Abel chuckled. "Look at you, being nosy." He said, before shrugging his shoulders. "There was this one girl... didn't work out doe." He pulled at the hem of his shirt. "She was a cool girl, but her pops didn't want her around me. Said I was bad news, so I decided to leave her alone. Ain't wanna hear all that nonsense about how I was gonna corrupt his daughter."
"It's like that sometimes." She whispered. "You shouldn't have to deal with the lingering thought of other people's perceptions of you."
Abel shrugged. "It happens all the time with people that look like us... might as well just get used to it." He nodded her way. "What about you?"
"I'd be at work, if not then probably trying to paint." She answered.
"That's not what I was talking about. I mean how come, you didn't have anyone around... like a boyfriend or... girlfriend?"
Zadia thought about it for a second. "Never had time for someone else. I'm also a known weirdo... therefore no one is checking for me." She got quiet. "The thought of being with someone seems scary to be honest and there was that one time..." Zadia shut her mouth before she could say anything else. She didn't want to relive the past. Clearing her throat, she stood up. "Tino is way too quiet, I think he's beating up Adam." She said, changing the subject.
Abel smiled. "He's the one that wanted to watch him, so that's his problem." Standing up, he grabbed the bottle of Gatorade off the nightstand and followed Zadia out the room. "I'm so damn hungry, I'm tired of Adam's cooking. It's so... neat. Sometimes I wanna just eat something that's bad for me. Like one of those greasy ass patties, they be selling on the food truck."
Zadia looked back at him. "I get it, but food is food. Be lucky you're getting it."
He groaned. "Uhhh, not you sounding like my Tía." He walked down the stairs with her. "Be grateful, Abel." He said, mimicking his aunt's voice.
Zadia laughed. "If she was here right now, she'd slap some sense into you." They walked into the living room, and Abel flopped down on the sofa while Zadia stood. "Did he give you any trouble?" She asked Adam who typed away on his laptop. Tino was on the ground, crawling through his baby tunnel.
"Quite the opposite actually," Adam said, his typing coming to a halt. "We were supposed to be playing, but he had other plans. I decided to get the tunnel out for him, while I do some research. Turns out he likes it. How was yoga?"
"Sweaty and fun, at least for one of us." Walking over to the tunnel, Zadia sat at the end, waiting for Tino to crawl out of it. "Do you guys just have random baby things laying around? Each day it's like new baby equipment pops out." When Tino came out the other end, she shouted, "Boo." Which made him squeal and laugh. "I got you." She said, picking him up and tickling him.
His giggle sounded throughout the entire living room.
"Roman's the one that keeps buying everything and storing it in the basement," Adam says. "He wants Tino full with a lot of stuff."
Abel frowned and looked at her. "Did you hear basement?"
Zadia nodded. "I did." She blew strawberries at Tino and he mimicked her. "How come we're just now figuring out there's a basement here?"
Adam shrugged, shutting his laptop. "You all never asked." He said.
"You guys never tell us anything," Zadia stated.
"The less you guys know, the better protected you are," Adam replied. "Everything we keep from you is for your safety."
"Or... Roman doesn't trust us." Zadia remarked.
ChApTeR - 8
Start from the beginning
