[color=silver][indent][indent][right][sub][b]TIMESTAMP[/b] — Tuesday, July 20th, 2021 - Morning || After [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5406654]The Afterglow[/url]
[b]FT[/b] — [color=635687]Mikhial Zima[/color], [color=bf755c]John O’Hara[/color] & [color=00a86b]Mary-Anne O’Hara[/color][/sub][/right]
[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/brutalbx][img]https://i.imgur.com/4AVOVb4.png[/img][/url]  [img]https://i.imgur.com/PO9IYVI.png[/img]  [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/metanoia][img]https://i.imgur.com/S9lqGO0.png[/img][/url]
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/BUStKO6.png[/img]

[b][color=#00A86B]_[/color][color=#02A76A]_[/color][color=#04A66A]_[/color][color=#07A66A]_[/color][color=#09A56A]_[/color][color=#0BA46A]_[/color][color=#0EA469]_[/color][color=#10A369]_[/color][color=#13A269]_[/color][color=#15A269]_[/color][color=#17A169]_[/color][color=#1AA068]_[/color][color=#1CA068]_[/color][color=#1F9F68]_[/color][color=#219F68]_[/color][color=#239E68]_[/color][color=#269D68]_[/color][color=#289D67]_[/color][color=#2A9C67]_[/color][color=#2D9B67]_[/color][color=#2F9B67]_[/color][color=#329A67]_[/color][color=#349966]_[/color][color=#369966]_[/color][color=#399866]_[/color][color=#3B9866]_[/color][color=#3E9766]_[/color][color=#409665]_[/color][color=#429665]_[/color][color=#459565]_[/color][color=#479465]_[/color][color=#4A9465]_[/color][color=#4C9365]_[/color][color=#4E9264]_[/color][color=#519264]_[/color][color=#539164]_[/color][color=#559164]_[/color][color=#589064]_[/color][color=#5A8F63]_[/color][color=#5D8F63]_[/color][color=#5F8E63]_[/color][color=#618D63]_[/color][color=#648D63]_[/color][color=#668C62]_[/color][color=#698B62]_[/color][color=#6B8B62]_[/color][color=#6D8A62]_[/color][color=#708A62]_[/color][color=#728962]_[/color][color=#748861]_[/color][color=#778861]_[/color][color=#798761]_[/color][color=#7C8661]_[/color][color=#7E8661]_[/color][color=#808560]_[/color][color=#838460]_[/color][color=#858460]_[/color][color=#888360]_[/color][color=#8A8360]_[/color][color=#8C825F]_[/color][color=#8F815F]_[/color][color=#91815F]_[/color][color=#94805F]_[/color][color=#967F5F]_[/color][color=#987F5F]_[/color][color=#9B7E5E]_[/color][color=#9D7D5E]_[/color][color=#9F7D5E]_[/color][color=#A27C5E]_[/color][color=#A47C5E]_[/color][color=#A77B5D]_[/color][color=#A97A5D]_[/color][color=#AB7A5D]_[/color][color=#AE795D]_[/color][color=#B0785D]_[/color][color=#B3785C]_[/color][color=#B5775C]_[/color][color=#B7765C]_[/color][color=#BA765C]_[/color][color=#BC755C]_[/color][/b]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/VnAhHGb.png[/img][/center]

The air was heavy with a crippling anticipation that Mika could feel in his bones and in his soul. Between narrowly escaping many of the residents on Scott Street, who no doubt heard his truck leave the cul-de-sac portion of the gated community. If he wasn’t the talk of the neighborhood, then he’d be a little disappointed, but whatever the case, he went home to his apartment. As much as he would have loved to catch a few extra hours of sleep, that’d have to wait for later in the day. Because there was something else he had to take care of. Something that, among everything that happened in just the past 24 hours alone, seemed small but it was everything but.

Mika made a beeline for his mother’s apartment. After yesterday and after the tense meeting with Coach, something happened that neither Mika nor Mary were ready for when he told her what was happening. Since then, both had been mentally preparing themselves for what was happening shortly. Since yesterday she had been preparing the perfect breakfast. Mary-Anne couldn’t leave her apartment, but she could have Mika pick up some things. 

