Right where You Want Me to Be Ch. 07

"I didn't want you there," he said, his voice shaking.

I ignored him. I started talking, as though his harsh words were not even being spoken, trying to remain strong but truthfully the pain was starting to turn into anger.

"Dad...I wanted to tell you...you're going to be a grandfather."

That's when things went South, as I had warned John they could.

As soon as the words had left my mouth, my father snapped and sat upright. I could see his face much more clearly now and he began yelling at me, letting out a wide variety of Spanish curse words. My ability to remain calm and collect was gone now and I retaliated, shouting back at him in my native language.

John's POV

I had been sitting outside of the room for nearly ten minutes now and things were...quiet.

Too quiet, to be honest with you. I could feel something was wrong; or maybe that was just my own anxiety. I'd been keeping it together for Alycia's sake but the reality was, I was as much of a nervous wreck as she was.

Just as I was starting to think that maybe the silence was a good sign, I heard someone shouting. At first it sounded like it was coming from down the hallway...but I quickly realized, it was coming from Luis' room.

I stood up and placed my ear to the closed door, trying to listen...

It was Alycia yelling and another voice...male...they both sounded quite angry. I couldn't understand anything being said though, as they were both speaking in Spanish. My heart sunk though, as I realized that this was definitely not a good sign.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to step into the room and try to intervene before things got out of hand.

I pushed the door open and Alycia was standing next to a bed, with a man who I assumed was her father sitting up and pointing his finger at her.

They both turned their attention to me as I entered the room and I looked back and forth between the two.

"Who is this," the man asked, with a thick Spanish accent.

"That," Alycia said calmly. "Is my boyfriend."

"So you got a girl pregnant...but you have a boyfriend?"

"Papa, please...I know it's all crazy. Please, just try to look-"

"Just get out of my room," he said, shaking his head.

Alycia fell silent but did not move from her spot, by his side. She looked over at me and I sighed, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Papa, I-"

"I said GET out; before I call security."

Alycia wiped a tear away and started walking towards me, brushing right past me and out of the room. I stood in my place, staring at the old man in the bed who was staring straight ahead at a white wall. I wanted to say something; I was pissed. I couldn't think of anything though and it wasn't like anything I had to say would make any sort of a difference.

I turned slowly and walked out of the room, to look for my girlfriend.

I found Alycia out front waiting for me, pacing back and forth and smoking a cigarette. As I approached her from behind, she quickly turned around and threw her arms in the air.

"Who the fuck does he think he is," she yelled.

"How could he talk to me like that, after all these years of not seeing me!?"

I stood still and remained quiet, allowing her to rant and let her thoughts flow freely.

"Do you know what he said to me John?"

"What?"

"He said, no one called me to tell me about my mother's death because he didn't want me at the funeral! That I'm as good as dead to him. Who says that to their child, John?"

I was in fact a bit surprised at what she was telling me and honestly, a huge part of me wanted to go back inside and tear this guy a new asshole. I resisted that urge though because it would only end with security escorting me out of the building. He was an old man; blowing my top wouldn't accomplish anything.

"Alycia...I'm sorry."

At that point, she stepped towards me and leaned her head against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer and that's when she started crying. Softly at first, then much more obvious, sobbing into my chest. It took me a good couple of minutes to get her to calm down.

"It's alright...don't worry about him. He doesn't know what he's missing out on Alycia. What he's missed out on, all these years. You're better off without him. I know that's hard to believe but it's true."

"I know," she replied, voice shaking a little. "I just...didn't want it to turn out this way. I wanted to hope that he would be different then I remember, you know? Like old age changed him or something. It didn't though. He's just as much of a fucking asshole as he was when they disowned me!"

I knew Alycia had been holding on to hope,

wishing for the best with her father. It was understandable when you consider everything she's been going through.

"Look...why don't we find a motel and crash here for the night," I suggested.

"We can take the rest of the day and night to get our minds together and then drive home in the morning, if you want."

