Love, Death and Broken Family Ties 2

Aurora POV:

All through dinner Lucille has been careening wildly from sadness to elation to despair. Her entire family has been carefully navigating her mood, driving her into neutral territory again and again, buffering her, protecting her.

But as we sat down and began to eat dessert, she broke down and sobbed silently, her shoulders shaking, her head turned away as though she was going to tuck it under her wing like a sleeping bird. At first, I was the only person who noticed this, and I sat, horrified, unsure what to do. Then Philip sees her, and then the whole table falls quiet.

He's on his feet, by her side. "Lucy?" he whispers. "Lucy, what is it?" Leo hurries to her, saying "Come on, Mama, it's okay, Mama... "

Lucille is shaking her head, No, no, no, and wringing her hands.

Philip backs off;

To my surprise, it's Great Aunt Dulcie who breaks the stunned stillness.

"Child, if anybody's a hypocrite here it's you. You did the same thing and I don't see that it ruined Philip's chances one bit. Improved them, if you ask me."

Lucille stops crying and looks at her aunt, shocked into silence. Gus looks at his father, who nods, once, and then at Sharon, who is smiling as though she's won at bingo.

Alicia led Lucille to bed. She kept apologizing till she was taken away.

"What's wrong with her, is she fine," I asked carefully not to rile anyone up.

I got my answer from an unlikely source.

She's manic-depressive. She has always been?" Donny said.

"She had a baby that died when I was seven, and that was bad. She tried to kill herself. I found her. I remember the blood, everywhere, the bathtub full of bloody water, the towels soaked with it. Screaming for help and nobody was home."

Nobody said anything, I crane my neck and see Leo staring at the ceiling.

"Donny, I don't think it's necessary to tell her about your mother—"

After the performance, she just said what am I supposed to do? Aurora can see for herself that she's wacko, she isn't stupid—" his voice is rising "She deserves to know if she is to marry into the family"

"Your mother is not 'wacko'," Phillips says sternly.

"Yeah, she is," Leo affirms, joining the fray.

"Now stay out of this—" Phillips snapped

"The hell I will—"

"Leo!" Phillips's face is dark red and his eyes are protruding and his voice is very loud. Alicia opens Mama's door and looks at all of us with exasperation.

"Go downstairs, if you want to yell," she hisses and closes the door.

They look at each other, abashed.

I had to sit there pretending I wasn't there.

"You act like the family is goddamn perfect, but the truth is we are not. We are as dysfunctional as it can get." He said. "It's high time you admitted it"

"The only tumor in the family is you, you are like a cancerous cell that has been allowed to grow"

"Mother her head because she lost her child, she lost her because she was busy chasing trying to get you back, while you were chasing younger girls skirt. She tried to commit suicide out of guilt and remorse for allowing her child to die"

"Oh shut up Donny, shut up"

"Sharon is as about as perfect as any woman, Mark would ever find, yet you are rebuffing her. I know you father, You are resisting airing your opinion about the poor girl because you are sure your deranged wife will do it for you. And what about Aurora, you complained about what she was wearing. It's a ruse to make her uncomfortable and push her away from your elite family, isn't it"

The silence resonated with the truth in his words

"This is about Jasmine, isn't it? I told you she wasn't good for you, all she wanted was your money" Philip said

"And who are you decide that?" He snapped

"She did leave you at the end didn't she"

"Because you showed what deranged family I belong to"

"No Donny, You chose my money over her, because you are a spineless loser."

"It takes nothing away from you being a failure, you fail at everything you do. Some people were created in this world to be leeches. You act like prey, but you are a predator. You use pity to lure in your victims, that's how you survive. Most people survive by working hard, You survive by making people think 'Oh this poor guy, I can't help but pity the deafening wails of his wilting soul. So, they proceed to help you. You suck and suck out your helper till there is nothing left in them. Then you try to blame everyone for your failure. Own up to your failure Donny, you are a grown man."

"Whenever you admit you are also a failure as a parent"

"I clothe you feed you, protect you, let you have the most comfortable life and I am repaid by

disrespect, the only failure on this table is you"

"I hate this family so much" Donny bellowed

"You don't mean it Donny" Leo said

"No one loves you either, no one wants your presence. You can stop coming to the goddamnn family dinner." Phillips hollered back.

"The excuse of missing your younger brothers and sister, when in reality you come to the dinner hoping I die so you can take over my wealth as the first born. unfortunately for you, you weren't willed to get a single pin as an inheritance

"You don't mean it, Father," Leo said

"Believe I don't want to come either, and you were right about one thing, I always came to confirm if you had died yet."

"Then you can go and never come back"

I heard the screeching of the chair against the floor and watched Donny stand up.

"Come on Donny, you know he doesn't mean it"

"I've had enough of this nonsense" He said and made for the exit dramatically

"Yeah, run away, run away! That's all you know how to do and like a retarded degenerate come crawling back like a loser.

He glanced back, I saw flashes of pain in his eyes in Donny's eyes.

"That was harsh, perhaps too harsh sir" I squeaked

"I know it was harsh, that was I said it Miss Hardy"

"You can't keep pushing him away Father" Leo added

"He deserved to be pushed away"

"How can you talk like that about your son" i said softly

"Who asked you? When did you get so comfortable enough to pitch me ideas"

"Don't talk to her that way Father" Leo shouted

"You dare raise your voice against me Leo?" He asked visibly shaken

"You are bad eggs, every single one of you." he added

Leo sat and watched him in Disbelief He pushed the chair back and arose.

