Hated (14 page)

Chapter 19

Stephanie
Wilson

Boston 8:32 am Monday March 19
th
2029

It’s been a long time since I talked to Antonio. I see him at school but it’s just not the same as it used to be. Antonio has completely shutdown and focused only on his studies. He didn’t even talk to his friends anymore. He avoided everyone.

I hated to see him like this but I needed to stay strong in order to protect my family. I had to push down my feelings no matter how much they hurt when they are ignored.
I threw myself into a workaholic frenzy. I barely stayed at home anymore. I just couldn’t bare the memories of what had happened with him.

If I said I was fine I would be lying. I avoided my friends and barely spoke to anyone.
This was one of those things you’re not sure that you can forgive no matter how much you love the person. That was saying a lot.

When Antonio had handed me his necklace as a promise gift I was reluctant to take it because I feared that I wouldn’t want to let him go. It did make my heart flutter a bit but it didn’t change the fact that I felt hurt and betrayed.
I wouldn’t dare wear the necklace out of the house though. Just wearing it in the house it felt very heavy around my neck, plus it was kind of embarrassing to wear it in public. Especially since I wasn’t with Antonio anymore so that would only make it worse.

I still get made fun of but I don’t care anymore. The weird thing is that they’ve actually kind of backed off from me.
They aren’t as bad as they used to be. The boys have also backed off with the inane flirting. Everything seems almost normal now, but I don’t understand how it could’ve gotten like this so quickly.

It’s been a month and I still have this ache in my heart. I’ve tried everything to get rid of it but nothing works.
Usually the ache is gone by now. So than why is it still around haunting me with every memory that I have of Antonio? I kind of wished that it would go away. I knew deep down that I kind of didn’t want it to go away because I wanted to feel something. Something was a whole lot better than feeling nothing at all. I don’t want to go back to the way I used to be, the unfeeling and silent sister.

I guess in some ways the pain is better, because I know that I’m
still me and not that freak that is completely shut down. I won’t go back and repeat the past. Speaking of repeating things Antonio does the same thing everyday. When he gets here he stands by his bike and doesn’t talk to anyone. Even when Hayley comes over and tries to grab his arm he shoves her off and doesn’t say a word. But Hayley is a persistent little bitch. Then again Antonio is a persistent bastard. However I know that one of them will give up eventually I just don’t know which one.

Anyway continuing with A
ntonio’s weird repeating habits, in class he is so quiet and focused on the class. But sometimes out of the corner of my eye I catch him looking at me, with such a determined expression on his face. He really was trying to figure out a way prove himself to me. A small part of me thought that it was really sweet that he was trying so hard to show me that he was different.

I
tried to focus on the class but my mind kept wondering. By the end of class I was more focused than I had been in days. But I was still partly out of it. I didn’t want to talk to anyone for at least another month or so. I didn’t know how I would react or how they would react.

At lunch I sat outside enjoying the cool breeze
that filtered through my clothes and brushed across my skin and the sun that beat down on me warming everything that the breeze had cooled. I grabbed my paper bag that I used to hold my lunch in. I dug through it until I found something that I would like to eat. I munched on the apple that I had grabbed from the bag as I thought about where I was going to be going with my life.

I had to help support my family so it looks like
I might have to wait a little while before I go to collage or university. Family does come first after all. Besides my jobs aren’t that bad, I like the people I work with. Everyone is so nice to me and doesn’t try to patronize me. They let me do my work and they acted like I actually belonged to the place, like I wasn’t an outsider.

I finished eating and heard the first bell ring. I got up reluctantly and headed toward the school.
I tried to focus and I found that I could actually do it. Well I could focus better than I had this morning. I got more work done than I had earlier today. By the end of the day I felt a little better about myself and my future.

I quickly grabbed my stuff from my locker and threw it into my backpack before heading toward the front of the school.
I didn’t really look around but I saw something out of the corner of my eye that caught my attention. I turned my head a little, not enough to attract attention to myself but just enough that I could see what was going on.

My eyes widened a bit in surprise, but it wasn’t really that surprising to see what had happened.
I knew that one of them was going to snap but I thought that he might’ve held out a little longer. Hayley was lying on her back glaring up at Antonio and he was staring coldly back at her. A red mark was starting to form on Hayley’s left cheek that looked vaguely hand shaped. I really didn’t think that he’d have that in him.

He was saying something to her so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear it, “It’s going to be a whole lot worse than this later on.”

He was threatening her? I don’t think that he saw me yet so he wasn’t doing this for me. I think he was doing this for himself. I guess he really doesn’t like Hayley. I saw him lean down and whisper something else to her but I was too far away to hear what he said. However I did see Hayley’s terrified expression as I turned the corner to leave the school. I was so glad I wasn’t her right now.

Today was the one of the few days off that I have. All of my work pl
aces told me to stay home today, so I had nothing to do. However there was one thing that I was curious about and I wanted to see if I could finally solve it today. I walked to my brothers’ school to pick them up and we continued on our way to the house. Everyone was silent on the walk until we reach the house. Then I turned to my brothers and smiled.

“How would you guys like to help me try to solve a puzzle to day?” I asked. The boys were surprised at the sudden change in my tone. But they nodded happily and followed me into the house and down to the basement.
I searched around until I found the box that had been mailed to us after our parents died. My brothers were too young to remember that day or the box for that matter, but I had always kept it hidden from prying eyes.

