Enzo

It took me a few days to overcome my jealousy towards Papa's family. I didn't know what happened to me when I saw him loving his wife and son. I had to accept the fact that he had a family. I felt sad when he mentioned that he got hurt when I said I hated his family. I didn't want to hurt Papa, but somehow I always did.

Finally, my family came home from their vacation. None of them gave a damn about me, as usual.

"Enzo, do you like the gift?" Papa (Gerardo) saw me downstairs and asked. My heart felt like it had stopped because he had never talked to me like that casually before. He usually only spoke to blame me at the dining table while we ate. I just stared at him in disbelief.

I forgot to answer his question because I was so shocked. He came closer to me, his face calm instead of furious.

"Tell me if you don't like it. I'll buy you another one," he said, placing his hand softly on my shoulder. I felt dizzy. Was I dreaming?

"I... like it," I said.

His eyes dropped to my chest. I was wearing a shirt with a few unbuttoned buttons. I noticed him looking at the scar on my chest before his gaze returned to my eyes.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. He gave two taps on my shoulder before heading to his part of the house. I stood there frozen, unable to believe what had just happened.

Then it suddenly dawned on me. They were always like this, weren't they? Show some affection and then hurt me. Pedro did that, Louis did that, and now Papa too? Were they all in on it together? Well, this time, I wouldn't fall into their traps.

I went to my room and took out my phone to send messages to Mia. She mentioned that she even studied during the summer. How boring. She was trying so hard to get into a better college. Well, if I had the money, I'd fund her education at a good college. But I wasn't 18 yet, so I didn't have access to my own money. I was still using Pedro's card, and if I bought something with it, he would get a notification and want to know what I purchased. Even if I withdrew cash from his card, he still wanted to know why I took it out.

"Enzo," Juana came into my room with a box in her hand.
"Don't steal my stuff again," she said, placing the box on my table before leaving.

I got up from the couch and approached the table to see what it was. It was a box filled with shampoo, body spray, perfume, creams, and other items—all for men. I couldn't give any of these to Mia. I even found some of my favorite brands there.

"Another gift?" Papa came into my room and asked. He and I were okay again after our stupid emotional fight.
"Take some. I don't want them all," I said, offering him some of the items from the box. I often gave him my stuff, so he took a few items.
"You bought these?" he asked.
"Juana put them here and asked me not to steal her stuff," I explained.
"Hmm... these are only for men, though," Papa observed, checking them all.
"Yeah," I confirmed.

Only one month remained until summer vacation ended. I couldn't wait to go back to school, bully some kids, and spend time with my friends. Then I'd have to study hard like a dog to get better marks than Ava. After Papa (Gerardo) talked to me when no one was around, he hadn't spoken to me again and continued to ignore me as usual. Luckily, I had prepared myself for that. Otherwise, I might have gotten hurt like before when my brothers did that to me. I hadn't seen Pedro or Louis yet. I heard they came back from vacation, but I think they were scared of Papa (Manuel).

Feeling lazy, I went to Papa's room. He wasn't there, so I turned on the TV and found the song "El Perdón." I started dancing to its slow rhythm, singing along and moving my hips slowly. I knew how to dance in a sexy way. It was in my DNA, baby.

Papa came into the room from somewhere, a whiskey glass in his hand, and joined me in the dance, singing along to the song. He was really good at dancing too. Then "Felices los 4" started playing, and we danced to that one as well.

"Wow, Papa, you dance like a pro," I said, watching his moves.

"I know, boy," he replied, clearly enjoying the dance. He was a bit drunk too.

Pedro

After summer vacation, Louis and I went to the Perez mansion for the first time. We had avoided going there before because we wanted to stay away from Enzo. The last fight with him and Manuel had been awkward and didn't feel right. I knew that Papa had given Enzo a Jaguar. I guess that was his way of saying sorry.

Louis and I entered the house. Juana was already there, along with Elena and our sons. Camille was there too, and she was pregnant. Louis mentioned that he was going to have triplets. Not that Camille was going to have triplets—no, Louis said he was going to have triplets, like he was the one carrying the babies. Anyway, it was obvious he couldn't wait for them to arrive, but there were still a few months left. Who would've thought Louis would change so much?

"Where's Enzo?" I asked Juana. I really wanted to see him, but I didn't let anyone know. It had been around two months since I last saw him, and it felt like ages.

"I don't know," Juana replied.

"Haven't they arrived yet?" Louis asked, glancing discreetly at Enzo's staircase. Looks like he wanted to see him too.

"Papa said they're on the way now. He mentioned picking her up from the airport, and she's already tired," Juana explained.

Tia (Aunt) Esmerelda is visiting us. She's old and rude. We don't see her often. When we were younger, I remember visiting her maybe once or twice. Even as a kid, I didn't like her. Still don't.

"Here they come," Juana said, looking outside after a few minutes.

Tia Esmerelda walked into the house slowly. She wore a black frock and was shorter than Papa, with a heavyset figure. Her face showed no smile as she looked at us, almost like she didn't like us. She sat on the couch. Despite wearing makeup on her wrinkled face, you could see where it had dried and cracked in places.

"Hola, Tia Esmerelda!" I greeted her first.

"Hola, Pedro. You're a man now," she said in her rough voice. Well, of course I'm a man now. What else could I be, a polar bear? She always had that rough voice, which used to scare us as kids. But I wasn't scared of her anymore. I'm not a kid, after all. Still, I didn't want to make her angry, just like I never wanted to upset Papa.

Suddenly, Enzo came down the staircase, looking at everyone with confusion. It seemed no one had remembered to tell him that Tia Esmerelda was visiting today and that she'd be staying with us for two weeks.

"What's happening?" Enzo asked, looking around at everyone.

"Tia Esmerelda is here," Juana replied.

"Tia Esmerelda is still alive? I thought she was dead. Isn't she, like, a thousand years old now?" Enzo opened his mouth like a complete idiot.

"ENZO!" Papa yelled.

"WHAT THE HELL, ENZO!" Juana snapped.

"SHUT UP, IDIOT!" I shouted.

Everyone was shocked and started blaming him. Enzo looked around with his dark, mysterious eyes and finally noticed her. He blushed with embarrassment.

"Hermana (sister), this is my youngest son, Lorenzo. Do you remember him?" Papa asked Tia, who looked Enzo up and down.

"You're big now. Last time I saw you, you were 2 years old, crying like a brat, looking for your Mama. But she was inside the casket, dead," she said, staring into Enzo's eyes with an evil smirk. It was obvious she said it to get back at him for his rude comment. I saw how Enzo's face twisted with deep pain. I wanted to punch Tia right then and there.

No one spoke for a few seconds.

"We didn't meet after that," Papa said, clearly uncomfortable discussing Mama's funeral. Papa hated to remember Mama. He wasn't the same man after Mama died. His face darkened, as if he, too, was in pain.

"Lorenzo, do you still remember Lorenza?" Tia asked.

"Who's Lorenza?" Enzo replied, and I felt my heart stop. Even Papa looked at Enzo in shock.

"He doesn't know who Lorenza is?" Tia began to laugh like an evil witch. It was clear she was doing this to get revenge on Enzo, and she wasn't finished yet. It was obvious now that Papa's bloodline had serious issues.

Enzo looked at her with a confused expression, clearly not knowing who Lorenza was.

"Lorenza is our Mama, you idiot. Don't you even know that?" Juana said angrily.

"How the hell would I know? No one told me," Enzo shot back before leaving. It was good that he left; I was done with Tia's bullying.