Patrick
I’d been to a lot of European countries and explored countless cities around the world, but none of them were even remotely similar to Krakow, Poland. From the moment I stepped off the plane I felt like I was in another century; everything was this mix of modern industrial glass and steel meets old-world iron and stone. The statues and architecture reminded me of Italy, but lights that gave the city a golden aura at night were exactly like the ones in Paris. All of it was beautiful, so why did it make me feel so goddamn lonely?
I didn’t speak Polish, I wasn’t even entirely sure I wanted to go see Aleksy anymore – I’d lost the conviction during my layover in Spain, and the culture I was suddenly thrust into was nothing like I’d experienced before. And it would still be almost another full day before Jon and Lydia got here to offer the barest amount of emotional support. Fuck.
I flopped back on the hotel bed and stared at the ceiling blankly, just trying to zone out and not focus on my own fears. More like an apartment really, the Bogoria hotel only had the presidential suite available, so to help compact my existential loneliness I had an entire bedroom to myself. Groaning, I pushed myself up, I could hear my phone vibrating in my bag. It’s him again.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hej, Patryk?” Hey, Patrick?
Aleksy Junior. His accent was thick, his voice was deep and I could easily hear him saying my name just a bit differently. When I emailed him my number I didn’t expect him to actually call, I thought it would be a politely declined or ignored offer. Apparently not.
“AJ, hey,” I replied after a second. “Uh, I just got to Krakow…”
“I figured; did you receive email?”
His English might not have been perfect but I could only hope that his father’s would be at least at his level too. “I did, thanks. I thought maybe tomorrow—”
“Nie, dzisiaj – today.”
I didn’t have to be genius to figure out what nie meant. “I just wanted to wait for my…partner.” Partner? Fuck me all I needed were those crotchless chaps to complete that gay cowboy image that I told Lydia I’d never stoop to. But it was better than having to say boyfriend or girlfriend.
“We don’t know how long left,” he argued. “Today, I will pick you up at Bazylika Mariacka. You know where this is?”
St. Mary’s Basilica, just down the street from the hotel. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
“See you at three.”
Short, sweet, to the point. I grabbed my phrase book and flipped through it until I found the right page. “Do zobaczenia wkrótce.” See you soon.
He chuckled as he hung up and I made a note to brush up on the language while I was here. I checked time on my phone and groaned loudly while sweeping my hair back – I only had an hour to get ready emotionally and mentally. I didn’t even know who all would be there, his wife probably, definitely AJ, but I didn’t know about the sisters. Sisters. I had three siblings now and it felt strange, especially because they were all much older than me and I didn’t know a damn thing about any of them.
Grabbing the suitcase on the floor I haphazardly dumped it on the bed and picked through my clothes. It wasn’t as warm here as it was in New York or the Bahamas, but it was still pretty nice out at least – a far cry from the cold Europe I remembered. I slipped into a red t-shirt and faded jeans after mulling it over a few times; I wanted to make a decent impression but I also didn’t want to look like I was gearing up for a funeral already. Lydia’s constant fretting over her closet was starting to rub off on me.
Pushing the thoughts away I forced myself to try and calm down, when it didn’t work I grabbed a drink from the minibar and downed it for some liquid courage. I left my phone behind as I locked up, figuring that any messages I might get would distract me more than anything. Without a second glance I headed to the elevators and out into the city.
I sat in the square looking around at the small groups of people chatting amongst themselves; some wandered in and out of the church while others just stood around the square deep in conversation. The church loomed above everyone like a threat, the towering structure of all red brick looked surprisingly plain on the outside but inside it was like nothing else I had seen before – golds and blues against a backdrop over wrought iron and marble. I saw staring up at the vaulted windows when the red SUV pulled up across the street, immediately I knew it was AJ.
He stepped out of the car and it was like looking in a funhouse mirror – it was me but…not. He had my hair colour, height, general build and stature, but there were subtle differences; my skin tone was lighter, his eyes were green, his nose was bigger, my hair was darker, everything was just slightly off in a way that made my insides feel like they were being put through a blender.
As I got closer he met my gaze and smiled faintly while reaching out a hand. I shook it tentatively, feeling my palms getting sweatier as his hand touched mine.
“Patryk,” he said, almost testing my name. “Good to meet you.”
“Probably not so great given the circumstances.” Why was I so good at putting my foot in my mouth?
He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “True, things could be better.” AJ paused and gestured to my side. “Are you ready then?”
No. I would never be ready. “Yeah, tak.”
I slid into the front seat beside him and pretended that it wasn’t awkward as hell to be sitting in such close proximity to a near complete stranger. There was also the elephant in the room that I doubted either one of us wanted to address – would the women be at the house waiting for us? I wasn’t sure if I wanted them there or not, but I was certain it wouldn’t be easy one way or the other.
