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A few days later, there was still no word from Adrik. At least, not for me. I called Nonna and surprisingly my Dad answered.
“Hello? That you, baby butterfly?” Dad asked, his familiar voice sifting through the phone, and I closed my eyes. It had been years since he’d called me that.
“Dad? What are you doing?”
“I’m helping Nonna with some repairs to the kitchen. You know, she’s been wanting new cabinets forever.”
“You are?” I asked completely shocked.
“Yeah, yeah. You know, I’ve been getting help. Stopped drinking. Got one of those sponsors,” he said, and I couldn’t believe it.
“Oh my God, Dad, that is amazing.”
“Nah. It was long overdue. Anyway, thank that fella of yours. Maybe you both come down for lunch the Sunday after next? I should have the cabinets done before then,” he said.
“W-what does Adrik have to do with it?” I asked.
My pulse was going crazy and my heart was pounding as my father, who hadn’t been sober since my mother was alive for more than a few hours, explained that Adrik hired a building manager for Nonna, as well as a crew to fix all the construction issues. The manager, an older man named Vince, moved in to the basement apartment with his wife, Trudy, right after our visit.
Vince had been working on getting every one of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on a payment plan to bring them up to current with their past due rents, while collecting the regular monthly rent and utilities Nonna charged them, which was not much at all, but those fuckers thought family meant free. Apparently, Vince was a hardass, but he was nice and Trudy and Nonna had become fast friends.
“Uncle Frank is gone, and Aunt Linda is so much happier without that douche. I’m so sorry about how he treated you, Sofia. I wasn’t right in the head, and I wasn’t there for you. I am so sorry. Your mother would have wanted me to take better care of you,” he gasped, sniffing, and I knew he was crying.
“It’s okay, Daddy. You did what you could, and Nonna was there for me,” I said, forgiving him for everything on the spot.
“You know, Aunt Linda comes with me to AA, too. She takes Nonna to church now and uh, she’s got a job at the corner store,” Dad said, and by that point I was crying, too.
“I am so happy, Dad. And uh, yeah, I’ll be over Sunday,” I said, skating over the fact Adrik was gone and I didn’t know how long would pass until I heard from him again.
The next week passed by slowly. We had a nor’easter that brought with it twelve inches of snow, and Long Island got hit particularly hard. By the time the next Sunday rolled around, the streets had been cleared, and I was missing Adrik so badly, I didn’t know what to do. I knew he called and spoke with Marat. But he never asked for me, and he didn’t return any of the texts I had sent him. So on that Sunday I was supposed to go to Nonna’s I made a deal with myself. I was going to stay there. Start my life over without him and chalk it up to some crazy fantasy that had happened.
“What are you doing? Where do you think you are going?” Marat asked.
He frowned when he saw me dressed in one of the outfits Adrik’s people had taken from my apartment weeks ago. But there was just no way I was taking any of that other stuff.
“You asked me to wait, but we both know I don’t belong here, Marat. Adrik hasn’t spoken to me since he left, and I don’t want to wait for him to come back to leave. It will be too hard,” I whispered, my voice breaking at the end.
“He’ll kill me if I let you go,” Marat said, but I could tell he was leaning towards doing it.
“He won’t. We both know I was just a passing thing. This is better for him. Clean,” I said, and shrugged.
“Holy fuck. You love him!”
“Oh, God, Marat! Just, you can have someone drive me to my grandmother’s place, okay? You can tell him I got there safely. He won’t be mad. I-I can’t stay here. Please!” I yelled back, and by then I was sobbing.
“Shit. Okay, okay, come here, it’s okay,” Marat said, and side-hugged me awkwardly. It was more of a side-pat on the shoulders really before he pushed me away and handed me a silk handkerchief. I blew my nose in it and attempted to hand it back, but he shook his head.
“Um, you can keep that one, Sof,” he said, and grabbed my bag from my hands.
I laughed, wiping my tears as we went. The ride to Jersey was long. That was to be expected what with all the snow and people driving like shit. You would think New Yorkers and New Jersey folks would be used to it, but nope. Accidents littered the highway, and I was glad Marat seemed an expert behind the wheel of the enormous SUV. He’d insisted on driving me himself, though I noticed a similar SUV driving behind us with a group of hard looking men I recognized as being part of their security team.
When we finally arrived, I hesitated, but steeled myself, opening the door.
“You don’t have to go, Sofia. Come back to the house. Adrik will come to his senses,” Marat said.
“Nah. I know better than to stay someplace I never should have been, anyway. Your brother was beautiful to me.”
“He doesn’t know love. Never had it. Understand? He was always bound to fuck it up. But you can help him,” Marat implored.
