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sixty-eight
Costas
She requested me to take her around the town to do some light shopping. It felt out of character for Millie, but I knew better than to stick my nose where it didn't belong. She did mention getting something for her father because she missed him, so we strolled through different antique stores to find something. She also kept asking me my opinion, but I didn't know what to say because I never did things like this. Without many friends or having close family, I typically drank and bought the liquor for those who were celebrating a birthday. Hell, I never celebrated my own, feeling more isolated in their meaning.
"Does this one say, my daughter got this for me during her European adventures?" She held up a hand painted portrait from a local who sold on the side of the street to hustle a little extra for his family. I'd seen him often and placed a few generous tips in his hat when people watched him paint instead of buying the pieces.
After trekking through all the stores, it only made sense she'd find a humble worker to support. Nothing in the overpriced places fit her or her gift-giving nature. The scene on the canvas was of a vineyard on the side of a hill with the sun peeking over it. Smiling to myself, I took the painting and paid the scruffy merchant for it handsomely. He'd make his ends meet for a few weeks.
Handing it back to Millie, her eyes widened when I took control of the situation. "Out of all the things you've looked at today, this one is it. It means more."
The softening in her expression told me my words were exactly what she needed to hear to stop overthinking it. "You're the best shopping partner."
"Me?" I scoffed, shaking my head as we walked away from the edge of the sandy beach to head back into the town. "I never go shopping. You'd be better off with Kasey."
"Kasey would've told me to buy it all or the most expensive thing," she snorted. "I love the woman with my whole heart, but she thinks gifts are valued based on their resell value."
"I can see that." Once we started upward on the cobblestone, I cleared my throat without her concentration staring at me and making my heart skip a beat. "Well, if you want to add more value to your painting you're getting, you can take a bottle of wine from the cellar. They're a couple hundred each, and I can show you the best ones that Kasey didn't find."
"A couple hundred each?" Her face soured, remembering how much she drank.
"They use them all the time for less important things," I told her in hopes of lifting her spirits.
"Less important things? Costas, I was getting shitfaced for no reason with my best friend. What could be less important than that?"
"Everyone else just drinking to get shitfaced," I answered.
"And why am I above them?"
"Because Draven and Tony view you higher. They love you more than their workers, as they should." Hugging herself beside me, I felt guilt for bringing it up and placing this burden on her. "I know what it's like to have to adjust to money, Millie. My mother and I lived in complete poverty. She couldn't find a good man, and a few left her beaten and broken more than not after robbing us of what we did have. Even though it cost me my soul to work for the Russi's, keeping her safe meant more. Money offered that."
"But I drank their wine like I do a box wine from a gas station!" she shrieked.
"Just knowing they gave you an excellent afternoon with your friend was worth the bottles of wine, I promise you. If you had stayed for dinner that night with Giorgia, you would've seen a bill that would've made you think you went blind. Money is a convenience for them. Unless hundreds of thousands get drained at once, they don't notice."
"I don't think I've ever thought about how rich they'd have to be to live the life they do." Her head perked up as she looked at me. "My gifts always have a meaning, even if they're not very expensive or I make it myself."
"And that's one of the things they love about you. It's what drew them to you. Any of their friends could buy them expensive gifts, but it takes someone who truly knows their heart to understand what they're truly asking for."
"I have a gift for you too," she whispered. Pointing up the street, it happened to be Tony and Draven's favorite nook. "Mind if we stop for a while?"
Unsure how to proceed, she won me over with the innocence rounding her doe eyes. Even though she was in her mid-twenties, Millie had this soul that felt old and young all at once. Waving her forward, I scanned the perimeter to make sure no one followed us. My gaze kept seeking anything out as we entered the new establishment, but they stopped when they fell on someone I least expected to see.
Fiddling with a sugar packet, I found her worn face looking just as it always had with a few extra lines and gray hairs. My mother sat at a small table, checking her watch to see when we'd arrive. My aching heart stopped, feeling my deep devotion to her awaken at the sight. Frozen, I didn't know what to do, so I stiffened like a board. Millie took the lead, touching my thick arm with her slender hand, gently tugging me to where my mother sat.
"I-" I couldn't finish.
"Don't worry, I made sure to bring her safely here. No one knows but the three of us."
Hammering, my heart shifted gears with my uneven breathing. She squeezed my arm again just as we approached my mother. My ma...
When she saw us nearing her secluded spot, she jumped to her feet and threw her arms around me. Her weight compared to Millie's in size, but it felt like a freight train taking me on. The urge to sink to my knees heavily impacted me because I wanted to crumble under her loving touch. It took one moment to unravel the hardened man I had become.
"Costas."
"Ma," I murmured, feeling my lower lip tremble in adoration and fear of her rejection. After years of not seeing her, she still held me like she'd never love anything more. Fumbling my fingers to steady against her shoulders, I didn't understand how she could love me so unconditionally after I abandoned her. She could see all the questions in my apprehensive stare, meeting my firm cheek with her calloused hand.
"You will always be my boy, Costas." Speaking Italian, I knew Millie wouldn't understand what my mom was saying, but when I turned to check on the maiden I guarded, I found her in the line to get a treat, away from our greeting. My mother hummed her approval. "She is a good one."
