Famiglia

[Fiori]

"And that concludes our report on the untimely passing of beloved actor Rutger Hauer... In other news, today marks the first SOTF Memorial Day to be officially recognised by congress as a public holiday. Introduced to commemorate those lost in the infamous SOTF kidnappings, it was only a year ago that the seventh SOTF incident took place, resulting in the tragic deaths of a hundred and fifty-"

Marcy breathed a sigh of relief when her mother finally changed the station. God, if she had to listen to someone go on about SOTF Remembrance Day one more time...

Well, it didn't matter now. Marcy had other thoughts to dwell on as she slumped against the dining room table, joining the rest of her family in the kitchen as her mother prepped dinner. It was a lot roomier than the kitchen back at their old place, surprisingly modest for a house smack bang in the middle of Silver Springs. Been barely a month since they moved in, but it was already starting to feel like home. Probably helped that she couldn't think of her old place without picturing her parents screaming at each other.

She scowled briefly as an unwelcome memory popped into her head, quickly blotting it out as best she could by focusing on the radio. Some country rap song was playing, not really her thing but her mom seemed to dig it. Shame it did little to quell the other thoughts she'd been dwelling on all evening.

Her chin rested in the palm of her hand as she started people watching, idly observing the rest of her family as Billy Ray Cyrus sang in the background. Her sister Gabby was watching bizarre YouTube videos on her mom's tablet, something about Elsa from Frozen and... Spider-Man? Weird. Her grandfather sat across from her, carefully slicing up a glove of garlic with a razor blade. All the while her mother quietly sang along with the radio as she got to work, switching on the stove to start boiling a pan of water before making a start on the onions.

"Yeeeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town roooad. I'm gonna... Riiiiide 'til I can't no more - Hey, how much longer are you gonna take with the garlic?" her mother asked, using the back of her hand to wipe the onion tears from her eyes.

"You can't rush perfection!" replied her grandfather, carefully slicing the clove into slivers so thin they were basically transparent. Marcy didn't really get what difference it made, but she wasn't much of a cook herself.

"Yeah, well I'd like to get dinner ready sometime this month!" her mother retorted, putting the kitchen knife away before making her way over to the fridge. "Marcy, you wanna help me with the mushrooms?"

Marcy groaned, slumping lower until her head rested against the table. "Uuugh, do I have to?"

Recognising that tone of voice, Bianca turned around to face her daughter, hands on her hips and brows furrowed. "What's got you all sour?"

"It's nothing, I..." Marcy began, rolling her eyes with a sigh as she rose back up. No use avoiding it now, may as well just get it off her chest. "It's just... Well I was at gymnastics practice today. A lot of the same old routines, nothin' too special but... Well, I got bored waiting in line to use the climbing rope, and uh..." she paused, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck. "Kinda managed to pull off my first ever standing backflip"

Bianca gasped, an elated look in her eyes. "Oh wow, that's AMAZING!"

"Mmm, I was feeling super pumped about it and everything... But then Lucy was all like 'Pff, show off...'" Marcy continued, a sullen look on her face as she played the scene over in her head. "Killed the moment stone dead... So I told her to get fucked."

Bianca let out another gasp, a not-so elated look in her eyes. "Marcia, language!"

Marcy groaned, sitting back in her chair with her arms crossed. Typical really, her mother getting more upset over one innocent little f-bomb than her own daughter getting her big moment shit on. At least her grandfather found it funny, bursting into laughter as his daughter gave him the evils. Gabby seemed too engrossed in her video to pay much attention, not that she had anything to offer the conversation.

"Well, what happened next?"

"Nothing, really. Instructors pulled us apart before anything exciting happened, told me off for cussing..." Marcy continued, rolling her eyes again with a shrug. "S'about it, really"

"Well, sounds like she had it coming" her grandfather chuckled, earning another annoyed look from his daughter. 

"Daaad, that's not HELPING" she spoke through clenched teeth, Rocco looking up from his sliced garlic to start gesturing with his razor blade. 

"What? That girl shoulda fuckin' known better than to run her mouth off!"

"DAD, language!" snapped Bianca, a disappointed but not unsurprised look on her face. Marcy had to cover her mouth to stifle a chuckle of her own, her mother shaking her head in disapproval. "Honestly, you two... Look, I-"

As if on cue, Bianca's phone began to ring, an alarmed look on her face as she whipped it out to see who was calling her. "Uffa... I need to take this, un momento..."

There was a awkward silence as Bianca left the kitchen, Marcy and her grandfather looking to each other as a barely audible conversation went on in the adjacent room. Gabby didn't even seem to notice that her mother had left, having switched to a different video about someone filling their bathtub with orbeez.

Eventually - feeling that he probably ought to say something as the only adult present - Rocco cleared his throat as he put the razor down. "Look, uh... For what it's worth, I'm proud that you stuck up for yourself. Just, uh..."

"It wasn't fair!" Marcy blurted out, leaning forward in her chair. "Why was I the one who got in trouble?! Lucy was the one who ruined my big moment! Fucking hag..." she spat, leaning back again as her nails started raking at a cork coaster. "Stupid coach... What else was I supposed to do, let her get away with it? She was lucky I didn't just sock her one..."

"Oh no, I agree! 100%! Like..." her grandfather continued, running a hand through what little was left of his hair. His wife was always better at this sort of thing, god rest her soul. "Sure, you can maybe learn to pick your battles a little better, but like... I get it, y'know. You don't like it when people try to walk all over ya. I'm very much the same! You're a Valerio, like me - and your mom, for that matter - We don't take shit from nobody! When someone gives us lip, we give 'em the finger! That's just how we roll, and sometimes... Well, people get upset when they realise we don't back down so easy"

Marcy pouted, turning her head to look away. "Hmph... Last I checked, I'm a Carrozza..."

"Yeah..." Rocco sighed, before raising his finger. "But that right there's just a legality. I can tell you've more Valerio than Carrozza in you, trust me..." he continued, spitting out his former son-in-law's surname like it was snake venom. "I wasn't all that different myself when I was younger. People used to call me hot-headed all the time! Personally, I prefer the term passionate, but..."

Rocco shrugged, his granddaughter unable to hide the smirk on her face as she stifled another chuckle.

"Man oh man, I remember this one time, right... This one guy, this real slimeball piece of work, started making moves on MY girl - YOUR grandmother - right in front of me! God help me, I got so mad, I just..."

Her grandfather stopped himself, the look on his face suggesting that it was perhaps not a good idea to finish that particular story.

"But anyway, I... I guess what I'm trying to say is... If there's one big takeaway from all this, it's to never be afraid to stand up for yourself. This world is full of losers who think they're better than you, who'll try to put you down and push you around just to prop themselves up... But you ain't gonna let 'em, are ya?"

There was a brief silence shared between the two. Marcy's brows furrowing, head turning to look away as she mulled over her grandfather's advice. Eventually, she found herself turning back to face him, a cocksure grin on her face as she shook her head. "Screw that"

Her grandfather smiled proudly. "Spoken like a true Valerio"

It was at that point that Bianca finally returned, phone tucked away into her back pocket. "Right, where were we..." she sighed, having forgotten about what they were talking about earlier as she made her way back to the fridge, opening the door and peeking inside...

"Oh goddamnit, I forgot to buy the fuckin' mushrooms"