Truths
POV: Elena
"FAMILY?" I yell at her and start laughing.
Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy and it takes me a few minutes to recover.
"Everyone here is so eager to know why I hate that word so much," I say, wiping away the tears that fell as I laughed. "And because for fifteen fucking years of my life I was abused by my parents."
Saying it out loud is liberating.
"The ones who were supposed to protect me and love me destroyed me," I say angrily.
Eloisa looks at me with wide eyes and I smile at her. I'm going to put an end to her act today.
"You heard my screams every night and slept peacefully in your bed," I tell her with deadly calm.
My relatives freeze at my admission.
"Every night I begged you and you laughed as he dragged me to that damn basement," my hands grip her hair and I pull Eloisa closer.
"Elena, you're hurting me," she whispers in pain.
I smile at her and grip her hair tighter.
"This is nothing compared to what you put me through today, Eloisa," I say in her ear.
"Please let me go," she whimpers and I throw her to the ground.
"Eloisa, is this true?" Dante asks darkly to her who is shaking on the ground.
"No, of course not," she says vehemently and looks at him as if she is begging for them to believe her.
Leonardo, to my surprise, is the one who speaks.
"I don't believe you," I look at him and I still feel so angry for what he said about me. For what it caused me.
"I swear it's not true, she's just trying to get attention," Eloisa cries and I kneel down and wipe her tears.
"You're not pretty when you lie, Eloisa," I say with the false sympathy I've seen her use many, many times.
I stand up again and take off my sweatshirt. I don't need her words to confirm my story. My body is scarred enough for that.
I strip down to my sports bra and show them the burn marks and cuts. Some are healed and others are still healing.
My relatives sigh and I hear someone crying. I don't want their pity.
Vicente approaches me and asks to hug me. I allow him.
"You are stronger than I could have imagined," he whispers in my ear.
When he walks away, Matteo approaches and says he wants to look at my bruises. I let him touch a few and I groan in pain when he touches the cut near my shoulder.
"The only one that worries me is the cut on my shoulder," he says loudly and I look at him in confusion.
"He's a bambina doctor," Angelo says and I'm surprised.
"The other old cuts are healing well," Matteo says and gives me a questioning look. "The bruises on your abdomen, wrist and chest are recent."
I nod at him, although it's not a question.
"How did you get those bruises, Sorella?" Luca asks me with special attention.
"Ask Elo," I say angrily, "she'll be thrilled to tell you what she did to me."
Everyone looks at Eloisa, who swallows hard and gets up from the floor.
"I'm not going to play your games, Elena," she says, and makes a move to leave.
"Eloisa Valentini, you are not leaving this room until you explain exactly what happened to your sister," grandma tell her authoritatively.
Eloisa turns and glares at me with hatred and resentment.
"That bastard is not my sister," she yells, and turns to leave.
Aunt Esther stops her and grabs her arm.
"It wasn't a request, Eloisa," her voice is cold, almost dark.
I wonder if my uncles' wives have jobs in the mafia too?
"It was just a joke," Eloisa says, and I look at her with wide eyes.
"A joke?" Matteo asks angrily, "Would you like someone to make that kind of joke about you?"
I feel my hands shaking with anger and I have to close my eyes to calm myself.
"You could have hurt your sister," Uncle Carlo says and she laughs.
"She's fine, isn't she?" Eloisa says angrily.
I open my eyes and she looks at me with disgust.
"What did you do?" Sandro asks with contempt.
"I gathered the girls from the cheerleading team to teach you a lesson," Eloisa says as she looks at me angrily.
"And that's all it was?" Grandpa's voice is deep and I can tell he was just assessing the situation during the whole argument.
Eloisa opens and closes her mouth a few times because of Grandpa's somber tone.
"Answer me, Eloisa," Uncle Salvatore speaks loudly.
"Today I set up the situation with the picture of her and Gael in the school locker" she admits smiling at me "I can tell that Elena loved every moment"
My legs start to shake and I have to sit down.
Vicente who is closest to me supports me when my legs give way before I reach the chair.
"Hey, bambina, it's okay" Vicente calms me down when I starts to shake uncontrollably.
"She's worse than them Vicente, she's much worse" I whisper looking into his eyes that try to understand what I mean "She destroyed me today".
It only takes him a second to understand and then I feel his body tense.
"Eloisa what exactly happened today?" he asks with deadly calm.
She looks at him scared and moves away a little. I know they won't touch her, but she doesn't know.
"I-I," she stammers, and that irritates them even more. "I might have told Gael that Elena wanted to be with him."
She stops nervously, and everyone waits for her to finish her story.
I want to cover my ears so I don't have to hear anything, so I don't have to go through all this again, but my hands are too shaky to keep them on my ears.
"And when she passed us in the hallway, that was the best moment." Eloisa's voice shakes, showing that she's scared. "I took his pictures out of the closet and then I let Gael be alone with her."
My brothers fall silent with deadly anger, and then Matteo asks what everyone is wondering.
"Did he abuse Elena in the closet while you listened with your friends outside?" His tone is one of disbelief.
Eloisa nods almost imperceptibly.
"Words, Eloisa," Grandpa growls impatiently.
"Yes," she answers calmly.
I clutch Vicente's shirt, trying to control the anxiety that is rising in my chest.
"Get out of here." Grandma's voice is as scary as Grandpa's. "We'll talk more soon."
Eloisa looks at her in shock and then falls to her knees with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I was really angry and I just acted without thinking, I didn't want Elena to steal what is mine." Tears stream down her eyes as she begs.
Grandma approaches her and slaps her cheek. Eloisa is surprised by this.
"Regardless of your reasons, we never hurt the family." Grandma says hatefully. "Now go to your room."
Eloisa runs away from her without protest.