That night, I told Gio what Papa had said. He assured me that nothing bad would happen, and he wouldn’t let Dad escape. He wouldn’t allow Papa to escape.
“You know, I used to pray to be free from Papa’s abuse. Now that he’s in prison, I still can’t find peace. Like, even though I know he can’t hurt me anymore, he still haunts me.” It’s part of my trauma. If you’ve been hurt your whole life, I can’t even imagine. Even with therapy, there are things that are just hard to forget.
Gio hugged me, intertwining our hands, gently caressing my thumb. It brought a smile to my face. I still can’t believe he loves me. It all feels like a dream.
“We all have our traumas, Millie. You’re lucky if you don’t have them. Some people might think that the thoughts in our heads aren’t real because they haven’t experienced the hardships others have. Some won’t believe that your real father could hurt you because they haven’t seen such a thing in their lives. But that doesn’t mean they can call it unreal or label you. You’re not weak for trying to escape your fears.” Gio took a deep breath. I looked up at him. “I also have mine.”
I adjusted my position on the bed, wondering if he’d share what he went through.
“Will you tell me or… still not?” I wouldn’t push him. Some people find it challenging to talk about things they’d rather bury.
“I grew up not seeing Mommy, and the first time I saw her, I witnessed her being abducted right in front of my eyes. The staff couldn’t do anything because of me. Gianna was also kidnapped at that time. It was later realized that my sister had been abducted, and I thought the person she was with was a good one – our grandfather, my mother’s father.”
My eyes widened. I remembered going to Gio’s parents’ house, where there was a photo of Gio with his grandparents. Mom said that those were her mother and Dad’s father. It occurred to me just now, why wasn’t Gio’s other grandfather in that photo?
Gio introduced me to his grandparents. He said that his mother’s parents were Antonio Silvestri and Nora Hudson, while his father’s parents were Reuben Locatelli and Eliana Silvestri.
“Both Silvestris?!” I sat up, wondering if Gio’s mother’s father, Lolo Antonio, and his father’s mother, Lola Eliana, were related.
“That’s a long story, Millie. But don’t worry, nothing’s wrong with my parents’ relationship.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and settled back beside him.
“Lolo Antonio was the one who kidnapped both Gianna and Mom. He did it because he fooled me; I used to think he was a good person… because he was part of the family. He was my mother’s father after all,” Gio said, taking a deep breath. “But no, he had another agenda, something more important to him than his family. They were going to use Gianna to lure my mother out, and they succeeded, thanks to me. The guards couldn’t do anything because I was stopping them. I kept saying he’s my grandpa and he wouldn’t hurt my mom. It was the stupidest day of my f*****g life. Mommy got kidnapped, and I realized everything too late.”
I sat quietly, listening to Gio. He had faced so much at such a young age, and his life had been exposed to violence.
“Gia was saved, my mom was also saved, but she got into an accident during the rescue operation. She was in a coma for almost a year. I’d only spent a little time with her, and Gianna hadn’t even met her in person yet when she was taken away from us again. That accident is why she’s having difficulty walking now.”
I bit my lip. That’s why I had noticed the way Mom walked differently. She could walk, but there were times when she suddenly lost her balance. During those moments, I could see Gio’s concern for his mother.
“I was the one to be blamed. I was the one who caused her that misery. It’s my fault, Millie. If I hadn’t trusted Lolo Antonio, maybe they wouldn’t have captured Gianna, and they wouldn’t have taken Mommy either. None of this would have happened to them. I feel the guilt in Gio’s voice, even though he doesn’t show it on his face.”
I remained still as I listened to him talking.
“I thought that would be the worst that could happen to a child like me back then, right? But no, the universe seems to hate my existence because this wasn’t the only thing it subjected me to at such a young age. When I was a kid, I was the one who got kidnapped by our family’s enemies, the Belleza family. They were one of the powerful mafia families in the US and one of our rivals. For a long time, they were silent, secretly building their power to match ours, and when they finally did, the first thing they did was to kidnap me and Gia. They saved Gianna, but I was taken. Lola Nora went with me because she refused to leave me. The ending of this incident was… ugly.”
I gulped, wondering if I wanted to hear what Gio would say next.
“I was abused, physically and mentally, for the time I was there. They took pictures of me and said they would send them to my family. When I had a chance to fight back, it didn’t go well. Instead of making things better, Lola Nora got shot while protecting me… and she died.”
Gio looked at me sadly, and tears welled up in the corner of my eye but didn’t fall.
“I just saw my grandmother, whom I loved so much, die in front of me because she was protecting me. Witnessing someone being shot in front of you is such intense trauma, especially at a young age. It’s even worse when it’s your grandmother.”
My heart aches as he continues to storytell his past.
“My grandfather saved me, Lolo Reuben. He tried to save me, too. But it didn’t go well, Millie. In the end, he only managed to help me escape, and he sacrificed his life for me to get away alone. He died because the place he was in exploded.” Gio looked up, and I noticed a glint in his eyes. “Both of my grandparents died in just one day, trying to protect and save me.”
He held my hand tightly. Tears were streaming down my face as I listened to Gio’s story. I couldn’t begin to fathom what he was feeling. He was just a child, and he had experienced all of that because of… the life they led.
“That’s when I realized, everyone I loved was taken away from me. I decided to be alone for the rest of my life. I tried to discard my heart, thinking that if I used my heart less, no one would need to suffer, and no lives would be taken away because of me. That’s why I didn’t want to have a family, that’s why I didn’t want to love. The lives I had seen lost because of me were already too much. And then, suddenly, one woman changed my perspective. You came into my life and changed me, Millie.”