My Mother's Boyfriend

The Calls Come In

Alejandro

At least she is smart, I think to myself when the girl steps into the elevator without any coaxing from me or my men. But she remains silent- I like her already.

I am not one bit worried about what my mother will think about the girl’s looks but what others will say. The girl is ... turbulento. (disorder)

Entering my apartment complex, Marcus holds the door open for her, my men and I walk in ahead because she is slow to move, and I am a man with very little patience. She should stay here with me, rather than at home with my entire brood. Here she would have no questions to answer besides the ones I ask and, most importantly- away from Mama and her prying.

This is my privacy retreat when I need an escape from home- er things. It started when my brother had his child, and the creature would not stop howling. Of course, the little critter grew out of it eventually and I moved back into our family home but not entirely. I stay here ever so often when I need to be away from them.

Sometimes they cluster me.

My phone starts ringing. I sigh deeply, knowing it was my siblings and cousins calling to see if the news was true. Looking at the screen- Thomas, my younger brother. The youngest of us all. He’s twenty-two. Then the second youngest, my sister Gabriella at twenty-four, me almost twenty-seven, Paolo at twenty-nine, and the eldest, Angelo, and the only one who gave mama a grandchild, thirty-two. His daughter Alessandra is four years old with his live-in girlfriend Tami.

My father died years ago aboard a Malaysian airline that went down under mysterious circumstances and had nothing to do with our underworld influence. Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that the flight crashed in a remote part of the Indian Ocean after running out of fuel after an unexpected U-turn. It remains a blank, to date, about what transpired inside the plane as even our deep mafia ties around the world, offered no answers that fit.

That old fat piece of crap man that goes around ‘documenting’ from Madagascar to wherever to bring up false wreckage for fame- I want to shoot him sometimes. Maybe I will if I ever meet him- who knows? Playing with people’s grief is unacceptable.

Peter and David, go to the kitchen area and I know they are about to raid my fridge. Marcus locks the door behind us and walks in the opposite direction, leaving me in the company of my spacious living room with my- uh- fiancé.

Two comfortable sleeping couches and a huge flat screen decorated this area but neither of us used any seats. From here to my right is the cosy dining area, then a large open-plan kitchen which is fully equipped with a dishwasher that none of these guys seem to know how to use because they always place their plates in the sink. Since I do not have a live-in maid here, I make them wash it themselves every time, but they never do so until I tell them. One would think they would have learnt by now.

I think it’s just them poking fun at me.

Left of us, are the bedrooms- two with rain showers- the main reason why I took it, and a small wash area that separates the two bedrooms. It’s modern but simple, unlike home. Here I am my own man, but at home, my mama treats me like a child, even though she knows what my hands are stained with.

Pressing answer, I mutter, “Yeah,” holding the tiny wrist once more of the girl because I have no idea if she would attempt to run again. Not that she could escape here, but it would be tiresome to chase behind her and my men had more important things to deal with.

“Are you coming for dinner tonight?” He speaks to me in Italian. Our family speaks English ninety-five percent of the time, but sometimes we mix languages when we do not want to be overheard and understood by others.

“Ah, no, I don’t think it is wise,” I reply to my younger brother, in the same language, frowning while I speak because the girl is taking in the room. She scrutinizes the outside world from the huge glass of the floor-to-ceiling window, and I’m sure she is searching for an open window.

Maybe I’ll just leave her to starve till she comes out on her own eventually.

I hear a beep and look at my phone screen. Gosh, it’s Gabriella now. Rolling my eyes, I ask him, “So what did mama-”

“Hey, Angelo, is calling, I’ll call you back,” he mutters and hangs up before I can utter another word.

Raising my eyebrows at his actions because I was expecting him to grill me, I grimace as I pick up my sister’s call. “Yes, Gabby?”

“Is it really true?” my one and only sister got down to the point.

“Yes, it is true-” I hear her cussing to someone else that it was indeed true, followed by shrieks in her background.

