"Where the fuck is my niece?"
The sight in front of me was a sad one. Lydia in an exposing tank top and jacket sliding off of her shoulders. Jeans with a few stains on them, along with six inch pumps which allowed us to meet eye to eye. Mascara smeared under her infuriated glare making the wench resemble a raccoon. With bed head and reaking alcohol breath.
"She's not here," I stated angling the door in case of suspicion.
"Very funny kid, you're lucky I don't press charges on your ass for kidnapping!" Lydia looked profoundly agitated.
I felt a presence next to me, "I'm right here Miss Lydia," Willow said in a tone filled with disparity.
"You," Her eyes turned to slits, "Are in a world of trouble." She seethed every word. Resembling a snake against a mouse scenario.
Willow's head hung in shame, facing the ground. "I'm," she sighed in defeat because a fight against her legal guardian technically wouldn't be in her favor. "Sorry."
Lydia went to yank her niece's wrist until I wretched it away tightly. I warned her, "Don't."
"Who do you think you are!" The bat yelled, wripping her skinny joint from my hold. "She's under my roof, under my rules, and I can discipline her however I please." Lydia ranted heatedly.
"She may be your niece but she's not an animal." Anger coursed through my veins making the blood in them boil.
"Either way, until she's 18, I'm her caretaker boy," Lydia at that point stepped up making sure to cast her gaze (and horrid breath) my way with a close up of every wrinkle and mole.
I grimaced stepping back, "It's not like you actually take ca-"
"Ace, please." Willow begged in a pained voice almost bringing me to my knees.
Her eyes shadowed with hurt and the worst kind sorrow. I could only imagine how betrayed she felt with an abusive aunt that only cared about drugs.
Willow walked on her own out the door, head down like a peasent would to their master. An urge to pull her back and protect her from every outside force there was, shadowed over.
Chocolate brown eyes met mine within a milisecond, mouthing the words, 'I'm sorry.'
No, I'm sorry.
"Now, you are going to get your little ass up those stairs and clean every inch of that apartment," Lydia hissed.
Then she faced me, hatred clear as day expressed, "The next time this happens I will make sure to press serious charges boy. I better not find you within 500 feet of my niece!"
By that point I couldn't help but retort back ignorantly, "That'd be kind of hard considering you live right above me."
Lydia narrowed her eyes at me, "Don't try me," she drawled out 'try' in hopes of being the least bit intimidating...not.
"One can only hope," I sneered and slammed the door right as she pulled Willow along huffing like the big, bad wolf.
Wood met my forehead as I leaned it against the door moments later, realizing what I had done.
All of it being adrenaline and anger, it never crossed my mind how much a certain someone would suffer due to my actions.
"I'm so sorry Willow," I whispered pitifully. Saying the one thing I wish I could've said sooner.
All of it felt like everything or everyone either left me, was taken away from me, or I managed to fuck it up.
Sadly enough for me in this case, I fucked it up.
I turned my head and tried to reign in my pessimistic thoughts. Pieces of glass from the plates Willow dropped were shattered on the kitchen tiles.
Kind've like my mind.
She had found a way to scatter my thoughts without even realizing it, I didn't know what to do anymore; fight or flight.
Come to think of it, every time I had the privelage to even see Willow it was entirely different as opposed to..... Rachel.
The taunting blonde filled my head with lies and never once caressed my senses with warmth or sincerity. Just unpredictable notions and mortifying abandonment.
After I scanned the kitchen for a broom and dust pan to clean up the glass; not finding anything I heard a loud thud.
"What the hell?"
Boom. Boom. Boom.
I was quick to go into one of the drawers and find a rather sharp knife. My reflection gleamed through. Which brought back a familiar feeling of when I had to use one.
My footsteps were even quieter against the carpet. Since the noise sounded to have been coming from my window.
Again, louder. Boom. Boom.
I held the knife behind my back making sure that the threat was unaware I had the tool to cut their ass.
Each step was careful and calculated as my shadow casted along the hallway. At a time like that, I knew not to panic and I tried to conceal any fear.
No longer did the disruption continue, my name was called from outside by a familiar Porta Rican accent. "Hey ese, it's me Antonio! You got some time to hang with a crazy Porta Rican hermano?" I resisted the urge to smile at such a predictable introduction given by him. His voice was muffled from the window but I heard him loud and clear.
"I swear to God if I looked through the wrong file..." He commented in a more suttle voice.
Antonio's face was covered by the blinds of the window, but his recognizeable stature told me it was him. I walked over to it and pulled the string that lifted them, revealing vague features of my looney friend.
Unlocking and pulling the window up, "Tony, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Well, I decided to follow up and 'keep in touch' since your first day is tomorrow."
"Hold up," I interupted confused, "How did you find that out? As a matter of fact, how did you even find me?"
Tony scoffed and climbed through the window, "I have my ways hermano (brother). Especially when sneaking student files from the secretary's office and finding your address. Did you really think I didn't see you checkin' me out in the shit list room."
His outfit looked rugged, seeing that his style changed now that I didn't see him in just black. Long sleeves casted down his thick arms with a dressy dark blue dress shirt. Only there were three buttons missing and one side of his shirt tucked in; the other out.
Given the messy hairstyle and ripped jeans, I didn't know if Tony was drunk getting dressed or tried to pull off a failed 'badass gentlemen' version of himself.
The same messy jet black hair topped his head along with an even thicker stubble from when I saw him last.
