Elisa

11

Romeo wasn't in school for two weeks.

He was back today. Ollie, who's a senior, said he was quiet in their calculus class. When anyone talked to Romeo, Ollie said he was nice. It was like his douchebag vibes were carried away with the wind. In a way I feel like it's only temporary. He's grieving right now, so it's normal for him to act different.

I'm laying in bed and sketching Steffano on a small square canvas. I found a picture of him on Bambi's facebook. It's Steffano, who's in his early thirties. He's holding a baby Romeo and a toddler Nico. They're all smiling. I sketched the three of them already, and instead of the background being the front of their house like in the photo, I'm drawing flowers. Roses, daisies, lilies, hydrangeas.

Romeo is over, so I figured I would give him something. I know it's cheesy. Him and I aren't exactly the affectionate types, but since he's going through a lot right now, I figured I should do something nice. We are kind of friends after all. I'm going to outline the pencil with ink. I'll get my oil pastels out of my closet and color it in.

By the time I finished filling each space with color, Mom calls from downstairs that dinner is ready. It's Friday, which means she's making pasta fagioli. My mother still believes we are practicing Catholics, so we don't eat meat on Fridays. I already broke that rule because I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch today. Oops.

I sit down at the table. There's a large metal pot with Mom's amazing soup filled to the top. My mom cooks it differently than other Italian families. Instead of having the beans just thrown into the broth, she mashes them. She uses a tool that grinds the insides of the bean out, and gets rid of the skin. So the broth in the soup is thicker than just any ordinary, watery broth. It's one of my favorite dinners.

We have a full house tonight. Not only is Romeo joining us for dinner, but Dom brought Jo and Eddie over as well. Eddie doesn't like pasta fagioli, so Mom made him frozen chicken nuggets. I think she's hoping he only dislikes Italian food because he's still little. I swear she would have a conniption if he doesn't like it as he gets older. Like she always says, he's a Paccaroni, so if he doesn't like Italian food he can't be Italian.

My mom can be so annoying.

"Elisa, hand me the salad?" Dad points to the large bowl of lettuce next to me. I reach over the table and he takes it happily.

"How was school today?" Mom asks us teenagers.

"Fine," we all say.

"No detail?" Dad wonders. Usually he'd be at Rosa's this time of night, but Marco is managing tonight.

"Same old boring shit." Gio shoves a spoonful of soup in his mouth.

"Knock it off." Mom waves her spoon at him from across the table.

Dad changes the subject. "Romeo, are ya lookin' forward to Temple in the fall?"

"Yeah," Romeo wipes his mouth with a napkin. "I'm excited to play soccer for them."

Romeo got a scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia. He'll be on their soccer team, which is a really great achievement. 30,000 people go to that school. Remi also got into Temple, along with a few other Philly schools. He has yet to decide on where he's going to commit.

"Be careful down there." Mom tells him. "Stay on campus. That area of Philly is an absolute mess."

Like Mom and Dad always tell us, North Philadelphia is a mess. There are constant shootings, burglaries, drug deals, and a lot more shady shit. I think Remi is leaning towards Temple, but my dad doesn't want his decision to be based on where Romeo is going. Even though those two are practically brothers. It's amazing how boys can go from absolutely hating each other to best friends again with five minutes. Girls, on the other hand, hold grudges for ten years straight. And even after they get over it they will continue to bring it up in arguments to be petty.