Angelo stood and watched Moira and Skinner move all the shopping bags from the car to the kitchen; all the while, holding the young boy’s hand. As they took the last of the bags, Angelo led the boy back into the house and waited for Skinner and Moira in the kitchen. “This is my good friend, Kevin He’ll be staying with us for a few days.” Angelo let go of the little boy’s hand but the boy immediately clutched onto Angelo’s jacket. Moira looked at Kevin and estimated his age at about six or seven years. A price label hung on the side of his red hoodie; giving away the fact that even his blue jeans and a pair of red sneakers were straight off a shop shelf. His eyes moved quickly; and the way he constantly sought Angelo’s protection clearly suggested that the little boy had been through stuff too ghastly for his tender conscience to handle. “Hello Kevin. My name is Skinner. Would you like something to eat?” Skinner crouched in front of the boy and extended his hand but Ben retreated and
Skinner didn’t need to stay too long in Angelo’s private ‘shrine’ room before coming to a conclusion. From the entry hall, he signalled Moira to come closer so he could whisper the feedback to her, “There is no way that boy is the same one in those pictures. I knew he couldn’t be the boss’ son, I knew it.” “How can you be so sure? He was just a baby in the pictures. I still think it makes perfect sense that it’s his boy.” Moira waved and smiled at Kevin to reassure him that she wasn’t going to leave him alone. With that, Kevin relaxed and shifted his focus back to the TV. “But you’re forgetting one key factor, those baby pictures are at least ten years old; the kid would have been much older than Kevin. It’s not his son, I’m telling you.” Skinner, who had raised his voice a little for emphasis, quickly checked on Kevin who was still glued to the TV. “How can you tell when the pictures were taken?” Moira asked.
“I’m taking Kevin upstairs to my room so he can sleep more comfortably. I’m sure you haven’t prepared a room for him yet.” Moira carried Kevin up the stairs. Skinner simply nodded and watched her until she disappeared from sight. The moment she opened the door to her room, Moira saw a package lying on her bed. She remembered Angelo mentioning it. After putting Kevin down, she quickly opened the package and was pleasantly surprised by the contents. Angelo had returned her smartphone and laptop; a sticky note stuck on the phone said, Use it wisely and it was signed only with a smiley face. Moira chuckled when she saw the note; she could not picture Angelo being so light-hearted. She wondered if it really was him who had handwritten the note and drew the funny face. Perhaps he’s just a man after all; Moira thought and let out a giggle. Her brief jovial mood was ruined by the sight of little Kevin who
For the first time since Moira came to Angelo Manzini’s mansion, Angelo returned home on Friday night, breaking what Moira believed was some sort of mysterious tradition that was somehow connected to the mafia boss’s ‘shrine room’.“Come in, it’s open.” Moira responded to a knock on her door, assuming it was Skinner coming to check on Kevin. It was about 9:30PM and she was on her laptop, catching up on that she’d missed on social media and the news in general; Kevin sound asleep across the room on the sleeper sofa.“Good, you’re still awake. I was hoping I didn’t have to wake you up.” Angelo said, sticking his head first before entering. “Skinner told me you had trouble getting Kevin to sleep in his own room. I had to come and check on him just to be sure he’s OK.”“Yeah, some fight the little guy put up. I had to step i
When one stands up to a tyrant and gives him a piece of one’s mind, one expects the tyrant to hit back where it really hurts; not only to set an example but also to flex his muscle. That was exactly what Moira expected following her impromptu rant in Angelo’s face.The very next morning, Angelo took Kevin away without explaining where he was taking him. Moira couldn’t even press him for an explanation for fear of making the situation even worse. She couldn’t ask Skinner about it either, considering how their discussion ended the previous day. Tension suddenly returned to the mansion with a vengeance and all week, fear induced all sorts of wild imaginations in Moira’s head.What if Angelo took Kevin away so the boy wouldn’t witness my grisly murder? What if Angelo and Skinner are planning to rape and then kill me, now that Kevin is out of the way? What if…“Boss sa
“Pardon me, Sister Gustav but I’m a little confused. What kind of facility do you run here?” Moira held onto the door handle once they were inside the building; forcing the nun, who was still tugging her by the hand, to stop and turn around.“Didn’t Angelo tell you where he was taking you?” Sister Gustav smiled as she patted Moira’s arm. “This is a privately run orphanage, CHANCES… I named it myself when we started the project.”“And you run it? Is it part of your church program or something?” Moira wouldn’t let go of the door handle despite Sister Gustav’s gentle tugs on her other arm.“You have no idea about this place at all, do you? I just assumed that since Angelo brought you, you already knew.” Sister Gustav finally let go of Moira’s hand.“Knew what? I hope you’re not using these
The rest of the weekend, Moira secretly scrutinised the goings on at CHANCES orphanage, particularly how Angelo and Sister Gustav related with the children. It was almost unbelievable to her that the two were genuinely into helping the kids with no hidden agenda.However, reality seemed to be proving her wrong. All she saw throughout the weekend was a bunch of happy kids who were genuinely thrilled to see a man they seemed to adore; and a nun whom they respected for taking good care of them daily. But above all, Moira fell in love with the kids and the orphanage itself, so much that when Sunday finally came and it was time to return to Angelo’s mansion, it was difficult for her to leave.“Why don’t you just stay there full time?” Moira asked as they pulled into the driveway back at the mansion.“I can’t. I have work demands during the week and I don’t want them to interfere with
Moira’s special treats completely transformed the weekends at CHANCES. By the third weekend of her mouth-watering pastry treats, not only the kids were looking forwards to her and Angelo’s arrival on Friday afternoon, even sister Gustav was counting down hours and minutes to their arrival. Moira became the new darling; loved by all at CHANCES not just for her pastries but for her many other little surprises that she kept rolling out for the kids.“I always knew there was something missing in Angelo’s life. There is a lot he has been holding back until now. Thank you for making him a better man.” Sister Gustav said as she helped Moira prepare a special Sunday lunch.“Don’t you think you’re giving me a little too much credit? You know Angelo does exactly what Angelo wants to do. He is who he is at any particular time because that’s who he wants to be; I’ll not take credit or responsib