farewell (18+)

25. That L Word

Joana helped me walk back home and up the stairs. As soon as we got inside, Max came to me, thankfully in board-shorts now. The last thing I needed was for another relative of mine to see my boyfriend naked.

"I was so worried about you!" He hugged me tightly. "I was getting ready to take the streets looking--"

"And get lost out there? You don't know your way around the city."

I pushed him away from me, and he seemed to notice the woman behind me for the first time.

"Max, this is my grandmother, Joana."

"A pleasure to meet you." He stretched his hand.

"Likewise, Max." She took his hand without hesitation. I guess it made sense that she spoke English.

"He is my boyfriend," I explained.

"What happened to your foot?" Max asked as I hopped over to the couch.

"Just a sprain. I'll be fine. Joana helped me."

"Joana?" He looked back and forth between us.

"I'll let you rest," she said. "Ice and anti-inflammatory pills, okay? Keep that foot up for the next few days."

Max saw her to the door. "Thank you, nana."

"Wait." I reached for a pen and scrap paper on my coffee table, jotting down Juliana's address. "This is where Darya's staying. She'll want to see you."

Joana's face lit up with gratitude, eyes watering. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah... Do you know LIBRAS?"

"Yes. I learned from a roadie back in a Sepultura tour in--"

"Please, no details." I raised a hand before she started to recount her wild days as a groupie. That was something no granddaughter needed to ever hear from her grandmother.

Joana took the paper and thanked me too many times. She bid us both goodbye, and Max shut the door behind her.

"Nana?" I asked him.

"What? She's your grandmother."

"She's my mother's mother, but I don't really know her. I didn't even know she existed before... before the incident."

"Oh... Then why did you tell her where Darya is?"

"I figured it's not fair to keep her from our grandmother now that I have talked to her... besides, maybe this will make her settle down and forget this nonsense of visiting our mother."

"I'm sorry, love. I should have kept my mouth shut," he said. "Here I am, acting like I was a part your family already."

"It's fine..." I sighed. "Look, Max, we need to talk."

He frowned, coming to sit by my side. "We do. I acted like a jerk--"

"No, that's not it. I think we should break up."

"You what?"

"Just hear me out."

"You're breaking up with me after one fight? It's been a week, Anna--"

"Exactly. One week, and everything's already falling apart... I mean, this has to be the reasonable thing to do."

"Why?"

"Because... the distance, baby. I think we hasted--"

"No! Don't even try to push that bullshit excuse on me. We talked about this."