Mila's Reckoning

Chapter 32

Mila

You know in junior high when you were learning about the SohCahToa method to figure the angles of triangles, and the teacher would show you how to do it over and over and over again, but you were just like, "HUH?" Then after a few days of staring at and maneuvering triangles on a paper, you finally had your "AHA!" moment? It was like you just needed time for all of it to sink in, and then you could clearly see the big picture and easily decide which formula you needed to use.
After what had happened at the dinner on Sunday night, I told Gino that I just wanted to go home for a while. He was reluctant, but gave in because he knew it would give him more time to do whatever secretive business he had been whispering about on the phone. Normally, I would care, but I just wanted to go home. I needed my bed, I needed Papa and George, and I needed to just get away and process everything.
Of course, Lenny coming with me was a non-negotiable. I was nervous about how Papa would take to a stranger being in the house, but he knew that a friend of Gino's could be trusted. We told Papa that Lenny had a huge crush on Claire, and that we were trying to hook them up. With Papa being the romantic that he is, he bought it, even with the awkward age difference between the two of them.
Being at home, in my own bed with all of my things made me feel at peace. It wasn't that Gino's place wasn't starting to feel like a second home; it just wasn't mine.
I knew that Gino was doing his own little investigation, but when I got home on Monday, I just started writing down everything that had happened since that night. I wasn't sure what I thought it would accomplish, but I was hoping that there would be some piece that I was missing.
My theory was weak, simply because I was going off of only a few pieces of data, but I was fairly confident that I was right.
The correlations all pointed to my big "AHA!" moment: Vinny was my rapist.
"Elena, hey, I'm sorry to bother you. But do you think you could meet me at the bar," I asked, glancing down toward my stomach that was growling.
"Sure, is everything okay," she asked, her voice sounding strained.
"No, but I'll explain there. See you soon," I said, and hung up.
Now, to try to convince Lenny that there was no need to tell Gino that we were coming to town...

---

I sat in the back corner, hoping not to be noticed by any of Gino's family so that they wouldn't alert him that I was here. I had planted Lenny close enough to satisfy him, but far enough away so that he couldn't hear anything that we were saying. Lenny and I were only there for a few minutes when Elena walked in. She glanced around the bar until our eyes locked on to one another, and then she hurried over to my table.
"Mila," she said slowly as she sat down, "what is going on?"
"Elena, I need you to hear me out from beginning to end before saying anything, okay?" I said, crossing my fingers that she would trust me.
She nodded, and gestured for me to begin.
"For the past five days, all I have done is think about everything that has happened since that night. The bruises healed, but emotionally, I just couldn't control anything. Whoever it was that raped me obviously has had a history with Gino, so it had to have been someone who knew him well. Someone who had motive, and who didn't want him to come home." I paused, grabbing a glass of water, knowing that this next part would be hard to get out.
"Then, your grandfather's cologne made me sick. Gino tried to just say that it was a coincidence, but I knew that it wasn't - especially when I smelled that same scent Sunday night. And then, the only thing that I could see on the man who raped me was his mouth; and I remember seeing them briefly. I didn't remember until I went home this week, and when I saw them in my mind, I knew that I had seen them before." I stopped, trying to read Elena's face. She looked like she had no idea where I was going, so I knew I just had to lay it out there.
"Elena," I said, gulping the little amount of spit that I had in my mouth. "I think that Vinny was the one who raped me."
I waited for screaming, gasping, or for her to throw a glass at my head; but none of that happened. She just stared. And stared. And then stared some more. After a few minutes of silence, I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Look, I know you don't want to believe it; and neither do I. But I don't want to go to Gino until I know for sure that it was your brother. It's not something I can just tell him nonchalantly," I said.
"What do you suggest? That we just walk up to Vinny and say, 'Hey, are you a terrible human being and did you rape Mila?' I mean, even if your theory was right, he's not going to admit it," she said, sounding highly offended.
"I know," I said, trying to brace myself for what I came here to ask her.
"So how are we supposed to get proof," she demanded.
"I want you," I paused, not sure if I could finish this sentence. "I want you to give a paternity test to the fetus."
"Excuse me," she exclaimed.
I swallowed a huge gulp of water, and then looked Elena in those beautiful brown eyes of hers.
"I'm pregnant, Elena."