Risen

My name is Leo, and I am thirteen. I live with my parents, my sister, my little brother, and our two dogs. Our days were always ordinary and boring until my mother decided to leave the house one month ago for ten days. Dad never told us where she was and tried to keep the calm around the house, but when she finally returned, she told us three things that would help us to understand. The first was that she needed some alone time from everyone; the second was that she had broken up with her mother; the third was that her deceased father, the granddad we had never met, was very alive.

For someone who had had such a dull life until that moment, surprises had started to be too many. Luckily, not all the new stuff around me was terrible. Adam had landed as a new student in my class a few days after my mother had left, and we became buddies almost instantly, which was quite a thing since it was never easy for me to make new friends. Having someone to talk to, to spend time between classes, and to laugh about all the things that happened around school became a routine I was willing to accept in my life. It felt so natural and good that it almost seemed fake: movie-fake. But it wasn't. At last, my first year of high school was bringing something good!

The days following my mother's return were full of doubts about her, our family, and people I had never met. She had left us without even a note. Who does that? She had cut her relationship with her mother. Was that even possible? And her Dad... Since when can dead people rise? Should we be worried about that? Was he the only one? How? For weeks, intrigued by all those questions, I asked my mother things I thought I'd never dare to ask. In return, she told me things I never expected to hear: from the importance of stopping abuse to the need to take care of ourselves. She told me as well my grandfather had not risen from anywhere but faked his own death to run away from business deals gone wrong. Apparently, there was movie material in our family after all. 

My mother answered my questions, but he also asked some, and I had to tell her about Adam. She loved the idea of me finally being willing to spend time with another human being instead of all my electronics and doing what adults do best: messing up. She told me it would be nice to invite him to our place for dinner, as ordinary families do. So, that's what I did: I called him, telling him my parents would like to know him and his family, and before I could say anything else, he answered enthusiastically they would love to meet us and the day was set on the calendar.

A few days later, the doorbell rang, and the dogs barked. My parents were taking care of the food, my siblings were playing outside, and I ran to the door. I recognized Adam's shape in the door's tinted glass, and when I opened it, I invited everyone to come with me to the garden. In front of me were Adam, his little sister, and his parents, who I had never met before. Adam's mother was bringing a cake, and the father had a bottle of wine in his hands.

"I can help with the cake, but it is better to give the wine to my parents," I said.

"That's very gentle of you," replied the woman, handing me the plate.

Right then, my mother arrived in the kitchen:

"Welcome, welcome, please feel at home… ". She looked at Adam and asked:

"You must be the famous Adam…"

I left the cake on the kitchen counter, fearing what other cliche she might use, but luckily, that was it.

"I am, yes," replied a confident Adam, smiling back at my mum, "And this is my sister."

"Nice to meet you," said the girl.

"Nice to meet you," replied my mother.

"And these are my parents…"

The grown-ups looked at each other as kids look at the animals in the zoo…

"Richard?… Andrea?"

"Elena?" replied the man to my mother.

"Oh, my… is it you?" said Adam's mother.

The kids looked at the grown-ups, not knowing what to say. They knew each other… but from where? Then, Dad entered the room:

"Eeeeeh! There he is! Exclaimed Adam's dad.

"Richard?" replied Dad, cleaning the sweat from his forehead with a paper napkin. "What are you doing here?"

"Paulo! Your kid invited us," he chuckled. "Apparently, you are the master of the barbecue."

"Is that Adam… your son?" replied Dad, getting closer to the group in the kitchen.

"Yes, he is. You knew him as a baby, … in the company party."

Mum and Dad had flashbacks, like the ones that happen sometimes in the movies. It was the company's open day, where they had worked many years before. There were ponies, piglets, and chickens. Legend says I yelled for over an hour until they allowed me to ride one of the tiny horses, only to cry even more when he was on top of it. Richard worked in the same office as Mum, and Andrea was one of the accountants. 

"When Adam told me he had a friend called Leo, I thought about you guys but never imagined she would be your kid…"

"Right," said Mum. "This is really a crazy coincidence… the world is tiny, eh?"

"Well, it seems I am destined to meet you and your family around the world," replied Richard.

Suddenly, my mother's face changed as if she had seen a ghost.

"Paulo, did she ever tell you that her father's girlfriend was my best friend in the Caribbean? The stories I heard about that man… legends, in fact."

"I think she mentioned it," replied my father, who seemed uncomfortable. 

I had never heard those stories the man spoke about, so I kept myself close to them until my mother launched me poisonous darts with her eyes, and I had to move to the kids' table with my friends and our respective siblings.

"So, any news?" asked Adam.

I had told him about my grandfather and how I would love to meet him or anyone who could tell me about him. Adam had helped me the days before to contact someone, but when I received his response, it seemed weird and sketchy, which made me consider stopping my search.

