Defender's Heartbeat

Chapter 29

Enzo

Saturday mornings could go either way, depending on how well I slept on Friday night. If the nightmares were especially harrowing, Saturday mornings tended to be rough. That meant it was a tough day for my tutor. See, because my teachers complained to Papa (Gerardo) that I skipped classes and struggled academically, he hired tutors to teach me at home to save face. And he never failed to punish me if I got low marks in his favorite subjects.

I didn't know why the fuck I should get high marks for his favorite subjects. If he loved those subjects so much, he should have returned to school, taken the exams, and earned full marks. I remember Papa (Gerardo) gave Pedro and Louis a hard time in school because of their exam results. But Pedro and Louis were good kids as far as I knew. I couldn't remember a day they got complaints from school because of bad behavior. Anyway, although my teachers sent emails to Papa (Gerardo) telling him about my bad behavior, he never came to any teacher-parent meetings. He didn't even question me about those complaints. He only cared about exam marks. So, I was pretty sure I did nothing wrong. The teachers just hated me.

That day was one of those bad Saturdays, so I remained in bed until Papa (Manuel) came and told me to prepare for my tutoring session.

"Come on, get up," Papa urged, pulling my bedsheet away.

"Stop, I'm naked," I lied.

"I know you're not. Don't be lazy. Come on. Get up," Papa said again.

"I want to sleep," I replied, cuddling my pillow.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" he asked. Now, he sounded worried.

"You know I didn't," I said, knowing he always came to check on me in the middle of the night.

He watched me with a concerned look. I knew what he was thinking. He was considering telling Papa (Gerardo) about my nightmares and begging him to provide proper medication or therapy or something like that. He had tried that several times, but all he got in return were harsh insults and threats. I had no idea why he kept trying. Honestly, I didn't want to go to any stupid therapy. But I was okay with those pills that made me feel like I was floating in the sky.

"I'll get ready," I said, getting up. I didn't want to get punished.

"Why don't you tell me about your nightmares? Maybe it'll help you overcome them," Papa said.

"It's about the kidnapping," I said like it wasn't a big deal.

"Be more specific," he said. I tried to remember the nightmares, but it made me feel sick.

"I just don't want to remember it. I feel sick just thinking about it. I wish I could tell you, but I don't want to think about it," I admitted truthfully.

"Enzo, let's try another day, okay? But you must tell me soon. You keep avoiding it, but you must talk about it," Papa said, touching my head.

I felt dead lazy about showering. "Do you want to help me shower like in the old days?" I joked as I headed towards the bathroom.

"No thanks, boss," he replied.

My tutor was a 25-year-old man. His name is Nick. I couldn't fathom how or where Papa (Gerardo) dug up these tutors. I often thought that if Papa had hired young, attractive female teachers as my tutors, I would have paid more attention during lessons. But he never did that.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Nick?" I asked my tutor.

"Yes," he replied.

"So, girls like boring guys, too?" I remarked.