CHAPTER THIRTY
SANDRO DAVALO
How long do we have to keep playing this game!?
My father will always find a way to get to grips with us. I had no idea what he had told Alex the previous night, and Alex wouldn’t even tell me…
That was his biggest undoing!
The morning sun spilled through the curtains as I got ready, its warm rays creeping through my window and hitting my face. I looked over at Alex, still half-asleep on the other side of the room. Usually, I loved sharing secrets with him-our little brotherly bond always seemed unbreakable. But today felt different. Something was hanging in the air, something unspoken. After all, I had been summoned by our father to take a walk in the garden. I had heard that tone in his voice before. It was the tone he used when he wanted to talk about something serious, something that usually ended with a lecture I didn’t want to hear.
“Do you have any idea why Father wants me?” I asked Alex, trying to prod him for information.
He simply shrugged, his eyes still glued shut, and I felt like I was talking to a wall. “No clue,” he mumbled sleepily.
I let out a frustrated sigh. How was I supposed to know what was going on with him if he wouldn’t say a word?
“Are you upset with me or what?” I asked him.
“I just want to be left alone,” he bluntly said. He didn’t even bother to look in my direction. Without speaking further to go, I stepped out of his room.
As we stepped out onto the cool morning grass, the scents of blooming flowers wrapped around us, but the tension still lingered between us. Alex and I walked side by side down the familiar paths leading toward the garden, past the rows of vibrant tulips and wild daisies. The morning dew sparkled like tiny diamonds in the soft light.
“So, father,” I finally said, trying to break the heavy silence, “you wanted to me about something,” I reminded him, desperate to hear him say the words.
“About that,” he said, stopping to admire a particular flower, and that made me feel uneasy. Why was he being so evasive? It was then that he suddenly turned to me, a curious look on his face. “What happened between you and your girlfriend, Lara?”
That completely threw me off balance. “Something happened between me and Lara?” I asked, looking completely lost. I had no idea where that question was coming from. I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. My heart raced a little, not because of Lara, but because Father’s question felt like it was about much more than just her.
He must have sensed my confusion and pressed on. “Seriously, Sandro. You didn’t take her out to that rave last week and leave her there, did you?”
I wanted to deny it, to talk my way out of it, but then it hit me…Alex must have told our father something that stirred all this up. It dawned on me that perhaps, just perhaps, he had twisted the truth to evade my father’s suspicion. Not wanting to raise any suspicions that could lead to whatever my father was planning, I hesitated. “I…maybe just left her for a bit,” I mumbled, quickly making something up to cover all angles.
“Just a bit?” he pressed, and I caught a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes.
“Yeah, we were just having fun, you know? But I didn’t think… I didn’t mean to leave her,” I stammered, trying to convince both him and myself that I was telling the truth.
My father suddenly stopped walking, his gaze locked onto mine. His brow furrowed, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “Then what’s going on? You’ve been different since last week,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest in that authoritative way that always made me feel a little smaller.
I tried to keep my cool. “Dad, nothing’s wrong. We just…had some misunderstandings, that’s all.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as if he was dissecting my words. “And you and Alex… are you hiding something from me? Something about your mates?”
“No! We’re not hiding anything,” I blurted out, a little too quickly.
His expression softened a fraction, but I could tell he still didn’t fully buy it. “Just remember, I want you two to trust me. I’m only looking out for you; I just want you to get married so that you can take over from me when it’s time.”
Of course, those words were meant to ease my nerves, but they only tightened the knot in my stomach. As we began walking again, all I could think about was how to confront Alex about this once I was done with my father. He had put me on a tightrope and left me hanging alone.
Once the walk was over, the air was still thick with unspoken words as I stomped into our house, my mind racing. I couldn’t go on like this. I stormed into Alex’s room, slamming the door behind me.
“What the heck, Alex?! You’ve got to stop setting me up like this!” I exploded, my hands balled into fists at my sides.
He glanced up, surprise written all over his face. “What are you talking about?”
“Dad was asking about Lara, and I know you told him something that made it sound worse than it is! Why would you do that?”
Alex opened his mouth to respond but then paused, his silence saying more than a thousand words. “Okay, maybe I didn’t mention a few things,” he admitted, his voice quiet.
“Did you think that would end well? You just made it worse! Dad is onto us!”
“Look, I thought he was just going to say something about me and Bethany-I didn’t think he would go after you too!” he shot back, frustration lacing his tone.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Right! So now it’s my fault he’s suspicious? You should have thought about what you were saying before you spoke! Damn it!”
The room fell silent as the weight of our words hung between us. “Why can’t you just tell him the truth? Why do we have to keep lying to him?” I challenged him, but deep down, I knew the answer.
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You know I can’t, Sandro. You know I have my reasons. We can’t let Dad find out about… our situation. Think about it.”
Reluctantly, I nodded. I knew he was right, but it didn’t make this any easier. “Just… don’t set me up like that again,” I replied, my voice steadying, though anger still simmered beneath the surface.
“Fine,” he muttered, the tension between us still palpable. “I’m sorry. I should have been honest with you. I just… I didn’t want to make things worse.”
Before I could reply, my phone buzzed suddenly. I pulled it out, seeing Lara’s name flash across the screen. With a quick tap, I answered. “Hey, Lara.”
“Hey, Sandro! Guess what?” Her voice was cheery and enthusiastic. I leaned back against Alex’s bed, knowing that this could either be good or bad.
“I’m going to the inter-college basketball competition at Oklahoma next week!” she exclaimed, almost spilling over with excitement. “And all my friends are going with their boyfriends, and I don’t want to be left alone. I want you to come with me. Please say yes!”
A quick wave of annoyance surged through me. Basketball? I mean, really? I could think of a hundred things I would rather be doing. “You know I’m not interested in that, right? Watching Nadia play is a waste of my time; it will only make me more angry.”
“Come on, it’s not just about her!” she argued, and I could almost hear her rolling her eyes on the other end. “We’re going to have fun! Please, Sandro?”
I frowned, feeling suffocated by her excitement. “Listen, Lara, I just don’t want to go, alright? It’s not my thing. I have other things to take care of, and they are more important than any rubbish basketball game,” I replied curtly, cutting her off before she could even begin another line of persuasion.
“Wait! You don’t even know if Nadia will be”
But before she could even explain further, I hung up, feeling a rush of relief and guilt wash over me simultaneously. Alex just stared at me, shaking his head in disbelief.
“No way you just hung up on her like that,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“She’s always dragging me into this stuff! I don’t want to be part of her antics anymore,” I responded, shrugging off the guilt.
“Then you’ve got to figure this out, man,” Alex said, standing up to close the distance between us. “It’s either Lara or keeping Dad at bay. You really can’t have both.”
The moment of stillness that followed was heavy with uncertainty. I wanted to insist on my choice, to believe that this was all manageable, but I knew we were standing at a crossroads. And for now, there was no clear way forward.
Damn it!