The ones I saw in the car, when the window rolled down, were a young couple. It was a man who was driving and a woman in the passenger seat. Of course, my gaze first locked onto the woman; she was a beautiful lady, with very light and dazzling blue eyes, she had very defined features, her hair was brown and she showed an attractive smile, which stood out thanks to her tan skin.

  The man who greeted me smiled with the greatest confidence in the world; he had white, short hair, which caught my attention a lot. I could not see his face well due to his dark glasses, quite large, but he seemed to be a young man my age. His skin was white, like mine, and he was very well dressed.

  He lifted his glasses showing his white eyes, like mine, and said to me:

  —Dante?

  I was paralyzed by confusion. Upon seeing the subject’s face, I felt the sensation that I knew him. After a while with a foolish look on my face, he broke the silence and said:

  —I’m Enoc, your cousin. My father is Himo.

  —Ahhhhh! Enoc! I didn’t recognize you, what a joy to see you, cousin. How many years have passed since you left?

  —Ufff, about five or six, it was a long time ago. But leaving that aside, get in, I’m going to see my father. I suppose you’re heading toward the city.

  —Oh, cousin, if there is a god left in the world, surely he has sent you. Thank you!

  It did not take me even ten seconds to get into the back seat and head home. However, I was not going to stay silent while traveling with my cousin, whom I had not seen for a long time.

  —And… the girl is…

  —Oh, sorry, how foolish I was. Dante, this is Samira.

  —Hello, nice to meet you. I’ve heard some stories about you —said Samira.

  —Yes, I hope they were the good ones —I replied, and then I turned to Enoc.— I suppose she is your girlfriend?

  —Nah, she’s my sister, rather… half-sister, but she is one hundred percent your cousin —said Himo, with a tone that emphasized that fact.

  —WHAAAAAT?! —I shouted, surprised.

  —Calm down, don’t tell me that surprises you. You know what my father is like.

  —Your father? What?

  Through the rearview mirror, I see Enoc’s eyes making an expression of “Did you really not know?”. Now that I take a moment to think about it, it’s true. Every time I spent time with my uncle Himo, instead of looking at the scenery or something unusual, like an accident, I remember that he would crouch down to be at my height, discreetly point at a woman with his finger and ask me:

  —Do you see that woman, Dante?

  —Yes —I would answer.

  —Don’t you think she has a somewhat big backside?

  —Yes, so what?

  —Well, when a woman has a big butt, it’s because she is looking to be a mother.

  —And what does having a big butt have to do with being a mother?

  —That when a woman has a big butt, she is asking you to make her a mother.

  From that moment on I learned a valuable lesson: not to pay attention to anything my uncle tells me, especially when I would ask the ladies I ran into if they had a big butt, and then I would ask them if they had already gone with my uncle.

  —You know what? You’re right, now I realize everything. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before —I said to Enoc.

  —Don’t worry, it’s nothing. In fact, this is a happy day; I’m taking Samira to meet Dad.

  —Does he know?

  —No, in fact I want to surprise him. If he has a heart attack, even better; I’ll watch him suffer for a few seconds and then call the ambulance.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  —Hahahahaha —Samira and I started laughing; however, Enoc was not, and we fell silent.

  —And tell me, Dante, what the hell were you doing in the middle of nowhere?

  —I was abandoned by a flying troll.

  —A flying troll?

  —A flying troll? —Samira also commented.

  —I think I already know enough. And what about the family? —said Enoc.

  —I don’t speak with my father, Mom went on a trip, about Aisha I think there’s no need to tell you, and Cain is studying.

  —Well, tell me more.

  And so the trip continued, telling all the news, laughing and shouting, until we reached the destination, or at least mine. I was already at my house, I said goodbye and they left. I turned toward my door, opened it and, expecting to go in to sleep, there was Cain.

  Cain, the youngest brother of the family, was about to leave my house, but I ran into him when I was about to enter. We stood looking at each other, until I said:

  —What are you doing?

  —Me? Nothing —said Cain with the most innocent tone someone could produce.

  —What do you mean, nothing?

  —Yes, that, nothing.

  —Why are you in my house?

