“You don’t even know her, yet you’ve claimed her?—”
“No,” Luca gritted out. “I know enough, and she knows pain… like me.”
Lucille laughed humorlessly. She rolled her eyes and cocked her head to the side.
“You think pain makes a queen?” She asked, looking at Luca like he was dumb.
“It makes her honest,” Luca replied casually.
His calm demeanor was slipping, he found himself struggling with keeping his buried emotions and the answers that just reappeared in his mental for the resentment he had for his mother at bay.
“Oh really?” Lucille looked down at Luca, amused by his revelation.
“Pain made you into a devious queen, Lucille,” his voice cracked.
Not his usual whisper with a raspy effect. His voice that sounded deep and broken. It sent shivers down Lucille’s spine as her eyes widened in shock.
“I remember,” Luca cleared his throat. “You stabbed me.”
Lucille froze. Seconds later she stumbled backward as if Luca’s words knocked the wind and balance out of her.
Luca stood to his full six-foot four height and took a step toward his mom.
“I was eight,” Luca continued, voice shaking but firm. Every word dragged out like it hurt to speak it. “I learned silence from you the night I caught you and Lennox… it initially silenced me. You remember I went mute for months before you caught me catching y’all fucking right in Pop’s bed.”
Lucille clutched her racing heart in horror, she heard every word Luca said, feeling dizzy at the same time from his recollection. The night of the accident, she drugged Luca, praying that he would survive and forget her dirty secret all in one.
“L-Luca that’s not?—”
“Don’t try to rewrite it.” Luca cut his eyes at her.
“You betrayed your husband, fucked his brother for years. Even let the nigga put a baby in you then brought that same poison into y’all house instead of coming clean,” Luca said with so much conviction, his chest constricted with pain. He kept his chin up, ignoring the strong sting in his eyes.
“Instead of you loving me after the accident, you distanced yourself from me. Too ashamed to look me in the eyes…me? A fucking kid. You should have loved me through it all since it was your fault. Instead, you left that job to Pops,” Luca’s voice faded slightly.
He closed his eyes for a quick beat and when they opened back up, Lucille’s heart shattered. Luca’s eyes were red, veins spread, pupils dilated as a lone tear traveled down his cheek.
“Kentrell couldn’t become a Jr. He was named after Lennox’s middle name, which could be disguised as our great great grandfather’s first name,” Luca’s voice went back into whisper mode.
Pain shot up his throat, making him inwardly wince. He refused to show Lucille that he was in agony. He swallowed down and fought through the pain.
“Pops saved you… pulled you out of trafficking. Before that, you were in the streets until Lennox got his hands on you first. That nigga had you in cages, you were nothing more than his bottom caged bitch turning tricks to make him rich,” Luca somewhat regretted the harsh truth of his words. Never in his life had he disrespected his mother.
All he could think about was Lucille being the culprit behind killing his father. Now that he could remember, he wouldn’t dare put shit past Lucille. He ignored the stabbing pain in his throat and gulped down spit to coat it.
“My pops saw through you even though it was Lennox making you turn tricks to secretly go against the Mafia code of conduct. Y’all both accepted each other for who you both were, made promises and you double backed for a nothing ass nigga that tried to kill me!” Luca roared.
“I tried to stop him, Luca!” Lucille frantically choked on her own words.
“Yes, you did try to kill Lennox that night… you missed him and stabbed me… point is, you should have never been fucking him behind Pops’ back. Then while I was bleeding out, damn near dead, you stuffed so many drugs into my system. I was foamingat the mouth while you and Lennox rode around trying to put together a plan to make it look like it was an accident.”
Lucille shook her head, tears spilled out of her eyes. Luca couldn’t remember all of the details of that night. Lucille refused to correct him although it pained her that he truly thought she was the one who stabbed him in the throat. Truth was, Luca didn’t want to remember. The details that rushed back to him were painful enough to cripple anyone. It was a struggle for Luca to remain standing tall in front of Lucille. He remembered the copper taste of blood as he choked off it vividly.
Through it all, he loved Lucille deeply and couldn’t bring himself to kill her.
“I didn’t kill Donnie, Luca. You have to believe?—”
“I can’t believe shit but the actions you’ve displayed.” Luca looked away from her, his chest caved in from unbearable pain as he choked on his own words too.
