I had a brother, and a father. I would've left them behind to walk the path of the righteous; I would have taken my vows and given my life to God. My unshakeable faith was something my father could never really understand, and I all but defied him in going. It was, perhaps, what saved my life.
And what condemned me.
I rebuilt, as one does. I left without committing and gave my life to something else entirely -- to a duty that comes only from blood. With those loyal to me, I built a new family. Naresha guided my steps and Kalidas and Patrick kept me safe when my youth and foolishness led me in the wrong direction.
Bruce Androzzi was never part of that. I will remember him for the rest of my life, and for a time part of me was grateful to him for my first child, but he was a means to an end. In the end, he knew that. Perhaps in the beginning, he knew that. He gave me my Antony, and for a time a kind of safety, and paid for it with his life.
Bruce is gone now, and so is Antony. Kevin loved me -- still loves me, somewhere, for all I know. Before I sent him home, he gave me -- without his knowledge -- my second child. My Justin.