Page 223 of The Wicked

“Why didn’t you say?” she asked.

“We aren’t close. He doesn’t see me as family.”

“Ah… bad relationship,” Gran Louisa pointed out.

I nodded. “I abandoned him. Although he is closer to where I am now, but—”

“You’re not his favorite person,” Gemma completed as if she understood what I was saying.

“Yes.”

“So, what are you doing to fix problem?” Gran Louisa asked. “What is plan to make you his favorite person?”

I blinked. “Plan…”

“Yes, foolish boy, you think relationship will fix by itself. You have to draw him back to you. Life is not two, is one. You have to make peace with family because you don’t know when death come and take them from you,” Gran Louisa said. “Or you from them. You see, the same thing I always tell Maurice before he die. Make peace with family. He never listen; now they cut us off because of Maurice. All of them in France, living rich, happy life. While we are here, making do with what we can,” Gran Louisa said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

My gaze went to Gemma, and she offered me a sad butencouraging smile before turning her attention back to the TV screen.

“So, make peace with brother. Do not allow pride make you regret it. Okay?”

“Okay,” I responded with a nod, placing it in my mind that I would try to talk to him when I—

“Oh my God.” Gemma’s worried voice got our attention.

She increased the volume of the news station. A news anchor was standing in front of a school with reporters all around, a little bit of chaos outside the school.

“… Information reaching us is that there are three military mercenaries inside the school bus, trying to defuse the bomb; surveillance footage from the school was sent to local authorities, showing how these mercenaries were handcuffed by some unknown gunmen and escorted onto the school bus holding a total of twenty-three debate students who had just returned from a successful educational debate. This is Elena Colombo from Direct Regional News.” The screen cut to parents around the school building.

“Holy Mary, Mother, what this world has come to,” Gran Louisa said.

Gemma changed the channel to another news station. They were airing the same news, but this showed footage of the school bus driving down a main road, cars stopping and changing directions via a mass announcement from police cars behind the bus, urging other drivers to give the bus space.

A male news anchor from a helicopter filled the screen. “The school bus can now be seen driving on the main road of Monte Napoleone. The mercenaries are said to be communicating with outside help, trying to defuse the bomb and make sure it doesn’t go off. The authorities are organizing help a few kilometers from the bus, clearing the roads, and creating a safe corridor—”

Channel change.

“… Parents are camping outside the school waiting for updates on their children—”

Channel change.

“… Milan, Italy, has never seen a crisis this massive, and prayers are being said all around the city and the world, seeking a safe return of the children and heroes trying to stop the bomb and bring the children home, now showing you direct footage of the school bus. Evelyn Arrow, BBC World News.”

Gran Louisa stood up. “I will go pray for their safety, poor children,” she said before disappearing down the hallway.

Channel change.

“… The mayor of Milan has been asked for a sitting with the president regarding a possible terrorist attack after viral footage of military mercenaries entering a school bus caught the media—”

Channel change.

“… Just in, authorities have raided a small private sock-producing company just by the school after an employee suspiciously fled the area; a couple of paintings of a chihuahua were found in this raid.” A photo of the painting was shown on the screen alongside the employee who was trying to flee. “Locals are astonished after the employee revealed that the company was put in place to ship these paintings all around the world.”

I shook my head, knowing the disaster this was about to cause.

Channel change, this time with a frown on Gemma’s face.

“… ro Garza, a popular philanthropist and art collector in Mexico City, being the owner of the painting; a secret source says it is all part of an art quest that quickly turned criminal in the span of a few years.” A picture of Arturo and the painting was displayed on the screen.