Chapter 8 — Heit
"I was giving her space but now I won't do that anymore." Andre let out another exasperated sigh.
"Well, ami don't you think you should sort out the thing you have going on with your son..." Luc replied to his brother who seemed to be in deep thought. Andre's only thought was how close him and his son had grown in the past month. Leo was everything he had ever wanted in a son. He never wanted kids but Leo changed his mind. Being with Leo and seeing Leo made him happy but Luc was right he couldn't continue seeing him behind his ex-wife's back.
"She will say no." Andre took a sip of his Starbucks latte.
"He is your son and you have rights to be in his life whether she is okay with it or not." Luc muttered as a matter of fact.
"Mom took away my rights as soon as she kicked her out of the house and forced her to sign the divorce papers." He paused. "Goodness I can't believe my own mother did what she did. Wasn't it obvious that Della made me happy. I didn't care if she came from a wealthy family or not. I loved her for the person she was not her none existent reputation." Andre looked rather frustrated as he had his fingers in a fist ready to take out his anger on anything.
"Hey hey hey- calm down ami." Luc replied softly not wanting his brother to cause a scene in public. He knew Andre was capable of doing anything when he was angry. Before they could continue with their conversation both their phones rang signaling a message.
"Speak of the devil." Andre added looking at the text message his mother had sent him.
"I would rather be at a club than this stupid McCarthy gala." Luc said a tad bit irritated.
"I have to go, it's good for business and if I don't mom will never let me hear the end of it." Andre added.
"The good thing is its being held at the Ritz hotel so you get to see your Cinderella and maybe take her upstairs after her shift." Luc wiggled his eyebrows.
"Shut up Luc! You are such a retard." Andre playfully hit Luc on his shoulder but a small hint of a smile on his lips.
—
"If you are my mom's dad, does that make you my grandfather ?" Leo asked anxiously looking at the man who had introduced himself as his mom's father.
"Yes exactly, you are such a clever kid huh?" Garreth said ruffling Leo's blonde hair, he hated when people did that.
"I will probably find my dad when I'm grown up too." Leo said oblivious to the fact that he had just opened a wide unsealed wound. He continued playing his video games as he was slumped on the couch.
"Uhm Leondre ?" Della looked at her son questioningly. This boy never seemed to surprise her. Leondre was just too clever for his own good.
"Mom, I'm sorry I wasn't being rude. I was just saying besides I have a-" Leo remembered that his mom would be mad if he had said anything about his Rendezvous with Mister Andre.
"You have??" Della asked the little boy who gave her a quirky smile.
"I have a grandfather now but he looks so young. Wait till I tell my friends at school!" Leo said his eyes fully fixated on his game with full volume.
Della smiled before looking at her father who seemed amazed. What the little boy meant to say was 'I have a friend....Andre Levetté.'
"He never gets off that thing, i swear. He once cried when I hid it away from him." Della said with a glimmer of happiness in her eyes. She was beyond happy, this shocked her at first but after sometime she got used to it. She understood his reasons infact she didn't care about the past, Della just wanted to use the time they have right at this moment. Mila was shocked when Della told her about the news that had occurred the other day. Most of all Della wondered if her mother knew about Garreth McCarthy. He was well known, she had to have known but didn't want to say anything.
Della's mother wasn't the perfect example of a mother. Marcela was the worst example of a mother. Adela thrived in making herself the opposite of what her mother had been. When her grandparents weren't around, Marcela forgot to feed four year old Adela infact she didn't forget...she was out doing what other teens without kids did. Adela had to strive for herself at an early age. Sometimes Marcela threw things at little Adela whenever she cried; resulting in the little scar that Della had on her lower back. Adela didn't even call her mother, mother. She remembered the little details from her childhood bit by bit they haunted her sometimes.
"Mama mama mama." Adela ran up to her mother who had came to fetch her from kindergarten but Marcela shoved her away.
"Shut up you little schmuck. I'm not your mama it's Marcela." She rolled her eyes. The little girl who had her pink satchel in hand looked at her mother with blurry eyes attempting to cry, she didn't. Instead she smiled at Marcela, this just annoyed Marcela further.
"But you are my mama." Adela hiccupped a whimper.
"Say that again and I will end you. I'm not your mama okay, I'm your sister Marcela." She said as they walked away from the school down the sidewalk. "If your teacher asks who is your mama you say it's abuela okay ?"
Adela nodded sadly.
Adela grew up calling her mother by her name. She treated her like a sister. When she was young she couldn't understand but things started to make sense as she grew older.
"Marcela.." Thirteen year old Adela called her mother who was texting on her phone.
"Marcela ?" She called again.
"What do you want Adela?" Marcela replied in a Hispanic accent.
"I don't feel too good." Adela said in a sad tone.
"So what do you want me to do? do I look like Mother Mary to you." Marcela asked clicking her tongue at the little girl.
"My pee has blood, i think I'm sick." Adela said oblivious to the fact that it was that time of her adolescent phase.
"It's called a period dummy, ew. Go put some paper towels from the kitchen until abuelita comes home and shows you what you need to do." Marcela replied going back to texting on her phone. "That also means you cant be fucking boys or riding dick because you will get pregnant like I did but you could still suck someone off."
The television volume was also on its highest and could hardly hold a conversation. Marcela was obssessed with Enrique Iglesias. Adela didn't protest she walked away, feeling how sticky her panties were becoming. This was an odd feeling for her.
Adela had never needed her mother, she learned that at an early age. When she found out she was pregnant, she didn't want to hate the child because of the father's mistakes. She grew up in a hard environment, she just wanted to give her son the mother she never had. Adela had been an emotional wreck from an early age so when Andre hurt her, she had reached rock bottom and wanted to die but only lived because of the little soul that was growing inside her. Leo gave her strength to want to go on. She defended Jeanine because she didn't want her relationship with Andre to go south because of her. She never wanted anyone to experience what she had as a child. A mother and child relationship was something that was important to her. She had a soft spot for that part of life. Adela couldn't complain that much because she had her grandparents who loved her dearly.
It wasn't a shock to her that her mother lived in the same city but never visited or called. It was rare for her to call her own daughter. Della had come to terms with the fact that her mother did not care about her. After the divorce that was one person she needed but she was no where to be found. Della went to her mother's home after the Levetté's kicked her out. Only for Marcela to tell her that she couldn't stay there. Infact not even Marcela's husband knew about Della. Marcela had moved on, she had a son and husband. She told Della to stay away from her family—
her family.
Everyone pushed her away so she learnt to love herself and her son. She told herself that she would never depend on anyone again. Her son was all she had, she knew he wouldn't turn against her and every time Leondre kissed his mother good morning and good night, she knew it was worth it and beyond everything she felt loved and not alone.