She took a few moments, but nodded her head and I gave her a kiss on the lips before we started walking back towards the car. I offered to drive but Alycia wanted the wheel; she said driving helped with her anxiety. So we drove around town for a little while, not really having any particular destination in mind at first.

I could have easily pulled up a list of local motels that we could have picked from but Alycia wanted to just drive for a bit.

After about twenty minutes of just riding around, she finally decided it was time to look for a place to stay. We settled on a small, two floor motel with a swimming pool outside. It reminded me a little bit of those old doo-whop style motels in Wildwood, New Jersey. I'd grown up staying in those places during the summer, when I was just a kid and even throughout my early twenties when I would go out there with my ex-wife.

We checked in to a room on the second floor and as soon as I opened the door, Alycia pushed past me and collapsed onto the mattress, staring straight up at the ceiling. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, locking it and then sitting down on the couch that was right across from the mattress.

"You alright?" I asked her. She was still laying on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, not moving an inch.

"I'm good...just need to lie down is all."

"You want me to get you anything?"

"Yeah; just you. Come lay with me?"

I smiled and pushed myself off of the couch, walking to the bed and crawling onto the mattress with her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me, her head resting on my chest. We just laid there for a while and eventually drifted off to sleep for a couple of hours.

The sound of Alycia's cell phone ringing is what woke us both from our nap. I groaned, opening my eyes to see Alycia reaching for the phone that was laying on a nightstand next to her side of the bed. She held the phone up and squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the screen that was lighting up the darkened room.

"I don't know who this is," she muttered, still half awake.

She pressed talk and raised it to her ear...

Alycia's POV

"Hello?"

The voice that responded to me was one that I had not heard in years and surely I never expected, to hear it again. It took me a couple of seconds to make the realization, that I recognized the person who was talking to me.

"Is this Alycia?"

"Yes...who's calling?"

"This is your brother, David."

"David..."

The line was silent for what felt like forever, as I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that my brother had just called me. How had he even gotten ahold of my phone number?

"You stopped to see dad today?"

I cleared my throat and pushed myself into a sitting position on the bed. John was still right beside me. He was propped up on one elbow, staring at me and waiting for me to tell him who it was that was on the phone.

"I did," I replied honestly.

"I'm told that didn't work out too well; right?"

"No, not at all," I replied. "But I should have known it wouldn't."

"So, why did you even bother going there?"

"I just...wanted to see him. I did some research and found out that mom had passed away. It upset me that no one bothered to tell me and I just got to thinking...there's been a lot going on in my life lately. I miss my family."

"What's going on in your life, that you would step out of the shadows like that?"

I have to admit; I was becoming a little annoyed with my brother's questions. There was a certain tone in his voice too, that I could not quite figure out. I didn't know whether he was happy to be talking to me or if he was building himself up to ripping me a new asshole for going to see dad.

"Personal stuff," I said, irritated. "Stuff that I would love to talk to you about...but not

really on the phone. Which reminds me; how did you get my number?"

"Dad called me and started flipping out about how you came to see him. I called the main office because dad couldn't get out to me clearly, the fact that it was you but it wasn't you. Took me a bit to figure out what he meant. Anyway, when you signed in at the main office, you had to write down your phone number. Once I explained the situation to the receptionist, she was happy to give me your contact info."

"Right...I forgot they asked for a phone number. So, what terrible things did dad have to say about me?"

"You already know," he said.

His voice had lightened up just a little bit now, but I still couldn't figure out whether he was happy to hear from me or not.

"Listen," he continued.

"We all know how dad feels about this sort of shit. I wanted you to know though...Angie and I never did support him and mom, when they threw you out all those years ago. We had no choice but to go along with it and stay quiet."

I felt tears filling my eyes and I took a deep breath, trying to hold myself together. I knew what he was talking about; I understood. I had never held it against him or my sister for that matter.