Well, fcuk. The family had gathered already! By family, I mean the twenty or so people I heard- cousins and uncles and aunts that reside in the same house more or less. Our family is huge. Moreover, I only told Mum just over an hour ago about the engagement. She's faster than those ‘Fast and the Furious’ guys.

“When does Mama make the announcement?” I go on talking. I meant the official one. My eyes are partially still on the girl who has not moved from her spot, but I see her as a red blur.

“When? She is on the phone with Lu right now. Uncle Austin is making calls too. When do we meet her? What about Stephanie?”

Another beep- it's Aunt Patty, Uncle Austin’s wife, and my father’s sister.

I ignore it. “Stephanie? The girl from the coffee shop? No, that was nothing,” I eye the girl when she suddenly sat down, almost dragging me down with her because I had not let her hand go. I release it now and step back from her.

Phones start going off then in my apartment.

Christ the guys were getting calls too?

Another beep- “Gabby, hold on, it’s our brother.” And closing my eyes briefly, I say, “Hello Paolo.”

“Must I be the last to know about this?” his Spanish words, mixed with his deep voice, commands the truth- that and this, one of my elder brothers, likes everything plain and laid out in front of him. He hates games.

Of course, I defended myself. “No, it just happened suddenly-”

“So suddenly that the family does not know who this woman is?” He’s right, of course. Our family hides nothing from each other. Sometimes I think we are too close, but given we are the mafia, we trust almost nobody besides ourselves and our tightly-knit family. “We shall speak later.” he hung up.

His demand is not one I can ignore. I must go home tonight now.

“Yeah Gab-" My phone beeps again, and I see it is still Aunt Patty, so I press ignore. She is not immediate family to me. Another beep- Thomas again. “Hold on Gab,” I switch calls, “Talk to me.”

Turning around, I take a few steps forward.

“You’re getting married?” Thomas’s tone is one of disbelief. This time he speaks in English.

Oh. He hadn’t known earlier and clearly Angelo just shared the news with him. “Uh, yeah, you know- she's here so I can’t really be on the phone so much. Rude and all.” Flustered by all this talk, I loosen my tie, blow out a breath, and pace the room, my fingers scraping against my forehead as I scratch the flesh lightly, all the while still keeping an eye on the girl.

“Seems kinda sus,” he accuses in his own new-generation language, but I get what he means.

Maya Patel sits almost unmoving now with her head bent.

“Yeah, she moved in today, so I figure why not make the announcement today itself. Ease Mama off my back a bit.” I told him about what transpired last night at dinner, and he sighed. Paolo and I are on Mum’s project book to get hitched right now.

If the girl heard me, she ignored my words well.

A plan starts forming inside my head for tonight. This is good. I can say that I asked her to marry me before, but I kept it under wraps when her mother died, and we obviously couldn’t announce it then.

Gleefully I smile. It’s all coming together nicely.

The girl on the couch gives me a wide-eyed stare. So, she did hear me after all. She’s scared ...good she will be easier to control with fear like that.

Marcus comes in then, shaking his head, “I can’t deal with this.” He does look agitated and drops heavily on the opposite couch, flicking on the television.

“Hey, Tom, Gabby is on the other line. Can I talk to everyone together, later? This phone is giving me a headache.”

“Yeah, sure buddy.” He hangs up.

“Gab-” she hangs up. Apparently, her short temper drove her to impatience.

Throwing my phone on the couch, I cover my eyes groaning. What the fcuk? I can’t deal with this- I never imagined-

“Angelo is calling,” I hear the meek mouse and glance down at the girl. She is holding my phone up to me.

The other three men come in then with the same expression as Marcus earlier, shaking their heads as they sit on the same couch as him, looking irritated. I totally get it. Who wants to answer questions about sh!t like this? My men are here to be my armour, not my secretary.

Taking the phone from the girl, I press answer, my weariness leaving with the following words. “Mama says you knocked up some girl, Ale? Ella está embarazada?”