WELCOME HOME

"Yes, it is clear.' Lilith silently replied.

  "And take note, my half brothers and sisters, you are to have no interaction with them. Mind your damn business and keep your silly mouth sealed. If you are invited or given an invitation for any parties, dinners, breakfasts, lunch, having and drinking coffees with biscuits or cookies during the cold weather decline it, especially, when I'm not coming along with you. If you are ever in a situation, you are asked some unnecessary questions, you are to quickly give some sort of excuses and walk out of there or rather, quickly give me a call to come to pick you away from there or walk out of there. You are never to be alone with them, you must always be with me,' he said and then turned towards her with a solemn expression. Why did he say his family and their fake smiles? Probably they were his half brothers and sisters, so that was presumably the reason he said those words earlier. Yet, why was he going to see them and what surprised Lilith was, he had families. 

     He had families.

   If he had families, why wasn't he with them, did they disown him or what? So, Aldan had families, but he was often labeled as an orphan on social media, saying that his family had died in a car accident and others said, they were killed when other Mafias came to attack him in his apartment and was also the leader of some street and was a gangster who makes millions of dollars and shares it to the poor and needy people. There was also a rumor that he was kidnapped and was later released or rather rescued or could it be, he came to scam these wealthy people and mooch off their money or come to threaten them.


    Was that why he came to see them?


     What did this all mean?


   "You must always stay by my side. Never for a second, should you leave my sight or go anywhere alone without me. Have I made my mind clear?" 


   "Yes, Mr Aldan. I have understood everything you just said." She replied and nodded.


  "And from now on, your name will no longer be Lilith until you are done with your job, your name will be Ava."


   "Ava,' she muttered.


  "Yes, your name shall be Ava, from now henceforth and don't mistakenly spill out your real name out there and come apologize to me, because I would not condone such a mistake, am I clear.'


    "Yes, Mr Aldan."


  "And, if my father should ask you where you came from, you should tell him that you are the second adopted daughter of Pablo from the Sky company, okay." 


    He had a father. How come? 


  "Yes, Mr Aldan."


  "I hate to say this but, don't go calling me Mr Aldan in front of my family."


   "Ok, what should I call you then."


  "Aldan.' He answered. "However once we are alone, you call me Mr Aldan and don't ever forget that, do you hear me.' 


    "Yes, I have heard you, Mr. Aldan." She managed to say and damn, why was she even sweating and nervous. She just hopes no one recognises her there, since she was going to be in the midst of powerful and influential people.


  "And you should also…" Aldan continued to teach her the next thing to do and what to say to his family once they get to his mansion.


   Immediately, they got to the mansion and came down from the car. He saw a lot of guests in their chairs, expensive drinks and foods at the table, theme playing in the background and the whole place appeared so luxurious and bling, bling all over the place. Aldan stood in front of his car, not taking a single step towards the mansion. He just stood there and Lilith, who was about to be known as Ava, stood beside him and nervously wrapped her right arm around his arm. Aldan glanced at the mansion, having this weird feeling in his guts and wanted to turn away from them and go back to where he came from but he didn't want to embarrass himself. This was his first time, in appearing in front of his father, and the cool breeze blew through them and all over the place. Aldan continued to look at the whole place and sighed nervously. Lilith glanced at him and her eyes almost widened at his expression. He seemed nervous and…and innocent, she had never seen this kind of expression on him before and if she were to be told he will be this innocent, she wouldn't believe it because it was however, astonishing to see him look this way.


    Aldan used his other hand and scratched his neck, he seemed uneasy and breathed a sigh of relief, she thought. 


   Aldan stared for some seconds, then, he noticed Lilith's gaze on him and glanced over her and frowned, including his impression all changed to his usual expression. Lilith wished she could see his innocent look again.


    "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?' 


    "Umm...It's just that..."


    "You know, what? You are such an idiot, right? Will you stop fucking with your stuttering and say your words well. Don't go embarrass me because you are trying to say something and you do that by stuttering in front of everyone. Don't push me to do something we'll both regret later."


    "I'm sorry, Mr Aldan."


    "Sorry for yourself and quit saying Mr Aldan to me and focus.' He strictly stated.


    "Your father is coming, Mr Aldan.' They both heard Andrew from behind them and promptly composed themselves and put smiles on their faces. The guests noticed Aldan, exclaiming as they all stood up from their chairs in their glamorous outfits with their wives, while some of them came with their mistresses, clapping for Aldan and some of them even walked towards him to welcome him for coming back home. Aldan's father sat in a wheelchair, one of his workers driving him towards Aldan with his family behind him.


    As soon as they got there, Aldan made no move and stood where he was, while his father came to him and smiled.


     "Welcome home, my son." The old man smiled at his son, sitting in the wheelchair and wanted to stand up and greeted his son when one of his sons came over to him and did not enable him to get up.


   "Father, Aldan, understand you. You shouldn't get up, you know that you are not still feeling well and the doctor says that you need a lot of rest. You need to calm down and stop stressing yourself." The young man said.


       Wait a second. Lilith remembers him but his eyes seem so different, it was not like the previous colors she saw earlier, it was now, black. He had black eyes now, if he was Aldan's brother, then she was right. He was Aldan's brother but how did he come here so fast, when did he even get here in the first place or was he the same person?

     She pondered.

    "I need to see my son, just get out of my way, Ransom." Their father playfully retorted and pushed Ransom aside with his arm, making Ransom burst out laughing at his father. "Father, I didn't know you had such strength to push me away." 


   "Of course, why wouldn't I have the strength to push you away, when it concerns my flesh and blood.' He said and smiled at Aldan, who still didn't move an inch and stared at his father with a blank expression. At that moment his father knew what he was thinking and knew he had to make up for all those times that he had missed with his son and was glad that he came back for his birthday even though he was supposed to ignore it and move on to whatever he was doing.


   Some defects never indicate on the body that…and are more hurtful than anything that bleeds nonstop. Gashed Children have a rage, a sense of failed justice that burns in their souls. What do they do with that rage? Since they would never harm another, they turn that rage inward. They become the target of their rage.

They repeat in their thoughts the same harmful words that were spoken to them. They must lash out, but the only ones weak enough to attack are themselves. This is the big, scary truth about trauma: there is no such thing as getting over it.

   The few stages of grief model marks the universal stages in learning to accept loss, but the reality is much bigger, a major life disruption leaves a new normal in its wake. There is no back to the old me.

    "You have grown up, my son, I am so proud of you and what you have achieved. You are so different now, full stop. This is not a wholly negative thing. Healing from trauma can also mean finding new strength and joy. The goal of healing is not a papering-over of changes to preserve or present things as normal. It is to acknowledge and wear your new life warts, wisdom, and all with courage,' Aldan's father thought as he smiled at his son, who stared at him without even blinking for a minute. Lilith was getting anxious about what was going on here and why should she do it now? Why was he staring at his father like that? 


    So, this was his father.