Quill smiled. “No, but only because I missed the fuck out of you too.”
Quill slid on a pair of panties, dropping the towel.
“Quill! What the hell did you do?” Seri yelled, coming off the bed.
“What?”
Seri spun her around to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Quill wasn’t as slick as she had thought. She forgot about the mirror right behind her.
“Your parents are going to freak. They’re going to blame me,” she worried, especially Manny, he saw her tattoo often. Liz might not know about it. Okay. She could handle Manny as long as Liz didn’t catch wind of it. “Where the hell did you get that? You’re not even 18, and I know your mother didn’t sign for it.”
“A friend did it, and my parents aren’t going to find out, and neither is Monica,” she warned.
“Why the hell would you do that, Quill? Why would you put his name on your body?”
“You already know why. I love him. I’m always going to love him. Even if I never see him again, I will still love him, and the quill signifies that I will always love you unless you don’t stop bitching at me about it.”
“Sometimes I curse the day I ever met you,” Seri claimed.
“Whatever. If you would have never met me, you’d be dead, very lonely, and you wouldn’t be fucking my dad.”
“Yeah, well, about your dad,” Seri smiled, holding up her ring finger.
Aquilla’s mouth automatically fell open. “He proposed to you?”
“Yup, and I said yes.”
“Oh my God, Seri, I don’t even know you. You don’t even know him,” she remembered their short romance.
“Relax, I’m not marrying him tomorrow.”
“When?”
Seri shrugged her shoulders. “A year or so, I don’t know.”
Aquilla pulled out her baggy hidden in the closet.
“Celebrate?” she asked, dangling the bag in the air.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Seri scolded.
“A friend, twist us one before we go to this stupid game,” she coaxed, tossing the little pack of papers.
“No. We’re not doing this. I can’t believe you bought a bag of weed. How much are you smoking, Quill?” Seri wanted to know, worried. What the hell did she do? She created a monster.
Aquilla took the bag and sat down beside Seri. “Yes, we are doing this, and I smoke it about every day. How often do you smoke, Seri?” Quill asked with cross-eyes as she licked the paper closed. “Come over to the window,” she nodded.
Seri followed, shaking her head in disbelief. They smoked about half of it while discussing Seri marrying her father.
“You’ve known him for like a minute, Seri. I can’t believe he bought you a ring,” Quill said in disbelief.
“I know. Me either. I was floored; I wasn’t expecting it…at all.
“You’re not my Seri anymore. I don’t know who the hell you are,” Quill assured her.
“I am your Seri. I will always be your Seri and I am madly in love with your father.”
“Well, one good thing about it, as long as you are with my dad, you’re never going to leave me. Does that mean I get to call you Mommy Seri?”
“I wouldn’t leave you even if I didn’t love your dad, and fuck no. Don’t you ever call me mommy. Where did you get that shit? You need to hook me up.”
“I’ll send you home with some. There’s Visine in my nightstand drawer,” Quill offered, looking at Seri’s eyes. Her mom might be gullible enough to miss it, but her father wouldn’t. He would be giving them both the look.
<><><>
It was a good damn thing Seri was at that game with her. It was fucking cold out. Quill was missing her tropical island more and more. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like winter in the north. She hated it already and it was only down to 50. She couldn’t imagine 20 or even 0. She would freeze to death.
She and Seri sat on the bleachers beside each other, huddled together talking. Neither of them cared about the game and discussed their lives. Quill told her all about Whisper, and how she judged her on her looks. She told her about going to her house and almost falling over at the sight of the mansion. Her parents were apparently both successful lawyers. Whisper spent a lot of time alone or at the yard.
Seri told her about Monica constantly thinking she needed to talk about the shooting, her recent resume for an all-girls correction facility and the new house that she and Manny had put an offer on.
“I need to run to the car. Come with me,” Seri beckoned.
“Where you guys going? Don’t you want to see this? We just intercepted,” Manny exclaimed, not understanding how they could not be into this game. It was intense.
“I need to run to the car. We’ll be back,” Seri explained.
“Why are you going to the car?”
“My purse is in there.”
Manny tilted his hips for his wallet. “Do you need some money?” he asked, thinking they were going for drinks or snacks.
“No. I don’t need money. I need a tampon.”
“Oh,” he said, looking around her to the field. He just had to ask.
Quill and Seri made their way through the dark multitude of cars. Theirs was parked toward the back in the grassy part. The game was a big deal and people came from everywhere to watch the Bobcats go up against the Lions. It wasn’t such a big deal to either of them. Seri laughed when Quill stepped into a pothole, landing her right on her butt.
Quill didn’t even have time to see what happened. She could hear Seri’s muffled scream and turned in the direction of the shrill. Her eyes darted, trying to focus on the two silhouettes. She could tell that he had one hand over her mouth and the other one held a gun with a narrow rod on the end. Quill knew it to be a silencer. The game was so noisy. Nobody would hear the gunshot. This couldn’t be happening again. How the hell did Seri keep getting held at gun point? People go lifetimes without ever being held up, and Seri just happened to be the once in a blue moon, or twice.
