Chapter 86 - Back Home

But Andrzej shouldn't be the one to told her that and he will not. He was just a stranger, but isn't their own son a stranger to her now? What does Mrs. Śliwińska really know about her adult child?

"Thank you for persuading him to come to us."

"It was actually his idea," Andrzej explained.

"Really?" she rejoiced.

"One hundred percent," he nodded, smiling warmly.

"Thank God! I thought he didn't want to see us. However, I prayed that he would come home like the Prodigal Son."

Prodigal son? What is she talking about?

"You have a beautiful house," he said.

"Thank you. It has recently been renovated. Our younger son, Olek, is a very talented builder. You'll meet him because he's in the living room. Please."

Entering the salon, Nowicki felt a rather heavy atmosphere. Apart from Dominik, there were two men in the room. One was clearly older, of medium height, broad-shouldered. The second, even taller, was very young, built almost like a woodcutter. Their faces were gloomy.

"I didn't come here to argue" Dominik said very quietly. He did not noticed their entry. "I just wanted ..."

"What's going on here, Zygmunt? Olek?" asked Mrs. Śliwińska.

"Nothing," the young boy replied, and headed for the exit. "Only a big star graced our thresholds."

"Don't talk about your brother like that! Dominik got talent from God and he uses it beautifully!"

"And you always defend him, even though he hasn't shown his nose here for seven years!"

"Enough, Olek, leave your mother" interjected an old man, probably Dominik's father.

"Let her not defend him!" He exclaimed furiously. The younger brother, it seemed, was not thrilled about the older brother's return.

Andrzej looked at one then the other. When 17-year-old Dominik left home, how old could the boy have been? Twelve? Thirteen? Perhaps he was staring at his older brother and awaiting his arrival for Christmas, at the end of the school year, for his birthday.

"Come on, you're right," Dominik said. "It is my fault. If you want me to leave now, just say."

"What? Dominik, no!" His mother cried, grabbing his arm, but he was still looking at his brother.

"Since you are here, you can stay" decided Olek.

"Thank you."

The atmosphere barely relaxed and Andrzej started to worry, how much more emotional effort will cost Dominik to return home?

***

Mrs. Śliwińska set up dinner and cake at once, and in the meantime she put sandwiches and biscuits on the table. It was certain that she wouldn't let them go until they had eaten everything.

Mr. Śliwiński took out a half liter of clean one[1] and insisted they drink it with him. Andrzej, due to the fact that he will be driving, agreed to only one glass. Dominik did not go so easily, but he managed to stop at two. He explained that he cannot mix alcohol with drugs. At these words, his mother immediately joined him and Andrzej saw Dominik lying for the first time. "It's nothing," he said. "I'm finishing taking the antibiotics I had for my sore throat." The woman believed or pretended to believe.

"Tell me what's going on with that stalker," his father said, "because I don't understand what it is."

Dominik was a bit confused, especially since his younger brother came into the room and his mother kept checking in from the kitchen.

"Oh, it's nothing," he tried to joke the situation. "Sometimes famous people get crazy fan mail. They don't talk about it out loud so as not to encourage them, because they write terrible stupid things. Even I did not write such poor poetry, but they send it from the heart, so you have to be gentle so as not to upset them."

Nowicki noticed that Olek, as befits a young man of their time, knew the meaning of the word a little better than his father. His forehead was as clouded as if he was about to rain down.

He spoke little to his brother. He didn't even hang out with them. He just hung around all the time and watched. Nowicki had the impression that he was watching his brother as if he wanted to read what kind of man he is now. It was surprisingly mature for such a young man.

"You're Andrzej, right?" Olek turned to the photographer in an undertone.

"Yes."

"Don't you fancy some fresh air?"

"Actually, I do," he admitted, sensing that the boy wanted to talk to him about something.

"Then let's go get a cigarette," Olek announced loudly, and headed for the exit.

Nowicki followed him.

Dominik looked at them quickly, but Andrzej smiled reassuringly. There is no reason to worry, he said with his eyes and followed the younger Śliwiński.

Downstairs, right outside the door, the boy took out a pack of cigarettes. The photographer declined the offer.

"Dominik was different once," he said, lighting a cigarette. "And it's not that I was a kid and I saw him differently. He was different, brighter, happier. I thought he went to the big city, made a great career and turned himself away from a gray family, but I guess it's a little different, huh?"

"I think so."

"I knew damn it. But you look like a decent guy. Are you good to my brother?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, you guys sleep together" Olek said indifferently, letting out the cigarette smoke.

"Er, I ..." Andrzej was speechless. He had never expected that in Dominik's own family home, his own brother would ask this type of question.

"Does not matter. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. After all, that's your business. But I don't think you've been together long."

"I've known your brother since the second half of August."

"Oh. So what about this stalker? Somehow I don't feel like believing that it was just a prop. People on the forums also think the statement of Marczak it's a hoax."

"It wasn't a prop," Andrzej admitted. He saw no reason why he should lie to this smart boy. "But it was a one-off situation, so we took it as a stupid, macabre joke."

"Are you sure a one-off?"

"I don't know about another case."

"Then promise me that at the second one you will not wait, but call the police. I don't want anything to happen to him. After all, this is my older brother."

"So you forgave him for leaving home?"

"And I had a way not to? My mother was so proud of him that the hell took me. Dominic this, Dominic that, and Saint Dominic will not even get his nose in the house. But now I know it wasn't that rosy for him at all."

"Where from?"

"It shows after him. Dominik can only play in front of the camera, never in his life. His eyes ... Someone hurt him badly. But not you. He looks at you with love. It's kind of silly to see your own big brother look at a guy like that, but if it makes him happy… Damn it! Okay, come inside now," he stepped on the cigarette butt. "Oh, and it doesn't bother me so much that you fuck my brother. As long as it is by mutual consent. Otherwise…"

"Do not worry. In my life, I wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

"I believe you. Dominik still cooks sometimes?"

"Yes, often."

"Well?"

"Very."

"Do you think he will come to us more often now?"

"Yes, I think so."

"That's good. Otherwise I would have to find him in his Warsaw and kick his ass."

Andrzej smiled as he imagined the scene.

"But seriously," Olek stopped in the hall and lowered his voice. His eyes were so penetrating that Nowicki felt a shiver down his spine. "Take care of my brother."

"I will."

***

Dominik slept in the car with his head hanging over his left shoulder. Sleep overwhelmed him about halfway from his family home to the cottage on the Bug River. They stayed at the Śliwiński house until late and it was only after 11:00 pm that they managed to get out. It is true that they both received an invitation to stay for the night, but Dominik wanted to spend as much time as possible on the river and after making a solemn promise that now he would not break off contacts for so long, he managed to wriggle out.

Before dinner, Julita, Dominik's came by to say hello to her younger brother. She was already living separately. Before that, she left work and came only to hug Dominik and spend some time with him. It was a matter-of-fact woman who looked at both of them with penetrating eyes, and Andrzej wondered if she, too, suspected her brother's relationship with him. However, she did not say a word about it and Nowicki did not feel any hatred or dislike from her.

The day was rich in impressions, so Andrzej was not surprised that Dominik fell asleep, tired. Most importantly, he said goodbye to his family with a sincere smile, although tears spun in his eye. After seven years of solitude and isolation, it seemed he had managed to return to his family.

[1] Commonly about vodka.