"You two were just kids," I said. "But why didn't you look for me when you were old enough to make your own decision?"

"We didn't know whether or not you wanted to hear from us. Let's face it, when you left you made it pretty clear how pissed you were at mom and pop."

I remembered the night that I had left, all too well. I always had dad's temper and so while he was flipping out himself, I wasn't much better.

The only difference was, he eventually stormed off to the bar while I continued yelling every curse word I could think of, as I packed my stuff and made my way out the front door. It had been one hell of a night, as I recalled.

"Right...um...I heard somewhere that you and Angie both moved to North Carolina. Is that true?"

"I did," he replied almost immediately. "Angie's actually in New York. I've been in North Carolina for a couple of years."

"Well, if it's okay with you...I'm willing to make the drive out there to see you. Like I said, I do want to tell you what's been happening in my life; just not over the phone."

"That would be fine with me," he agreed happily.

We continued talking for a few more minutes before he gave me his address and I told him I would be leaving, first thing in the morning. We hung up and I just sat there for a very long moment, taking in the conversation that I'd just had with my brother.

I looked at John, who had stayed quiet this whole time, patiently waiting for me to tell him what was happening.

"What's going on?" he asked after staying quiet for so long.

"Who was that?"

"That was my brother..."

John's POV

"Your brother?"

I blinked, surprised to hear this information. After the day that we had been through with meeting her father, I had not expected something like this to happen. Clearly though, Alycia was just as shocked as I was. "How did he get your phone number?"

I had heard her ask him that exact question, but obviously had not heard his explanation.

"When we signed in at the nursing home, the paperwork asked for my phone number. Dad called David and told him that we had been there and David called the front desk and got my information."

"Well that makes sense...what did he say? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine," she replied, happily. The happiest that I had seen her all day.

"We sort of...reconnected, I guess. He's living in Raleigh, North Carolina right now. I told him that I would drive out there tomorrow so we could see each other, face to face."

"That's great," I excitedly replied, throwing my arms around her.

"At least one good thing has come out of all of this, right?"

"Yeah...I didn't think this would happen at all. When I realized it was him, I definitely did not think he would be so happy to hear from me or even want me to come out there and see him."

"Well, it's a good thing. In any case, you should call Sara and let her know, so she knows we're going to be gone for more then what we originally told her we would be."

"Good idea," she said, jumping from the bed and walking outside with her phone.

"I need a cigarette," she laughed, as she slipped out of the room to make the phone call.

I stayed there on the bed for a few moments, feeling relieved to see something actually turn out okay in this whole situation. If her brother was okay with all of this, then maybe there was hope for her to reconnect with her family after all. Just because her father had reacted to harshly, did not mean everyone else would have the same opinion that the old man clearly had.

The next morning, after we both woke up and showered, we dressed and signed out of the motel then hit the road. Unfortunately, this was a much...MUCH longer drive than the one we had made the day before. From Miami to Raleigh, it was at least an eleven-hour drive.

We got started at 8:00 that morning with hopes of being at our destination by about six o'clock that night, depending on traffic. We made a brief stop at a gas station and grabbed a few breakfast sandwiches. Then the few stops that we had to make in between, to use the bathroom and even grab some lunch.

I switched off with Alycia at around one o'clock that afternoon and took over the driving, so she could relax.

Traffic wasn't all that bad, though it definitely was not easy...I had just expected it to be much worse then what it was.

We didn't quite make it there by the time that we had planned, but we were in Raleigh by about 7:15 or so. Not bad, in my opinion. Alycia was using the GPS to direct us to her brother's house and when we finally arrived, I was beyond relieved. I drove up a long, gravel driveway and parked alongside of an old Chevy pick-up truck. It was a single ranch style house, with a pretty big backyard and a lot of space all around.

"This is it," Alycia said.

