“Babbo (father)?”
Little Adonis abruptly sat up from his bed at the sound of a door closing. He was a very light sleeper and usually woke up at the littlest noise.
“Babbo (father), is that you?” His legs touched the ground as he rubbed at his sleepy eyes.
It was his room back in the Italy mansion. The home he grew up in for a while and knew like the back of his hand.
He’d come down with a cold the previous day, so his nanny was fast asleep beside him. The cunning little child carefully slipped out, hoping not to be noticed.
Getting to the entrance of the hall, he looked around for the expected guard who wasn’t at his post. Happily, the six-year-old child trodded the big empty corridors in search of his father. Everyone was asleep, as they should be around midnight, so no one stopped him on the way.
He was sure he had heard the sound of a door being shut, but which of the doors?
That he didn’t know.
Adonis walked quickly in the direction of his father’s room. That was another thing he didn’t understand. His friend Luca had told him that married couples shared the same room, but ever since he could decipher his left from his right, he’d come to know that his parents had separate rooms.
He had almost made it to his destination when he caught a glimpse of his father’s nightshirt turning down the hall.
“Babbo (father).” He beamed, but his father continued in a hurry. This brought a small, cute frown to Adonis’s face. His father was known to have the hearing of a bat.
He dashed down the corridor as fast as his little legs could carry him, following his father closely.
He didn’t have to walk with far. His father had stopped just after the turn and was now standing still. Adonis couldn’t see his face but his shoulders were slumped. His father had his back towards him, so he was only able to see his sharp trembling and his fist as they clenched and unclenched multiple times.
He didn’t have an idea about what was going on.
Was his father ill?
He took a step forward towards his father but stopped in perplexity as the view his father had became visible to him.
“Mother? And… “he trailed off in confusion.
His missing bodyguard?
They both were lost in one another, his mother’s hand resting on the wall as the guard took her from behind. Neither of them noticed they were being watched.
Deciding he’d seen enough, his father wheeled around to walk away but came face to face with little Adonis.
His eyes widened.
“What are you doing here? Why are you out of bed?” He reprimanded sternly, his voice alerting the two people shamelessly going at it like bunnies.
Adonis’s mother’s eyes snapped towards him and his father, but she didn’t stop. Rather, a smile adorned her face, her red eyes shining mischievously.
His father grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back into his room. Little Adonis had never been on the receiving end of his father’s anger, so he didn’t know what to do but cower away.
He harshly deposited Adonis on the ground, and the little boy let out a painful cry.
“Babbo (father)!”
“Keep quiet! Why were you out so late? You should’ve stayed in your room like a good boy.
“Babbo (father), I wanted to be with you. I’m sorry, I would not do it again.” He pleaded, rubbing his hands together.
This might be his first time experiencing it, but he had decided he didn’t like it when his father got angry.
His face was met with a hard slap.
“Tu, bambino viziato (you spoilt child).” His father sneered, and the little boy held his cheek, staring up at his father with wobbling lips as tears rapidly flowed from his eyes.
Was this man really his father?
The tears seemed to elicit a reaction from him as realization dawned on the father that his son did nothing wrong. He fell to his knees, running a hand over his face in exhaustion.
“Mio figlio. Mi dispiace tanto (My son I’m so sorry).” He extended his hand to console the little child, who quickly moved away in fear.
His father felt a sense of shame. How could he have projected his anger on his son? This wasn’t even the first time he’d caught his wife. She picked a different man every other day, but today his son had to see it.
He didn’t want his son to think his mother was a whore. No. He knew she wasn’t. She was a simple and loveable woman when he met her. There must be something he wasn’t doing well to make her become that person.
He drew closer to his son.
“Adonis. Papa e dispiaciuto (Adonis, father is sorry). I am so sorry, my child.” He pacified the child, slowly moving towards him until he fully encased him in his arms.
Adonis threw his hands around his father and wept. That night, he cried till he fell asleep.
If his father doesn’t want him to go around at night anymore, he wouldn’t. If his father wanted him to stay in his room and never come out, he would. Anything to never see that side of him anymore, but it was too late.
He didn’t understand until he was grown that that was where everything began to go downhill.
Because once part of a secret is revealed, the other part follows…