Seven Brothers

8. Blank Canvas

It was weird, being at Elijah's house. After we left the park we decided to order pizza and Eli offered to host, well, Vincent offered for him.

"Wait till you meet his mom, she's an angel" Vincent exclaimed as he drove Eli, Silver and I.
"Really? How does an angel give birth to the spawn of satan?" I asked sarcastically, but Eli didn't bite.

"My father is Satan" he said calmly, as though it wasn't a joke. The car fell into awkward silence after that admission, with only the sound of Vincent tapping the steering wheel.

"Shall we have some music? I think so" Vincent decided, turning on the radio and blasting it out. He dramatically serenaded Eli, singing along to I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys. Silver and I soon joined it, singing at the top of our lungs, making dramatic hand gestures. The whole time Eli remained silent with a blank face, but I could see that he was trying his very hardest to suppress a giggle, the corners of his lips twitching. He wasn't the bad boy he made himself out to be.
"Alright enough!" He finally caved and began laughing along with us.

"Mamma, I invited some friends round" Eli shouted as he opened the door. His house was nice, not too big, it was cosy. The downstairs consisted of a open living room and kitchen. It was welcoming, dressed with warm reds and a huge fireplace.
"Amici? That's great! The girls and I are just making cookies" his mother was beautiful, with dark, glamorous hair and flawless tanned skin. Just one look at her was enough to determine her nationality, she was as Italian as bolognese. She stood in the kitchen, flanked by her daughters who shared her similar dark features. I felt quite intimidated by how beautiful they were, I was a lowly peasant in comparison to their exotic looks. Elijah's mother wiped her hands on her apron as she made her way over to us with a huge grin.
"Would you look at that! He brought a girl home!" One of his sisters exclaimed.
"He brought two!" The other giggled.
"Mamma, this is Silver Stuart" Eli introduced Silver as his mother embraced her and kissed both of her cheeks.
"And this is Peyton" he said, glaring at his sisters who were giggling mercilessly.
"Peyton? Oh she's even more beautiful than you made her out to be, son" she grinned at me before kissing both of my cheeks. I chuckled as I looked at Eli who had now turned a shade of red. What a novelty, to see him embarrassed. The boy was okay to crack out sex jokes all day, but it took his mummy to break down his cocky attitude and embarrass him.
"Alright mother, her head is already big enough as it is, no need to inflate it even more" he told her. I looked at him with a shocked expression, playing the innocent victim card.
"Don't you talk about her like that! Peyton, I am so sorry about him. Welcome, it is a pleasure to meet you" she hugged me tightly.
"The pleasure is mine" I smiled at her.
"And Vinny! How are you, son?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around him.
"All the better for seeing you, Bella" he chuckled.
"Oh Vinny, such a charmer" she laughed as she nudged him in the ribs.
"Come on in, let's not stand in the doorway" she ushered us in and sat us down around the coffee table in the living room.
"I'll fix you some drinks. I must say it's quite a surprise to have Elijah bring home his friends. He's only ever let me meet Vinny" her voice got quieter as she drifted to the kitchen. Before she had time to open the fridge the doorbell rang. We all looked to Elijah to answer the door. He shrugged his shoulders, unwilling to get up and let his own guests in.
"They're your brothers" he said, kicking back and resting his feet on the coffee table. I sighed as I got up and headed towards the door.
"More?!" Bella exclaimed, practically running to greet my brothers as they waltzed in.

"So Peyton, you have seven brothers? What's that like?" The eldest of Eli's younger sisters asked me, her name was Nina.
"It's horrific" I joked as I exhausted myself, rolling out the cookie dough. I had stupidly offered to help, despite the fact I have never baked in my life. How hard could be? The answer: impossible.
"Eli is bad enough" Amelia said, a slight look of horror on her face.
"I know" I chuckled, struggling to control the dough.
"You don't bake very much, do you?" Amelia pointed out as she watched me wrestle with the unruly chocolate chips.
"Amelia! Don't be so rude!" Bella scolded her youngest daughter.
"No it's fine! If I'm honest, I've never baked anything in my life. I've never been taught to" I finally managed to get the dough to a manageable thickness.
"Oh dear, baking is one of life's simplest pleasures" Bella said, a somber look on her face.
"We'll teach you" Nina insisted, a wide grin spread across her face.
"I'd love that" I returned her smile.
"Peyton! We need you" I looked over to where my group of friends sat, cards in hand. Riley beckoned me over.
"It would seem that my services are required elsewhere" I sighed, handing Amelia the rolling pin. When I reached the group Kai demanded that I deal for them.
"I don't endorse gambling" I stated, arms crossed.
"Well we do, so sit down" Eli demanded, pointing at the floor because there were no available seats.