And that’s what he did. Everything that she had told him to get. Mika had to go to a few places yesterday and again this morning. Most of the ingredients he could find at the Darling Farm and others he had to go into Boston to find. Eventually, he found everything and while Mika had been dealing with everything he was yesterday, especially with Cece, Danny, and then Anya, MAry was hard at work. Slaving over everything to make sure it was perfect.

Mika had been in his mother’s apartment for an hour now, the smell of everything from the beans, which had been baking in the oven since he arrived, the sausage and black pudding, which wasn’t something Mika was an exceptional fan of but it was a taste of simpler times and this was what that was all about.

As he sat on the couch, sounds from the kitchen, Mika felt his phone go off. He answered it. [color=635687]“Yeah?”[/color] It was one of the Fallen Angel prospects who were on guard duty at the entrance of Lost Souls. They told him that his [i]guest[/i] was there. [color=635687]“Alright, I’ll be there in a few.”[/color]

Standing up, Mika looked over at his mother. [color=635687]“Be back in a few, mom. He’s here.”[/color]

[color=00a86b]“Okie Doke!”[/color] She replied with a cheerful tone.

Mika knew what that meant. Outside she was all smiles and optimism overload, but inside, she was almost boiling over with anxiety. Like mother like son, huh?

In a matter of minutes, Mika had made it to ground level, and as he walked towards the entrance, there he saw him, standing in the entrance, two Angels keeping him at bay. This was the moment that yesterday’s game settled. Mika couldn’t tell if Coach was as nervous as he was or if Mika was hoping he was so it wouldn’t be as painfully awkward. He had no idea of knowing how this would go only that it was happening and there was no turning back now. [color=635687]“You’re early, Coach. But you never did like to make anyone wait.”[/color] Mika laughed, giving the two young Angels a nod as they stepped aside, letting John O’Hara through.

[color=bf755c]“Well like my Daddy used to say, it’s always better to be early than late.”[/color] Coach passes the biker goons to reach his former player, student….nephew. There was a lot to unpack there and hopefully that particular bag would be empty by the end of the following meeting. Lord knew that John O’Hara didn’t need any more stress right now. 

Fear was something that the Coach had tried to force out of his life at every turn. As a young boy, John O’Hara was fearless, brazen even. Then he spent a summer at Camp Eden and everything changed. The noose around his neck, the scar of which was still visible was a constant reminder of fear. The letters flying around town, painting his David’s name with a new brush, that caused fear. When he stretched every morning and felt the wound on his stomach from Charlie Decker’s shotgun burn like hell, that instilled fear. John hearing Jamie weep for hours every night? Yeah that brought fear into his life too. The pair of big bastards trying to stop him from meeting the sister that left him behind? That was easy.

John had opted for a civilian attire on this bright morning, a rarity for the Celtic coach. He lived and breathed for that team but today wasn’t about that, today was about being an O’Hara: so a t-shirt and jeans would suffice instead of a team branded windbreaker and khakis. With his hands on his hips. John looked up at the building that stood before him, the Lost Souls. [color=bf755c]“You know I remember when this place was just a field of grass? I hope there’s an elevator in here because my legs ain’t what they used to be.”[/color] It was pure banter as everyone knew that Coach O’Hara’s fitness regime was insane for a man of his age. [color=bf755c]“Lead the way, kiddo.”[/color]

Mika let out an involuntary chuckle at Coach’s elevator comment. The trek inside Lost Souls felt like a short one. Uncle and nephew spent most of it talking. Talking about Mary. About the state of basketball and what chances the Celtics had this season, but when they ran out of things to talk about, when they were halfway up to the top floor, silence claimed them. It became apparent to Mika and somewhere in his mind, he wondered if the same had became the same for Coach…Uncle John, that when the high of their mutual love for the sport faded, there was still an intense awkwardness that lingered int he air and had been left there since the shooting. Everything between that and David, Mika felt the knot in his stomach increase.