"Very funny amigo," I joked, playfully hitting his arm. "What were you doing in the, as you call it, 'shit list' room anyway?"
Tony gave me that 'do you really want to know' look.
"Forget I asked," throwing my hands up in surrender, until asking a presumably personal question.
"What was with the depressed facade?"
Tony looked reluctant to respond. Whilst dragging himself to my bed and plopping himself right in the middle of it. A smile was no longer gracing his face.
"It's been one hell of a day Ace," he replied with less enthusiasm.
"So bad you thought knocking on doors was too mainstream?"
A barely there smile appeared until vanishing again, "Sorry about that, I figured you'd be in your room and didn't want to face your grandmother."
Then his eyes stopped at the knife I carelessly put aside on my bed.
"Really?"
"Do you actually think I'm gonna to take my chances? Who can blame me?"
He chuckled, "I guess I can't."
I still stood but leaned against the wall folding my arms and crossing my feet, meeting saddened golden brown eyes.
"A'ight I'm not gonna just play audience to your little puppy dog eye show here, what's up with you?"
"Quite a harsh way to ask, don't you think ese," he aproached falsely, trying to change the subject.
"Tony," I drawled out warningly, "You're my only friend in this boring ass state or anywhere else for that matter...Don't you think I know when you're puttin' up a front?"
"Alright, alright.... it has somethin' to do with-
"Alyssa."
He sighed deeply, looking out into space like a lovesick fool. "I forgot our anniversary."
My confusion grew, "Aren't you both broken up?"
"That's the thing," he started, getting up beginning to pace, "I didn't really know if we were on or off."
"The fuck is that supposed to mean? How many times have you broken it off with eachother to not even remember?"
He mumbled a number that ended with -even. "Come on Ton, just say it."
"Twenty seven! There.... now you know." Antonio confessed throwing his hands up in the air hoplessly. "We have a long history."
Guy must have the patience of a nun.
"History? Tony that's a damn soap opera marriage!"
"What can I do? I love her with all I got okay," his head hung in shame. "To most people it's a big number. To us, it's just how our relationship works."
"Quite a relationship you got yourself," I stated sarcastically; lightening the mood.
"That is why I came to you," the Porta Rican voiced in determination, "I need your help to get mi amor back."
"Just do it like you did the last twenty seven times," I nonchalantly replied while walking to the kitchen.
Tony followed close behind my heels trying to reason, "This time is a lot different," I continued to ignore him on the way to the kitchen, "Come on Ace, I'm sure this situation has happened to you before."
Only it didn't. Anniversaries are celebrated when the clock closes in on the date of a certain special occassion. What me and Rachel had was an occassion, but it was not special. It held very little promise to something I wanted with her... a relationship. And maybe we would've marked that special acknowledgement of our bond had not the first time we met been nothing but a complete setup.
"No, Antonio, frankly I've never experienced the burden itself," the bitterness stained my words unfortunately.
He stopped right at the threshold of the kitchen while I tried to distract myself from my idiotic response and his curiosity.
"I sense a double meaning," he evoked while catching sight of the glass. "Do I even want to know about this?" His skinny finger pointed to the shards of broken dishes.
"It's not like I'd be willing to talk about what caused it."
Tony's hand ran down his face in distress, "Ya know I'm starting to wonder if I should worry about Alyssa and I or you and me. I mean God, you've changed."
I found a small broom and dust pan lodged between the fridge and wall. Grabbing it after an extended amount of effort and finally faced him, "Well what do you expect Tony? Things change over the course of four years without your bestfriend with you."
Shreds of emotion laced my words, after trying to stay detached.
Antonio exhaled heavily, head down and relunctantly spoke, "My mother needed me back home Ace. Trust me, it was hard leaving my Uncle and you, never getting a chance to say goodbye. But word got to me my mother was soon to be evicted from her home. I couldn't let that happen, the only way was to join her in Porta Rico and work my ass off to provide for the one person who only wanted best for me and sent me to America for a better life in the first place." The dread in his voice brought me over to him. Nice Ace, fuck up number two.
Tony still looked down, pure humiliation written on his face; no doubt.
I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Hey, you did what you had to do. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty about it and ruin your mood with the whole 'mission for love' thing."
His head lifted slightly with a layed back laugh tied in the movement, "You didn't know. Hell I would've been pissed too."
My hand left his shoulder and went back to cleaning the mess: attempt number three.
"In return for being a dick, I'll.... help you with-
"Mission for love!" Tony cheered, fist in the air like a roman soldier ready for battle.
I sighed, satisfied that my bestfriend atleast got a chance to experience something real with someone else. Even if she was mean as a rattlesnake and pretty as a butterfly.
All in all it steered the whole thing away from my past which benefitted me. I couldn't help but commend Tony for helping his beloved mother like that, starting back over again.
He deserved the favor from me, We both could've used some recuperation when it came to our friendship anyway. Finally rebuilding the structure that had been weakened after four long years.
Besides, seeing the guy hop around like a crazy fool in my grandmother's kitchen over a girl was... a sight. When it all came down to it, just because I suffered the harsh realities of love didn't necessarily mean he had to.
***********************************
Hey Peeps,
Aaaah bromance, isn't it lovely? Well I actually love little Tace (Antonio+Ace) moments if you ask me, they're rather heart warming to write and read. And I do find it cute how Tony's so passionate about winning his girl back. Didn't expect this chapter to be so long and filled with dialogue, but oh well. Hope the next chapter will be twice as good.
xoxo
-Bri