Chapter Text
- How much longer do I have to do this?
- Depends if you like it.
- I can assure you that I don't find it fun to be waiting with my eyes closed.
- Ready! Redoblantes, please...
And she pulled the curtain that separates the changing room from the rest of his room, where Aidoneus was sitting on the bed.
- Kore, what are you wearing
- This? Dear friend, this is the outfit of someone who is about to embark on a road trip... with you.
Only she could look good in flowered dresses, huge hats, and dark glasses like a lady from the 60's. Not to mention that from her cleavage she took out a paper (pink obviously), which she eagerly handed over.
- Bucket list? Do you know what a bucket list is? - he asked
- Of course, I do! Why do we have to wait until we're dying when we can get ahead on homework. And don't tell me you don't like the idea, I know how you like to have things planned well in advance.
- And how would a surprise road trip fit into that?
- Obviously, because I've already got everything ready. Every part of the trip is thought out in this little head. - she said as she walked across the room to sit next to her friend.
Every now and then he remembered when he had gained such a crazy girl (in a good way) in his life. They had been neighborhood friends since they were about 7 years old. They met one Saturday afternoon. When passing by a tree, a little girl suddenly fell in front of him, hanging upside down like a bat, with her shorts on, her T-shirt covering her face, and her tummy in the air. "I'll give you my lollipop if you help me get off ..... Please?" she said to him as she fluttered her arms waiting to be grabbed. And so he did. And he earned a half-eaten lollipop. It turns out they lived in the same neighborhood but had never crossed paths. He was taller than his classmates, shy, kind, and a year older than her; she was small, loud, with the ability to show pleading eyes like a kitten. She asked him if they could be friends and he could never say no, even to this day.
- Kore, I need more details- he said lying down on the bed next to her.
- We leave the day after tomorrow at 6 am, bring light clothes, some swimsuits, and money?
- The most important thing is missing
- What is missing?
- A car, functional, with gas. And someone with a license... HEY!!!! - when he realizes what hit his head, he didn't understand anything. In his hands, there was now a set of keys and a driver's license with his friend's picture on it.
- As I told you I have everything ready. So? What do you say? I already have the food, some groceries, everything.
- I don't know Kore, who is going to take care of the triplets?
- I already talked to your uncle and he said not to worry. Hades, when I say everything, I mean everything.
- Then let's go to my house - he said getting up.
- What for?
- First, I want to see those driving skills, I'm a little worried. And second, help me with the bag.
Kore knew that even though it looked like he was hesitating, it was a sure yes. She grabbed the keys to her new car and caught up with her friend on the way to the front door of the house.
Two months ago, she had managed to save enough money to buy a used car. Small, just enough for two people and their luggage. Obviously, the license was next. The hardest part of all this was keeping the secret from him. Luckily, his new routine kept him very busy. At the beginning of the year, he switched veterinary schools to pursue a specialization in canine medicine. It was only two hours from his aunt and uncle's house, but the schedule was intense, so he lived half the week at the university and then came home. She didn't have a degree, but she was a lifelong gardener and together with her mother, had the largest nursery in the city. Her mother was an ambitious, protective, strong woman. She understood plants.
Aidoneus couldn't believe his eyes: Kore driving her own car on two cushions with the seat ridiculously close to the steering wheel. He always felt this woman was dangerously tender and proactive. "Approved," he thought as he got out of the car once they arrived at his house.
Hades' life didn't start off in the best way. A mother who died when he was one year old, a father who beat him every chance he got. His uncle Tom, who found him on the street, half-naked in the winter when he was only 3 years old, took him to the hospital. Welfare took over the case and decided that living with Tom was the best thing to do. Twenty years later, that situation became a sad but true anecdote. Today he still lives with his aunt and uncle, whom he considers his parents.
As always, as he passed the threshold of the front door there was Tom in the kitchen, preparing any kind of food; Nina, his wife, in the carpentry workshop working and the triplets everywhere in the house hiding like every teenager.
- Hello Mr. Tartaros!
- Persephone! I haven't seen you for hours, honey - he said smiling while he was kneading in the kitchen island what would be some kind of bread for dinner. - Hello son - Aidoneus approached and kissed him on the head.
- Hades doesn't believe me that we are going on a trip.
- I told you he wouldn't believe you. Look in the garage, the suitcases must be there. - he said to his son. - Are you staying for dinner?
- How do you think I keep these curves?
- That's the way I like it. Read me the list. Did you finish it?
- Yes, I added the last thing a week ago.
BUCKET LIST
1. A tattoo
2. Helping an elder
3. Feeling good about yourself
4. Eating something stupidly big
5. Sleeping in a luxury hotel
6. Visiting a paradise
Mr. Tom was the sweetest man she ever met in her life, able to love his nephew as his own. At the time he was a professor of Etymology in the Language Faculty, which led him to meet his true love, Greek mythology. That time was sad and challenging; the social worker in charge of the case eventually became his friend and then his partner. Nina eventually quit her job because of the emotional stress (it was more than she could bear) and found in carpentry her true vocation. When she succeeded in establishing her business, Tom quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad and take care of his four children, Aidoneus and the naturally conceived identical triplets, a freak of nature. His friends thought Nina forced him to stay at home, but the truth is that Tom found happiness in raising his children and believed Nina was very sexy with the saw, and the world deserved to witness that.
His humor was always very particular. Since Aidoneus met Kore, Tom began to find coincidences in his life with respect to the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades, so he assigned a character to each of us: he called himself Tartarus, Nina was Nix, Aidoneus is Hades, the triplets are Cerberus and Kore is Persephone, obviously. Aidoneus' biological father was named Cronos, 'cause he is a son of a bitch. That night we all agreed. His humor is still very particular, so when Perse read him the list, He didn't hesitate to tell her with love:
- Honey, that list is perfect bullshit.
- I know it is.
- Are you sure about this?
- I have to give it a try.