Page 31 of King

Guido stares at me for a long time, then simply says, “thank you.” With a tight smile.

I smile as well. He is a man of few words, much like me. And staring at him now - I can see myself in him again. A quiet strength that people might underestimate.

“Do you want the first aid kit?” I ask.

“No, it’s alright. There’s one in my bathroom cabinet. It’s not as bad as it looks.” He gestures over his face.

“Alright then.”

“Alright then.”

We watch each other for a moment and things shift slightly.

He smiles.

I smile and step back.

“Goodnight, son.” I murmur.

“Goodnight.” He turns his face away but not before I catch the massive smile that spreads over his face.

Outside his room, with my back against the wall, I’m smiling too.

It’s a small, seemingly insignificant step - but it’s a step in the right direction and for the first time in a long time I can smile about something.

But he’s not the only one who deserves an apology over what happened tonight, so I walk towards her bedroom.

She’s standing at the window, waiting for me.

“What happened?” She asks, nervous.

“It went well.”

Her shoulders drop slightly as she lets go of the tension she was holding.

“Thank you.” She says softly.

“You don’t have to thank me, Zina. I owe you an apology. I should have stayed neutral. I should have given both of them a chance to talk.”

She nods. “I appreciate you saying that.”

Sitting down on her sofa I push my hands back through my hair and let out a dry chuckle.

“Being a parent is so fucking hard sometimes.” I muse.

She grins and sits down next to me. “Oh, don’t worry, I know. And it’s even more difficult now because every time I look at Guido I see the little baby boy I held in my arms and rocked to sleep - but he’s a man now. He’s a grown, strong, individual with his own dreams and thoughts and ideas.” She sighs wistfully.

“I keep calling mine ‘kid’, even though they’re not even teenagers anymore. I keep waiting for one of them to call me out on it.”

She giggles again.

“And all the boys are taller than me.” She laughs louder this time. “It’s so hard pulling rank when they’re all taller than me.”

I start laughing to and as it rolls from my belly and out into the air it feels so good to be letting go and giving myself permission not to grieve for a moment.

Zina wipes her eyes, brushing away the watering tear that escaped in her amusement. She sighs loudly and leans over to rest her head on my shoulder.

“It’s not that long ago that we were their age.” She says.

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