Page 55 of Tito

“I secretly got a real kick out of some of the stunts you boys pulled, however,” Max stated.

“I don’t know, some of them were kind of mean,” I admitted.

“I enjoyed the one with the blow up doll,” Max said. “Sitting in the kitchen with my name on it. The note with it was clever as well.”

I snickered. “Mama sure did not enjoy that one!” I scoffed. “She almost broke her spatula that day. And she never even saw the note. You crushed that up in your hand so she wouldn’t see it.”

“What did it say?” Valencia asked.

“Baby, we were teen boys,” I told her. “So I am not going to repeat it.”

“So, Max hid it?” Valencia asked.

“Yes and as a matter of fact, there had been many incidents where he could have left us hanging in the wind to face my uncle's wrath or my Mama’s spatula.”

“Your mother,” Max whispered.

I stared at him. “What about her?”

He shook his head. “I admit it… I worship her.”

I raised my brow at him. “Worship?”

Max nodded. “If I were from this time…” He sighed.

“Really?” Valencia exclaimed. “That is so romantic!”

I slowly looked over at her and asked, “Romantic? Valen, he’s… well, whatever he is and she is…” I paused.

“Possibly immortal?” Valencia finished my sentence.

I shook my head. “It is the truth though. At least it is now.”

“I’m not sure you can handle…” Max faltered.

“...the truth?” I asked him.

“About your mother.” Max nodded.

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“Except that she will most likely outlive you,” Max pointed out.

“Oh, that will be so sad for her, Max,” Valentia noted.

“Tell me about it,” he said. “I may have not done her any real favor by saving her.”

We stared at him.

“It has happened to you, hasn’t it?” Valencia guessed. “You outlived people that you cared about?”

“A few times or fifty,” he admitted. “I swear when I reanimated her that it was like automatic, I had no time to think about it. To choose whether it was the right thing to do or not. All I saw was how unfair it was for her to be taken from her familylike that. You Bruno boys and your sister needed her. The whole family of boys did. They had already lost Alessandra, so Maria had become like their mother. Then you all were going to lose her too? I…” He paused.

“Oh, wow. You fell in love, Max!” Valencia told him.

“That is not possible,” he argued. “I keep that from affecting my mission. I live by a set of rules.”

“I think it is very possible, despite your rules,” I suggested.