And when they got to his mother’s apartment, Mika stopped in front of the door. He didn’t knock and only hesitated because…well he didn’t know what to call it. It wasn’t dread, but rather a deep apprehension for his mother. But he knew he had to swallow it. [color=635687][i]Well here goes nothing.[/i][/color]

[i]Knock knock! Knock knock![/i]

As the door opened, the weight on Mika’s shoulders at that moment intensified. Mary answered with a smile, wearing an outfit that almost mirrored Coach’s: a T shirt that was green in color and dark blue jeans. She had her hair tied up in a somewhat loose single ponytail. As she smiled at both her big brother and son, she swallowed the high emotion in her heart.[color=00a86b]“John…”[/color] There was a tenseness in Mary-Anne’s voice, like she was forcing herself to speak lest her voice betray her. She wanted to say so much right now. So many things consumed her mind that it was crippling her ability to think straight. [color=00a86b]“I..Please come in.”[/color] She stepped to the side, doing the only thing she could stomach right now and that was to invite her brother inside her apartment. 

[color=bf755c]“Mary.”[/color] John didn’t really know what to say as he entered the apartment at his sister's request. He looked upon her, aged but barely, she looked so much like their mother, a look that David and Jamie had both inherited with their combination of pale skin, thick lips and dark hair. John liked to think he had a good memory and one of his most cherished was the day that his mother and father brought home Mary Anne. She had the same hair as their father but she carried the hazel eyes of their mother. When he first held her, Mary Anne cried and cried and cried until he took her out into the garden in Scott Street. Gazing upon his younger sister, John couldn’t help but see his youngest child. The way they carried themselves, it was a mirror reflecting time. [color=bf755c]“You look well. Beautiful as always.”[/color] 

It was a lot. Having her big brother - her protector - here. It was surreal because for so many years, before she came back to Edenridge (against her husband..ex-husband’s advice) she had dreamed of this moment. She entertained the moment they’d be able to stand opposite of each other. Be face to face again. Mary never imagined the first time after decades of not seeing her big brother would be on one of the worst days to curse her hometown. For nearly two years after that moment, Mary had almost lost hope of having a redo of that.

At least, that was until Mika came to her yesterday, telling her she would get exactly that. A redo. A second chance to build a new bridge to the one person who she felt she disappointed the most. 

Smiling at him, she couldn’t control the waterfall that started to rain down her porcelain cheeks. She took a moment for herself, taking deep breaths like she had been practicing, and found herself in the middle of a half-laugh, half-wheezing fit. Emotions were so high already. [color=00a86b]“And you haven’t changed a bit.”[/color] She took another moment to look at her son. He stood beside John. At that moment, she swore she couldn’t tell them apart. Mika had his father’s eyes, of course, but she swore she was looking at her brother and the younger version of her brother with lighter hair and blue eyes. That alone was able to quell the pain of regret in her heart and fill it with a respite. [color=00a86b]“Well, I guess except for the lack of your favorite jersey.”[/color] Mary laughed again, memories of their childhood coming to the forefront of her mind. Remembering her big brother’s fondness for jerseys. 

John was doing his best out of respect for Mika to try and work through his frustrations silently. He didn’t want the conversation to devolve into an argument and the doctors were already worried about his blood pressure. Now that she was there, standing before him, the Coach still felt a level of disdain and sadness gazing upon his younger sister. She had abandoned the family, the family that had given her everything her girl could desire and chose danger and a life unbecoming of a girl from Scott Street. He wanted to be open about it, he wanted to just support her in her decisions but John struggled to find that within himself that thought Mary rubbing off with Ivan was a good idea.

[color=bf755c]“I’m not allowed to wear it out of the house anymore, Lizzy says it makes me look like an old man trying to relive his youth.”[/color] All he could do was answer questions honestly and try to maintain a rational train of thought. He did promise that he would try, for Mika. [color=bf755c]“Smells amazing in here, full English just like dad used to make.”[/color] John commented. The patriarch of the clan O’Hara was a hard but fair man. Like John, Mary, David and Jamie, he was born, raised and died in that old house on Scott Street. He knew the pressures of the name, of their status and did what he could to equip his children with the tools to manage what it meant to be an O’Hara in Edenridge. 

