28

Michael

I walked through the front door, exhausted from the deal I had just made with another gang. Weapons would bring in a considerable profit, precisely what I needed to rise to power. I walked into the living room and saw Antonio sitting on the floor, drawing, while Victoria was reading a book on the couch.

"Hey," I said.

Neither Victoria nor Antonio looked at me.

"How was your day, Antonio?" I asked as I ran my hands through my son's hair. He stood up, picked up his paper and crayons, and ran out of the room.

I let out a sigh. Antonio hadn't spoken to me in three weeks because he was mad at me. After witnessing my argument with Victoria, he wouldn't stop questioning me. I told him part of the truth and said I hurt Victoria. It turns out the brat is a mamma's boy.

I looked at Victoria, who still refused to acknowledge my presence. I sat next to her on the couch, and she quickly stood up and walked away. I stood up and walked after her.

"Victoria," I said, but she kept walking.

"Victoria," I grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch me!"

Victoria went to slap or punch me, but I quickly caught her wrist.

"Hit me again, and see what happens," I threatened.

I could see the familiar look of fear in Victoria's eyes. I let out a sigh.

"I just want to talk to you. I want to have a civil conversation."

Victoria sighed and nodded her head. I smiled and held her hand as I guided her to the living room and sat on the couch.

"I'm sorry." Victoria looked at me in shock. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you. I was angry that you helped put me behind bars. However, I know you didn't want to do it; the doctors and police pressured you. With you and Antonio not speaking to me, I've had a lot of time to think about everything. I forgive you for what you did to me; you were right; prison wasn't that bad. I was placed in solitary confinement where no one bothered me, and I was able to build a network. Honestly, the worst thing about prison was how much I missed you and Antonio, which hurt the most and made me angry."

Victoria looked away from me and seemed lost in thought. It took a few minutes for her to say, "I don't understand how you could put me through that punishment when you know what it feels like and how traumatic it is."

"That happened to me because I was bad, and I learned to behave and act better. I figured that if you went through the same thing, you would understand that what you did was wrong, and you would behave."

"Did that stop happening to you when you started acting better?"

I took a deep breath, remembering my teenage and early adult years.

"No. It actually got worse as I got older."

"Then you should've known that it wasn't punishment for being bad."

Victoria stood up and walked away, leaving me confused. My misbehavior had to be the reason my parents did that to me. Why else would they do that?

Victoria

I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I couldn't believe Michael was using his trauma as an excuse for the torture he put me through. As I lifted the glass to my lips, I noticed I was shaking. I put the glass down and took a few deep breaths. I had so much anxiety over the past few weeks and had no idea how to deal with it. So much shit was going on in my life that I couldn't pinpoint the exact thing that caused my anxiety.

Once I stopped shaking, I finished my water and checked on Antonio. He was playing with his building blocks.

"What are you building?" I asked.

"A castle."

"A castle? Can I help?"

"Yeah."

I walked over to Antonio and sat across from him, so the blocks were in the middle.

"How do you want the castle to be built?"

"I don't know. I want a tall tower."

"Do you have enough blocks? What about the rest of the castle?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, what are your plans for the tower?"

"A dragon is going to guard it."

"A dragon? Why is a dragon guarding the tower?"

"There's a treasure inside."

"What's the treasure?" I asked as I started helping Antonio build his tower.

Antonio shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"What if that treasure was chocolate?" I said with a smile.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, I'll get some chocolate from the kitchen when we're finished with the tower."

"Okay."

Antonio and I continued to build the castle in silence. Once we finished, we went to the kitchen, and I let Antonio pick out two pieces of chocolate.

"There you go," I said as I handed Antonio his toy dragon from the top shelf.

"Thank you."

Antonio carefully fixed his dragon next to the tower, on top of the castle blocks.

"Wow! That looks amazing! Good job!"

"Thank you," Antonio said. He didn't look as excited as he usually did whenever he achieved something.

"Hey," I said as I picked Antonio up and sat on the loveseat. "What's wrong?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why would you ask that?"

"Because Daddy hurt you."

"What makes you think Daddy hurt me?"

"He told me."

"Is that why you haven't been spending time with him?"

Antonio nodded his head.

"Did he tell you what he did?" I was worried that Michael may have given Antonio too many details.

"No. What did Daddy do to you?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, you're too young for me to tell you. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Has Daddy ever hurt you?"

"No."

"Okay. If Daddy ever hurts you or makes you uncomfortable, you need to tell me, even if he says not. If he says he'll find out, don't worry; he won't find out, you told me. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, has Daddy ever hurt you?"

Antonio shook his head.

"Okay." I kissed Antonio's head and hugged him close. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mommy."

"Hey," I heard Michael say.

Antonio and I looked to the door to see Michael standing in the doorway.

"I was thinking about ordering food for dinner. What do you say?"

"I'm not hungry!" Antonio said.

"Antonio, don't be disrespectful," I scolded.

"I'm sorry, Mommy."

"Don't apologize to me. You need to apologize to Daddy."

Antonio got off my lap, walked up to Michael, hugged his legs, and said, "I'm sorry, Daddy."

I didn't see a need for Antonio to apologize to Michael, but I didn't want him to piss Michael off. I doubted Michael would do anything to hurt Antonio, but one could never be too careful.

Michael chuckled, "I forgive you, but don't do that again."

"Okay."

"Also," Michael said as he crouched down, so he was leveled with Antonio. "I'm sorry for hurting Mommy. I promise I won't do it again. Do you think you can forgive me? I miss hanging out with you."

"Okay," Antonio said as he looked down.

"Should I order pizza?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," Michael looked up at me. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sounds great," I said with a smile.

"Alright. Antonio, do you want to help me pick out what else to order?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Michael said as he picked up Antonio. "Let's go."

I let out a sigh and walked out of the room.