Mila's Reckoning

Chapter 5

Mila

Thankfully, my Aunt Margaret has been able to help a little bit more with Papa. She's my Papa's youngest sister, and the only living relative that I've really ever grown up with. Most people are lucky enough to have a huge family, but we just aren't. However, Papa's never made me feel any less loved than a girl surrounded by fifty people at a birthday party.
Papa hasn't had an episode since Helen left, and honestly, he's been on his best behavior knowing that I'm homebound because of the incident. But I never want him to feel guilty about something that he has absolutely no control over.
Before, my Aunt Margaret offered to stay with Papa every other weekend. However, this arrangement seemed to be useless because I never had anything to do on the weekend. Most of the time, my weekend traditions center around doing something exciting with Papa. But it was always nice to know that I had that option.
Aunt Margaret came over yesterday morning so that I could finally make it to biology. Professor Cash didn't seem to care one bit that I was gone on Friday, and he allowed me to make up the quiz.
Talking with Gino had put me at ease, because I could see in his eyes that he truly wasn't upset with me for ditching out on him. I definitely owe him for covering for me, and I intended to make that up to him tonight. I plan on completing the entire lab while he watches - or at least attempt to do it solo because I know that at some point he'll insist that he joins in. Let's face it, the guy not only dresses like a gentleman, but he truly is one. In that manner, he reminds me of my Papa.
At 3:45, the phone rings and a pit arises in my stomach.
"Sweetie, my car won't start, and the neighbor boy who usually fixes it can't figure it out. I don't think I'll be able to come sit with Bob tonight. I'm so sorry, honey," she said, and I could hear the gentleness in her voice, knowing that she was disappointing me.
I told her it was alright, and hung up the phone. I can't believe that I'm going to have to do this to him two weeks in a row. He's going to think I'm avoiding him, when the truth is that I've been dying to see him. Gino makes me laugh, and that's always been a hard thing for me to do in life. I tried to hold it together as I prepared myself for another phone call. Don't cry, Mila, don't cry.
"Gino..." I paused, trying to figure out what to say. "I'm so sorry, but I can't get away from the house again."
After a short pause, Gino replied, "Well I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle this one by myself. Plus, I was kind of looking forward to hanging out." He paused, and I could feel my heart racing. Gino was looking forward to seeing me! How sweet is that? "What if I came over to your place," he asked, and my stomach turned.
If Gino came over here, I would have to tell him everything. Not everything, but I would feel obligated to tell him about my home life, something that I've rarely shared with anyone but a few elementary school friends and Lyn. Plus, Papa would be here. It had been a long time since I had brought anyone home - especially a boy. But, he had been in an exceptional mood since last week. And, I owed Gino. I couldn't make him do another lab by himself. Despite the risk, this had to happen. This needs to happen.
"Uh, yeah. I guess that would work," I said, "How about I text you the address?" I asked.
"Deal, see you soon," he said, and quickly hung up.
I glanced around the dining room, kitchen, and living room and spotted every dirty crevice of my house. And I only had 15 minutes to make it look perfect. Great.

