Peter

  Peter woke up to his phone ringing. He gazed at the clock with one eye. It was barely 8:00 AM.

  “Who the calls someone at 8:00 AM on a Sunday morning?” he muttered.

  He reached for his phone and checked the caller ID. It was Uncle Remington. All his anger dissipated into thin air.

  “Good morning, Uncle Rem,” he said.

  “Morning, Peter,” he replied.

  “I’ve been so busy I forgot to check on my favorite nephew. I’m sorry, buddy.”

  Uncle Rem loved calling him his favorite nephew. It was always meant as humor because Peter was his only nephew. His mother was Uncle Rem’s only sibling.

  “No problem, Uncle Rem.”

  He was silent for a moment.

  “I saw James in Copenhagen on Friday.”

  Copenhagen in Denmark? What was he doing in Denmark? Peter thought his father was in Poland.

  “Why didn’t you tell me your dad hasn’t been home since the first week my sister died?”

  He knew the bad blood between Uncle Rem and his father.

  “You know how he is about work,” he said nonchalantly.

  “That is why he abandoned his son for stupid work. He can’t be any more hardworking than I am. I didn’t abandon my whole family for work. He had a company in the heart of the city, surprisingly doing well. He could have been close to home and yet worked as hard as he wants, but no. He had to sell it for a reason no one knows and started traveling like a wandering albatross for work no one understands.”

  Uncle Rem may not like his dad, but he spoke only the truth about him.

  “I always knew James was na?ve. He didn’t learn from his earlier mistakes and plans to repeat them twice. Well, I will take so much pleasure in helping him learn from it.”

  He knew Uncle Rem was about to do something drastic.

  “I’m just getting out of the airport.”

  “Airport?” he asked.

  “I’m back in the city, buddy. Where are you?”

  “I’m in bed.”

  “Is there a great coffee place not so far from the airport?”

  He remembered Iliac Café wasn’t so far from the airport.

  “Iliac Café,” he said.

  “It’s pretty big. It should not be so hard to find,” he added.

  “Now get your ass off your bed and come meet me at this Iliac Café. Hurry up. I have to be back in Helsing?r before the end of today.”

  “Uncle Rem.”

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “Are you here on important business?”

  “Coming here to see my favorite nephew is important business enough. It’s been a while. I thought we should talk over a cup of coffee.”

  His stomach tightened. Indeed, Uncle Rem wanted to do something drastic. He knew how busy he always was. There was no way he flew in from Denmark just for a cup of coffee.

  “You’ve wasted enough time already. Chop, chop. Get off your bed, buddy,” he said before hanging up.

  Peter got off the bed, walked into the bathroom to take a bath, got out dripping wet, and dressed up. He quickly fed Lucy and got out of the house. He knew how much Uncle Rem hated being kept waiting. He was very strict with time. A habit he inculcated into Peter.

  He drove towards Iliac Café. It was a thirty-minute drive, but he got there in thirty. He had never been there before, but like he told Uncle Rem, it was quite easy to find.

  He pulled up In their parking lot. The outside of the café looked so calm and the proper lighting made it look so aesthetically pleasing. The clouds were becoming somber. It would most likely rain soon. He hurried into the café.

  The floor was spotless. The walls were painted sepia, with decadent local art hanging on every wall to exude absolute serenity and exuberance.

  He was hit with an amalgam of smells emanating from different directions. Freshly brewed coffee and ground beans, the aromatic scent of espresso, acrid burned coffee, warm caramel or chocolate, the tingle of spices like cinnamon and chai teas, fresh-baked cookies and muffins, the fruity aroma from a steaming cup of herbal tea, mingling perfume scents, vanilla. All enveloped him.

  It was a Sunday morning, but it was relatively emptier than what he had expected. It was quite easy to spot Uncle Remington sitting by the window. He could see him waving. He was already eating.

  He walked towards the table. Uncle Rem stood up to welcome him.

  “Uncle Rem,” he said, stretching his hand for a handshake.