A few hours later and it was getting late. Bella had taken her daughters out for dinner so we could 'hang', as she had put it. So far, I thought she was the sweetest woman I had ever met, she was so caring and welcoming and it made me wonder what could have possibly caused Elijah's stand-off attitude. I knew there had to be more than met the eye with him. I was surprised when I left the couch area to do the washing up and he decided to help me.
"You don't have to do this, you're in my house" he sighed, grabbing a dish cloth.
"Why? Are you gonna do it? And I hope you don't expect that your mother is going to do it" I sent him a cautious glare.
"I would have gotten round to it" he paused "Eventually" he then added before chuckling lightly. It was a warm sound, genuine. He was most comfortable in his home, maybe I had a better chance of understanding him here.
"Your mom is really lovely" I said conversationally to break the silence as we washed the dishes.
"And now you're going to make some joke about how I'm the complete opposite and that I must be adopted" he turned to face me.
"Jokes aren't funny if they're predictable" I said, not daring to look up at him, fearing that he would be able to tell I was lying by looking at my face.
"Sure, and you're a comedy genius" I heard him snicker.
"I'd like to think so" I finally turned to look at him with a grin on my face, but he wasn't smiling, his face was serious.
"She's doing a good job you know, at raising you three alone" I turned back to the washing up.
"Yeah, I guess she is. Although, its not exactly an achievement when you look at your father. Its nothing in comparison" he picked up another plate and dried it, stacking it neatly with the others.
"He made the best of what he had" I commented, acting casual, but something was nagging at me. "Elijah?"
"Yeah" he said, not looking up from his work.
"What happened to your dad?" I asked cautiously, aware that this was a very sensitive subject with him, but I could feel that he wanted to open up to me, he just needed some encouragement. He sighed before putting down the dish cloth and boring into my eyes.
"Nothing happened. He left, of his own accord" he said the words gently, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't disguise his seething anger. He must have deeply resented his father.
"My father abandoned us to go back to Italy and be with one of his whores" I could see the sadness in his beautiful eyes because ultimately his anger was just a way of dealing with the grief, to ignore what really pained him. Suddenly Elijah was no longer a canvas splashed with paint to me; a confusing mixture of colours that create an indistinguishable and meaningless image. I understood all at once that each splash of paint was art in itself, the paint layered up to create this image, this Elijah. Every event in his life had an effect and made him into the man stood in front of me. His father leaving created the layer that was defensive, angry and rebellious, but underneath that he was hurt and confused, betrayed beyond understanding.

I wasn't sure how to react initially, he had just dropped a bomb. Then I thought, how do I expect people to react when I tell them about my mother? What could they possibly say that would make things better? The answer is nothing. Words can't heal wounds that deep. He seemed surprised when I wrapped my arms around him, hoping to protect him from the outside world. He returned my hug before I whispered "I'm so sorry Eli".
"This is not how you're supposed to react" he sounded choked up. I pulled away from him and looked up at his wide eyes.
"I guess I empathise with you" I shrugged, acting as though that hug had not sent my body into overdrive.
"My father didn't die. He's gone, but it was his own selfish choice" he spat out the last words.
"Still, I can tell it's hard for you, without him" he looked at me for a while, gauging me.
"This conversation never happened" he dictated, turning away from me.
"My lips are sealed" I chuckled, miming locking them shut.
"Good, otherwise I'll have to find some other way to shut you up" and with that sentiment, he was gone.

***
Ciao! Just a short chapter to glean more about the elusive Mr. Elijah Antonelli, I hope you liked it!

Artemis xo