You don't have to read my mind

 

"I think something is going on with him," Cam hated to tell his oldest son Mario that his little brother lied, but he could sense it.

"It's probably nothing," Mario was over for coffee on a Saturday morning. Cam had biscuits and sausage waiting with scrambled eggs on the side.

"Probably," Cam nodded, but he didn't feel it. "Why would he go camping?" Cam shook his head, no. Still, he didn't want to rile Rico about it. This was something to be left alone. He wanted to be here for his youngest son, but he wanted to know what was going on. Rico was becoming secretive. 

He knew Rico hated the fact of moving back home. Cam guessed he'd have let him find his own way, even if that meant moving out again.

"Who knows," Mario shrugged as he sat with his coffee. It was just Mario. It was a rare occasion that it was just the two of them. At least, Rico was home and still sleeping in. "You don't think he hooked up with some girl he just met at the University."

"Oh, I don't think so," Cam wanted to believe that. He never thought of Rico as the party animal. Sure he liked to show his charisma under the disco ball at the skating rink on a Saturday night, but he was always hard working. Cam found it so baffling.

"Why can't you just ask him," Mario looked at his dad as if he shouldn't be afraid of Rico.

"He's not gonna tell me," Cam dished out the breakfast and they went to eat as if that was the best thing to do. Although, Cam didn't eat much. He got himself another cup of coffee. "I know he's been through a lot, you know, drowning in his apartment, things going sour with Carmen."

"You know, he hasn't been the same since Liv." Mario shrugged as he took another bite of the sausage and biscuit.

"Liv." 

Cam left her name in the air. "He thought the world of her, and then she just -" Cam shook his head, no. He wanted to think the best of her, but he couldn't. Somehow, he would always be on Rico's side. "Do you think Rico is the most like me?" He looked at Mario blankly as Mario almost choked on his biscuit.

"Dad," Mario smiled. "You know, I'm the most like you."

"No, you're not," Cam told him from the beginning that he had always been a good boy. Mario smiled. "Um, I was a misfit from I don't know when. I had good parents, but I didn't want that kind of life. I wanted to see the world, I wanted to experience so many things."

Cam thought of how many times he fell in love. Now what remained was an empty house for the most part. He didn't mind having Bren's dad living here. It was good to have someone to talk to. But he knew deep down he was just an old rogue who might have never given any of his kids what they needed.