  No one could cheat time. A little part of his hair and beard were turning grey. He didn’t look as energetic as he always was either.

  Uncle Rem took his hand and drew him in for a crushing bear hug.

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  Uncle Rem released him from his bear hug.

  “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the empty chair.

  “You must be hungry.”

  “Very,” he replied, remembering he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.

  His eating habit has gotten extremely poor lately.

  “You must try their latte and chocolate croissant. They are incredible. I just got served my second round.”

  Uncle Rem waved a waiter over.

  “May I take your order?” The waiter asked as he tried to hand Peter the menu.

  “I will have a cup of latte and chocolate croissant,” he replied, ignoring the menu.

  “Surely, sir,” he said as he walked away.

  “How have you been, buddy?”

  “I’ve been good, Uncle Rem. You are looking sharp as always,” he replied.

  “Are you sure? Clarissa told me I’m getting rusty.”

  Clarissa was his wife.

  “You know Clarissa is always jealous of you.”

  “You are right,” he replied, laughing sonorously.

  “She always asks about you.”

  “Kindly extend my greetings to her.”

  “So how are little Stanford and Stanley?” he said, inquiring about the Remington twins.

  “They are fine.”

  “I haven’t seen them in quite a long time.”

  “They also ask about you from time to time.”

  The waiter came back with his food and set it carefully on the table.

  Peter looked outside the window just beside them. It was starting to rain very heavily, beating very hard against the windows.

  “Why don’t you come live permanently with me? That is the real reason why I’m here, buddy. I want to take you back to Denmark with me. I know I can’t possibly convince you over the phone.”

  Peter heart skipped a beat. He knew Uncle Rem came here for something big. But he wasn’t expecting anything this big.

  “You are all alone in that house, aren’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “I would be worried sick knowing you are all alone in that house. I would have been here earlier had I known James was in Copenhagen. I wouldn’t have allowed you to stay one night alone in that house.”

  Peter said nothing. He simply stare.

  “I always knew James was a selfish, but not this selfish. Leaving his only son when he needed him the most.”

  Still Peter said nothing. It wasn’t the first time Uncle Rem would speak ill of his father in front of him.

  “Clarissa, Stan, and Stanley will also be happy to have you live with us.”

  “So, what do you say, buddy?”

  Peter sat there, staring outside the window but completely blanked out. Having to start all over again, and the thought of leaving his whole life behind made him anxious. He might have become reclusive, but he still loved a lot of things here and felt like he was leaving a lot of things behind. How would Ralph receive the news? He couldn’t complain really. He also said he was worried Peter was living alone, but leaving the country would totally shake him. What about his dad? Would he be betraying him by leaving? No. His father betrayed him first.

  “Say something, Peter. Don’t you want to live with me? Are you worried about your dad?” he asked.

  “Yes,” he replied, surprised Uncle Rem cared about how his dad would feel.

  “You are eighteen years old now. You can make your own legal decisions, and I can handle whatever legal tidings that might come from James.”

  Of course he didn’t care how his dad felt.

  “Say something, buddy,” he said again, leaning into him.

  “I don’t know, Uncle Rem. You left me a bit discombobulated. I have never thought about it before. I feel like I’m leaving a lot behind.”

  “There is nothing here for you to hold on to.”

  “That’s not for you to say,” he said, a bit angered. “I have friends, school, and most important of all, my mom’s memories.”

  “You can always make new friends. I can easily get you settled into a new school, and Mabel’s memories will always remain in your head,” he replied. “You are not going to stay in that school forever, and at one point in your life you would lose most of your friends. Yours just came a bit earlier,” he continued.

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “You think I would leave you behind all alone just because you can’t let go of some stupid friends?”

  He could see Uncle Rem was talking angrily too.

  “That’s not your decision to make, Uncle Remington,” he said assertively.

