Page 15 of Ours
“ButPapa—!”
“Enough.Go see if your mother needs help in the kitchen.Now.”
That was the end of that. Daniela and Gabriela both marched out of the room, expressions still sour but mouths shut. Their dad had a talent for shutting down their ever-escalating screaming matches.
“Puta madre…Nic!” His father turned, seeing him standing in the hall. “When did you get home?”
“Just now, Dad.”
“Must have been nice to come home to that.” Raphael sighed and shook his head. “I swear they fight more every week…”
“Yeah… You know I try to stay out of it.” Nic knew that was an exaggeration, but his sistershadbeen fighting more lately. He just figured it was them being girls in high school.
“You got a game coming up this week, don’t you?” There it was. Football was probably the only thing he and his dad seemed to talk about anymore.
It wasn’t that Nic didn’t like football—quite the opposite, he loved it. It just seemed like the only time his dad wanted to talk to him was when it had something to do with football. The times he seemed most proud were after winning a game, and the longer time went on, the less they had to talk about.
Nic’s parents, Raphael and Luciana, married young but waited a few years to have any children. Raphael was a successful trial lawyer and his mother a proud homemaker. Raphael worked hard to make sure he provided well for his family but as a resultwas rarely home to connect with his children. He was just as clueless about how to interact with his kids as they were him.
“Yeah, home game on Friday.” Coach had been riding them pretty hard as the season went on. “We’re 5-1 so far.”
Raphael smiled. “Your mother and I will see you in action on Friday.” Nic did like that—his family tried to never miss a game if they could help it. “All that hard work is paying off. Keep it up and you’ll have your pick of colleges next year.”
“Heh, yeah.” Nic wasn’t even sure if he wanted to play football in college yet. “That would be … pretty great.”
“Alright, I’ve got some work to finish now that I can concentrate.”And there’s the exit.“Tell your mother she might have to come get me for dinner.”
“Okay, Dad,” Nic said to an already empty room. He sighed.
Nic walked into the home’s large kitchen, his mother over the stove tending to a number of boiling pots. The smell of cumin and coriander was thick in the air. Goddamn, Nic loved his mother’s cooking. She had learned everything from her mother, Nic’sabuelita, and had done her best to pass her skills on to her own children, Nic included.
“Mama, I’m home!” Nic walked over to his mother, who immediately turned to embrace him.
“Nicolas,mijo.” She kissed him on the cheek as she squeezed him before turning back to the stove. “How was your weekend?”
“Good.Dad says to get him from his office when dinner’s ready,” Nic passed along his father’s message.
“That man never stops working, I swear…” Luciana shook her head. “Going to work himself to death one day.”
“Where are Gabby and Dani?” Nic looked around for his sisters. “Dad sent them in here to help you.”
“Oh, I sent them to the store. When they’re fighting, they only end up getting in my way.” Nic’s mom tended to be more practical about these things. “After spending all that timetogether in the store and car, by the time they are home, they will either have made up or not be speaking to each other at all. Either way, less headache for Mama.”
Nic snorted. “You should teach Dad your tricks. He never knows what to do so he sends them to you.”
“That man doesn’t even remember toeatunless I remind him.” He usually didn’t.
“Dinner smells good, Mom.” Nic kissed his mother on the cheek as he made his exit. “I gotta go unpack!”
“Okay, mijo, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready!” she called up the stairs behind him.
“I’m hoooooooome!” Derek shouted to a house he knew was empty.
His parents had been traveling on business the past four days. His mother was a management consultant and his father an event planner, so they traveled a lot. With his older brother Craig in college, it was a fairly regular occurrence that he would have the place to himself.
Walking through the halls, past all the empty rooms, he reached his and tossed his bag to the side before flopping down on the bed. He was bored, as he often was when he was home. There was plenty to do, but none of it really interested him all that much, not by himself—which was why he would usually find any reason he could to get out of the house.
His parents loved him, and he loved them, but as he got older and their respective businesses took off, they spent less and less time at home. By the time his brother had left for school, Derek was used to spendingweeksalone at a time. He had his own car. His parents made sure he had food and that the house was taken care of. But fuck, he was lonely.
