The Choice Of Us

Unveiling More

TIANA

Dinner had gone smoothly, and as much as I tried not to- I liked Aunt Jeane,

And not just because she smacked the shit out of Luis.

Most of the stories she told me consisted of embarrassing periods in Luis' life such that for majority of the meal he was flushed. Much to his dismay, his aunt wouldn't let up on the teasing and she went so far as to bring out the photo album.

Frankly all of us could never boast that we've never taken one bad photo. When I saw a picture of a child version of Luis picking his nose, in cute blue overalls in the sun I choked on my own spit from laughing so hard. Aunt Jeane broke down as well whilst he glared at the both of us," I can't believe you still have that picture."

"The world is a cruel place, Lu. Anything that makes you happy, you grab and hold onto it. Or in this case," she gestured towards me grinning," you apply the two e's."

"Two e's?" I asked looking over the picture again.

"Expose and embarrass," she replied poking Luis whose frown turned into a small smile at the way Aunt Jeane poked his cheek. It was clear as day the amount of love these two had for each other and just how close they were.

Flipping through I stopped short at another picture of Luis, he seemed to be in his teen years given the fact he was nearly towering over the woman who had similar features to Aunt Jeane. He stood a few meters apart from her as she smiled warmly into the camera whilst being embraced by a much taller black man.

To say I was shocked would be scratching the surface to how I felt analysing the picture further to see how unlike the other pictures I saw of Luis smiling, in this one his face was neutral- void of any emotion. When Aunt Jeane noticed how silent I was, she took note of what had captured my attention.

"That's my sister, Annabelle, Luis' mother. She came to see me that summer. Luis was . . . fourteen if I'm not mistaken and that's the time I met Chris," she pointed to the man smiling." My sister was unlucky when it came to love, but the thing I've realized about life is that it gives you things unexpectedly. Even if you weren't looking for it- much less wanting it," she chuckled lightly running her hand over the photo with a fond smile on her face.

"At first I didn't like him," Luis said gazing at me.

"Really, hard to tell," I mumbled, I had already taken note of the way he seemed disinterested with what was going on around him.

"Sarcasm, really? As if I don't feel bad about how cold I was to him already."

As much as I joked about it, a part of me wondered if part of why he disliked the man who was obviously in a romantic relationship with his mother stemmed from the protective nature most children have for their parents or if there was more to it.

"As much as things started out roughly, the two of them now have a great relationship which isn't something I could say for Luis' dad," Aunt Jeane replied. The curse that slipped past his lips matched the sour expression he wore.

Now that she mentioned it, out of the numerous pictures I saw I had yet to see the man that contributed to 50% of his genetic make-up and judging from his mood Luis didn't seem eager to talk about it either. He stood up quietly and not long after I heard the front door shut. I made a move to stand and follow until the hand on my knee belonging to Aunt Jeane made me sink back down to my seat.

"Trust me, when it comes to his father . . . it's best to just let him cool off."

"How bad was it- if you don't mind me asking?"

Aunt Jeane pursed her lips whilst I anxiously sat watching her, what she said made the hairs on the back of neck stand on end," His father, well that's if he even deserves such a title, almost stole the good in my sister. Ironic considering his vows to protect her."