Last Kiss Goodbye • Teenage Juice Ortiz

34 - Anger

As his concentration wavered, Emilio jumped up and threw him onto his back. Now it was his turn to wrap his hands around Juice's throat and push him further into the ground.

"You've really gone crazy, huh? Lunatic! Can't you just calm down so we can talk?!" Emilio's bloody face floated above his. "I love her, okay? You really think I would have stayed with her if I just wanted to fuck her? When I went to see her again, fucking her was the last thing that was on my mind, but I fell in love with her, okay?"

"No," Juice snarled. "It's not okay! She's mine, she –"

"You were gone, Juan. For ten years. She was no longer yours – and she's isn't yours now, she's not mine either. Shit man."

Despite his anger he felt shame spreading across his cheeks because he had referred to her like she was someone's property. Like his brother had always done – it was what had made him want to be different from him.

"Can we now talk to each other like adults?" June's voice sounded from behind him.

Juice gritted his teeth. He didn't want to talk – he wanted to go back, to ignore everything he had heard, he wanted to be sitting on the couch again with June on his lap; this time not stopping her when she went to take off her shirt.

Emilio was still pushing him against the ground. "You think you can do that?"

"No," he grumbled. "As soon as I get the chance, I'm gonna put a bullet in your brain."

"You already had that chance, and you couldn't do it."

"That was before I knew that you were screwin' her! That you had knocked her up!" Tears jumped in his eyes. "How could you do that man. How could you do that to me."

Sighing, Emilio stood up and wiped his bleeding nose. "Do I really need to explain how I developed feelings for her? You got 'em too man."

Juice's eyes shot to the side. June was standing a few feet away from them, tears dripping down her face. Jordy had wrapped an arm around her. Sighing he sat up, supporting his head with his hands. He had allowed the aggression to drag him along. Among his brothers, that had been the most normal thing in the world, but the two women standing in front of him reminded him of the fact that he was no longer in Charming.

For a while he kept sitting, his bent head resting between his knees. Then, as if coming to his conclusion, he stood up without saying a word and walked to his bike.

"Come on, Juan!" Emilio called after him. "Are you just gonna walk away again, just like ten years ago?"

He looked over his shoulder. The man had laid his arm around June's waist, cradling her against his chest as she cried. The sight of it made a pang race through his stomach. He hated seeing them together; he hated that she reached out to Emilio for comfort.

"I can't do this," he muttered. "I can't see you two together."

"Well, you can't barge into June's life after fifteen fucking years and just leave like that, Juan," Emilio said stubbornly. "I'll leave you alone if you want, but you can't leave her like this. She deserves better and you know it."

With a sigh Juice had to agree. Yeah, she did deserve better.

Better than him.

But also better than Emilio.

His eyes wandered off to Jordy, who gave him an encouraging nod. Her boyfriend stood next to her, an arm around her. Although the love of his life was just a few steps away from him, he felt lonelier than ever.

"Okay," he muttered with slumped shoulders. He aimed his glance at June again. "So what do you want now?"

"I just want you to calm down." She broke away from Emilio's embrace and came to stand in front of him. His lips started to quiver as she took his hands. How could she still be so sweet? After all the misery he caused... "I want to help you, Juan," she said softly, looking up to him. "I want to listen to you, I want to know how your life has been all these years. I – I want to get to know you again." A blush spread across her face and shyly she dropped her eyes. For a moment she looked like that quiet, mysterious 15-year-old girl again.

"I – I think it's better if you don't know," he stammered. "You – you won't discover anything you'll like."

She came a little closer and kept his glance. "Please, let me decide that for myself, Juan. You made enough decisions for me."

He bent his head. She was right.

"Do you – do you want to come in again?"

Juice looked past her to Emilio. "Is he gonna be comin' with us? I don't – I can't be in the same room as him." He took a deep breath. "I still can't believe it. He gave you a son." He shook his head; anger flaring up again. "You gave birth to his son!" His voice cracked. "How could you... how could you want that as the father of your child? Someone who tried to rape you, who..."

"Fuckin' hell, Juan!" Emilio snapped. "You act like I was continuously goin' out rapin' girls! When it comes down to it, I didn't rape anyone! You might have a problem with it, but June and I sorted our shit out years ago man."

"You know you would have done it if someone hadn't stopped you! You should have just stayed away from her!"

"And you should have stayed with her! But that's not how things went, huh? And guess what, I took care of her as best as I could when I found out that she was pregnant. What else do you think I should have done? Abandon her, like you did? So that she had to raise another child on her own?"

"E! Stop don't –"

"No!" Emilio snapped at June. Then he turned his attention to Juice again; a fire burning in his eyes. "Yea, I felt guilty, okay? But I did everything I could to take care of her, to take care of our son, to take care of your son after you abandoned them, and now all I'm getting in return is this shit storm!"

"W-what?" Dazed, Juice stepped back.

"Yea, you heard me! You might not be able to look past what happened in high school and to bring yourself to say one good word about me, but you were the one who walked out on your pregnant girlfriend!"

Juice's jaw dropped. Completely overwhelmed he stared at Emilio; not being able to process what he had just been told, not knowing how to respond. He didn't even dare to look over to June, too scared that she would confirm his words.