Our Lies

Chapter 42

"That would be all, young man! Thank you for your help today as well!"

Gia nodded and thanked the lady for the payment and leftover produce he could take home after working in the grocery store. He carried the box and walked back towards the place where he called home now. A group of kids were seen running from the opposite site. They waved their hands when they saw him.

"Mr. Serogia!! Good evening!! You are done with you work?" The kids quickly gathered around him.

Gia smiled at them. "Yeah. Are you all going home?"

The children nodded in unity. "It's almost dinner time!"

Gia laughed. "Be careful on your way and don't forget my homework. I'll see you all in class tomorrow."

"Alright, Sir!!" The children laughed too and went on with their way.

A few minutes later, Gia was standing in front of a small house, looking for keys in his pocket.

"You are back, young man." His neighbor greeted him.

"Good evening, Mrs. Peach." Gia turned and returned her greeting.

"Oh, hold on! There is something I want to give you!" The lady ran back into her house and a moment later came out with a couple of plastic containers. She shoved them to Gia. "Here! I've made a lot of them. You go and eat them. You are looking thinner every time I see you!!"

Gia did not know what the right weight he should be in to be considered healthy to his neighbor. He did lose weight a little after moving here but he was nowhere near sickly thin. "Oh, but..."

"Don't refuse them! Every time I remember how you cooked when you just moved here, I just can't believe how you could have survived until now." The lady shook her head.

Gia's cheeks turned pink from embarrassment. When he first came here almost four months ago, he either ate black charred food or disgusting looking paste and watery soup. It was after he was admitted to hospital for food poisoning that his neighbor forced him to learn proper basic cooking.

"A teacher should at least be healthy and set a good example for the children here!" Mrs. Peach laughed out loud and patted his back repeatedly.

Gia nodded and smiled sheepishly. After a few more words of gratitude, he excused himself to enter his house. His neighbor watched him go in and let out a sigh.

"What a pity. A hardworking and handsome man like him has to live here alone and taking odd jobs just to feed himself. Could have gone to the city but with a father like that..." Mrs. Peach shook her head and walked back to her own house.

Gia washed and dried the plates and cutlery after he was done with his dinner. He went to change his clothes and noticed water was dripping from the ceiling near his bed. He stared long enough at the water droplets to remember his old house in Tilrara. There was always somewhere needed fixing in the house, whether caused by the aging house or his father's drunk episodes. He placed a plastic tub right below where the water leaked and made note to himself to make some time to temporarily fix it tomorrow. Now he needed to visit his father.

"Oh hi, Mr. Serogia." A nurse greeted Gia as he walked into the small hospital not far from his home.

Gia nodded his head and smiled, which made the nurse blushed a little. "How is my father?" He asked.

"Same as usual." The nurse looked depressingly at her note. "But please don't give up, okay! We all hope he will wake up one day!"

Gia thanked her and walked into his father's room. He dragged a chair and sat beside his bed. Elega Laggiri looked like he was just sleeping. It was so quiet in the hospital that the only thing Gia could hear was the beeping sound from the machine next to the bed and the occasional calls from toads or frogs outside the room.

A few days after he left the Dignita house, he went to the hospital and brought his father with him and decided to move somewhere else. Somewhere nobody knew them. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere where he could think alone. He was not sure why he decided to do so that day. He hated him and probably would not shed a tear even if he died. He was never in his life anyway. But now when he thought about it, he knew deep down in his heart that his father was the only family he always had. His real family. The Dignita was never his and Leo never considered him one. He stared at the still body of his father for some time before he walked out and left the hospital.

Outside, he could feel the cool night breeze blowing past his face. It was almost spring. He looked at the stars above the clear sky. He wondered if Agata saw them too, and if she was thinking about him right now. Probably not. Maybe after he had saved enough money, he would take a bus and travel again to Santerra, discreetly, just to see how she was doing. He laughed softly at the memory when he first went out alone to find an agent to help him find Agata years ago, when he first received the successful report from them, with a photo of a grown up, teenager Agata attached to it. He cried when he saw it. His eyes teared up but he quickly wiped it away. He missed her. He wanted to see her again.

"Why are you crying alone here, Gia." A voice he recognized came from behind him. "I told you I will protect you if your grandfather bullied you, didn't I?"

He turned and saw the figure walking towards him. "A...gata?"

"I told you, you can count on me!! I don't need anything else! Just don't leave me alone!" Agata cried. Tears were streaming down her face. "Why won't you listen to me...? Why won't you trust me...?"

Gia did not move. He just stood where he was, looking dumbfounded. He was still not sure if this was all a dream. Agata was there. "What... what are you doing here? How did you..."

Agata ran to him and hugged him. "Why didn't you come back??!! I was looking for you everywhere! My head was so full, thinking about you that I couldn't do anything else at all!" Her cry turned into muffled sobs against his chest.

"Agata..." He hugged her back and leaned his head on her shoulder, letting his own tears wetted her clothes. "I am so sorry... I am sorry for doing this to you... I am sorry for lying all this time..."

"I don't want your apology!! I just want you to come back to me!!" It hurt him to see her crying like this. He kept apologizing, on and on, until he heard the footsteps of two more people came running toward them.