I looked over at her and then out the window to find a tall and well-built Hispanic man, coming out of the house. As I looked closer, I realized that he looked very similar to the man that I had come to know as Alycia's father. The short, curly hair and the thick beard...the hair wasn't grey though, like her fathers.

He just looked like a much, much younger version of the old man that I had seen the day before. It was easy for me to put together the pieces; this was obviously Alycia's brother, David.

She was out of the car before I could say a word and running towards the man, who quickly embraced her and hugged her. I smiled, realizing this was not a dream...things really were starting to look up.

I got out of the car and stood there for a few moments, watching the two siblings talk excitedly together. Then, Alycia looked over in my direction and motioned for me to join them.

"David, I want to introduce you to someone very important to me," she said, as I walked towards them.

"This is John. He's my boyfriend."

David looked up at me and we locked eyes; both of us were quiet for a moment. It felt a little awkward at first, but he finally raised his hand to shake mine and I relaxed a little.

"It's good to meet you John," he said, shaking my hand.

"Likewise. Alycia's been very excited to have a chance to see you after all these years."

"I know how she feels," David replied. "Did you drive her?"

"Halfway," I laughed. "We hit the road around eight this morning and by one in the afternoon, I knew she needed a break so I took over from there."

"You're a gentleman, I can see. Thank you for helping my...sister, get out here."

He put some emphasis on the word "sister" and had hesitated before saying it, as though he had nearly slipped and referred to her as his brother. It was understandable. This was the first time probably, that he had ever seen his brother as an actual woman.

"Well, come inside, both of you. You've been on the road all day and I'm sure you both must be pretty hungry."

"I'm starving," Alycia laughed and so did David.

We followed him into the house and he began preparing dinner. Alycia wound up helping him out and I sat in the kitchen with them, the three of us talking as they cooked. I felt awkward being there at first. That first half hour that we were all in the kitchen together, Alycia and David were only talking to each other and seemed to be leaving me out of the picture.

Finally, though, David turned his attention to me when he started asking me about myself. Where I was from, how old I was, what I did for a living, how long I had been dating Alycia...those sort of typical questions that your significant others family member, might ask you on your first meeting.

"Philadelphia huh? That's a good way from here...good way from where Alycia lives, in Florida too. You two travel back and forth to see each other like that?"

"Yeah, pretty often actually."

"I'm impressed. I'm not sure I would ever be willing to do the whole long distance relationship thing."

"It's not easy," Alycia chimed in.

"But John and I... we have a strong connection with each other. I felt it from the first time that we spoke to each other; that's what gets us by."

She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"That's good to hear," David said, impressed with how close we both seemed to be to each other.

When dinner was ready, we all sat at the dining room table and after a brief prayer, began to eat. We talked as we enjoyed the food that David had cooked and continued getting to know each other better. Just as I was just getting to know David, Alycia was too. It had been so long since they saw each other, it was almost like they were just meeting for the very first time.

Eventually, it came time to discuss the whole point behind all of this; the reason why Alycia had sought out her family, in the first place.

"So," David said with a start.

"You said, you had somethings to talk about? What's been going on?"

Alycia froze, setting her fork down on her cleared plate and looking over at me, with unease in her eyes.

"Well," she started. "It's a bit of a crazy story. I went looking for dad, hoping that he would be a bit different from how I remembered him, now that he's in his old age. Or at the very least that he might be happy to know, he's going to be a grandfather soon."

"I'm sorry...what was that?"

David looked completely stunned and extremely confused; who could blame him? Alycia had warned him up front, it was a crazy story and so I was sure she knew, she was going to have to explain all of this the best that she could manage.

"I'm going to have a child soon."

"Oh...okay...I didn't realize that they had established a way for transgender people to-"

"No, no it's not me! That's why I said, it's a crazy story."

Alycia laughed and took a deep breath and I could tell, she was trying to figure out the easiest way to explain all of this.

"Um...I have a boyfriend. I like boys...a lot. As I'm sure you've gathered by now. But I did not always date boys."