Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Melody shrieked in excitement, grabbing Roland to dance with him.
She looked so happy, reminding me of all the times I’d seen her exactly like this, but what goes up must come down. It was the law of physics.
When she noticed I was staring at them, she shouted, “Julius! It’s time!”
She wouldn’t…
She couldn’t…
“Right, everyone? Let’s hear my boys play!”
Of course she is.
The crowd cheered, clapping and hooting. The nerve to put us on the spot. Kraven’s glossy gaze shifted to meet mine. I waited for him to object, to tell her to eat shit, and that we weren’t her little wind-up monkeys to perform for her at her beck and call.
Except he didn’t. Instead, he shrugged it off and mouthed, “Why not?”
It was Isla’s expression of it’s your brother’s birthday, and if he was good with it, then you should be too that felt like it was me against the entire party. I moved in autopilot while I allowed the booze and weed to consume me.
No longer seeing red.
No longer feeling the blazing heat on my skin.
I moved in a haze, and before I knew it, we were in the living room putting on a concert.
I remembered the first time she put a violin in my hands.
The first time she taught me a note.
A string.
A song.
I remembered how we’d play, and sometimes she’d cry in the same way she was right then.
I remembered the happiness it gave me. That I was able to move her so deeply.
I remembered the sadness she caused.
The despair.
The loneliness.
I remember it all.
They said time healed all wounds. At that moment, playing with Kraven—with our mother and Isla watching, listening, and cheering—it was a symphony of past, present, and future. A broken record of memories, creating a crescendo that blurred time into one aching note, which evolved into a composition of what was, what may never be, and everything unfinished.
Everything unsaid.
Everything that mattered was all the chorus.
It was only a matter of time until the melody we were playing turned into be back in ten, then seven years of silence...
And still, we performed it so perfectly, our memories bleeding into every last note.
KRAVEN
I played the piano for her.
Isla.
I played it for the guests.
For myself.
For my demons.
For the little boy abandoned by his mother.
For the seven years I could never get to shut up, regardless of how much trouble I got into.
For the version of me I see when I’m with Kitty.
For the memories.
The trauma.
The tears.
The fights.
For the music that completed me.
The notes that consumed me.
For the nights when all I had was my piano.
When I tasted tears.
Fear.
Unhappiness.
I played for all of that and more.
Last, I played for her.
My mom.
Because if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be playing at all, and that was the hardest note to hit.
It carried the sharpest key.
Except there was no harmony.
Not for me.
I never experienced that unless I was playing through a wall for my black cat.
CHAPTER
FORTY-ONE
ISLA
Every decision you make reflects your evaluation of who you are.
– Marianne Williamson
Two weeks later.
“She’ll be here, Julius. I know she will.”
“Isla,” he stressed in an edgy tone. “It’s your birthday, and she was supposed to be here hours ago to make dinner. A dinner she insisted on, might I add.”
“Julius, relax…” Kraven intercepted. “She doesn’t know any better.”
“Don’t do that,” I snapped. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room.”
“You’re going off on me?” Kraven asked, looking offended. “I’m just defending you.”
“I don’t need your defending.”
Julius abruptly stood, getting off the couch. “I told you this was a bad idea from day one, but you didn’t listen to me.” In a stern expression, he glanced down at me. “You insisted on allowing her for your birthday. I kept my mouth shut because it’s your day, and now look, we’re fighting over her yet again.”
“Julius, I know it’s been hard, but I haven’t let her in the house. I’ve barely even spoken to her. What was I supposed to do when she—”
“You tell her no! It’s really that simple!”
“She’s your mom. I—”
“She’s my nothing!”
“Julius,” Kraven announced, grabbing his arm. “Chill. It’s her birthday.”
I abruptly stood too, facing them both. “I’m not fighting with you guys about this. I know she’ll be here. She promised me, okay?”
“Words come cheap when it comes to Melody.” Julius stepped back, walking to the bay window. He pulled the curtain, looking outside. “I warned you, Isla,” he simply stated. “But you refuse to see reason.”
“She hasn’t even been around that much.”
Kraven chimed in, “Only because we put a stop to it.”
“Great,” I remarked. “We’re back to two against one again.”
Kraven shrugged. “We’re just trying to protect you. Why is that so hard to understand?”
I shook my head. “You don’t need to protect me from her. She’s your mom.”
“You’ll learn,” Julius bit out. “The first lesson is always the hardest.”
My eyes went wide, suddenly defensive of her. “She’s respected all your wishes, and the only reason she’s coming tonight is because it’s my birthday. You know how she feels about them.”