We sat in silence through the ride and I watched as the buildings got fewer and farther between, the crowd thinned a random person here and then eventually nothing but trees. I didn’t expect them to live so far out in the countryside. The road eventually turned to gravel and suddenly we were winding up a long driveway next to a river. My jaw just about hit the floor as the thick row of trees opened up to a house that was more like a castle. The old stone structure was spread across a massive field with two huge spires flanking either side and a cavernous archway leading to the double doors. Stained glass windows sparkled from the reflection off the river and the front garden swallowed up most of the lawn.
“You live here?”
“What were you expecting?”
A shack in the woods without a pot to piss in. It wasn’t charitable, but it was true – I certainly didn’t expect a goddamn palace.
“Tata is waiting for us upstairs, mamusia is out with the girls,” he said as I got out of the car and followed him up the stairs.
Tata? Mamusia had to be mother or something like that, so I assumed the other was his father. “They won’t be joining us?”
“Nie, uh—Bianka and Halina didn’t want to be here.”
Bianka and Halina. I was actually disappointed that neither wanted to meet me but I guess I couldn’t blame them for not wanting to be here. I tried to push it out of my thoughts as we entered the house, instead taking in the grandeur of the place and suddenly feeling wildly underdressed. The dark wood floors gave the space feel warm and cozy but the spiral staircase and giant chandelier directly above us reminded me that we were somewhere a hell of a lot different than New York.
The stairs creaked as I climbed the steps and the banister was a different colour from being worn down. The hallway upstairs went in two different directions but I could hear people talking from down the left side. At the end of the hall was a giant stained window portrait of the Virgin Mary, not my own personal style of décor and I kind of found it weird how much religious iconography they had so far. I waited until AJ joined me again and for him to knock on the door before we entered.
The door slowly crept open to reveal a room decorated entirely in solid wood and brass furniture, a nurse leaned over the canopy bed while she took the blood pressure of her patient. She glanced up and smiled at AJ, she spoke quickly to him in Polish and he nodded along before gesturing to the door. She took the hint and left us alone, giving me a free moment to see him. Aleksy. He said something sharply to the other man and AJ touched my arm as he followed the nurse out the room and shut the door behind him.
“Help me up,” he demanded more than asked.
My legs shook as I reached out a hand and helped him into a sitting position. He looked frail; his hair was limp, thinning, and entirely silver, he was drastically underweight, and his skin was a sallow colour. He really is dying. He wasn’t even just dying, judging from the myriad of machines he was hooked up to he was just waiting at this point.
“You look like her,” he said quietly. “You have her eyes.”
“I don’t know what to say to that.”
He chuckled. “You talk like her too.” Pushing himself up, he grabbed the metal rack with his IV and stumbled over to the armoire. “Come here, I have some things for you.”
He reminded me of Jon in a way, the demeanour he had when he spoke was similar – the same controlled speech pattern. “I thought I came here to get to know you.”
He huffed and glanced back at me; green eyes narrowed with irritation. “Don’t be so impatient.”
I rolled my eyes and sat down at the table by the window, the curtains were drawn and I peeked through them to see the river and slowly setting sun. The golden light and the vast forest were amazing and magical, but it didn’t fix the swirling ball of anxiety in my gut. The stomping sound he made as he hobbled towards me made my heart pound – it looked like he was just going to keel over right this instant.
Taking the spot across from me he opened the box he had retrieved from the armoire. “Patrick Francis Rosing,” he murmured to himself. “I thought she would give you my name.”
“Like your son?” I was mildly horrified because who the hell has that much pride that they want not one, but two children to have their name?
“You are my son,” he snapped, glancing up at me. “But I meant my last name – Jarosz.”
Until now I hadn’t actually heard the name spoken but it sounded like a combination of your and rose, almost mashed together. “Well, I’m happy with my name,” I told him irritably. “And my mother has her own name thank you, not just she.”
He nodded and his gaze softened at the same time his mouth did, he didn’t hide his emotions well. “Lucy – how is she?”
“I don’t think that matters right now.”
“I’m just asking, I’m not trying to anger you.”
“You’re doing both and quite fucking frankly I’ve been here for nearly twenty minutes and all I know about you is that you’re a bit of an asshole.”
“You’re always going to be mad at me.”
He was so resigned and I could see it upset him just to say it out-loud that yes, I was always going to be mad and resentful of him. Why would he ever think otherwise? This wasn’t easy.
“You asked me to come so I came. Now, I want to be able to pick up my girlfriend from the airport when she lands tomorrow morning so if we could get a move on I’d be a lot happier.”
Aleksy held out a large manila envelope that was worn and scratched up but heavy. “This is for you.”
I pulled out some of the papers and instantly my vision honed in on the signatures and a few crucial words that were extremely similar to their English counterparts. I was in his will, not just in it but I was receiving a massive portion of it – several properties, two in Poland, one in England, and another in the South of France.
