Chapter 19
Ava saw Marcus again when she was nine.
Her choice.
Dante delayed answering for two weeks.
Ava noticed.
“You don’t want.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I remember the dinner better than you do.”
“That means you decide?”
The question irritated him because it was accurate.
Dr. Grant helped structure the meeting.
Neutral office.
Forty-five minutes maximum.
Dante in the next room.
Marcus could answer questions.
No business discussion unless Ava initiated it.
No gifts.
No physical contact unless Ava asked.
Marcus arrived early.
He looked older.
No expensive suit.
No cufflinks.
Ava noticed immediately.
“You don’t wear shiny things.”
Marcus almost smiled.
“Not often.”
“Because me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“They stopped feeling important.”
Ava sat.
“You pushed me.”
“Yes.”
“Hard?”
Marcus looked toward Dr. Grant.
She gave no help.
“Hard enough that you lost your balance.”
“Did I cry?”
“Yes.”
“Did you care?”
The question broke him more than Dante expected from the adjacent room.
“Not fast enough.”
Ava frowned.
“What means?”
“I cared after I realized what I had done.”
“But when doing?”
“I cared more about getting the cufflink.”
Ava stared.
“That’s bad.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Mommy stole?”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell Dad?”
“Because I wanted access to a business project.”
“Harbor thing.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“You know about that?”
“Dad told little.”
Marcus nodded.
“Harbor Point.”
“Was it worth?”
“No.”
“Did you make money?”
“For a while.”
“And then lost?”
“Yes.”
“Then really stupid.”
Marcus laughed once.
“Very.”
Ava looked toward the open doorway.
She could see part of Dante’s shoe.
“Dad punched you.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
“Was that okay?”
Dante stopped breathing.
Marcus answered carefully.
“No.”
Ava looked toward the doorway again.
Then at Marcus.
“Did you deserve?”
“I understand why he was angry.”
“That not answer.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“No. Being wrong did not mean he had to hit me.”
Dante felt the sentence land.
He had told Ava versions of the same thing himself.
Hearing Marcus say it did not make it less true.
Ava asked:
“Are you still brothers?”
Marcus looked toward the doorway.
“I think so.”
Dante entered only because Ava motioned.
“Are you?”
she asked him.
Dante looked at Marcus.
“Yes.”
“Then why no dinner?”
“Being brothers does not mean every relationship returns to what it was.”
Ava thought.
“Can he come one?”
Dante’s first answer still wanted to be no.
Instead:
“Not today.”
Ava smiled.
“You say that lots.”
“Yes.”
At the end of the meeting, Marcus stood.
Ava did not hug him.
She did say:
“Bye, Uncle Marcus.”
He looked down for several seconds before answering.
“Bye, Ava.”
In the car, she asked:
“Do I forgive?”
Dante almost laughed.
“That is not a question I can answer.”
“I know.”
“Then why ask?”
“Checking.”
He looked at her.
May you like
She smiled.
Some lessons came back on purpose.