"Donny was right, you are a bad father."

"A bad father!" He said in a strangled voice "A bad father" he repeated

"If your elder brother was too stupid and too much of a failure for my efforts to reflect in his life, certainly not you. Either you are spastic or suffering from Alzheimer's. I made you whatever you are today, it was I who made you. Don't get high and mighty because you think you've made a few million. Just like I mold you with my hands I will crumble you. Don't get Cocky with me Leonardo"

"You can't take for credit my hard work and resilience, everything I built, I built it myself. Me! I did it myself" He hollered.

Phillips laughed.

"Without me Leonardo, you will simply be another High school dropout, pumping gas to make a living. I made you comfortable, I gave you the resources to grow, and I taught you all I know and all you need to be one step ahead of others. Every single thing you had, I offered it to you on a silver platter, I built you and the least I need is for you ungrateful degenerates to show me some appreciation and respect"

"Do you want an award, World Best Dad engraved on your mug, will it be enough"

"Are you mocking me Boy" He stood up.

Leo sighed heavily.

"You know what I'm out of here, let's go Aurora. I'm tired of this nonsense" Leo said

"Yes and take your urchin with you on your way out"

"Don't talk to her that way"

"Or what? What are you going to do Leonardo."

"You know what, she's a million times a better human than you"

"I'm sure we've had this conversation before, what is the name of that woman again, the street urchin you married years ago? I accepted her because that was what you wanted, She showed you pain in the end. You were the first in the family to be a victim of paternity fraud, we had to accept you hit the devilish woman instead of admitting you were a victim of paternity fraud. I thought you were the smartest of the bunch, but you turned out to be the dumbest."

"It took a long time, but I decided to forgive you for staining the family legacy because I believe you are allowed to make mistakes. But you dared to bring another street urchin into my house."

I was glad he was throwing his weight behind me, but it took nothing away from how hurtful Phillip's words were. I didn't want to stick around any longer and listen to his derogatory description of me.

"Let's go, Leo," I said tugging his arm "It's nice meeting you all," I said forcing a smile.

None of them replied to me, except Sharon who blew me a subtle kiss and waved. Her gesture was sincere enough and very much appreciated.

He held my hands and walked me out. I could see he was boiling, I had never seen him in such a state before. I could feel 5 pairs of eyes boring holes in my body.

"I will take you home, I'd have my driver send your car tomorrow"

"It's fine sir"

After walking through the maze-built house, we were out into the cold night. The cold air that hit my exposed skin, reminded me of the cloth I was wearing.

"Sir, I am still wearing your Grandma's clothes, I think it would anger them more if I went home with them"

"Great," He said

It wasn't the reply I was expecting but it showed he wasn't interested in whatever I had to say.

He started the car without saying another word. The silence was becoming uncomfortable, it was the first time we would share an uncomfortable silence. His eyes were fixated on the road, he hadn't so much as bat an eyelid at me.

'Was he angry at me, was he angry I interfered with his family business? His father flared up only after I commented on how he treated his son. I should have kept my shut and pretended what he said just like others did. Now I was sure, that was why he was pissed at me. He brought me to help out but I only made it worse.

"Sir, Are you angry at me"

He said nothing, his eyes remained fixated on the road.

"I'm so sorry sir"

"Don't" He said calmly "Don't apologize when you did nothing wrong."

I turned my head to meet his gaze, but I was wrong.

"I can't be mad, I can never be angry at you"

"But, you are angry"

"I'm angry at myself, I'm angry at my poor excuse for a family and I'm angry you had to witness that. I'm angry my father insulted you and I could do nothing about it"

"You defended me" I emphasized.

"You call that mediocrity defending, I was pathetic. I couldn't go against my father. "

"I wouldn't want you to go against your father because of me"

"I should have"

"You keep forgetting, I am just your secretary sir. Your father had a right to be angry, I was just at the receiving end of what one woman did years ago"

"I can't believe you are defending him," he said angrily "You always hunt out for the best trait in people, I find it endearing, but sometimes it's annoying"

"But you have to admit I'm right too"

He said nothing. He simply kept driving...

"Is this how dire the dinner always ended?" I asked

"Yeah, more often than not"

"This is perhaps the relatively the most peaceful one we've had in many years."

"If you call this peaceful, I don't want to see how the not-so-peaceful one ended"

"Believe me it was, Father talked about his hobby and Mom made turkey, Mark brought a new wife and Donny was simply Donny."

I took a sneak peek at him, he was trying to hide it, but he looked a mess and who wouldn't with the open display of shithousery his family displayed? His incessant attempt to make his family have a hitch-free dinner went haywire and ironically he escalated it even more, he felt guilty he was the cause of it all.

One thing was clear, his family is a mess. It is what could be described as a dysfunctional family, but none of their problems is beyond fixing unlike mine, which was broken and unfixable.

I was more bemused by how every single one of them still showed up for the next dinner despite how horrible the last one went. It pretty much underlined the importance, they loved each other.

I hope they realize how much they love and need each other and fix their differences.

He looks more hurt "I didn't know it would go this bad, believe I wouldn't have dragged you into it had I known"

"It doesn't necessarily have to end this way"

"What?" He asked confused.

"How about we turn the night around and make it one to remember."

"How?" He said looking more confused.

"We can have fun, do something thrilling for us to remember"

He thought about it for a while, I thought he was going to disagree.

"I know a spot," I said with a grin.

"Where is this spot?"

I could see the enthusiasm spreading across his face.