Defender's Heartbeat 2

Chapter 24

Enzo

It took me a few days to overcome my jealousy towards Papa's family. I didn't know what happened to me when I saw him loving his wife and son. I had to accept the fact that he had a family. I felt sad when he mentioned that he got hurt when I said I hated his family. I didn't want to hurt Papa, but somehow I always did.

Finally, my family came home from their vacation. None of them gave a damn about me, as usual.

"Enzo, do you like the gift?" Papa (Gerardo) saw me downstairs and asked. My heart felt like it had stopped because he had never talked to me like that casually before. He usually only spoke to blame me at the dining table while we ate. I just stared at him in disbelief.

I forgot to answer his question because I was so shocked. He came closer to me, his face calm instead of furious.

"Tell me if you don't like it. I'll buy you another one," he said, placing his hand softly on my shoulder. I felt dizzy. Was I dreaming?

"I... like it," I said.

His eyes dropped to my chest. I was wearing a shirt with a few unbuttoned buttons. I noticed him looking at the scar on my chest before his gaze returned to my eyes.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. He gave two taps on my shoulder before heading to his part of the house. I stood there frozen, unable to believe what had just happened.

Then it suddenly dawned on me. They were always like this, weren't they? Show some affection and then hurt me. Pedro did that, Louis did that, and now Papa too? Were they all in on it together? Well, this time, I wouldn't fall into their traps.

I went to my room and took out my phone to send messages to Mia. She mentioned that she even studied during the summer. How boring. She was trying so hard to get into a better college. Well, if I had the money, I'd fund her education at a good college. But I wasn't 18 yet, so I didn't have access to my own money. I was still using Pedro's card, and if I bought something with it, he would get a notification and want to know what I purchased. Even if I withdrew cash from his card, he still wanted to know why I took it out.

"Enzo," Juana came into my room with a box in her hand.
"Don't steal my stuff again," she said, placing the box on my table before leaving.

I got up from the couch and approached the table to see what it was. It was a box filled with shampoo, body spray, perfume, creams, and other items—all for men. I couldn't give any of these to Mia. I even found some of my favorite brands there.

"Another gift?" Papa came into my room and asked. He and I were okay again after our stupid emotional fight.
"Take some. I don't want them all," I said, offering him some of the items from the box. I often gave him my stuff, so he took a few items.
"You bought these?" he asked.
"Juana put them here and asked me not to steal her stuff," I explained.
"Hmm... these are only for men, though," Papa observed, checking them all.
"Yeah," I confirmed.

Only one month remained until summer vacation ended. I couldn't wait to go back to school, bully some kids, and spend time with my friends. Then I'd have to study hard like a dog to get better marks than Ava. After Papa (Gerardo) talked to me when no one was around, he hadn't spoken to me again and continued to ignore me as usual. Luckily, I had prepared myself for that. Otherwise, I might have gotten hurt like before when my brothers did that to me. I hadn't seen Pedro or Louis yet. I heard they came back from vacation, but I think they were scared of Papa (Manuel).