Quill could do nothing this time. She wasn’t close enough to do anything. What did he want? She had to react, but how?
“Quill?” she heard the voice.
Her feet felt like butter in the sun. They were going to collapse below her legs. Her stomach found a nice tight knot and made its way to her throat.
“Julius?” she managed to mutter.
He didn’t speak. He just stared. He couldn’t speak. She couldn’t speak. It was him. Julius was there. He came for her. She knew he would.
“Julius, let her go,” Quill finally remembered the gun being held to Seri’s head.
“What are you doing with her, Quill?” Julius didn’t understand. Why would she be with the bitch that split them up?
“She’s my friend, Julius. Please let her go,” Aquilla begged, taking a step toward him.
“Your friend!?! She’s not your friend, Quill. You know what she did. She deserves to die.”
“Julius, NO! PLEASE! I’m begging you. Let her go. For me,” she tried.
“How can you say she is your friend? She shot your own father. She’s a cold blooded murderer, Quill.”
“No, she didn’t. She didn’t kill anyone, Julius. She only did what she had to do.”
Julius let go of Seri and shoved her in front of him with the gun now in the exact same place she had just been shot.
“Tell her!” he demanded, shoving the gun in her back. “Fucking tell her who pulled the trigger,” he demanded.
Tell her what? “Seri,” Quill questioned. “What is he talking about?”
“I’m sorry, Quill.”
Quill looked into her eyes with pure confusion. “You shot him?”
“Quill, he pulled a gun. Either I shot him or he was going to shoot me. I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Now can I do away with her?” Julius asked.
“No. Let her go,” Aquilla demanded again. What the fuck just happened? It was all too
much. Julius was there. He was right in front of her. Seri shot and killed her father?
“She’ll come after us, Quill. We can’t just leave her.”
“Come after us?” Quill asked in a daze. Did he come to take her away? What about Seri, her mom, her dad, and Reese. What would Whisper think?
“Yes, we can’t just leave her.”
“Quill, listen to me,” Seri tried, right before Julius sent a left hook right into her ribcage. Seri hit the ground. She’d been sucker punched there a hundred times, never had it ever felt like that.
“Julius, you idiot!” Quill yelled, dropping to her side. She was worried he did something to her injury.
“Let’s get out of here, Quill,” he ordered, “before I do blow her head off.”
Quill looked up to him. He wanted her to leave with him?
“Quill, please listen to me,” Seri begged. “Do not get in that car with him. Please, Quill.”
“I have to, Seri. I don’t belong here. I belong with Julius,” Quill spoke softly, kneeling beside her on the damp grass.
“Quill, no you don’t. You belong right here with your family who loves you. Please don’t do this, Quill.”
“Come on, Quill,” Julius warned. He didn’t like being exposed out in the open like he was. He needed to get his Quill and get the hell out of there.
“I’ll call you. I promise,” Quill said as Julius pulled her to her feet.
“Quill, no, Quill, stop!” Seri yelled. She managed to get to her feet, holding her side, and to his window before he pulled away.
“Julius, you’re off the radar. Nobody’s looking for you. All charges have been dropped. If you take her, you’ll go down. I will fucking take you down. Don’t take her. I’m begging you. She’s doing well here. Leave her alone. Please.”
“You expect me to believe a word you say? I will always be under the radar. I’m a Chavez.”
“No. I swear. All charges were dropped after your note to Quill was read. Quill, please get out!” she begged.
“Seri I am fine, Julius would never hurt me. I will call you, I promise.”
“Quill!!!!” Seri screamed after the taillights.
Julius made it as far as the next dirt road and pulled in. It wasn’t his plan. His plan was to get her as far away from there as he could. He couldn’t help it. He had to. He shoved the car in park and reached for her. She came to her knees and threw herself in his arms. He rubbed her back as she sobbed in the crook of his neck.
It was him. It was really Julius. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t stop crying. His arms, his smell, his hands, and everything about him were real. Julius pulled her away from him and kissed her lips. “God, I missed you.”
Quill couldn’t stop crying. This was what she wanted. This was what she had been waiting months on. Why did she feel so sad? Why did her family’s faces keep lingering in her mind? She didn’t care about them. Did she?
“We have to go, baby,” he said, sliding her away so that he could put the car in gear.
They drove in silence, both deep in their own thoughts for around 20 minutes.
“Throw it out the window, Quill,” Julius demanded when her cellphone rang.
“Julius, I have to answer it. Let me talk to her. I don’t want them to call the cops.”
“Quill, the cops are already there,” he assured her.
“No. They’re not like that. They love me. Please, Julius. Let me answer.”
Julius didn’t reply. He sighed, a deep breath and turned his attention to the road.
“Mom, I’m fine. I promise,” Quill answered. She could hear the wheeze in her mother’s lungs before she ever spoke.
“Quill, where are you?”
“We’re on the road. I’m not sure where we are going, but I will call you. I promise.”
“Quill, get out of that car. NOW!” her father yelled, frantically taking the phone from Liz. Seri stood helplessly watching. She felt horrible for not being able to stop him.
“Dad, I’m fine. I will keep you updated, okay?”