John took off his cap and stuffed it into the back of his pants pocket before looking around the obviously well lived-in apartment. Mary had obviously been in town for a while, hidden away from the world and the coach could only assume that was due in part to her wretch of a husband. Reaching out, Coach put his hands on Mika’s shoulder with a firm but comforting grip. [color=bf755c]“You okay son?”[/color]

The easy answer would to just say no, but for all he knew that could ruin what felt like a moment of peace between his mother and Coach. She seemed optimistic, as Mary-Anne O’Hara always had been. She liked to see the brighter side of things. At least, whenever Mika was around, she never seemed sad until the situation became so dire that she couldn’t fake it anymore. Mika looked at Coach, giving the older man a small nod. [color=635687]“Just tired. It’s been a long couple of days and I’ve barely had a chance to catch a proper night’s sleep.”[/color] He truly felt exhausted in more ways than just sleep. Mentally done because of…everything that he’s had to tackle in just the past twenty-four hours.

Mary looked between the two. She knew her Mika and knew there was something he wasn’t saying. Showing concern on her face, she turned her attention to her brother. [color=00a86b]“Ah yes, well when Mika told me yesterday that..well [i]this[/i] was happening, I wanted to make it special…”[/color] Mary was trying so desperately to not fall into those old habits of hers. She wasn’t so removed from reality to acknowledge the truth of the matter and that was between her and John, there was a lot to unpack. She knew she had to choose her words carefully and tread with care so she didn’t bring up a wound that was not ready to be healed. [color=00a86b]“I hope I made the beans just like daddy used to make them. It’s been a long time since I attempted it.”[/color]

[color=bf755c]“You can’t really go wrong with beans, Mary-Anne. You stick them in a pan for a few minutes…”[/color] Coach stopped himself, realizing the sharpness of his words. He was trying to hold off on his anger and really push forward, for Mika. There had been such space between him and his sister, such a black hole of gravity that even looking at her now, despite her looking the same as she always had, John struggled to see his baby sibling. [color=bf755c]“Sorry.”[/color] The Coach placed his hands upon his hips and glanced over at his nephew again. He needed to keep in his heart why he was doing this in the first place. Lizette had been oh so supporting of this endeavor and Jamie, well he just didn’t know. She seemed happy for John to rekindle his relationship with god sister but something in her eyes, the same eyes she shared with Mary-Anne, something was off. [color=bf755c]“You know he’s a good boy, hard headed but a good boy.”[/color]

[color=00a86b]“Like someone else I know.”[/color] She smiled sweetly at her big brother. It was true, Mika and Johnny were essentially the same. She didn’t know everything that went on in her son’s life. He tried to tell her as much as he could, that much she knew, but he was his own man with his own life. Plus it was safer for her, or at least that’s what she told herself. She understood that certain dangers would come her way if she didn’t keep to this apartment. Mika, her baby, was carrying such a load of that alone and his father. Both of the men in this apartment carried such weights and both seemed to keep it bottled up to a point.

Mary-Anne stepped towards the kitchen, giving the finishing touches to the assortment of food. The silence had caught the air around them and it was about a minute before Mary-Anne opted to do something about it. [color=00a86b]“Mika!”[/color] She turned around, facing her son. It took him a few seconds to look her way, so clear that Johnny was right about something being off. [color=00a86b]“You want to help set up the table?”[/color] She asked him, looking at Johnny’s way too. [color=00a86b]“Maybe you can help him? It’s almost done.”[/color]

He exchanged a glance with his uncle. Not sure what really to say at this moment. Exhaustion aside, Mika had been stuck in his head for a few minutes now. As he tried not to think about it, being here with Coach and his mother, he couldn’t help but think about when he had gone to New York just a couple of years ago. The first time since he was sent away, he saw his father and had a meal with him. Maybe it was the weight of everything that happened yesterday, but as Mika walked silently over to the cupboards to the left of the oven, he grabbed three plates, three knives (worn out as they were, they did their job), and three forks. Right over a bit more to the left was a small table. It wasn't much but it was something. Three chairs because usually it was Mika, but when Boa came around last month sometime, Mika bought another chair. 

