Page 16 of Family Matters

That evening, more than ever since Ferris came to the library, Brian wondered who the boy’s father was. He lay in bed, trying to corroborate the scarce clues the mother’s ghost offered him, but the question remained unanswered. After tossing and turning for a good while, the man finally fell asleep.

The next day, only minutes after he started the normal work routine, Brian was interrupted by a group of kindergarten kids, accompanied by one of their teachers. Always happy to interact with the children at The Base, the librarian listened to them talking about their hobbies and recommended some books on a subject or another to those interested in learning more about the things they liked.

Once the little ones and their teacher left, Brian went behind the desk and opened a new tab in the library’s catalog, when a small piece of paper, folded in two, caught his attention. Someone forgot their reading list, the librarian thought with a smile. He took the note, unfolded it, and stared in shock at the only word written there in cursive letters.

Reardon.The name of his brother-in-law appearing on a piece of paper a kindergarten child lost in the library didn’t make any sense to Brian. Unless, the librarian thought, it wasn’t intentionally left behind. He frowned at the memory of Ottavioalso using a child to deliver a letter where he asked him to meet at his house.

Suddenly, the realization hit Brian in full force: it wasn’t a child who left the piece of paper behind, but the ghost of Ferris’ mother. She must have come when the teacher and the children were there, but, seeing that the place was crowded and I was busy, she wrote this message for me, the librarian said to himself. At the same time, he figured out the name of his best friend was there as an answer to his question about Ferris’ paternity.

Brian took his phone from the counter and dialed his brother-in-law’s number. “I know it's probably not the right time, but this isn't something I can’t tell you over the phone” He abruptly started as soon as the other man answered. “Can you please come to the library?”

A few minutes later, Reardon appeared into the library and leaned over the counter, slightly alarmed. “I'm listening, my friend.”

Brian swallowed hard a few times. “You know the kid Ferris I told you about?”

“Yes.” Reardon nodded. “His mother appeared in my dreams. She didn’t tell me who she was, I just…knew it somehow. She just...stared at me and cried.”

Brian inhaled sharply. “Didn’t she tell you that you are her son’s dad?”

CHAPTER 12

“Maybe she couldn't reach you for some reason.” Brian continued, not giving his brother-in-law time to react. “Sorry, but there are things I couldn't tell you about over the phone. She asked me to tell you to protect your son and also that he's not to blame for her death. There’s more: Ferris wants to starve himself to death. I've gotten him to eat some but…” He shook his head in defeat, leaving the sentence unfinished.

“It's not good. Not good at all.” Reardon let out a loud gasp of shock. “The only woman I ever slept with was Sonya, and if she's not alive anymore...” The demon stared blankly ahead.“It will be raining blood, my friend, mark my words. Sonya's father is Semyon Narkin, a powerful Russian gangster, and, if I'm right, the boy is his only heir. He can accuse you and the people here at The Base of murdering his daughter and keeping his grandson hostage.” His voice was low, barely above a whisper.

“Well, fuck.” Brian exclaimed, opening his arms in a gesture of surrender. “He showed up here out of the blue; I've never seen him before, none of us have. To make things even more complicated, his mother didn't tell me who we needed to protect him from.” The librarian frowned. “You’re right, this is bad. What should we do?”

Reardon reflected for a while. “Nothing, for now. If Semyon shows up, try to reason with him. I have the feeling he needs a shoulder to cry on. I mean, think about it: the guy lost his only child, it's normal to want to set the world on fire.” He stopped and cast an amused look in the librarian, who startedeating muffins like it was no tomorrow. “Stuffing our face, are we?”

“I'm eating so Sonya can tell you everything. You'll have to call Bart later because I'll crash hard. Then, we’ll see if the lady wants to talk to you.” The librarian winked when he said the last part.

Reardon nodded, and not long after Brian finished eating, the spirit of Ferris’s mother took over his body. The first thing the woman did was to tell the father of her son how happy she was when, once her soul descended into the Otherworld, she found out he wasn’t dead, like she thought for so many years.

Over the days that passed since her first visit to the library, Sonya wandered aimlessly, always coming back to the places most familiar to her: the house where she lived together with Ferris and her father, and the man’s office. From the bits and pieces of conversations she overheard, invisible to everyone, she was able to get a picture, although incomplete, of how she, Ferris, and the kid’s bodyguard ended up kidnapped.

It turned out everything was the doing of a Sicilian woman, known as Donna Fabrizia. She sent some men to kidnap Ferris, who was lured by one of his friends, also paid by the same horrible hag. Then, Sonya got a call and she went to deliver the money unaccompanied, as told. A group of men working for the mastermind behind the attack waited for her where she was instructed to leave the money, blindfolded her and took her to the same room where they kept Ferris and his bodyguard.

With every minute Sonya spent in his body, Brian got weaker, and she noticed that. Before leaving, the woman warned Reardon that Semyon's people captured two of the kidnappers/killers, and they told him it was Brian's doing. He already had evidence showing Donna Fabrizia’s involvement, but wanted to test that theory, too, so the two of them should expect a visit from the Russian mobster.

Indeed, one afternoon, a few days after Sonya took over Brian’s body, a man clad in a suit showed up at the library, and in a voice with a strong Slavic accent, informed him Semyon Narkin would want to have a friendly talk with him. Because it was the end of the shift, Brian asked the man to tell his boss he was more than happy to meet him the next day.

After exchanging a few messages with the emissary, the Russian Mafia leader agreed to Brian’s request, and scheduled the meeting for the next day, around lunch time. True to his word, Semyon walked into the library the following day, a few minutes past noon, but, before he could formally introduce himself, Liam stepped inside, a huge smile on his face.

“Papa, that poor boy Ferris finally emptied his plate. It wasn't much this time, either, but at least is more than he ate when he came to live with us. He ate a small bowl of soup, too.” The youth stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath. “Gabriele is with him now .”

“That's great news.” Brian exclaimed, relief and happiness mixed in his voice. “At least he's eating something. He had me worried. Maybe eating with you boys will help.”

“I thought he wouldn't eat the soup Elyan cooked.” Liam shook his head and made a funny grimace. “The stuff had a lot of onion, sausages and even bacon in it, can you believe it?”

“That's not soup, it's called solyanka, Sonechka used to cook it for Fedya a lot.” Semyon intervened in a shaky voice, extending his hand in the young man’s direction. “I’m the boy’s grandfather, thank you for bringing me such good news.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Liam spoke politely, shaking the hand the older man was offering. “Indeed,Elyan told me he took the recipe from an old Russian cookbook.”

“I don’t care what kind of dish it is, as long as Ferris enjoys it.” Brian waved his hand dismissively. “I'll buy the ingredients by the boatload if that would make him eat more.”

“Solyanka is something Fedya never says no to.” Semyon smiled, and it reached his eyes. However, you have to know how to give it the right taste. It must always have the same amount of ingredients.”

“You don’t know Elyan, the young fellow who cooked Ferris’s favorite dish.” Brian’s voice was warm and affectionate. “He is the embodiment of precision, likes to do things by the book, and I mean it.”

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