The rest of my drive home was silent, only my sniffles filled the car as I tried to gather myself before going into the house. There were additional unfamiliar cars in the driveway, and I quickly pulled a pack of Kleenex from my purse to clean my face. The last thing I needed was strangers in my business.
While I cleaned my face, a call from Karina came through. I ignored her ass. My spirits were in the toilet and I couldn’t handle it if Karina knew what Kadeem was up to behind my back. I couldn’t handle more betrayal. When I looked presentable, I powered my phone off and stepped out of the Benz my uncle bought me as a graduation gift. Glancing at the damage to the front driver’s side, I knew he would be on my ass in the morning about the dent. I’d have to come up with an acceptable excuse because admitting I ran Kadeem over after finding out he cheated on me wasn’t exactly something I could say out loud, especially if he was going to live through the week.
Sulking on my way inside, I hoped my uncle and his friends weren’t in the common areas and were tucked away in his office or somewhere else because I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. The life I was born into looked fun from the outside, but I was beginning to hate it. I wanted to move far away, somewhere no one knew that I was Vincent Marucci’s niece. Hell, if they didn’t know who the hell Vincent Marucci was that would be even better.
My parents died when I was thirteen, and at just twenty years old, Uncle Vincent stepped up to the plate to raise me. We practically grew up together but Uncle Vincent always made sure I knew he wasn’t one of my lil friends. For the past five years, he hadn’t just been my uncle, he had been my father in every way that mattered, and he made sure the world knew it.
It was the summer after my senior year of high school, and all of my friends were wilding the fuck out. Partying, getting drunk, losing their virginities, doing all of the coming of age things, and I wasn’t able to participate in much of it because everyone was fearful of something happening to Vincent’s niece.
“Come on, Vincent, do me this solid and let my son chill up here until his face heals. My wife is gonna divorce me if she sees what I did to him. Plus, you owe me nigga,” I heard a voice pleading.
“He can stay but you better have the cash for the doctor to come check him out. The lil nigga looks like he on his fucking deathbed. How you gone beat him half to death then dump him on me? I can’t have him dying on my watch,” Uncle Vincent conceded.
Rolling my eyes, I wish I would’ve stayed outside because all eyes landed on me, and the conversation ceased when they heard my heels clicking against the marble floors. I prayed I did a good job masking my bubbling emotions, but the way my uncle abandoned his position and charged in my direction, I couldn’tbe too sure. “Princess, your eyes are red. You high or somebody got you fucked up?” He cupped my chin and examined my face.
Huffing, I swatted his hands away and headed towards the stairs. I had a love hate relationship with how attentive he was. I loved it because he consistently showed me that he’d give me the world and wouldn’t let anything or anyone harm me. I hated it because I couldn’t get shit past him. He knew I didn’t smoke weed, so that was his way of being funny.
After showering and changing into my pajamas, I looked out of the window and saw my uncle in the circular driveway talking to a group of men. Making my way downstairs, I was going to grab some ice cream and eat my feelings away.
I walked into the kitchen, allowing a few tears to fall. When I flicked on the lights, my body jerked, and I damn near jumped out of my skin. My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to escape as a scream slipped from my mouth.
There was a man sitting at the kitchen island, staring into the doorway with a vacant expression on his face. His face was swollen and bruised so badly that it took my brain a moment to process what I was seeing. One of his eyes was shut, blood covered the rag he held against the side of his head, and his bottom lip was split open.
My heart sank again.
Not just because I hadn’t expected anyone to be in here, but because he looked like he’d been through hell and barely made it out alive. Then the piece of the conversation I walked in on replayed in my head.
“Your own dad did that to you?” I questioned.
His eyes narrowed in on me like, girl, you heard exactly what the fuck my dad said earlier.
I got the message loud and clear. Strutting over to the freezer, I reached in for my cookies and cream ice cream, thenmaneuvered towards the drawers behind the stranger to retrieve a spoon.
“What did you do that was so bad your dad would do this to you? You stole something? Killed somebody? Fucked up a bunch of money?”
“I fell in love with someone who doesn’t come from this life,” he uttered, pain heavy in his monotonous voice. “She can’t offer my family any power. We won’t receive any benefits from me marrying her, but I love her anyway, and he can’t stand it.”
“Oh wow, and I thought I was going through a rough breakup,” I sighed, pulling the top of my ice cream and shoveling a spoonful into my mouth. “What’s her name?”
“Lavita.” He replied, and the room fell silent. “This isn’t even a breakup. When he found out about her four years ago, the nigga kept me locked up hoping to torture her whereabouts out of me, but I wouldn’t budge. I tried to stay away from her, and I did for a while, but I couldn’t help it.”
He took a deep breath.
“The fact that you went against your father knowing that this could be the outcome shows you really love her,” I noted, admiring his commitment and willingness to take an ass whooping for the woman he loved. If only Kadeem could’ve been so brave.
Stabbing my spoon back into the ice cream tub, I abandoned my position and rushed upstairs. I don’t know why, but something moved me to gather a few rags and some Tylenol Extra Strength for him. When I returned to the kitchen, he remained in the same spot, unmoved, eyes still trained on the doorway. I silently turned on the cold water and wet one rag before handing it to him to replace the one he held up against his face. Then I soaked the second rag and walked over, my steps slow and careful, giving him the opportunity to tell me to back the fuck up if he wanted to. Accepting his silence as consent, Igently dabbed at the blood streaked across his neck and face. Every touch felt too soft for the damage I was looking at. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t wince. Just sat there, quiet and unmoving, as I dabbed at the wounds that would’ve had me screaming for all the pain medication.
“The most fucked up part about it is that this time, I’m actually going to try to stay away from Vita. Otherwise, he might be able to track her down and make good on his threat to kill her. I can wear this ass whooping, but I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her.”
His voice cracked and a lone tear slipped down his face. I would’ve been bawling my eyes out from the physical pain, but it was the emotional turmoil from leaving the love of his life alone that was killing him. I gently patted away his tears, allowing him to be vulnerable in that moment.
“My boyfriend would rather cheat on me than take my virginity because he’s afraid of my uncle,” I blurted out and instantly regretted it, but we were both bursting at the seams with secrets. That admission finally tore his stare from the doorway, and his eyes fluttered towards me. “What? You’re spilling your soul, so I might as well expel my issues as well.” I shrugged as he stared at me. “Confession for a confession,” I uttered, continuing to clean his face.
Just when I was starting to feel like his stare was creeping me out, he spoke again. “You’re beautiful and have a good heart. For that alone, you are worth the love of a nigga that will go to war with the devil ‘bout you. You’re worthy of a nigga who got the nuts to step to Vincent. You deserve nothing less. Hell, coming from the Marucci family, it’s what you need. Your family is too powerful for a soft ass nigga anyways.”
I offered him a small smile and continued cleaning him up until his face was free of blood. After tossing the rags into the washing machine and washing my hands, I silently reclaimedmy spot in front of my ice cream, and I went back to stuffing my face.
“You ever thought about running away from this life?” I queried, blurting out my inner thoughts. “Going somewhere that these rules don’t apply? Where nobody knows you and you can just be free?”
