The Ones Who Failed Us Novel – After my stepfather died, I was taken in by my brothers who abandoned me. “Ava, you’ve grown so much. You look so much like Mom.” My second brother Elijah said. “I wish I could truthfully say it was nice to see you, Elijah, but I’d rather not start off by lying to you.” “Wait. can I hug you? It’s been a while.” “You will not hug me. You abandoned me, remember?” “There’s a reason for everything, bambina. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive us.” “I wouldn’t count on it.”
It was Saturday morning, and Teddy was at a friend’s house. I saw my stepfather as soon as I opened the door, hanging from the living room fan with a rope around his neck. Thank god, I thought. Teddy and I can finally be happy. And then I saw the note, that dreaded note. With trembling hands, I picked it up and read it, “Did you really think his death would mean you’re safe from me, sweetie? As if Damon, my best dope dealer, would die without my permission. I may have sent someone to kill him so that you would be mine and mine alone. I’ll be back in town tomorrow morning to take you. Don’t even think about calling the cops or I’ll make you regret it.
Your owner, D.I.M” I can’t leave Teddy alone. Who will protect him? I have to do this for him, if only to give us a slight head start before he comes back and finds us. Picking up the phone, I dialed 911. I’m brought out of my thoughts by Teddy shaking me, and notice a young woman sitting in front of me. “My name is Everly, and I am your social worker. I’m sorry for your loss. The two of you must be in shock after losing the only father figure you’ve known.” I flinched at the word stepfather. No father does the things that he has done to me. Oblivious to my sudden movement, she continued, “I have found some family willing to take you in, your brothers.
They live in New York and own a chain of restaurants and hotels around the country and even some in Italy.” I froze when she said brothers. They want us? After 10 years of no contact? Well, I surely don’t want them, but what choice do I have? It’s either live with the brothers who abandoned us or have him take us, and I would rather die than do the latter. First class tickets for a short flight to New York. What a waste of money. Well, at least Teddy was enjoying it. Having never been on a plane, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the window. I wish I could enjoy the flight as much as Teddy, but I can’t stop worrying.
My emotions were all over the place, but I had to keep myself together for Teddy. For the past few hours, I had been running through every possibility on what my life with my brothers would be like. They could abuse us, tolerate us, but I doubt they could love us, love me. Feeling a vibration in my pocket, I pulled out my phone and noticed a text, “This is Alessandro, your oldest brother. I unfortunately cannot pick you two up from the airport, but I have sent a driver who will be there in 5 minutes. Wait inside the airport by the baggage claim.” I showed Teddy the text, and I could tell he wasn’t happy. I guess he was hoping that they would care enough to pick us up instead of sending someone to get us like we’re a burden. Me too, fratellino, me too. “Are you Avalee and Theodore Russo?” the man asks with a slight smile. “It’s Medvedev, but yes,” I answer coldly.
I didn’t want to be associated with my brothers, at least not without putting up a fight. My short answer caused the man’s smile to drop. “Your brothers have already changed your last names back to Russo.” Clearing his throat, the man introduced himself, “My name is Lucas. It is a pleasure to see you again Ms. Russo, and it’s nice to meet you Mr. Russo. Once you have gotten your luggage, we can head home. Your brothers are looking forward to seeing you.” “Nice to meet you Lucas, but we have no luggage except for our backpacks and this duffle bag, so if you would kindly lead the way to the car. And you can call us Ava and Teddy.” “Of course, Ava. Follow me to the car.” We soon reached the car, and Lucas opened the back door for Teddy and I. “How long is the drive?” Teddy asks. “It shouldn’t be more than a ten-minute drive,” Lucas answered.
After thanking Lucas, Teddy looked at me and asked in ASL, “Where’s our dad? Nobody has said anything about him.” It suddenly dawned on me, Everly never mentioned our dad taking us in, only our brothers. “Lucas, you mentioned our brothers, but if I recall correctly, we have a father as well.” Lucas’ eyebrows furrow as he says, “You kids don’t know? It might be better if your brothers explain that to you.” Strange. What is so hard about a simple question pertaining to our father? There’s another reason not to trust our so-called “brothers.” The rest of the car ride is filled with me interrogating Lucas on our brothers’ work while Lucas deflects every single question, telling me to ask my brothers. I definitely didn’t trust my brothers before, and now I trust them even less.
I’m about to ask another question, when Lucas pulled up to a large gate, “Ava, Teddy, we have arrived home.” I looked outside the car window, and saw a huge mansion, my home for the first four years of my life. Lucas opened the car door and led us to the front door. “Your brothers aren’t home right now, but I was instructed to show you to your rooms, so follow me,” Lucas said. Teddy had a tight grip of my hand as we walked through the door towards the stairs. I could tell he was intimidated by the size of this place. God, I was intimidated, and I lived here for more than a quarter of my life. Nothing had changed in the house except the sound.
I remembered every single detail from before Mom and I were sent away, and my most vivid memory was of how loud the house always was. Mom would always complain about loud we got during the day, especially when the boys would roughhouse with each other. I missed it. Lucas led us down the hallway where the bedrooms were, each door holding a nameplate on it. Alessandro, Elijah, Leonardo, Matteo, Emilio, Avalee, Theodore. The only change from ten years ago was the addition of Theodore. Lucas stopped in front of my door, “Ava, this is your room. I’ll show Teddy his room, and then I have to leave.” I pulled Teddy close to me and spat out, “Teddy will stay with me. You may leave now.” With a curt nod and a goodbye, Lucas turned around and disappeared down the hallway. After a quick search through the fridge and pantry, Teddy finds some bread and cheese, “How does a grilled cheese sound?” “Incredible, buddy.” Teddy quickly got to work. Five minutes later, we were sitting at the kitchen counter eating our sandwiches when the front door opens.
I grabbed Teddy and push him behind me as I heard a set of footsteps approach. A man in an Armani suit appears in the kitchen. When his eyes fell on us, they softened and a smile spread on his face, “Ava, you’ve grown so much. You look so much like Mom, but I’m sure you get that a lot.” I do, but only from the him. “And Theodore, it’s nice to meet you. Do you go by Theodore or Theo or-” “Teddy, he goes by Teddy,” I said glaring at him. “I wish I could truthfully say it was nice to see you, Elijah, but I’d rather not start off by lying to you. If you’ll excuse us, we’ll go back to my room.” “Wait! You haven’t even finished your grilled cheese,” he said as he approached us. Too close for comfort. Please stay away. I took a step back, and Elijah stopped his movement. “Can I hug you? It’s been a while, and I still haven’t even heard Teddy speak.” He looked sad, but that’s not my problem.
My number one concern is keeping Teddy safe. For all I know, Elijah is putting up a façade of being a nice person but just wants to gain our trust to break it. That’s what Sir did. “You will not hug us. We will finish our grilled cheese, but only because that would be wasteful if we didn’t, not because you asked us to. As for Teddy, he’ll talk to you if he wants, but it’s been a long day, so I won’t be forcing any words out of him. Once we have finished our food, we will go back to my room where we will stay until dinner.
Are family dinners still a thing or did you abandon them like you did us?” I answered coldly. A shocked expression appeared on Elijah’s face, “Alessandro will explain everything when he gets home-” “Oh, please! The man couldn’t even be bothered to pick us up at the airport, and you have the audacity to say that there is an explanation behind our abandonment? Give me a break!” I exclaimed, my voice increasing in volume with each sentence. “There’s a reason for everything, bambina. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive us.” “I wouldn’t count on it.”