  —What? This is your house? I didn’t notice, I thought it was an abandoned place. I mean, just look at all that dust and emptiness.

  I stayed thoughtful for a few seconds, reached a conclusion and said to him:

  —You know, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. How about we go in, eat something and catch up?

  Already seated at the table, having some beers, we started to talk.

  —I’ve heard that you’re finally working with Agnar. Tell me, did he give you photos of Nair naked? —said Cain mockingly.

  —What? What kind of things go through your head?

  —It’s a stupid joke!

  —You’ve watched too much porn, get yourself a girlfriend.

  —You’re telling me that? Of all people, you?

  —Just because I don’t do it doesn’t mean you have to as well. Learn from your older brother’s mistakes, that’s what I’m here for.

  —Oh, then I’m going to have to quit my studies, because you’ve made an entire profession out of making mistakes.

  That was a hard blow; the truth is, I didn’t expect this to end like this, so I decided to change the mood.

  —All right, let’s change the subject, tell me how your life is going —said Dante.

  —There isn’t much that’s interesting, university is going well, I made some friends and I stand out quite a bit in class because of temporal magic, although some professors consider it ordinary, either because some of our relatives went through there or they know more peculiar magic, things like that.

  —Well, obviously, what keeps you busiest are your studies. I suppose you don’t have anything else to say?

  —Nope, nothing else.

  —Oh, come on, you know. Is there any girl?

  —No, I don’t have time for that.

  —Yeah, sure. Do you think I was never your age? Or are you embarrassed? You’re still a little kid.

  Cain frowns.

  —Well, I didn’t want to rub it in your face, since your situation is depressing and stupid, but let me tell you that I’ve been helping several friends study at their houses, you know, about biology.

  —What!? I don’t believe you, as if you were that handsome or charming.

  —Yes, deny it, it’s your defense mechanism, damn emo.

  —You couldn’t even look girls in the face just a few years ago, as if I’m going to believe that now you get laid more than Uncle Himo.

  —Wow, you finally figured out Uncle, but even if I get laid like twenty times a month, I could never surpass the greenest old man in the world. I mean, do you know that we might have more cousins than we think?

  —What a coincidence that you say that, just today I met one.

  —Really?

  —Yes, in fact Enoc was with her, they were going to meet with Uncle.

  —Wow, and who is the new cousin?

  —Her name is Samira, it seems she’s from the West, I don’t remember exactly where. She’s very beautiful; at first I thought she was his girlfriend.

  —So the first thing that caught your attention is how hot she is. I didn’t know you had those fetishes.

  —I don’t mean that, although I was attracted at first. But you know? She doesn’t have white hair, that struck me as very strange.

  —Well, it’s not that it’s normal, but the only one from our “legitimate family” that I’ve seen who doesn’t have white hair is Cousin Hybris and a couple of other exceptions. So it seems it’s already becoming normal; it might happen again.

  —You know, I forgot to ask her if she could use magic.

  —Well, that may have been our family’s common sense. Most likely Enoc has already confirmed that fact; otherwise, I don’t think he would go through so much trouble to go and show his father a bastard child, although…

  —Yes, it seems the cousin doesn’t get along very well with Uncle —said Dante.

  —What if he just decided to do all this to annoy him?

  —If that were the case, I don’t think he would have needed to lie to me.

  —“Deceive your friends and you will deceive your enemies,” as Grandfather used to tell all of us. Maybe he feared you would spread the word too soon and in that way the plan would already be ruined.

  —I don’t think so, I mean, if that were the case, as long as he told me it was a secret, I would have kept it.

  —Even though it’s family, I don’t think we have that level of trust. Besides, if I were him, I would believe that you are closer to Uncle Himo than to Enoc, whom you haven’t seen in years.

  —I suppose you’re right. Well, I just hope we don’t have to go to anyone’s funeral; one this month is enough.

  —Yes, I…

  Suddenly, my brother’s cellphone rings and he answers.

  —Yes? Already? All right, I’m on my way. (hangs up) Well, I have to go now, I made plans with some friends and I’m late —said Cain.

  We both got up from the table, went toward the door and said goodbye. Then I had dinner and went to sleep; however, I remembered:

  —In the end, I never found out why he was in my house.