Patrick
“People love my blog,” Lydia told me excitedly.
She was laying across the couch with her feet in Jon’s lap and her head in mine while I played with her hair and she browsed her phone.
“You’re not still writing about us, are you?” Jon asked warily.
“No, but people keep asking about you and what it was like coming back to New York. Someone keeps commenting about a paparazzi fight but I don’t know what that’s about.”
I caught Jon’s blush from the corner of my eye and smirked. “Oh yeah? There’s no details or anything?”
He whipped around to flip me off and glare. “Paparazzi get into fights all the time, it’s probably nothing.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle and go back to my laptop while Lydia glanced between us with growing confusion. “You two are weird, I’m going to work on my stuff for a little bit.”
I was actually relieved when she left the room with her computer. I loved them for visiting me, but I wanted them to go home. Lydia didn’t want to leave my side, Jon was on edge, and now I couldn’t even escape the hotel room to go see Aleksy. For two days we all stayed in and I felt like I was going stir crazy. And Lydia was fucking needy. I loved her to death, but holy shit she required more attention now than ever before, and she got all doe eyed and giggly when Jon and I sat next to each other. It was cute the first time, it was eating at me now that I felt like I couldn’t leave. And god only knew what the fuck was wrong with Jon now, but whatever it was would have to wait – I wasn’t opening up another can of horseshit while in a foreign country.
I needed five minutes to myself and some breathing room, I needed a strong drink and a joint, I needed— To answer my ringing phone. It was an unknown number, but Jon was sitting across from me at the table so it couldn’t be him. Weird.
“Hello?” I asked after the fifth ring.
“Am I speaking with Patryk?”
It was an older woman, a much older sounding woman with a heavy Polish accent. “Yes, this is he.”
“Patryk, my name is Celestyn, how are you, young man?”
What? “I’m doing fine, thank you. Can I ask why you’re calling, Celestyn?”
“You know my son, Aleksy Jarosz, yes?”
Jesus, how old was this woman? Aleksy was seventy-five, this woman had to be ancient. “Yes… We met a few days ago.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“I heard, I’m very glad you’re here to see my son. I know the girls are giving you some trouble, but I was hoping you’d come see me, is that alright?”
I guess I was going to meet them all. “Are you in Krakow? I can leave immediately.”
“Afraid not but I’m not too far out of the way,” she replied happily.
I got Celestyn’s address and ran off to get dressed. Either Aleksy or AJ had to have given her my number, and if I couldn’t see my father then my grandmother would have to do. Getting a taxi was much harder this time around since I couldn’t speak the language, but I was finally able to get one to stop long enough to work through my shitty translations.
Where Aleksy lived West of Krakow just outside the city, Celestyn lived South in a town called Wieliczka – which no, I couldn’t pronounce. Her house was only about an hour from me and was much smaller than her son’s; a two-storey grey-brick building with shady trees and tall grass. If anything, this looked more like a house in the suburbs. Or their variant anyway.
After paying the cabbie I got out and approached the gate; the white painted metal was set into a concrete frame and surrounded the property. The house looked strangely empty but I knocked on the door anyway and waited. A few moments later it creaked open and a tiny elderly woman stood on the other side.
“Oh my…” she whispered, reaching out to touch my arms. “Aleksy, kochanie…”
I stood there awkwardly, watching as she got teary eyed and reached for my face despite not being quite tall enough. “Come,” she pleaded, pulling me inside. “Would you like some tea? I have chamomile or green tea, not much else right now I’m afraid.”
“Chamomile would be great,” I answered as I followed her into a small cozy kitchen done in all yellows and oranges. Taking a spot at the round breakfast table I watched while she bustled around.
Celestyn didn’t look much older than Aleksy, certainly not like a woman that had to be at least ninety; she had thick silver hair that went down her back in a loose braid, her hands and fingers were dainty and thin but didn’t seem to tremble, and she wore a flowy blue dress that hit the floor and covered her right from the nape of her neck. She reminded me of a nun, just without the habit. When I said she was tiny I wasn’t kidding, she had to be less than five feet.