[color=635687]“Sorry it’s not much. I’ve been meaning to buy her a new table, so it seemed more like a home.”[/color] He said in a low but audible tone to Coach as he handed him a plate.

[color=bf755c]“We can’t all be born on Scott Street, Mika”[/color] It was a loaded sentence. John hated seeing his sister living in a place like this though he was aware of the fact it was her choice. He was under no illusion of his own wealth either and had tried his hardest not to be the type of man that flaunted it. The house high in the hill in Scott Street where he raised his children, where he lives now, it was the same house his father lived in, the same one his grandfather lived in. And it was most definitely the same one Mary-Anne grew up in. Despite the modern decor of most, Scott Street was one of the oldest territories in Edenridge and its homes built specifically for Foundlings, though few remained in their ancestral estate in the present day. 

John helped Mika set the table and although he was enjoying himself, if that was the right word, there was still palpable tension in the air. Mary had abandoned them all. Chosen a life that twisted her into knots, put the family at risk and now here she was, crawling back and hoping that everything could go back to the way it was more than twenty years ago? The big brother in him wanted to let the past lie dead. The father in him wanted to tell her to turn the other way and not look back. He already lost one child and the other was an Angel dancing precariously on a pinhead.

[color=bf755c]“It’s never about money kiddo, no matter how much you have. Home is where you leave your heart.”[/color]

Coach gave Mika a lot to digest, but even as he thought about it himself, he thought about his mother. No matter how dark things were, she never forgot where [i]her[/i] home was. Mika was too young to understand when she would talk about her hometown, but now he understood exactly what she was telling him. He glanced at Coach, almost giving his uncle a small smile. [color=635687]“Maybe you’re right, Coach…Uncle John. Maybe that’s why she couldn’t stay away any longer. It’s like you said, no amount of wealth could strip away where home was.”[/color] 

Mika was looking at his mother now, who was making the final touches to the pots and pans that had the array of food on them, getting them ready to serve. One day, Mika hoped they could all sit around a table with all of them: Aunt Liz, Jamie, his mother, his sisters…Maybe a lot to ask for, given the state of his life and the ever present danger of The Devil lurking on every corner, but it was something Mika yearned for desperately. 

Like he was on queue or she was psychic, Mary-Anne clapped her hands in a rather loud way, grinning so much that she was hoping they didn’t see the level of exhaustion on her face. [color=00a86b]“It’s finally done!”[/color] In a way, that was a weight lifted off of her shoulders. She spent an entire day making sure everything was perfect and as she glanced at it all, the eggs, the sausages, black pudding, beans, and toast -- it brought her back to home. Growing up as the youngest O’Hara, sometimes in the shadow that Johnny cast, so many complicated feelings were tied to her memories of her younger years but what balanced everything (and more importantly made this moment possible) were the days spent around the table, eating good food that their father made and perfected and being happy and thankful by just being surrounded by family.

It wasn’t perfect yet. It wasn’t even close to being like it was then. Mary-Anne had no illusion that it ever would be, but this was the first step in making that possible. Maybe next time her girls could meet their uncle. Maybe even they could be out in her hometown without any worry of being in danger. 

John took his seat at the table, opposite his sister and next to his nephew. Things were changing. As he looked upon the family he thought forgotten, the Coach couldn’t help but think of the family he still had. His mind drifted to his children; his son, God his son, every rain drop that fell the previous day during the storm could not fill the space left in his heart that belonged to David. Jamie, his dearest Jamie; named for his and Mary-Anne’s father James. She was so gentle, so fragile, so filled with a desperate need to love and be loved. He could see the sparkle in Mika’s eyes; the hope that the O’Hara’s could be whole again. John knew that could never be true.

But breakfast was a start.[/indent][/indent][/color]