"I've decided I don't want to speak with anyone anymore," I told him.

"Why not? I thought that's what you wanted, to find your family…"

"My family is here. I don't need to find anyone else."

"OK, whatever you want. But I thought it was important…"

"Not anymore."

"Did anything change?"

"Well, something… I did not like the email I got."

"OK… and anything else?"

I considered telling my friend many things I had not told him yet about my family, but it did not feel right at that moment, surrounded by other kids and, of course, our parents. What were the odds of something like that happening?

My father started to put food on the grill, and the adults gathered around him, speaking about old times and everything they had done in all those years they had not seen each other. Richard and Andrea had also left the company they had once worked for. Despite Andrea's working on accounting as a freelancer consultant, Richard had decided to invest in different business areas. However, he did not give many details about what he exactly did. That's why they moved so much around the world.

"An inconvenience that pays well," he said. My mother looked at his wife. She did not seem to enjoy that life as much as he did.

Once the first round of food was ready, everyone sat at the table. Between bites, my sister told Adam's family how she would like to move around the world as much as they did. I knew Adam did not like it because he had changed schools more times than he could count. It made his personal life too complex for a teenager. Still, his father seemed amused by my sister's interest and told us about a couple of experiences they'd had as a nomad family.

When the first round of food ended, the other kids started to play on the swings. My father returned to the grill, and Andrea asked him for a recipe when Richard pulled my mother apart. I moved as close to those two as I could, together with Adam. I was sure he was as curious as I was about what was happening between our parents.

"Where is he, Elena?" asked Richard.

"Sorry?"

"Let's cut the crap, you know what I am looking for."

"Richard, I am sorry, but I don't know who are you…"

"Your father."

Why on Earth would Richard be looking for my deceased- not-deceased grandfather? 

I looked at Adam, but he said nothing. He was pale, still, and I realized something was going on. Then, I heard the grown-ups talking again.

"Elena, I need to find him for his own good. He is in trouble with people he shouldn't. People with a lot of money, with a lot of resources…"

Richard walked towards her and grabbed her arm. Elena looked at my father, who was busy around the fire, and then looked at me, trying to hide behind one of the Pergola's columns. 

"Who are you?" asked Elena, feeling Richard's fingers pressing the flesh.

"I am just a concerned businessman," he replied, "and much money is at risk here. You know how nervous people can get when things go wrong in business."

Immediately, she shook his hand off and took a step back.

"Since when have you taken care of this kind of business?"

"Since it pays well," he said with a big, creepy smile.

"I cannot help you."

"It's not completely true, isn't it? Your son has been looking for him as well."

"Leo? I have no idea what you mean."

"He's been trying to find your family. Are you going to tell me you did not know about it? You used to have more control over details. I see you are losing skills…"

She looked at me. She had no idea what Richard was saying. She was not lying. 

"Elena, you need to help me to find him."

"I can't."

"Bad things can happen. Do you understand me?"

"I believe you." She paused, and I just wanted to listen to whatever she was about to say. 

"The last years have been tricky, you know?" She said, taking a step towards the man before her, and then she continued:

"You cannot imagine the things that crossed my mind lately, the things I thought about doing… but I didn't. I cannot even imagine what I could do if I had a good reason to do it. Richard, don't. I don't know where he is; you don't need me to find him. Do you understand me?"

"I think you are making a terrible mistake," he replied.

"And I think you are leaving already."

Then I looked at Adam, and the truth hit me in the gut. He was no friend of mine. He was helping his father! 

Richard smiled and walked towards his family. On his way to his wife, he took Adam's hand, and they moved away. In the meantime, my mother opened the gate to the garden and waited for them. Confused, my father heard Richard and Andrea say they had to leave, and they were gone in less than a minute, faster than flipping the steaks he was grilling.

I ran to my room. I did not want to speak to anyone. I was about to walk upstairs when someone rang the bell. I was so out of myself that I just opened the door and saw a man with grey hair on the doorstep casually dressed, with jeans, a sweater, and very cool green aviator glasses. 

"Hi," I said, "can I help you?"

The man said nothing at first; he just looked at me, which slightly creeped me out.

"I believe I am looking for your mum. You are Leo, right?"

"Yes, sure," I turned and screamed: "Mum! Someone is looking for you!"

When I looked back, I realized he was super tanned, had a nice smile, and had little dimples, which seemed weirdly familiar, although I couldn't say why. When my mother finally arrived by my side, she just froze.

"Are you OK?" I asked her.

She looked at the man, put her left arm around me, and said:

"Leo, this is Carlos. He is your grandfather."

Then, she slammed the door with her right hand. I had no time to say a single word. 

"Let's have tea," she said, walking away from the door.

That's how I first met my grandad.