La’Nova inhaled shallow at first and began to cough violently. Lennox didn’t laugh because he expected that to happen to her fresh young lungs.
“I know it burns.” He took a long pull from his cigarette. “That’s it scraping you clean. The shit hurts because it’s honest. It gives your nerves something else to answer to. That heat and bitterness from that cancer stick will pull your thoughts out of the dark corners and loud noises that you are about to hear from your bedroom. You’re going to panic, ya little heart is going to feel like it’s going to burst out of your chest from pain. It’s best you light one of these so your worries don’t own you…because when I come back up here to get you…I’m going to mark you. I’m gonna mark you something crucial too. It’ll keep you in line so you won’t go looking for the ghost of your parents.” Lennox’s words sent chills down La’Nova’s spine.
He stood, adjusted himself and swaggered out of her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Lennox kept his word because in seconds, La’Nova’s ears heard excruciating screams from both of her parents. She also heard his loud grunts and growls followed by him and Dontrell arguing. Not being able to stay in her room much longer, she eased toward her room door.
Hearing nothing but silence, she used the back of her hands to clear her vision from tears. Soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by Lennox’s mini axe.
Chapter 10
Nights later… Trifling Tracy
Luca’s Maybach navigated through the streets as night pressed in from all sides. The streetlights stretched into long yellow blurs across the windshield. The inside smelled like leather and weed smoke mixed with his ginger and lemon tea.
La’Nova sat in the passenger seat, hands folded in her lap. Her back was straight like she was bracing for something that hadn’t happened yet. She called herself being mindful by not lighting up a cigarette inside of Luca’s car. The first day of her sleeping inside of Luca’s bedroom was the last.
She wondered why he hadn’t bothered her, better yet… La’Nova wondered why he hadn’t snuck back into her camper and carried her back into his room. After their intimate moment in the shower, La’Nova opted out of spending time with Luca like he had asked.
She left out of his home that day and drove her camper around mindlessly. After grabbing much needed food and other supplies that she needed, she ended up right back on his estate, parked in the same spot. La’Nova didn’t go back to House of Angels, simply because she knew Luca would eventually find her.
Luca had La’Nova shook in every way possible because, whatever happened days ago in that bathroom and in the shower, didn’t have a language that La’Nova could understand yet. It was all foreign to her. It left her feeling conflicted in so many ways.
Guilt weighed on her heart and mind heavily as she went over scenarios in her head over and over.
She glanced over at Luca and sighed softly. He guided the car with one hand on the wheel, the other resting near the cup holder. Even his side profile was sexy. His low Caesar cut was fresh, waves tight and disciplined. The all-white tailored suit with a navy-blue collared shirt complemented his dusty brown complexion. His thick chin strapped beard glistened like he slapped a handful of oil on it.
Luca lifted the Starbucks cup slowly and took a small sip. He let the tea soothe his throat awhile before talking.
“Why… the camper?” His whisper sounded rough but was clear and intentional.
La’Nova’s fingers twitched. She inhaled and exhaled slowly then looked out the window. She eyed a liquor store and felt the urge to tell Luca to pull over to get her a bottle of Don Julio.
Lord…even him whispering has an effect on me….She thought as she glanced over at him.
“Because it moves,” She broke the silence then swallowed down before continuing. “I learned early… anything that can’t move can get trapped.”
Luca’s eyes flicked to her for half a second, not long enough to be obvious but long enough to register her words.
“Most people… choose houses for safety,” Luca replied, glancing back over at La’Nova, before placing his eyes back on the road.
La’Nova let out a short breath that almost sounded like a laugh.
“Most people ain’t been taken, put out, or hurt in a home either,” she retorted.
She turned her head and looked at Luca with a hurt expression covering her pretty round face.
“You ever notice how walls make promises they can’t keep?” She asked.
Luca’s grip tightened slightly on the wheel, he offered her his eyes with a look of recognition.
“I bought a camper,” she continued. “Because it reminds me I can leave. Anytime, without asking, waiting, or explaining. I get to change my scenery whenever my current environment gets to be too much. It makes me feel free of some of my past,” she uttered the last words lowly.
Luca nodded once. His nod meant something to La’Nova, making her feel content enough with it. They drove another stretch in silence until the road dipped then leveled. La’Nova noticed that houses grew closer, the neighborhood was rough. Damn near every corner had people hanging out. The streets were cluttered with trash, and graffiti was on the sidewalks and any establishment walls she looked at.
La’Nova had no clue where Luca was taking her. He knocked on her camper this evening and asked her to take a ride with him. She wasn’t in the mood to argue with him or even put up a fight. She threw on a pair of purple sweats with a lavender long sleeve shirt and followed him to his Maybach with no resistance.
Luca lifted his cup again and took another slow sip before breaking their silence.
“Movement keeps you alive,” he whispered.