She finished preparing our drinks and loaded them onto a small tray to cart to the table; she smiled broadly at me as she took her seat and pushed a handful of cookies in my direction. Mum would’ve called them biscuits, but I’d never had biscuits with chamomile before.
“I normally have lemon tea, I make it myself, but my nurse hasn’t returned with my groceries yet,” she explained with a shrug and a small sip. “I’ll have to make you some before you go, Aleksy always loves my tea.”
“Did Aleksy call you?” I asked eagerly.
“He did, I heard about you and Bianka – I’m sorry about the whole thing, I know it must be hard…”
You have no idea. I didn’t know what I was even supposed to tell this woman. “I really don’t want to be rude Celestyn, but can I ask why you called me here?” I doubted it was just to meet for fun.
“I don’t have a very good relationship with my grandchildren,” she began, looking heartbroken. “When my husband died the family fell apart; Bianka, Halina, AJ, and their mother Magda fought with me for years over the will. I haven’t been in their lives for a long time but Aleksy and I still see each other often, when he told me he had another child I thought—Well, I wanted to meet you.”
“I’m sorry about that, I’m sorry they aren’t good to you.” I was, but I knew that major deaths often tore families apart. It was surprisingly common.
“I loved my husband very much, but he wasn’t always a smart man and they believe they were cut from the will – I didn’t have the heart to tell them that he gambled away everything but the house. Aleksy has helped me a lot because of it, and even though this feels very selfish for me to see you, I’m doing far more for him,” she continued. “Aleksy is coming here later today, he wants to see you again.”
“Celestyn, I don’t know,” I told her slowly. “They don’t want me here, he’s dying, and I don’t want to drive a wedge further between them as their last bit of time with their father. I want to see him, I really do, but I don’t want to hurt his children either.”
She reached across the table and grabbed my hands, for the first time I got a good look at her wide brown eyes that were now watery and threatening to spill over. “Stay,” she urged. “He needs this, and you deserve to know him too.”
I didn’t have time to say anything before the doorbell was ringing like crazy. Celestyn whipped around at the noise and jumped to her feet excitedly. I stood and followed behind her, watching as she threw the door open. Aleksy, his nurse, and a woman who I assumed was Celestyn’s nurse were chatting and happily came in, Aleksy’s caretaker immediately grabbing his arm to steady him as he came up the front steps.
“Patrick!” he cried, brushing the fussing woman away. “You’re here already!” he threw himself at me; grabbing my hand and grinning eagerly while he patted my shoulder with his other hand.
“Do you and mamusia get on well? This was her idea really; she always knows just the right thing.” Aleksy reached for Celestyn and kissed her cheeks.
The nurses quickly shuffled around devices and the one I didn’t recognize spoke quickly to my grandmother before taking several grocery bags to the kitchen. When she came back she patted the older woman’s arm and they wished each other a good day. Aleksy urged his nurse to go sit and the three of us went back to the kitchen alone.
“Annette thinks I can’t make it five feet on my own,” he complained while taking a seat. “Lovely girl but I can do somethings without my hand being held.”
“Aleksy, hush,” his mother scolded. “She takes good care of you, don’t whine.”
He shook his head and sighed. “Patrick,” he continued conversationally. “How have you been after that little tiff?”
“Fine, thanks, but I don’t really want to be here right now doing this behind your kids backs.”
He shrugged and poured himself a glass of tea. “Stop worrying about the brats, they’re concerned with what Magda will think and how much money they think they’re getting, nothing more.”
What an uncharitable thing to think. Why wasn’t he concerned with how his wife would feel?
“Aleksy—”
“Don’t,” he snapped. His voice was hard and warning, his eyes steely. “I want to see you and they aren’t going to change that, Patrick.”