“What is this?” Andrew asked confused, as I grabbed the old wooden box and turned around.

“This is something that mother and father had given to us,” I replied not wanting to go through the whole explanation of how I got the box. “The only problem is they didn’t give us a key.”

“So we have to find one?” Anthony asked excitedly. I nodded smiling.

“Awesome!” Andrew commented excitedly. “Can we start now?”

“Yep go on,” I replied and watched the twins turn around and run up the stairs.

“Do you even know what’s in there?” Kevin asked from behind me. I turned around so that I could see his expression. Kevin looked wary but his eyes were filled with questions.

“No I don’t,” I sighed and sat down on the floor.
“But I know that the book and the box are connected some how. Maybe it will explain all of the questions we have or maybe it’s a fake. I don’t know and we won’t know until the box is open.”

Kevin sat down beside me. He was silent for a few minutes before he asked me the one question that was really bugging him. “What were mother and father like?”

I had known that one of them would ask this question but that still didn’t make it any easier to explain. Even with all of my practise at answering the question in a mirror, none of it comes down to the real thing. I pursed my lips and thought of how to start.

“Well they were very kind and warm, but they could be strict and stern too,” I hesitated trying to think of how to continue. “They were the kind of people who were very protective of family and friends. They were strong and not just physically either.”

I fumbled for words but I found that I was at a loss for words. Kevin just nodded as if he understood. I heard a thud coming from up stairs as the boys searched for a key that they would probably never find. I heard them come down the stairs before I saw them. I didn’t think that they would give up already. It’s only been about five or six minutes.

“Steph, Steph!” Anthony called excitedly. “We think that we found something that might be the key.”

“Well bring it down than,” I replied smiling half-heartedly. The little head disappeared for a second and than reappeared with another one right behind it. Andrew had something in his hand. I held out my hand but Andrew was hesitant to let me see it. Finally he decided to let me see. In Andrew’s hand was Antonio’s necklace?! Did they really think that that would be a key?

Anthony must’ve seen my doubtful look because he said, “Please try it. I know it doesn’t look like much of a key but appearances can be deceiving
.”

He was stumbling over the pronunciation of a couple of the bigger words but
I could tell that he was trying. I sighed and held out my hand for the necklace. Anthony and Andrew seemed more excited than I did, probably because I knew that it wouldn’t work.

I moved the box so that it was on the floor in front of me and tipped it up so that I could see the opening.
I didn’t know exactly how to try to put it in because the opening was rather large. I put the smaller end of the cross in first, and then the rest just kind of slid in and locked into place. I was stunned I didn’t know if I really wanted to continue with this.

My heart was racing as I turned the cross. Then there was a small click and the lid popped up a tad. The box was finally open! But why had it worked with Antonio’s necklace? Why not something else? More questions raced in my head and I could see the
boys beside me staring eagerly at the box, waiting for me to open it. I was about to open it when I suddenly thought of something.

“Wait!” I said, my voice sounding really loud in the quiet of the basement. “We need the book.”

Kevin jumped up and ran to get the book that was in our room. The rest of us sat nervously down stairs waiting for his return. It didn’t really take him that long but it felt like a long time just sitting there with answers within our grasp. I heard Kevin as he thudded down the stairs and jumped the last couple of steps.

Kevin jogged over to us and dropped to the floor panting. He lifted the book up and smiled as he tried to catch his breath. I smiled back and then turned my attention to the box at my feet.
My hands trembled as I reached out to grab the box’s lid. I carefully lifted it up and flipped it off without looking down. But as soon as it was open I couldn’t stand the suspense and looked down at the box.

To my utter disbelief the box was pretty much empty
, except for two rings and a small booklet that looked like a passport. I grabbed the booklet and flipped through the pages. At first I didn’t understand what was in it, but as I looked again I noticed a pattern. I opened up the book that Kevin had brought down and flipped through it. I found that some of the symbols were the same in the book as they were in the booklet.

“It’s a code,” Kevin said astounded. His voice came from over my right shoulder making me flinch a little.
Kevin’s eyes were huge and when I looked to Anthony and Andrew they had huge smiles on their faces.

“Do you think
this could tell us what happened to our parents?” Kevin asked. He was trying to keep his cool but I could tell that he was fairly nervous. I can’t blame him I was pretty nervous too. I mean who knows what could be inside the book after we decipher it.

I looked at the wall where the clock was. It was getting fairly late and I still hadn’t started supper yet. But then I smelled something delicious coming from the other room.
Momma Betty was cooking in the kitchen. She always cooked the best dishes even with the limited supply of food and spices that we had.

“Looks like dinner’s ready,” I commented and the twins jumped up and ran up the stairs.
I chuckled and then caught Kevin looking at me funny. “What?”

Kevin just shook his head, smiling. “Are you going to try to solve the puzzle in the book?”

I knew that that wasn’t what he had wanted to say but I didn’t know what he’d wanted to say so I couldn’t prompt him to say more. Instead I just answered the question, “Yeah probably. I mean who knows what’s in this book; we might finally find the answers to why our parents died.”

Kevin nodded but he was still smiling. He was thinking about something else but I didn’t know what it was.
Then he got up and headed toward the stairs but stopped before going up them. “You might be surprised with what you find. But for now how about we go and eat dinner?”

“Sounds good,” I replied smiling. I put the book and box back in its hiding spot then followed Kevin up stairs.
I would have to go through it later with a fine-toothed comb.