Obnoxious Oxygen

Chapter Forty Five

I froze at the sight of him, unable to move and even holding my breath. His gaze zeroed on me, he smiled. Am I imagining things? Or is he real? I stared at him for awhile, still absorbing what I'm seeing.

There's Oxygen. Standing in front of the door in his faded gray David Lynch Rules sweatshirt, wrinkled cargo pants, high lace-up boots. He look so real. I must've missed him so much that I can't stop myself from wishing he was here.

"Oxygen!" Tita Moana called him out. My chest tightened, she's seeing him, too? So I wasn't the only one imagining things?

I watched Tita Moana stalked over him, that was when I realized that he wasn't just a figment of my imagination. He's real!

"Oh my God, Oxygen!" I shrieked in excitement.

"Hala siya," he grinned at me. "Delayed reaction, baby?"

Dad stopped me from standing up, when I turned to him he was looking at me, smiling. Then he whispered. "There's later for that, let him deal with his problems first."

I nodded. Okay, even though it's hard for me not to get near him when he's this close. Dad's right. I should let him deal with all these troubles first. Basta mamaya, sa akin siya.

"There goes your 'drug dealer', Vince, oh." Tita Chiara caught the attention of everyone, she pulled the swivel chair in front of her. The ones she'd been sitting at. "Come here, Oxygen. You're the missing piece in this puzzle. Sit here."

After embracing his mom, he went towards the seat readied for him. Tita Moana went back to her seat beside me. Both Chiara and Red Santa de Leones stood behind Oxygen.

"So, where did we stop?" Tita Chi broke the silence. "Oh, Zach's drug drama. In connection to that, we'll discuss Oxygen's drug drama. Friendship goals, aren't they?"

I don't know how she can still put humor in this kind of situation, but both Kurt and Roy De Salvo laughed.

"Okay, going back. This Pentagon and Cosa Nostra have been kept as our family's deepest and darkest secret. No outsiders knows about it. Makes me wonder, how it came out to public? Who betrayed who?" She continued and began walking around, circling everyone seated. "Drastic times calls for drastic measures. I don't accept defeat, Oxygen is a De Salvo making him a part of me. Letting him live in jail for days is hard for me, I couldn't fathom. I tried bailing him out, they wouldn't allow me. The one who tipped the police about my nephew distributing drugs was a mystery to everyone, but not for me."

She stopped behind Zach, squeezed his shoulders. And her eyes focused on the man sitting opposite to Zach's direction, Vince De Salvo.

"Must've been very influential, but I'm Chiara Santa de Leones." She smiled dangerously. "Family is not an important thing, it's everything. One thing I hate the most is betrayal. Blood makes us all related but loyalty makes us family. Do you understand that, Vince?"

I gasped and stared at Vince De Salvo with disbelief. If I'm guessing it right, he's the one who have Oxygen investigated. He's the one who put him in jail. He's the one who started the trouble. Oh my God! How could he do that? Oxygen is his family. Or is he including him in?

"Alright, given that you didn't know what's really going on. You didn't know about the fake drugs or the Cosa Nostra or the Pentagon thing. You should've let sleeping dogs lie!" Her tight-lipped smile shows contempt. "Hindi, e. You assumed you know everything. Just because you're certain he's having secret transactions with numbers of drug lords and have proved it to yourself that it's indeed about drugs, you've made a move. Without even thinking what will happen next. You've acted on impulse, kasi ano? Galit ka kay Exodus kaya dapat galit ka rin kay Oxygen? How stupid is that, Vince? I don't even know where these all started. It wasn't Exodus' fault that he's a De Salvo."