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Chapter 13
Neeky
I don’t know who called my brother, whether it was Miss Karen or Papa Robert. But whoever did was going to get a piece of my mind. I wanted Ryan to stay as far away from Neo as possible. I knew he was still grieving his brother and my brother didn't have anything to do with his death, but Neo didn't like my brother at all.
It was a few weeks after I returned from the hospital that he showed up out of the blue. He knew the locations of Papa Robert’s houses and according to him this was his first stop. What upset me more was that he arrived with a man.
“Hey sis, I hear that yuh sick. You feel better?”
“You shouldn't have come, Ryan.”
“Why? Yuh no miss me?”
“Come mek we talk inside,”
Ryan and his male friend followed me into the house where it became so uncomfortable. Neo and Papa Robert had gone to the store to get groceries while Karen went to the local butcher. They could arrive home any minute and I wanted Ryan gone by then, but he was with a guest. I couldn’t tell him to leave just so. Karen and Papa were neutral in this situation, but it was Neo I was afraid of.
“Sis, you look like you don't want me here,” he remarked.
“Ryan, I wish you never come home yet.”
He seemed disappointed by my words. “Miss Karen called me. Yuh sick so I had to come. Yuh is my only family.”
“Ryan, I know I’m yuh only sister, but you have cousins in the country.”
“Those cousins don’t mean a thing to me, Sis. It is you who I love. Yuh my only sister, the one that was there for me when our parents died.”
The SUV pulled up into the yard and I began to panic. I didn’t want an argument between my brother and the man I loved, and I didn’t know how I would diffuse the situation should it arise. I was still grieving the loss of a child and I didn’t want to have to deal with this petty matter. I knew people thought I was acting, that I couldn’t miss my baby because the pregnancy wasn’t old enough. They didn’t understand. I didn’t understand it. All I knew was that my heart ached each time I thought about it. I felt empty.
“Who dat?” My brother peeked through the window and inquired. “Is which white man dat?”
I didn’t say anything as we waited for Papa and Neo to come inside. They brought tons of groceries. The showoff that Neo was, made me chuckle. He’d been spoiling me since the day I arrived from the hospital, and I was loving every minute of it. But today might be the day that he decides to go home to leave me because of Ryan.
Neo came through the door, his eyes scanning the room before settling on Ryan. Ryan looked confused as he stared into the eyes of the white man, as he called him. Neo said nothing, carrying the groceries to the kitchen where he set the bags on top of the counter.
My heart thudded heavily, my ears rang, as my nerves threatened to throw me to the floor. Neo returned to the living room and walked right up to my brother.
“So you are the slut who broke my brother's heart.” That was said with much venom.
“Huh?” Ryan uttered before realization dawned on him. “Neo?”
Reeling back a few steps, the back of his legs hit the coffee table. His friend who had taken a seat in an armchair watched with some amount of fascination. The drama unfolding before him must be out of Hallmark.
“Darn right, I am. How could you break my brother's heart? Who the hell are you to dump a DeLuca?”
“I … I … I,” my brother stuttered.
“Do you know who the DeLucas are? We are the kings of Italy. We don’t only command Italy but commission many cities around the world. Put aside his family name, how could you have deluded a doctor? Answer me now!”
Tears pooled in Ryan’s eyes as his partner watched him with some amount of dissatisfaction. Ryan tumbled to the sofa and held his face in the palms of his hands while bawling is heart out.
I took a hold of Neo’s arm and tried to pull him away. “Babes, don't do this please. He’s the only family I have in the city.”
“You have my uncle, you have the Kings, and you have Miss Karen.”
“Neo, he's my brother just as Nino was your brother. I don't love him any less than you loved Nino.”
A sigh left his lips, his shoulders sagging. “I had to get it off my chest. I couldn’t bear the thought of my brother dying alone out there. I couldn’t bear the thought of my brother dying with a heartbreak.”