“No. Quill, it’s not okay. I’m giving him one hour to have you standing in this front door and I’m calling the cops.”
“Please don’t do that. I am fine. I belong with Julius. Please try to understand that.”
“Quill, you belong right here with your family, and Seri. For God’s sakes, Quill, please don’t do this.”
“Don’t call the cops, Dad. I will call you in an hour.” Quill hung up. What was she supposed to say? She was hurting her family…again.
“You call them mom and dad, Quill?”
“I didn’t until recently.”
“Do you want to stay, Quill?” Julius asked with a hurt tone. He never thought about her being okay and happy. She haunted him. He tried. He really did. He had a nice house in Spain, all the money he would ever need, and even women that he turned away. He couldn’t get her out of his head. He thought for sure she was miserable and missing him. Did she miss him? Maybe this was a mistake.
“No, Julius. I want to be with you. You left me. You told me to let you go,” she reminded him of the fact.
He grinned at her. “You got my computer first, didn’t you?” he hadn’t realized she got to it before that fucking bitch, Seri.
“Of course I did. I’m a Chavez,” she bragged.
Julius drove them to an isolated cabin deep in the woods. She had no idea where they were. She wasn’t even sure if they were in the same county.
“How did you find me, Julius?” she asked once they were inside the tiny little cabin.
“I’m a Chavez,” he smiled, taking her in his arms. She was so confused. He felt so right. She felt like she belonged right there with him, forever. Why did she feel like she belonged with her family too? She wanted them both. That would never be possible. Could her life take on anymore turns? This was fucking ridiculous.
Aquilla spent two hours explaining how Seri went from a chattel to an FBI agent to the man she loved. Julius held her in his arms, kissing her head as she explained how Seri had become her best friend. Julius tried to understand. He just couldn’t. He knew she was the one that pulled the trigger. How could Quill befriend her after all that she had done to destroy his family? He wasn’t as forgiving. Had she walked to her car alone, she would be dead right now. There was no doubt about that. He was sure of it.
Quill texted Seri several times, trying to get her to understand. They hadn’t called the cops yet, only because Seri talked them out of it. She knew they would run if they had to. She didn’t want that. Monica tried to call, but she didn’t answer. Quill knew Monica too well. She would negotiate her right out of her location. Quill wasn’t taking that chance. She texted her and told her that she was fine.
Julius explained where he had been for the past few months. He was laying low, going by the name of Mason Strong, the name that his father had left for him to claim money that he would need. Quill asked about Valdez. Julius hadn’t heard a word from him since he left Quill alone with her friends and their ice cream cones.
Quill texted Seri and her mother around eleven, begging once again for them to please not call the cops and promised that she just needed a couple of days to figure things out. Liz thought it absurd, but backed down at Seri’s request. Liz was also afraid that she would run. She wasn’t sure she could handle that again.
Seri could have had her phone tracked had she wanted to. It would have taken all of five minutes for her friend Tina to locate her whereabouts. She didn’t disclose that information. She knew Quill. Quill wouldn’t just walk out of their lives. Would she?
For whatever reason, Quill was nervous after they both had showered. She thought about this night for months. She had touched Julius many times. Why did she feel so anxious about going to bed with him?
“You okay?” Julius asked, taking her in his arms.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine. I’m worried that I made a mistake. Should I have left you alone, Quill?”
he asked, moving her blonde hair behind her back and lightly kissing her neck.
“No,” she panted, closing her eyes as her emotions took over from the feel of his lips.
Julius moved down her chest with soft kisses. She moaned as she felt the snap of her jeans being pulled apart. Her breathing picked up right along with her heart. She moaned again as she felt his fingers slide through the elastic of her panties, and he hadn’t even touched her yet.
“Are you okay with this, Quill?” he asked, walking her backwards toward the only bed, hoping like hell she was. He needed her. He needed her so much. He had to be close to her, feel her and show her how much he loved her.
“Yes,” she whimpered, pulling herself back on her elbows. She didn’t know if she was okay with it or not. She did know the familiar feeling between her legs whenever he was around was present. She knew she was wet. She could feel it. She could feel the pulsating throb, yearning to be touched.
“Take your shirt off, baby,” he whispered, staring at her with eyes of pure lust.
She removed her shirt. He took it upon himself to remove her jeans and panties together. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Quill,” he said, gazing at her naked body.
Quill didn’t respond with words. She couldn’t. She just needed to be touched. She needed him to touch her right that second.
“What are you fighting with, Quill?” he asked, still towering above her.
“You, Julius, I need you.”
“What do you need, baby?”
“I need you to come to me, Julius,” Quill requested, closing her eyes, trying to hold back the tears.
“Open your eyes, Quill,” he demanded. He could see the pain. He hated it.
“Fuck, baby,” he moaned as he slid two fingers as deep as he could go inside of her.
“You knew, Julius,” she blurted out as his finger dipped inside of her again. The constant flow of thoughts wouldn’t stop.
“Knew what?”
“You knew I was taken from my family,” she whimpered again as he thrust into her, letting his fingers drag over her wet throbbing nub.
“I did, Quill.”
“Why didn’t you help me?” she panted.
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