***
Gino

I think it was the first time that I didn't have Ethan pull my car up. As soon as I hung up the phone, I dashed out the door. Ethan tried insisting that I let him pull it up, but I couldn't control myself - I headed out the door and ran to the car garage. I couldn't decipher whether my excitement toward the lab was about seeing Mila or figuring out what's going on with her that's pulling her away from school, but either way, I was ready to see her.
A long 17 minutes later, I pulled up to a quaint little house. It was pale blue, with two big windows on the front. It sat on top of a hill, and had a huge backyard. It was getting dark, but I could see that there was a small man-made pond at the bottom of the hill with stones surrounding it. Next to the pond stood a deer statue.
I pulled around the corner to see a gray ford truck and Mila's little red car parked under the carport. I parked my car behind the truck, and headed for what looked like the front door. Before I made it there, Mila popped out of the carport and motioned for me to come that way.
I followed her to the back of the carport, facing the backyard where three patio chairs were. I followed her, and sat in the chair next to hers. It was chilly outside, but this spot seemed to be free from the wind in this moment.
"Sorry, I know it's cold, but I needed to explain a few things before we go inside," she said, her knee was bobbing up and down as she sat.
Her hair was up for the first time, and her face untouched by makeup. But none of that affected her beauty. Her cheeks were red as though she were nervous, and I don't know what she is about to say, but I can tell that this was hard for her. Wanting nothing more than to console her, I put my hand gently on her knee, and looked her straight in those big blue eyes. "Mila, what's wrong?"
"Uhm. The reason I've been missing is because I live with my grandpa," she paused, fiddling with her fingers. "Lately, he's been demonstrating behavior of Alzheimer's, and it's just been too hard for me to leave him here alone. Last week, he had an episode, and his nurse quit," she said. She was very matter of fact, and her voice monotone. I could tell that she really didn't want to talk about this.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mila," I said, wanting to just comfort her. "What can I do?"
"Well, unless you're a licensed caretaker, not much," she said, making a joke and cracking a smile. "But tonight, just try not to talk about politics, war, or anything serious. He has some triggers, but for the most part, he's still Papa."
"Absolutely," I said, looking down, noticing that her leg had finally stopped bouncing.
"Okay. Okay," she repeated and exhaled, "Let's do this."
We walked through the door that was closest to the carport into the kitchen, then walked through the dining room, and finally the living room. The living room was quaint and dark, the walls a deep maroon color. Her grandpa was sitting in a massive brown recliner closest to the big window and front door. As he saw me walk around the corner, and stood to shake my hand.
"Papa, this is Gino. Gino, this is Papa Bob," she said, smiling from ear to ear.
"So great to meet you, Bob. Sorry to barge in on you without much notice," I said. As I shook his hand, I noticed the picture of Mila on the table next to him. She was kneeled down with a brown lab, her smile beaming. It was then that I realized just how fast my heart was racing. I had never really been around a girl's family other than Adrianna's, and those guys were like my own family. I wasn't sure if he was meaning to, but his straight face was intimidating.
"Don't worry about it, son. Any friend of Mila's is welcome anytime," he said, and then sat back down in his recliner. "Now don't mind me, you two, get to work. I've got Bill Dance episodes to watch," Bob said, and then he turned the TV back on. Okay, maybe I was just overreacting, he seems chill.
I followed Mila back to the dining room. "Crap, I forgot the lab stuff in my car. Be right back," I said, grabbing my keys and scurrying out the door.
On my walk to the car, I couldn't shake this feeling that there was something off. There was no tension in the household, just a warm feeling. Bob seemed so welcoming despite my obvious level of discomfort, and I already knew that Mila was an intriguing person. On top of that, she was gorgeous in her completely natural state, yet she acts like she has no idea that she's attractive.
Walking back to the house, I realized that maybe they weren't the ones that were off, but that I was. I had no idea what a typical family dynamic was like, but I knew that I liked the atmosphere of this place.
The lab didn't take quite as long as last time, and within an hour, we were cleaning up. The workspace when we were at my place had much more standing room, but at Mila's, things were a little tight. We kept having to scoot past one another, but I sure wasn't complaining about that.
Cleaning up really isn't my thing, but I couldn't let Mila think that I really expected her to do all of the work just because she couldn't help last week. She was packing things up on the backside of the dinner table, and I was on the side waiting for her to tell me what to clean next.
"Excuse me," she said, motioning to walk by. I scooted back against the cabinets as she leaned her body toward into table. Within seconds, she had lost her balance and fell forward. I instinctively reached out, grabbing her hips to hold her up. Expecting to feel bones, I was pleasantly surprised that although Mila is slim, she has some muscle to her. I tried to release quickly once she regained her balance, but I'm afraid that my hands might have lingered.
Hoping that she didn't notice, I said, "Oh, sorry Mila, I should have just moved!"
Her cheeks were rosy, but she didn't miss a beat, "Don't worry about it, really." Man, that smile could make any man melt. "Gino, did you want to stay for dinner?" she asked while putting the test tubes in the box.
"Well, sure. But only if you let me help cook! Believe it or not, I actually know a few things about food." I didn't want to sound cocky, but my Nonna made sure that I knew my way around the kitchen growing up.
"Actually, I was thinking about ordering pizza. You like pizza, right?" she asked.
"I'm Italian, aren't I?" I said, laughing.