Inside The House

VIII

The trip to the mountains didn't work out. Surprisingly, it wasn't because Kevin and I had emptied a bottle of vodka during the night, but because Gregory hadn't checked the weather forecast. Outside, a veritable blizzard of snow had unleashed since morning, and the temperature had reached twenty degrees Celsius in the negative. It is expected to continue until Sunday, and then it will just be cold. In the event that the temperature on Monday morning continues as it is now, schools throughout the region will be closed. This turn of events suited me just fine, because it's noon and I can still feel my head humming. Kevin must be too, because he's sitting in the chair next to me by the fireplace with his eyes closed. We are playing cards. Namely, I'm playing. Kevin plays as if he didn't play, Aurelia cheats, Luna gets angry all the time because she loses nonstop, my mom plays even though she doesn't know the rules, Gregory gets involved as if his life depended on winning, which is pointless anyway, because Apolonia wins every time. I'm not really focused on the game anyway, I keep having my late night conversation with Kevin in my head.

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- So it is with Aurelia. - Kevin continued in a clearly drunken voice. - She's mad at the whole world because Luna divorced her husband, and Aurelia's father. - The boy took another sip of alcohol and gulped. Then he handed it to me. - Ah, it kind of tastes better now, doesn't it?

I accepted the bottle from Kevin, even though my head was already spinning in a fundamental way. I took another sip. The liquor was horrible to taste.

- To me it continues to be nasty, but I appreciate the speed, the effects of this, this thing. - I said. - But go on, because I want to know everything about why he hates me.

- But who? - Kevin asked clearly surprised by what I was saying.

- Well Aurelia, we were talking about her after all. - I replied in an amused voice. I wasn't laughing at what had happened to the teenager, but at Kevin's state of alcoholic intoxication.

- Well. - He took the subject further. - Aurelia's father loved his daughter very much and she loved him. But Luna won a divorce and a restraining order in court. Aurelia doesn't quite understand why this had to happen. She was the apple of her daddy's eye... you get the idea.

This shocked me even more. At the same time, it intrigued me.

- What do you mean, what has Luna's husband done that prevents him from visiting his daughter?

Kevin looked at the bottle of vodka I held in my hand. With a hand gesture, he suggested that I hand him the bottle. He visibly frowned. His ears perked up and his expression darkened. He took another sip of the drink.

- You know Max, I shouldn't be talking about this. - Kevin got the hiccups. - If Aurelia herself wants to, she'll tell.

Nothing like planting curiosity in someone and then refusing to explain. However, I understood that something serious must have happened that their whole family does not want to talk about. So I let the subject drop. However, I understood a little more about this family. I personally did not miss my father. He left me and my mother when I was fifteen. I'm not sure if he even knows that we no longer live in the United States. Honestly, it makes no difference to me.

- I heard you dancing. - Kevin spoke up after a brief moment of silence.

- Yeah. It's modern dance, the only thing I'm good at. - I replied as Kevin handed me the bottle.

- Then if that's all you're good at then that means you must be a damn good dancer. - He replied. - Did you know that we have a ballet room in the east wing? Not many people know about it, because grandma Apolonia doesn't let anyone in there.