“Is this a joke?” I asked after I had mostly collected myself. “You’re leaving me all of this? Why?”
“Because I promised Lucy I would take care of you, we agreed a long time ago that you would get a piece of my estate and that’s the smallest chunk. Originally I was going to leave the houses to my wife but she will move in with my oldest daughter when I am gone, they get the money instead.”
The properties weren’t cheap, they weren’t anything near the jurisdiction of lesser by any means so I could only speculate on his actual monetary wealth. “It would be better to leave it to your wife,” I argued. “She deserves that, especially if she wants to stay in her home. I couldn’t possibly take that from them.”
He waved his hand dismissively and sat back in his chair. “They will have money to burn and my business as well, they will be more than fine.” He paused and smiled, for fleeting second he didn’t look so sick. “I hear many things about you from America, this girlfriend you mention – was she the one they talked about?”
Already my hackles were up and I fought not to clench my jaw or fists to tip him off. “Yes, her name is Lydia.”
“And the other man she was with – that doesn’t bother you?”
“It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“Your English is really very good, a lot better than your son’s.”
“I went to school in London, now don’t change the subject I want to know about the other man.”
I swallowed hard and looked down at the envelope in my hands. He was dying, what would it matter if I told him? “It doesn’t bother me.”
“Why not? If she stepped out on you—”
“Lydia didn’t step out on me anymore than I—I—” I stuttered and paused to swallow again, this time trying to fix my parched throat. “I stepped out on her with the same man.”
Aleksy laughed and it quickly turned into a sickly cough that made the machines around him beep faster. I jumped to my feet and tried to help him but he just waved me off and took a few deep breaths to collect himself. “Like your mother, both ways and never choosing.”
Ew. Yeah, it was childish and immature to think that but the idea of thinking about either of my parents sex lives or them discussing mine was gross. “Let’s not talk about that,” I replied, trying to mask my disgust. “But yes, her name is Lydia Morrison and she’s been the one in the tabloids lately.”
“How long have you known the girl?”
Woman. Lydia was an adult, not a child, and she deserved to be referred to that way. “Almost a year, we’ve been dating for about six months.”
“Do you like her?”
“I love her,” I corrected. “I have a ring, I just haven’t been able to work up the nerve to ask her to marry me.”
Aleksy chuckled again and leaned forward eagerly against the table. “Is bigamy legal in America now? Do you plan on marrying the man too?”
I didn’t and that was part of why I hadn’t proposed. I loved Lydia more than anything, but my relationship with Jon was growing and I knew she felt the same way for both of us – I didn’t want to make her think she had to choose but I wanted more, I wanted the family with a picket fence and a house in the suburbs and a wedding on a beach. And I didn’t know how I could have all that if there were three of us instead of two.
“It’s not, and no I don’t,” I answered. “I said it was complicated.”
“My relationship with Lucy was complicated,” he replied softly. “The kids don’t understand and that’s alright, but this is my way of following through with my promises—”
Aleksy was cut off when the door behind us opened and a woman came in chattering away in Polish. She froze when she saw me, her face becoming a mix of shock and horror. Suddenly she started shouting at Aleksy and he quickly pushed himself to his feet and reached for her while speaking calmly – clearly trying to deescalate.
I stood watching in surprise, not sure what to say or where to go. I realized after a minute of their arguing that this was either Bianka or Halina judging by her appearance since she looked almost exactly like AJ b ut with much longer hair.
“Why are you here?” she demanded, stepping around her father to me. “You need to leave, now!”
“I came here to speak with Aleksy, there’s nothing wrong with that—”
“You can’t be here when my mother gets home, do you understand?” she snapped, getting right up in my face. “You have to leave.”
“Bianka, be kind to Patrick, I asked him to come.”
Tears welled in her eyes and she spun around to argue with him again. She wasn’t as welcoming at AJ but I didn’t blame her, this was new and I’m sure it was hard as a child to find out who I was. Not to mention that she was looking out for her mother, I couldn’t fault her for that.
Bianka spotted the papers on the table and quickly started looking through them, suddenly her face went red and she was sobbing as she yelled at him.
“Patrick, you should go for now so I can talk with Bianka. I will email you tomorrow,” he said, gesturing to the door.
“You can’t be in the will!” she cried, grabbing my hand. “You can’t take my home!”
I tried to tell her I didn’t want to but Aleksy closed the door in my face so they could keep screaming at each other. The beeping of the machines could be heard through the door and an instant later the nurse came running down the hall to check on them. I followed my way back down to the first floor and stood there for a moment unsure what to do when AJ came down just behind me.
“Bianka came home?” he guessed. “You need ride?”
I nodded. “Tak, please.”
He didn’t say anything, just grabbed the keys and guided me back out to the car. He was different now, even more withdrawn, more cold, and I couldn’t help but think that Aleksy was going to have a lot of trouble getting a hold of me if his children had his way.