrived late, he wouldn't get breakfast. Yet, she didn't let him use the bathroom first.

Now, Dino didn't have those problems. He had his washroom. No one forced him to go out hungry. There was plenty of food in the house. Dino was part of the family. He had a father to take care of him.

Dino couldn't believe he had a father. It felt like a dream. Pietro even took Dino to a country club to spend time together. Dino felt lucky to have Pietro. He felt happy and emotional thinking about his father.

'He loves me,' Dino thought with a smile. He went to the washroom to get ready for school. Dino found out that Helio was one year older than him. But Helio wasn't very friendly with Dino. Dino realized it was because of where he grew up. Dino grew up in a middle-class family, and his rich cousins looked down on him because of that. But Dino could handle those kinds of treatments well. He didn't care about his cousins. Dino only cared about Pietro. He wanted him to always be on his side.

After coming out of the washroom, Dino put on his uniform. The uniform included a white shirt, navy blue tie, navy blue trousers, and black shoes. They also had a blue coat.

"Wow! This uniform looks cool," Dino said, looking at himself in the mirror. He fixed his hair with his fingers. "Yo, I wasn't ugly. I was just poor," Dino said.

Dino's intent gaze at his reflection broke when a sharp rap came from the door. "Boss, are you ready?" Dino heard Luka's voice.

"I'm coming," Dino said, taking his new backpack. Everything inside his backpack was new. He even smelled good.

Dino opened the door and went down the stairs.

Pietro's voice announced to Dino, "Have breakfast before you leave." He was sitting at the dining table with Don for breakfast. Seeing Don at the table made Dino's heart sink. He didn't like seeing Don. Sometimes, Don acted like he was a cool guy. But he wasn't. He was a scary dude. Dino's mind flashed back to Don's treatment following his hospital discharge. Dino felt sick. He slowly went towards the dining table and sat beside Pietro.

"Say good morning to Don," Pietro whispered.

"Good morning, Grandpa," Dino said quickly. He didn't want to make his grandpa angry on the first day of school.

"Good morning, Dino. So, are you excited to go to your new school?" Don asked, chewing slowly.

"Yes, Grandpa," Dino said.

"Good. You better study well and make sure not to disgrace the family by pairing with people who don't match us," Don said, and his eyes went to Pietro. Pietro's eyes dropped down to the plate, and he blushed. Dino wondered why. He felt sad for Pietro.

'This old guy is even bullying my Papa,' Dino thought.

Breakfast went on silently. Dino barely touched his food, jittery with anticipation and anxiety about his first day at the new school. But he felt he shouldn't stand up from the table before Don. So Dino slowly ate until Don finished his food. Fortunately, he didn't spend a lot of time eating.