Lucia--
Why do you always do this, Mom? Why do you always embarrass us? Why do you always embarrass me? It's getting frustrating having random people coming up to me at the Bodega to tell me about my drunk mom who's either in a yelling match with some goon or engaging in a shots competition or is flat-out passed out, drunk on the bar counter.
Why can't you be normal?
"Ow!" I sharply wince as my mom steps on my little toe.
She sways to the right, and I groan as I drag her back to my side. Her body falls on me, and I struggle to properly hold her left arm wrapped around my neck and keep my right arm around my waist as I push off some of her weight.
"Walk properly, Mom," I grunt through my teeth, stumbling along as she drags me.
We finally make it to the door, and I try to place her gently on the door, but her body slips from my hand and makes a loud thud against the door.
"Oww!" She yells, rubbing her back.
"Keep it down, Mom. It's late, and the neighbors are gonna be mad," I whisper, trying to place the key in the hole since the light is so dim.
"Again," I add.
"Let them."
I sigh, and I don't know if I sighed because I finally opened the door or her comment.
"Come on," I groan as I pick her up.
She places her hand against the wall and pushes herself up.
She causes us to stumble as we walk over to the muddy brown sofa, and she falls on it.
I quickly head over to the door and lock it.
I press my body against the door and let my head fall against it before exhaling.
I pull my body off the door to cover my mom with the off-colored white blanket loosely hung on the sofa.
"I'm sorry."
I pause, look at her, then return to adjusting the blanket.
"I know," I respond.
***
"Silas?" I ask into my headphones once I no longer hear the ongoing calling noise on my phone to make sure I hadn't put in the wrong number.
"I didn't think you'd actually call."
He sounds surprised.
I am too. I can't believe I'm doing this.
I hold back a sigh as my heart skips a beat.
"I'll do it."
"Where are you?" I ask, placing my toothbrush, toothpaste, and a new set of clothes for work tomorrow in the black bookbag my dad gave me when I was nine-- the last thing he ever gave me.
"The Cathedral."
"Are we doing that right now?" I hear shuffling on his end and what sounds like an audio.
He hangs out at the Cathedral too? How come I've never seen him?
"Hmm." I nod, even though he can't see me, "You're already watching it. Might as well join you."
"I'm on my way," I say, climbing down the stairs on my balcony.
Thank God I live in Brooklyn.
***
"Do you have the slightest idea what you're doing?"
"It's not the first time we're doing this," I tell the voice in my head as I peek over my shoulder for Silas.
"Yes, but it's the first time you're sneaking out to meet a boy."
My heart stills.
The reality dawns on me that this is my first time sneaking out to meet a boy. I'd always snuck out just to be alone at the Cathedral.
"What would your mother say?" The voice taunts.
I exhale deeply, trying to ignore the voice in my head.
She wouldn't care.
Where is Silas?
"Ok. What would Priest Dixon say?"
I ignore the nagging voice in my head as I grab my phone from my back pocket to play some music to keep my thoughts silent when Silas's name spreads across my phone.
Thank God.
"Look behind you," he says into the phone before I can say 'hey.'
I turn around, but I don't see him.
"Look to your right."
I look to my right and still don't see him. How can he see me, but I can't see him?
"I'm waving," he says.
I look around the Cathedral and finally spot him outside the right door of St.Patrick's Cathedral, waving at me.
My heart thuds.
"You excited or something?"
I shake the thought away and grab my bag.
I walk toward him, trying to squeeze through the people gathered at the center of the church.
"Excuse me." I bend as I walk past these people.
"You seem uncomfortable." Silas's voice pierces through my headphones.
I straighten up and pause, looking past the glass door at him. "I am."
"Excuse me," I say with a tight-lipped smile as I push by the people by the door and make my way outside.
I'm met with a piercing yet soft gaze from his gray eyes as I let the door shut behind me.
His entire expression is soft. It's easy to forget he had a mean scowl on his face while he was in an argument at the bar an hour ago.
"Can we go?" I mumble and glance at anywhere but him, realizing I'd been staring at him longer than I should've.
He smiles almost teasingly and juts his head to the right before walking in that direction.
My eyes trail after him as he walks down a small flight of stairs leading to some door.
Goosebumps fill my skin as I realize I'm about to entrust my life to some stranger-- a dude-- just because I need a distraction.
