ROMEO (book 1)

33. ROMEO

My aunt Roma walks to me with a small twitch in her lip, her lip always twitches whenever she has been begging to ask a question.

"Go on, ask it." I sip on the scotch.

"Why is there a strange girl in your bed?"

I glance at my aunt. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I like windows." She rocks back and forth, "I wanted to see the view from your window... the strange girl was sleeping."

"She's my girlfriend, her name is Delilah."

"She's very small." She nods her head, "she also smells bad."

Trust Roma to be honest.

"She's been living in a homeless shelter for the past week." I down the rest of the drink.

"Oh." Roma frowns, "does she need a house? I have one in Italy?"

I smile, "No, aunty, but thank you." I walk away, only to be stopped by mom.

She pulls me into the empty living room, everyone is hanging out in the kitchen. "How's Delilah?"

"Sleeping." I clear my throat, "I want to murder her parents."

"So do I." She mumbles, "Go and see if she wants anything."

"She's sleeping."

"Just go and check is she's okay."

I walk up the stairs and straight into my bedroom. The bed was empty, so i walk into the bathroom.

Delilah aas sitting on the floor beside the counter, her eyes heavy, sleeves rolled up.

I look in the toilet to see vomit. I flush the chain.

She just looked so lifeless, I didn't like it.

I close the bathroom door and sit with her.

She blinks, and a single tear rolls down her cheek. "Thank you for the chocolate." Her throat croaks.

"I can buy you more, precious." I look at the hairs standing up on her arms, she has a cut in her wrist. I lift it up.

"I didn't do it." She pulls her wrist away, "One of the guys at the homeless shelter is an ex soldier, racist guy, hates Asians." She shakes her head, "he tried to stab me when I was sleeping, didn't get too far."

I can't believe she willingly stayed there.

"You're acting so different, precious."

She wipes her cheeks. "You know, when nobody cared about me, I didn't need to think about anything." She says quietly, "No one payed attention to me, so no one cared."

I try and understand what she's trying to get at.

"Now you're here, and because everybody knows you, everybody knows me. I like the attention from you but not from other people." She rests her head on my shoulder, "But at the same time I hate the attention from you because you can be really mean with realising it. I know it isn't your fault, that you can't help it, but I still get hurt."

I just listen.

"I feel so lonely, Romeo. I know I have you, I finally have someone who cares about me, but its the wrong person. I constantly tried to get attention from my parents, even my brother. I still want them to care about me." She sniffs, "But they don't. They don't care. I feel so lonely because for nineteen years it's only been them, and they're not here."

I need to talk to my dad, see if he went through what Delilah is feeling. Did he want to go back to Italy after he escaped?

"It's tiring." She looks at me, "I don't eat because I can only buy clothes once a year. I make myself sick so mom doesn't comment on my weight. I'm quiet so mom and dad don't hit me for being loud. I keep coming back to you when you hurt my feelings because it's all I know." She looks away. "And that drains me."