"we're always told to take risks but never warned about the consequences"
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"THEY SAY IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE SET THEM FREE, IF IT COMES BACK... PLEASE DON'T COME BACK" -CATHERINE ODELLA ~ "You know I'm doing this for your own good, right?" Catherine cut her eyes from the foreign black road stretched before her to glance at her son quickly through the rear view mirror. The rhetorical question reassured herself more than the boy who sat like a statue in the backseat. His eyes, like honey, were glued to the endless green blur of trees outside the car window.
The silence wrapped around them like a wet blanket, clingy and awkward. They both wanted to be free from the damp hold but taking it off would be just as uncomfortable. After a few more quick heartbeats Antonio decided to tear it off. "Kicking me out of the palace and flying me out to a random country is for my own good?" His voice, timid and barely audible over the hum of the engine, gave Catherine the urge to cower over the steering wheel.
It was exactly what she was afraid to hear, again. The words echoed in her head day and night in the desperate voice of the former, Alyssa. It seemed only yesterday her daughter sat beside her in the passengers seat. Hormones taking control of her many emotions, causing her to fume silently in anger than like a flip of a switch, spontaneously burst into tears. All the while cradling her swollen belly.
Though Catherine promised she'd never ever put herself and her next child through that trauma again, the boy in the backseat is living proof that promises are bound to be broken. A skinny tear streamed down his hard face. Using the sleeve of his oversized sweatshirt he hastily flicked it away than settled his gaze on the back of his mother's cornrowed hair. The curly ends were twisted into a low knot and secured with a diamond encrusted hair clip, a family heirloom that the queen traditionally wore to her sons crowning ceremony.
It was hard to believe only hours ago the royal family had fake smiles plastered on their faces. The gleeful masks were worn until Antonio tore his off and practically threw it in his father's face. The public, other royals, and especially, the paparazzi ate the dramatic scene up. You could say it was a ceremony that would definitely live in infamy. Or for a few weeks in the tabloids.
Their identical copper eyes locked as they both relived the drama before bouncing away. His mother took the awkwardness as an invitation to continue the conversation. It sure as hell wasn't pleasurable but who knew when they'd speak again after he hopped out the car and onto the plane.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish, struggling to find the right words to say. With no luck she pressed her glossed lips into a firm line and gripped the wheel tighter. Mocha fingertips were drained of color and faded quickly to the pale pink of her manicure. When Antonio was a baby he'd get a kick out of squeezing his mother's hands with all his strength and watching the color fade with added pressure. Sure, her hands were always sore but it kept him from crying. Catherine smiled at the little memory before I lightbulb sparked over her head. Her left hand took over the wheel as her right hand stretched towards the backseat. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears as she waited to be accepted or rejected. It began as a comforting gesture towards the baby boy if he became fussy during long limo rides to royal banquets or dinners across the country. During his toddler years it was a habit. As he grew older and gained patience the tradition was forgotten. At that moment, it was all the two had left. After a few lonely moments Catherine started to retract her hand back in defeat. But swiftly, at the last minute Antonio grabbed her small wrist. He laced their fingers together and watched the corner of his mother's full lips curl up to a relieved smile. Catherine slowed the car to a stop in front of the airport.
"I—I just don't understand why I have to go. Can't I just hide out in the west wing until this all blows over, like the other times?" Desperateness clawed at his words. Surely he could just go back home and apologize to his father. Then he'd spend the next month or so alone in the guest side of the palace. Away from his father's brutal words and hits. Mirna, the maid and his only friend, could bring him his three meals a day. He could spend the whole time with a stack of novels, setting aside his own harsh reality. Worry about the problems of his main characters. Escape his tragedy of a life. He's done it thousands of times before. Once more can't hurt.
"This isn't like the other times, Toni,—" Catherine unbuckled her seat belt and turned to face him. "Turning your back on your father in front of the entire kingdom, was the bravest thing you've ever done. It showed us how you've grown to be a strong young man capable of finally standing up after being knocked down all your life. Antonio, I am extremely proud of you.But your father on the other hand...rage isn't a strong enough word to begin describing how he feels. I know this may seem like the other times where he'd get angry for a little while and you could hide until it blew over. It's not. What you did was amazingly courageous in my eyes, but unforgivable in his," You could see the way her heart broke for the second time. Her body folded over as if she'd received a blow in the stomach. Tears streamed down her face, scrunched in absolute pain as she sobbed quietly. She clung desperately to her baby, her son, her last chance. She blew it. "If only you'd seen the way,"sniff ",he was looking at you,"sniff ", the devil himself would've cowered under that glare, Toni" Their eyes locked once again as chills shivered down both fragile bodies. For years Antonio guessed Romeo despised having him as a son. To hear his own mother actually tell him that was the case felt worse than being thrown to the ground by him a hundred times. "I know how he looks at me, mom,"—his voice was quaking—", like he's disgusted and-" "This wasn't just a look of repulsion sweetie. You humiliated him in front of his kingdom. He wants revenge. He wants you...," She gulped thickly and occupied herself dabbing her eyes with a crumpled tissue. Dead. Romeo wants him dead.. "It's not safe here for you, Antonio, and as much as it kills me to have to do this again I need you to take this ticket," She fished the slip of paper out her purse and handed it to him, "and get on that plane. I promise I will try to contact you when things... cool down I guess, but that may take a very long time. Maybe a year." Or two, or ten. "And then I can come home?" His voice small, dared to ask the question they both knew the dreaded answer to. The last bit of hope twinkled in his eyes before dying like a blown out candle after he watched his mother shake her head gently. "This isn't home anymore baby, you and I both know it never was." ~ HOW DO YOU GUYS IMAGINE ANTONIO? CATHERINE? _______ KAI
