One Last Time

“MOM?!” I screamed. She had chosen the worst possible time.

“Hey sweet,” said my dad, “People are fumigating the house and we decided to come here. God damn termites are in the attic again. ”

“But why are the twins here then?” I asked confused.

“Well if we’re coming then why not bring the rest of the family1 I mean we live an hour and a half away so we never get to see you anymore,” he said giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I just stood there in shock as my whole family walked by Zack and I as they brought all their things up to the two guestrooms.

“God your family has bad freaking timing,” he whispered into my ear. I just shrugged my shoulders and went upstairs.

My parents threw their things on the king bed and my brother and sister just set theirs on the two twin beds.

“Well come on Kat! Let‘s make a family brunch!” said my mother grabbing my hand with a tight grip pulling me downstairs. Everyone followed us because well, what else did they have to do?

My sister walked over to our bar and looked around.

“Yo Kat! Where the hell you keepin’ the Gin?!” she called.

“Under the bar in the cabinet! But only have one glass! We all know how you get around Gin,” I called back.

“Oh shut-up. I think I can handle myself.” She spat.

“Okay but I’m not carrying you upstairs when you pas out on the floor like last time!” as I said that my mom hit me on the back of the head.

“Don’t talk to your sorella that way, poco dolore bambino,” she said. She always called me little pain child in Italian because that is was she and my grandpa came up with when I was little. I come from a big Italian family.

I just pursed my lips and rolled my eyes as I stood at my kitchen counter getting out tomatoes to cut for a salad as my mom prepped the sauce. My dad and brother came through the hallway walking towards the couch and our surround sound system.

“Well let’s go Zachary, let’s turn the tube on we got the Sabers playin’ today! Più veloce!” Which means faster by the way. My dad and brother are really big Buffalo hockey fans. Zacky rolled his eyes and turned on the TV to ESPEN. HE was about to walk away to go do something but my father and brother each grabbed an arm as he walked by and pulled him down on the couch between them.

“So you like hockey Zachary?” my dad asked judging him.

“Uh, sure.” He said nervously. My dad and brother scared the shit out of him and they knew it.

“That’s a good answer son,” he said in a low voice.

I worried about my parents and Zack. They didn’t like him that much, well except for my sister, but she just about likes everyone when she’s drunk. Which is pretty much all the time.

I continued to make the salad while my sister drank, my mother made sauce, and my brother and father harassed Zack. I tried to ignore it, but then he said something totally inappropriate.

“If you ever hurt my little girl, make her cry or sad in any way, and I will hurt you and make it look like an accident.”

“Daddy! Lui solo si lascia!” Which means you leave him alone. I slammed the knife on the cutting bored and walked over to my father angrily.

“Oh come on mi bella, I was just joking with him!” he said defensively.

“You do not joke about stuff like that! He is important to me and he should be to you too,” I said walking back over to the counter. But my mother wasn’t there, she must’ve gone to the bathroom. Although she wouldn’t have done anything anyway though, she hates Zack too. God I hate my family sometimes.

After a few minutes of a long silence my sister came in the room.

“Has –hic- anyone -hic- seen mom?” she asked hiccuping into the room with a glass in her hand.

“She just went upstairs, probably to go to the bathroom,” I said.

“Not for that long though,” said my brother.

Our conversation was then interrupted by a very loud scream coming from inside Zacky’s and mine bedroom. I froze in my tracks unable to move. I glanced over at Zacky, and his expression as the same as mine. We pretty much knew what had taken place upstairs that made my mother scream like that.

My father and brother immediately got off of the couch and ran up the stairs. My sister tried to get out of the chair she had sat down in but it took her a while.

Our moment of us being paralyzed had soon ended as we sprinted up the stairs.

There was a very big commotion going on in the master bathroom. My mother was sitting on the edge of the bed with the pregnancy tests in her hands. She looked furious. I don’t think I have ever seen her this mad before. I was so scared to even look at my father and brother, but I knew that they were fuming.

“Honey,” my mother said calmly, “What is this?”

“A p-positive pregnancy test,” I said wincing.

“Oh, signore del cielo. Our daughter’s pregnant!” said my mother covering her face with her hands. My brother went over to calm her down as my father blew up. Zacky knew this was coming so he got a head start on running.

“YOU LITTLE CAGNA! YOU GOT MY BABY PREGNANT AND NOW YOU’RE GONNA PAY!” my dad screamed as he chased Zacky down the stairs and out the front door. [Cagna= bitch]

“DADDY!” I screamed as I followed the two of them. They had ran all the way down my long drive way and down the street until my father caught up to him and pinned him against the old willow tree. He was slamming him against it screaming at him.

“What the hell were you thinking?! You got my baby pregnant! You better have a good doctor son, because you’re gonna need one when I’m through with you!”

He kept slamming him over and over again. “DADDY STOP!” I yelled as he was screaming at Zack furiously with spit flying everywhere. Then my sister and I caught up to them. It took both of us to pry my father off of Zack, but we finally got him off.

“Why are you hurting him!?” I screamed.

His face was beat red with a vein in his forehead popping out. He was breathing very heavily, as he looked me right in the eye, and then walked away. I thought about stopping him, but I just shooed my sister to be alone with Zack. As soon as she was out of sight I sat down next to Zack. He was a little cut up and bruised.

“Are you alright?” I asked taking his head in my hands.

“Yeah, a little shaken up but I’m okay.” He said wearily.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry baby. I never meant for any of this to happen!” I said runnig my fungers through his soft black hair.

“It’s alright. We had to tell them sometime. Although I think things would’ve gone better if they didn’t find out like this.” He said.

“Yeah, you’re right. But I’m scared to go back there. I don’t know what they’ll say to me,” I said resting my head on his shoulder.

“Well, it’s eleven twenty, and you have a doctor’s appointment at noon, so we kinda have to go back now.” He said.

“Oh shit. You’re right, come on. I guess we should.” I said grabbing his arm pulling him up.

Zacky and I live in the woods, so thankfully there were no neighbors to witness what had just happened, and Zack and I could just quietly walk back to the house in peace.

We stepped through the door and looked around. It was if nothing ever happened! My father and brother were still sitting on the couch watching the game, my mother was still making the sauce, and my sister had taken my place in making the salad. The only difference was that it was eerily quiet. That is until I broke it.

“Uh, Zack and I have to go to the doctors office now, you know, for the baby. Anybody want to come? Mom? Court?” I asked. No one answered me. They just continued on what they were doing. But when I mentioned the word ‘baby’ I thought I heard what sounded like a cough come from my father’s throat.

“Nobody? Okay, well, I’m leaving now,” I said walking through the foyer.

Why were they ignoring me? It’s not like I meant this to happen, it was an accident.

I got into the SUV with Zack and I just sat there. He looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong honey?”

Then I just broke down and started to cry. The tears streamed down my face ruining my make-up. Zacky wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

“I can’t believe they would do this to me! I’m their daughter! And it’s not like I got pregnant on purpose, it just happened!” I said looking at him through my tears.

“I know, but thy are all going to get over it whether they like it or not,” he said reassuringly.

“Thanks sweets. But we have to go now or we’ll be late.” I said turning the keys for him as he put the car into drive.