I shut my mouth and glowered down at my cup.
“Now, let me get a better look at you,” he commanded. “I want to know you at least a little bit before I’m six feet under.”
Celestyn gasped and smacked her son’s arm as she spouted off what I could only assume were a list of obscenities in their language. This was going to be a long afternoon.
By the time I left my grandmother’s house I wanted to puke; there was something gross about hearing him describe my mother in her youth, specifically focusing on her body and appearance that just made my stomach turn. It was clear they hadn’t known each other long enough to form anything other than a physical, sexual relationship. And I really didn’t want to hear about it. But I did like hearing about his family, my siblings, and his business in construction. I liked hearing about Celestyn’s life even more because of everything that she had lived through. Hell, she was now going to outlive her only child despite being in her early-nineties. She was unbreakable.
Never in my life had I been more torn on what I was supposed to do; AJ and his sisters were my blood, and I’d never had siblings, but now I did and wanted them around – the problem was that they didn’t want me around.
Since Lydia had a problem with my drinking, I found a bar a good distance from the hotel and started to drown my sorrows. They wanted to keep my father from me, they thought I was less than them because of something I couldn’t control. They weren’t even willing to give me a chance, not one.
I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the list until I found his number and hit the call button.
“Hej, Patryk?”
“AJ,” I greeted happily as I slouched against the bar. “I’m surprised you answered. How’s your evening?”
“This isn’t a good time—”
“I don’t care.” I paused and downed the rest of my beer. “I saw Aleksy today, and Celestyn.”
There was a sharp intake of air on his end followed by shuffling and what I could only assume was a door slamming shut. “Pardon? You saw Celestyn?”
“And Aleksy,” I confirmed. “It was real fucking nice of you guys just to decide I wasn’t allowed to see my own father.”
“You have to understand where we’re coming from,” AJ insisted. “This is a lot for everyone—”
“But it’s not your decision to make,” I snapped. “It never will be, Aleksy is able to make his own choices and I deserve to be able to see him without you guys interfering.”
AJ let out a sigh and there was a long heavy silence. “Where are you?” he asked finally. “Are you still at Celestyn’s?”
“No, a bar in the city.”
“Give me the address, I want to talk to you in person.”
That was fine with me. I gave him my location and sipped patiently on another drink for the next half hour, waiting for him to show up. I found up a table near the back beside a window and watched traffic roll by in the light rain. When the door across the room opened I looked up to see AJ standing there glancing around the room. His eyes locked on me and strode over to the table with determination.
“Patryk,” he greeted tiredly. “Shit weather, isn’t it?”
“Could be worse,” I said with a shrug and slid his drink across the table. “Here, I hope you don’t mind that I ordered for you.”
“Dziękuję Ci, thank you…”
We sat there for a while, avoiding looking at each other and sipping away at our beers. “Understand that he is my father, whether or not you and your sisters accept that isn’t my problem. I’m staying in Poland because he asked me to, and I’ll be seeing him again – you guys are more than welcome to join us, but I’m not letting you stand in the way.”
“You have no idea what this is like from the other side,” he argued. “Our family was nearly destroyed—”
“Because of what your father chose to do, because of the actions of two adults. That isn’t my fault, and this isn’t a case of a five-year-old hearing that daddy didn’t love mommy, you and your sisters were adults and your mother forgave him. You don’t need to but you still don’t have the right to make decisions on his behalf.”
He glared impassively at me; his jaw set into a taut line. “You don’t care who you’re hurting, just like he doesn’t either.”
AJ pushed his chair back with a loud grinding sound and stalked off. I watched him jerk his hood up just as he opened the front door and slipped outside. I didn’t come here to start a fight or end up in the middle of a war between parents and their children but that didn’t seem to be something I could stop myself from getting into. At least I didn’t get punched in the face. Sucked for Jon, but at least Lydia sort of knew how it felt to be at war with family.