At the Haydar family apartment, and once everything had calmed down, Marcel, the twins, and Lester were eating with Mira and James. The 6 of them at the small dining room table where they could barely move without disturbing each other's space too much. James was able to manage with his son to prepare several different menus for all tastes. Mira couldn't help but laugh at them - especially since they made veggie burgers for the first time in their lives.
“What happened?” Mira asked Marcel.
Marcel didn't answer.
Eleanor and Lucas appeared minutes later, being called by James after what happened in the classroom. Without even saying hello or asking permission to enter private property, Marcel's father grabbed his son by the shirt and coldly expressed,
“This is over, you're going to join the army. My generosity to you ended. Whether you are an adult or not, you still live with us.”
James put his hand on Mr. Witsel's shoulder to control his temper.
“Violence isn't allowed in this place,... sir,” he affirmed.
Lester sheepishly suggested; “why don't you tell your parents that you don't want to be an actor anymore?”
They all looked at him in astonishment. Mrs. Witsel approached her son to confirm what she feared the most; the only thing she could think of was to hug him as if he were a small child. Victor didn't know whether to intervene or not but Benxamin took him by the arm, considering that his brother shouldn't help him no matter how good his intentions were.
Marcel's half-sisters knocked on the door of the Haydar family hours later. Elsa was the only one who approached her younger brother to take his hand. The other women, Sara and Clara, only dedicated themselves to crying, but they did nothing else. They hated Eleanor because they claimed that she was the cause of Lucas's divorce with their mother and first wife; which is why their relationship with Marcel was almost nil.
“What do you want to do?” Elsa asked.
“I don't know yet. Maybe baseball,” Marcel replied.
“Baseball?!” Eleanor asked, completely ignoring her son's hobbies.
“That was how I met your son, Mrs. Witsel,” Lester declared.
“I hate being an actor, mother,” Marcel said quietly.
Eleanor tearfully accepted his decision, hoping that he could at least aspire to be a model. His father said nothing. He felt ashamed of himself, but it was more because of what everyone else thought about this embarrassing situation.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience caused,” Lucas expressed to Lester's parents.
Mira was silent, but she looked at her son, and she thought that she would talk to him later because she felt that she was forcing him to make decisions that he didn't want about his future. After James told her about his conversation with Victor.
***
The next day, while Marcel's parents waited outside the principal's office for the imminent and final sentence of expulsion, he decided to look for Lester in the classroom - in front of the stunned gaze of some students surprised to see him walking through the school.
He had a green apple to give him as a thank you. Lester wasn't there but Victor was, who was sleeping on his desk. He sat next to him without making much noise and murmured as he looked at him,
“Something's wrong with me since you hugged me.”
He stood there for a few minutes until some girls called out his name confirming what was obvious: he'd never go back to school again. Victor woke up with a start when he saw Marcel a few meters from him. The young man left with the apple and began to eat it slowly.
Hours later, he called his uncle, Ernest “Estévez” - whose real last name was Witsel but changed it with false documentation to protect his brother Lucas.
“Hey man! Is the vacancy still available to work with you?”
***
Marcel quickly recovered from his emotional breakdown. Lucas didn't say anything, didn't try to scold him, just asked him not to do something reckless at the next school. Eleanor wasn't disappointed in her son, she tried to show her support now that his dreams were different, but she was hoping he would reconsider with modeling. Marcel was an attractive young man, over 1.90 meters tall (6'3'') and with an enviable body for many young men his age.
He attended night high school by choice and worked during the day at his father's request in exchange for paying for his education. Ernest agreed to hire him, but not as a salesperson in his exclusive store, much less as an interpreter like Victor. He had to work on something completely different. Marcel became his uncle's chauffeur at certain private events during this time and curiously never had any contact with his imperfect rival. What's more, they didn't even know they were working for the same person.
And on his own, Marcel signed up for his new school's baseball team, but there was one big snag, his past as a bully. According to the other students, although he hadn't bothered anyone again, he had a certain bad profile. The coach also avoided motivating him to play, he stated that Marcel was too skinny or competitive (or even old) to enter certain tournaments. He wasn't a bad receiver, however, he had to accept his substitute position.
***
December 1992, sick or not, Mira decided with James something as surprising as their son's ideas. They planned to go to the island of Hephaestus together with the Dautt brothers so that the twins would return to their origins and visit their mother's grave for the first time in 10 years.
When they told Lester about their new destiny, he felt that they were playing a “prank” on him. He found it hard to believe the decision that their parents made to please the happiness of others, but without realizing it, his own.
“I... Is this serious, mom?” Asked Lester.
“When I would lie to you?” Mira affirmed.
The young man gently hugged his mother as if she were the most immaculate being in the universe. Mira risked, despite her health, traveling to a faraway place just for her son and his friends. James cried in front of them putting his hands to his head, he was excited to be able to carry out this wish. Mira, the commander (metaphorically) couldn't help but be moved by how happy her two loved ones were.
Lester was so pleased that - for the first time in a long time - he worked harder and faster than ever at the restaurant. He expected to be alone with Benxamin, while they did the dishes to give him the good news; young Dautt was stunned. He didn't know how to react but he began to hyperventilate with excitement to the point that he had to go out to the door of the establishment to get some fresh air. Benxa never expressed feelings of sadness. He considered people who cried or apologized to have low self-esteem, however, the way to express his appreciation was through a sincere smile.
Then it was Victor's turn, he called him with the phone number of the card that he had previously given him. A woman with a hoarse voice answered. After a few awkward minutes, she allowed his friend to speak to him.
“Hello.”
“Victor, it's me, Lester... I have something to tell you and I can't wait until tonight. It's about the trip... ”
When Lester finished telling him about his parents' idea and unlike Benxamin, he didn't just thank him like he was a child receiving the best gift of life from him. Victor was so excited that if it had been possible, he would have teleported to Lester to hug him. The woman next to him looked at him like he was a weirdo.
All the expenses were borne by Lester's parents, but also, by a loan that James requested from the bank; a debt that cost him much more than he imagined.
But for that there was an important condition: the promise that Lester should be a better version of himself through his grades. Mathematics was his headache, but also his existential anguish due to Victor's lack of patience when he offered to help him on several occasions with unfriendly methods, which consisted of teaching him the same thing repeatedly until Lester knew how to interpret what that he was reading.
“I don't understand,” affirmed Lester.
“You don't understand why you don't listen to me!” Victor said angrily.
“I don't understand you because you don't know how to explain!”
“I help you and that's how you thank me. We're going to leave without you, crying man.”
“I'm not AN ADULT YET!”
“You're 16 years old. You are no longer A BABY!” refuted Victor.
The arguments of that pair of youngsters made Mira laugh from time to time. Finally, despite heartbreak, sleepless days, and many tears, he was able to graduate from high school at the same time as his friend.
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