  Uncle Rem stared at his angry face for a few minutes. He said nothing and continued eating. Peter knew he was very angry whenever he did that. A life lesson he taught him. When you are angry with someone you love, keep quiet to avoid saying something you would regret later on. He continued eating his food too. He threw a few glances Uncle Rem’s way to read his facial expressions. It was blank. The only visible thing on his face was a sticky crumb sticking to his lips he soon wiped off with a paper napkin.

  Peter was done with his food and so was Uncle Rem. He still wanted more, but that depended on the outcome of this conversation.

  Uncle Rem finally cleared his throat.

  “You must think it’s quite selfish of me to come here and just yank you. Of course you have your whole life here. I know that. But even you have to be rational and see it from my own perspective.”

  Peter said nothing and toyed with his bracelet.

  Uncle Rem sighed.

  “I guess you leave me no choice. I have to break my promise to Lucille.”

  “I didn’t see your dad in Copenhagen yesterday. I made it up. It was Dr. Ryan who told me he was not in the country.”

  He whipped his face up in surprise. Uncle Rem knew Dr. Ryan.

  “Yeah, Peter. I know Dr. Ryan. I introduced Lucille to Mabel.”

  “She told me about your visit yesterday and your medical checkup. You didn’t plan on telling me, did you?”

  Of course he didn’t. Damn Dr. Ryan. There was no way he was getting out of this argument now.

  “I’m fine, Uncle Rem. I’m perfectly healthy.”

  “That was what I thought about my sister before I was told she was very sick and died.”

  He could see Uncle Rem was becoming emotional. He stopped talking for a moment to stabilize his emotions.

  “I will know you are fine and be at peace when you are with me and I’m there to keep an eye on your health. Come on, buddy. What do you say?”

  “It’s a tough decision, Uncle Rem,” he said solemnly.

  “I know, buddy, but you have to do what’s best for yourself.”

  He kept quiet for a long time, staring blankly at a possible conflict between a solitary person nursing his coffee at a large table when another customer needed the table for a big group.

  “You ought to understand I want the best for you, Peter, and you know I am right. You shouldn’t be alone. Despite the uncertainty of your health, it can also be detrimental to your mental health.”

  Peter knew Uncle Remington was right. He was always right.

  “I’ve heard you, Uncle Rem, and agree with your decision, but I’m going to stay for the rest of the academic year. It’s less than three months to my graduation. Surely I can’t switch schools at this point. It will disrupt my schooling.”

  He nodded.

  “I will round up my schooling activities, and it will be more than enough time to say goodbye to my friends before moving back to Helsing?r with you. And about my health within the last three months, I will go for thorough checks every month.How about that?”

  It was Uncle Rem’s turn to be silent for a moment. He finally cleared his throat.

  “Being alone for three months?” he asked.

  “I’m not always alone. I have good friends I hang out with.”

  “Besides, my dad should probably be back in the next couple of weeks,” he lied.

  “It’s important I discuss it thoroughly with him too and convince him to agree. I will hate to leave him on dire terms. You may not like him for a good number of reasons, but he’s still my dad. Though both of us might suck at showing it, I love him and I’m sure he does the same. He may have his own flaws.”

  “Too many flaws for a man,” Uncle Rem interjected.

  “But he’s still my dad. Although he has a distorted reality of what’s right and wrong, sucks at keeping his promises and getting along with people, I believe he is a good man at heart.”

  Again, Uncle Remington was quiet for another period of time. He momentarily gazed at the door and saw her. He wasn’t surprised to see her here. He just hoped she didn’t see him. He wasn’t in the mood.

  “I know I can’t impose all my decisions and we have to meet in the middle. I guess all your decisions were rationally made, not with emotions, just like I thought you should. I’m inclined to agree to it,” Uncle Rem said.

  “So it’s decided. A day after your graduation, you leave this place. In the meantime, I will be looking into the best colleges in Helsing?r.”

  They shook hands to it.

  “Now that is out of the way. How have you been?”

  “As stated earlier, I’m fine, Uncle Rem.”

  “Need anything? Money?”

  “Nope.”

  “No one says no to more money, but Dad sends more than enough.”

  Uncle Rem nodded, contented.