Living With The Bad Boy

“Look they are here” Little Jason said as he saw us approach them.

“You see what I said Marie, they’ll sort it out themselves” Aunt Kehlani said, making everyone laugh.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Liv dear, I’m really sorry about what I said, I……” Before he could finish, I interrupted him by saying.

“It’s okay Uncle, I know you didn’t mean it that way” I assured him with a smile which he reciprocated.

“I’m glad that’s cleared” Aunt Kehlani blurted with a broken weird laugh.

“Yeah, I think we’ll get going so long” Uncle Richard stood up along side his wife. My parents also stood up.

“We’ll work you to the door” My father said with a smile.

“Liv will you come visiting us later” Six year old Jason said to me while pulling my hand with his little fingers.  When I left he was only 4years old. Now he’s grown a lot and I’m surprised that he still remembered me so well. Why wouldn’t he, I’d always play with him and buy him cookies and candies whenever I returned from school. Hailey and I would babysit him on Saturdays when our parents were out. We’d make snacks and watch movies until they return late and night while he’s already fast asleep. He was such a cute little boy.

“Of course Jay, I will” I promised and the six year old smiled at me with his two missing front teeth in display.

“Thank you” He beamed.

“Come on Jay, let’s go” Aunt Kehlani called.

“Yes mum” He said and ran to her.

“Hay aren’t you coming?” Hailey’s mum asked.

“No mum, you guys should go ahead, I’ll be home shortly” Hailey informed her.

“Ok sweetie, don’t be long” Aunt Kehlani said with a smile before saying “Come on, let’s go Jay”

They all worked out of the apartment alongside my father who escorted them as they discussed.

“Honey you left your food untouched. I kept it covered for you while you were upstairs. You’d like to finish it now right?” My mum informed me.

“Oh yes please” I said with delight.

“It’s on the dinning, I’ll be in the kitchen” She informed us and left for the kitchen.

Hailey and I both went to the dinning as we both finished out left overs.

We discussed for a while and helped my mother with the dishes before leaving the house.

As we strolled down the road that distanced our houses, my eyes caught up with something. Nana’s building.

Nana is an old woman who use to be my caretaker back when I was little. I loved her so much just as I’d love my own grandmother. I didn’t call her all these years after I left. I couldn’t be blamed though. Her grandson broke my heart. He cheated on me and left me heartbroken. But I know she doesn’t deserve it. She wasn’t the one who hurt me. It was her stupid grandson.

“I know what you must be thinking” Hailey cut me out of my trance.

“Does she still stay there?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah” She simply said.

“Does Aiden still live there?” I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

“No, he got into college a year ago, he only visits her on holidays” She informed me.

“Oh okay” Was my short response as I let out a sigh of relief. I was happy he wasn’t there anymore. For now at least.

“Okay Liv, I’ll see you tomorrow” Hailey said as we reached her porch.

“Okay Goodnight” I smiled and hugged her.

“Goodnight” She smiled back at me before turning around and entering into her house. I stood there for a while as she entered into the house before making my way back into the road. Just as I was about to cross to the other side of the house where my house was located. My eyes caught with the house few meters away from mine. Nana’s house.

The window to the room upstairs was closed but I could see the reflection of light from where I stood. She’s in there. I tried my best to fight to urge to visit her but before I could even stop myself I had already arrived in front of her door.

I pressed the doorbell and waited patiently to get a response. Just as I was about changing my mind and leaving, the front door was pulled open and just in front of it stood Nana. Ever young and beautiful at her old age. She didn’t look her age even at 72. The only thing that gave away her age was her grey colored hair, the small wrinkles that appeared on her face and the bags under her eyes. Other than that, she was a beautiful and elegant old lady full of life and energy. She was an admiration to many who got to know her because of her lively nature. She was someone who many looked up to as a grandma and mother.

“Livia?” She called me by the name only she called me. She looked extremely shocked to see me.

“Nana” I said calmly as she scanned me from head to toe.

“Oh my goodness, it really is you Livia. My baby!” She squealed and took me into her arms in an embrace.

“It is me” I said to her excitedly.

“Oh my dear, it’s been ages, where have you been? You didn’t even call me or text me all this while!” She complained.

“Will you let me in first so I can tell you everything?” I laughed.

“Oh…my bad. Come on in” She sidestepped, giving me entrance into the house. She shut the door and led me to the living room. Everything still looked the same. Beautiful and neat. She still had her collection of flowers. My eyes had skipped the little garden by the side of the house when coming in. I forgot how much she loved fancied flowers.

She sold them at high prices and go my surprise people were willing to pay as much as possible to get her flowers simply because they are fresh and  she takes care of them as if they were gold. ‘My shiny little diamonds’ as she fondly referred to them.

“I see you still keep flowers. What a beautiful collection” I said as I braced my hands around the flowers.

“Careful there, so you don’t ruin them” She scolded as usual. Yup, still the same. Nothing changed.

“Have your seat dear” She said to me. She was treating me like a guest which is unlike before. I couldn’t blame her. You don’t just let people walk about your house after a long time of not seeing them.

“Thanks” I simply said as I took my seat on one of the brown couches. She sat down on another couch across me as we began to converse.

“So dear, tell me where you’ve been all this while. I tried calling you severely but it seems like you changed number. I asked Aiden a few times about it but he wouldn’t tell me anything” She said.

“We moved to California but now I’m back. A lot has happened Nana” I said to her.

“Wow… Tell me about it” She said and I narrated my whole story to her. It was just like before. I’d come home from school after a bad day and tell her everything that happened. She’d listen and advise me.

“That’s really painful dear. That’s just young love. Young love, young hopes, full of promises and ignorant of reality” She said to me with sympathy.

“Yeah … I guess” I tried to hide my nervousness.

“Oh my bad, I forgot to ask you. What can I offer you? Tea? Coffee, Juice? Water?” She offered.

“Coffee would be great” I said with a smile.

“Okay dear, I’ll be right back” She said as she stood up and made her way into the kitchen. I sat there for a while  awkwardly before I stood up and decided to walk around the living room as I stared at photo frames of her and small Aiden hanging on the wall. She looked much younger in that picture. So young and beautiful. There was no grey hair. Aiden looked small and chubby. He was smiling in the picture while she was holding his hand and laughing. She had been the one taking care of him since his parents died in a plane crash. She loved her grandson so much and I didn’t wanna break her heart by telling her what he did to me so I just cut off connections with her back then. She knew we were dating back then but didn’t know about him cheating. Everything happened as a shock.

I moved away from the photo frame as my eyes caught a beautiful painting of Nana which would only have been crafted by her grandson. He was so good at paintings and drawings. It’s his talent. I heard the door knob pull open as I turned around to see who it was.

“Granny I’m home!”