forty-three

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Part 1
Trigger Warning ⚠️
Hints or Signs of Abuse

"Are you okay, Giovanni?" I ask. Mr.Maddow came down with a quick cold and he told me that I didn't have to stay after school and grade anything especially since he hasn't been handing out many assignments

He sniffles a bit and looks at me nodding his head with a dull look on his face and I immediately know something is wrong. Sitting down next to him at his usual seat I look over at the other kids who are playing. Some are using the legos blocks and some are playing with toy cars

Looking back over at him again I say, "Why don't you ever play with any of the guys there?" I say pointing at the boys who are working together to build some sort of castle structure out of legos. They always do this whenever they're here and I have yet to notice Gio actually take part in it. He's always kept to himself.

Well...unless Jesse is here and for obvious reasons, Jesse doesn't really come in much.

Which I couldn't be more thankful for.

Gio scrunches up his face shaking his head and leaning back into his seat, "They always take some of the blocks away from me. I don't want to play with them."

"Well, why would they take them away from you? Did you say anything?" I ask knowing that Giovanni can be a bit much to be around since his personality might not be for everyone with how confident he usually seems.

He shrugs and says, "All I did was break one of their castles because I needed more blocks to build mine. " and shakes his head as if there was nothing wrong with what he said

I raise an eyebrow as I try to stifle the laugh that is threatening to stumble out of my mouth as I nod my head in understanding

"Jesse said they were losers and I'm too cool to be around them." he continues with a small smirk on his face and I almost have to sigh at the mention of, you know who, but If he were here I would shake my head at him for telling Gio that knowing that he is still at an impressionable age.

"Giovanni," I say calling him to get his attention when he shifted his eyes to look down at his black hoodie, "You can't go around calling people names like that." he just shrugs his arms again and says, "Where is Jesse again? He doesn't come anymore."

Not wanting to give him many details about what went on between us, I shake my head and say, "Well I don't know. He's probably really busy." when I say this he slumps his shoulders and looks back down at his hoodie again

Eager to make him feel better, I try to figure out what to say to cheer him up next but before I can get a word in, I feel my phone begin to vibrate in my back pocket. When I pull it out I see my mom's contact flash on my screen and I roll my eyes, answering the call anyway wondering what she could want

When I put the phone to my ear, I'm immediately met with my mother's loud voice down the phone, "Karma! When have I ever taught you that when you invite company, that you should just leave them here alone. Do you expect me to take care of someone else's child? I can barely keep up with you!" she says and I twist my face in confusion as Gio looks up at me in wonder

Wanting to know what the hell she's talking about, I excuse myself away from him, telling the volunteers that I'm heading outside to answer a call.

Once I get out into the breezy air, I continue the conversation, "Mom what are you talking about?"

"There is a boy in our house that I have never seen in my life and he says that he knows you. I didn't even know that you talk to boys, Karma. When did that one start?" her thick accent flowing out as she exudes her anger and I raise my eyebrows in confusion

"I didn't invite anyone over, Mom. Did he tell you his name?" I sigh not knowing who would come to my house unannounced when I'm not there.

She sighs loudly and says, "He said his name but I forgot. I don't know if I was listening. I don't know, Karma. All I know is, he is saying that you have an assignment to do, and instead of completing the assignment you're babysitting children. What did I say about letting that job get in the way of your schooling."

"I-" I begin to speak but she cuts me off,

"Karma, if you're fixing your mouth to talk back to me you better rethink what is going to come out of that mouth of yours and come home. Ok? I'm tired. Come home." she sucks her teeth and hangs up the phone causing me to groan in annoyance.

I'm about to turn and walk back inside the daycare to get my stuff to leave when all of a sudden, I hear a voice behind me say, "Hold on, Principessa." in a low raspy tone, with a slight accent to it.

Turning around, I'm met with a rather tall man. A man who seems to be a bit older given his salt and pepper hair and beard. He steps out of a limousine and I'm sure I've never seen him before. He walks closer to me and says, "I'm here to pick up my son." he says and I hear the bass in his voice in clarity now as I look him up and down trying to figure out if he's picked anyone up from here before. Surely I would've recognized him, I mean he stepped out of a whole limo.

"You see something you like, dear?" I hear the smugness in his voice and I realize that I've been staring for far too long.

Looking back up at him he gives me a grim smile, running shivers down my spine at how calm he looks and I'm not sure why.

Shaking my head snapping out of it I say, "Who's your son?"

"Giovanni Rossi," he says to me and I widen my eyes in shock realizing this is Giovanni's father. I'm not sure yet though. Having never seen him before, he could be anybody I look up him and down briefly before saying, "Can I see some I.D?" I ask placing a hand on my hip.

He jerks his head back and smirks at me, sticking his hand in his pocket saying, "You're a smart one, aren't you. I appreciate that." he hands me his license and I look at the name written on it seeing that he shares the same name with Gio and I sigh inwardly, glad that he isn't some stranger to him.

Turning around and sticking my head inside the door of the daycare I spot Gio, sitting at his table playing a small crossword puzzle that someone must have given him, I call out for him, "Gio! Get ready your dad's here!" When I say this I notice Giovanni's arms tense up as he looks at me dropping the pencil in his hand, his mouth slacked open just a bit.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I look at him still trying to make sense of why he's freezing up like this. He's usually excited to go home.

He stumbles up out of his seat, grabbing his backpack off the floor next to him and he walks slowly towards me, his dad is still outside the door behind me. Gio walks up to me, holding on to the strap of his backpack, and I notice his fingers shaking a bit as he tries to hold onto it, gripping it for dear life.

Whispering when he comes up to me, making sure to hide what I'm saying from his father's view, I turn my body a bit more to face Gio, "Are you okay? Are you cold?" he shakes his head fast and I look at him wearily. Stepping aside, handing him off to his father as I run my hands through his hair, reassuringly.

I didn't notice his father looking at me until I made eye contact with him and he says, "What's your name?"

Swallowing a bit out of nervousness I say, "I'm Karma." and I notice the left side of his lip quirk up.

"Thank you, Karma." he says to me before turning his attention to his son for the first time, "Sali in macchina. Perché sei ancora qui?" Get in the car. Why are you still standing here?

When he says this, Gio looks at me and waves small, as I return it, he scrambles to the car quickly, running away from the two of us.

Looking away from Gio as he's being helped into the limo by the chauffeur, I look back up at his father who is still perched in front of me.

Nodding his head at me he leaves, joining his son, heading to the car and I'm left in the parking lot wondering what the hell just happened.

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Yikes. It's been a while since I updated but Part 1 is here now :)

Y'all know what time it is whenever I do a chapter in parts teehee

Thanks for reading!

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