I don't know this person, and I'm about to follow them through this creepy door that leads to God knows where so I can watch Avatar for how many minutes.
"You coming?"
My heart thuds as I take a step toward the flight of stairs.
Abba, please help me.
***
"You comfortable?" He stands beside me.
"Yeah," I reply with a tight-lipped smile as I eye the place we're in.
The place smells like cedar. It smells like him.
He walks over to the corner where he has a spread-out black blanket on the floor with a pizza box, a bag of lay chips, a bottle of water, the items he bought from the Bodega aside from the pizza, and what I assume is his laptop on it, and settles on the blanket.
My eyes travel to the black bean bag behind his setup as I slowly walk to him.
Black ought to be his favorite color.
"I'm surprised you called."
"It didn't seem like you were even interested in my offer." He takes a bite of his pizza.
I wasn't.
I just give him a tight-lipped smile in response.
I gently plop down beside him, tuck my legs to my chest, and wrap my arms around them.
"You look so uncomfortable."
I shrug. It's hard not to be when you're in the attic of a cathedral with a complete stranger.
"Don't be."
"The door's open, and Priest Dixon knows we're here so he'll probably come to check on us every once in a while." He turns to me and his eyes roam my face.
He knows Priest Dixon?
"You know Priest Dixon?"
"Yea. I'm gonna guess you do too." He pops a chip in his mouth.
I nod.
He places the bag of chips in front of me.
"No thanks. I'm not that hungry." My stomach lightly rumbles after those words leave my mouth, and I'm reminded I haven't eaten since noon.
He chuckles and hands me a slice of pizza on a paper plate with some napkin. "Here. Eat something. When was the last time you ate today?"
I grab the plate from him.
"Noon."
His eyebrows lift.
"It's been six hours since you ate? No wonder your tummy's angry at you."
I give him a closed-lipped smile, looking down at the plate in my hand.
I can feel his eyes on me, so I glance up at him and my eyes meet his.
I think he's waiting for a response from me, but I don't know what to say.
"Yeah." It's a stupid response, but it's all that I can muster.
He scoffs then looks away, and I return my gaze to the food in my hand feeling out of place. Maybe I should've said more...or never called.
The room grows silent, and all that is heard are the noise of the bag of chips every minute he takes a chip from the bag and the soft almost breathing noise coming from his laptop.
I make use of the silence to pray over my food.
"So, you-" Silas starts to say as I open my mouth to pray over my food.
My head jolts up and my lips seal shut.
"Yeah?"
Why do I feel like I'd been caught doing something wrong?
"You're ashamed."
My heart thuds.
"Were you praying over your food?" His tone isn't mocking, but it doesn't drive away the anticipation to hear the words of mockery he'll say.
I nod hesitantly.
"I'm sorry for interrupting then." He turns to his laptop, turning it on. It had probably turned off when he came to get me.
I force myself to drag my eyes away from him after hearing his words. He didn't...mock me?
As I close my eyes and part my lips to allow the words of prayer to flow, my mind replays what had just happened.
Could I still pray to God to bless this pizza even though I was just...
"Lord Jesus, please bless and sanctify these foods, In Jesus Name." I open my eyes and stare at the pizza as if I'd see God's hand over the food, blessing it, and in so doing, breaking the suddenly looming wall between us.
"Amen," I mumble, forcing the lump down my throat as I take a bite of my pizza.
I think I hear Silas say an 'Amen' as well.
I look up at him with a closed-lipped smile etched on my face.
"Thanks for the pizza. It tastes good." My stomach rumbles in agreement.
He scoffs lightheartedly.
He looks into my eyes for longer than a second, almost searching them, before turning to his laptop to press the spacebar.
Katara's voice fills the room when he turns to me and says, "At your service," before stuffing a chip in his mouth and throwing me a wink.
I lift the pizza to my lips to cover my smile, but I can't help but wonder why he looked so fixedly at me. Did he notice it?
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***This is the second chapter, and if you made it here, that means I somewhat captivated or mostly captivated. Either way, I'm glad you're here, and I can't wait to share some more memories with you. Thank you for supporting me by reading on. Anyways, just let me know what you think ^^. *Shrugs and looks at her nasty, crusty nails* It's not like I care anyways (I do *puts palms together and pleads*). Let me not hold too any longer. Bye~***
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