Tattoos and Scars | Rewritten Version

Chapter 25 || Cabby

"Text me whenever you need, Angel Face," He smiles, driving off with a wink.

A new cabby and a friend! Eek! Wait till Adrian hears about this! I begin to climb the stairs towards my apartment, still slightly ecstatic about making a new friend. Especially since now that Anna probably hates me.

I have a little less than two hours until eight and then I'll go back to the hospital to see Adrian! Yay! I open the door to my fresh apartment. This whole building is new! Can you believe it? I feel so lucky.

They're still working on the elevator, so I have to take the stairs. I walk into my temporarily empty apartment. I have to furnish it, but I'll have to wait until I can afford it. I grab an apple off the kitchen island and place it in my mouth, taking a bite.

I head towards the bathroom. Once I finish the apple, I toss the core into the trash and run a brush through my tangled hair. Lucky for me, my hair is pretty straight and it doesn't tangle much. So a minute later, my hair is brushed and ready to go.

I close the door, just in case someone's watching. I'm paranoid like that. Then I strip. Lifting my full sleeved shirt off my head, I come face to face with all my ugly, haunting scars. When I'm standing only in my underwear and bra, I stare at my scars.

There's one near my neck from the cut my dad gave me that night. There's a large on running down my right arm, from my shoulder towards my elbow. There's another one, which is smaller, right next to that one.

That was when I was ten and my dad ran a broken bottle down my arm.

There's one near my stomach, diagonally running from the middle of my ribs towards my navel. There are a few smaller scars around it. And near my left arm, which is luckier than my right, there's a scar on my forearm and elbow.

There's an extremely long one down the full length of my back, when I accidentally tore my dad's shirt in the washing machine, so he tore mine, but with a knife. And then after that, he threw another broken bottle at me, which explains the other scars on my back.

And there's a super ugly on my right thigh, which is a burn scar. That's when my dad headed the metal pan and burnt me with it. There's on my left calf, from when I was five. I don't exactly remember why I got it, but I knew it had to do with my dad.

And then of course, there were scars from that night, which I don't remember fully. I'm glad I don't remember it, because I'm not sure I'd be able to handle it. I have enough memories that already haunt me.

Sure, I don't let them consume me and wallow in my misery and trauma, but they still do affect me. I can't pretend like they don't. I fully strip and turn on the shower to really hot.

When I step into it, I'm suddenly in an Ariana Grande concert as Ariana Grande herself with the crowd cheering for me. Of course, I'm clothed at the concert. "I'm so into you, I can barely breathe! And all I wanna do, is to fall in deep... But close ain't enough, till we cross that line."

When I'm done with the concert phase, I shift into my water bender avatar. As the water rolls down my fingers in cool angles, I wave my arms around like I'm some sort of magical creature.

I'm so powerful! Bow before your queen, mortals!

Water bender phase. Check. Now let's move on standing still in the shower and letting the water run down you as you act all sad. And then of course, get lost in thought.

What if plants are actually farming us? Giving us oxygen until we eventually die and turn into the mulch that they can use.

Whoa.

They say eyes are the window to the soul, but what if you're blind? Is it just a wall then?

I- Maybe?

If I kiss Adrian, would he like it? Does he like it when I feel his muscles? What if he gets hard around me, but just doesn't let me see?

Okay, I think that's enough showering for today. I turn off the water and step out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping myself in it. I walk out of the bathroom, and towards the closet where I have a small set of clothes.

I slip into a pair of thin blue leggings, and a white full sleeve shirt.

An hour later, I call my cabby. He picks up almost immediately.

"Hey, cabby. Care to drop me off to the hospital? I don't feel like walking."

"Sure, sweetheart," He drawls from the other side of the phone. "I'll be there."

"Thanks, cabby," I say before hanging up. I leave my apartment with a few snacks in hand and my phone.

I notice a white car already waiting for me. I see Kaden, and I get into the passenger seat of his car. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"I was just at a nearby store, getting a pack of cigarettes."

"Ah."

"Isn't it risky to be in a white car for you?"

"It's a Sunday. No one shoots at each other on Sunday's. Besides, we don't really shoot at each other much. Only when we're really pissed."

"So you're the one who shot at us that day?"

"When Ava and Adrian broke up? Yeah..."

"Why?"

"Ava was mad and she told dad about it. He ordered us to shoot at you. Can't really say 'fuck you' to a mafia leader, can you?'

I laugh to myself, thinking about all the times I said 'fuck you' to Adrian Black.

"Nope. Say, are there two gangs around?"

"Nah. We're the biggest ones, but there are many more."

"Do they all have a specific color car or something?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "No. That's just us. But the other gangs do have their own marks. Some have tattoos, so have a specific dress code, but you don't really have to worry about those. They're just small drug dealers or weapon dealers."

"What do you deal?"

"Women and drugs. Largest in the country."

"Women?!" I yell. Uh, no. That's not happening on my watch.

"Whoa, it's not exactly against their will."

"What does Adrian deal with?"

"He deals weapons. He's the largest weapon dealer in this entire country, and maybe even the world. But he does have a small amount of drugs. He doesn't really like dealing drugs though."

"Ha, that must hurt your pride!" I laugh.

"You shouldn't really hurt a mafia man's ego, princess," He says darkly. His tone sends chills down my spine. "But you're right."

We didn't talk after that. When we reach the hospital, I climb out of the white car and wave my cabby goodbye.

I notice everyone near the hospital stare at me, with their mouth wide open. What did I do? 

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a/n: whoo! i updated! i'm also hungry... :( 

anyway, do we like Kaden so far?? 

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