When Zero and I reach the room, she awkwardly sits on the bed. "I"ll be back."
I leave the room and grab some clothes and get changed. When I come back, she"s standing on the balcony reading a book.
"Hey,"
She turns around.
"Can we talk?"
She bookmarks her place and sets the book down.
"Sure, but can we talk out here? It"s so nice out today."
I join her at the table.
"Listen Zero, what did Carlos tell you about Layla?"
"Nothing really. He just mentioned that she was a part of your past."
"And you don"t have any questions about that?"
She opens her book and starts to read.
"Your business is just that. Your business, but what did you want to show me?"
I notice her hand shaking a little bit.
"Oh yeah,"
I walk over to her and grab her arm.
"I can get this ugly collar off of you."
She looks at me with wide eyes,
"Can you really?!"
I pull out a small chip and hold it to her collar. I beeps twice and then falls off.
"Ricky,"
I looks me in my eyes and I feel my heart beat speed up.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, don"t mention it. But now you owe me."
I turn to leave the room but she grabs my sleeve.
"I refuse to be in someone"s debt. So whatever you want me to do, i"ll do it now."
"Is that so?"
She gulps hard.
"Y-yes?"
"Careful what you say to me Zero."
She clings to me tighter,
"I know what I said Ricardo. I can handle whatever you throw my way."
I grab her wrist and pull her back inside the room.
"You"d better stop talking like that."
"Or what? Should I be scared of you or something?"
I grab her by her waist and pull her closer to me. She bites her lip and looks me in my eye.
"What are you doing to me woman?"
I pick her up and she wraps her legs around me. Her lips are soft and taste sweet. I grab a hand full of her hair and gently pull on it, exposing her neck.
"Mhm, Ricky."
"Ah s.h.i.t, my d.i.c.k"s on hard already."
I walk over to the bed and lay her down,
"Are you ready for this? Because once I start, I won"t stop."
She bites down in her thumb,
"Y-yes."
I take off my clothes and crawl on top of her, just as I go to take her panties off, there"s a knock on the door.
"d.a.m.nit, come back later! I"m busy!"
Another knock.
"I said come back later!"
The knocking turns into a loud pounding.
I pull my pants back up and stomp towards the door.
"What the f.u.c.k man?! I thought I said to come back-"
I look up and see her. Why does it have to be her? I step out of the room so Zero won"t here me.
"What the f.u.c.k are you doing here Layla?!"
She looks down at her stomach,
"Ricky, our baby needs his father."
My blood is boiling at this point.
"Ricky, please. Say something."
I smack her with the back of my hand and then grab her shirt.
"You"re crazy Layla, that d.a.m.n kid is not mine and you know it. I told you what would happen the next time you showed your face here."
"No Ricky! Please!"
"Carlos, come up here!"
He jogs up the stairs.
"Woah, what the h.e.l.l"s going on? And who let her in here?"
"I"ll find out sooner or later. Take her to the bas.e.m.e.nt."
She sobs loudly as he pulls her towards the elevator.
"d.a.m.n you Ricardo! I"ll f.u.c.king kill you! I will!!"
I ignore her and walk back into the room. Zero"s sitting on the bed looking at me.
"s.h.i.t. Did you hear any of that?"
"Every word."
"You can"t possibly have nothing to say."
"I do,"
She walks over to me,
"I think you look s.e.xy when you"re angry."
"f.u.c.k, Zero."
***
When I finally wake up, I roll out of bed and walk towards the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower.
"Yo Zero, hurry up I gotta p.i.s.s."
She opens the door and steam escapes from the bathroom.
"Fine, go pee."
I watch as the drops of water roll down her neck and down onto her chest.
"Ugh, move."
She shoves me out of her way and walks past me. I turn my head around to check her out.
"d.a.m.n Zero."
She puts her hair up in a quick bun.
"What?"
"Your a.s.s is fat."
She slams the door in my face.
"Ha, ok! Most ladies would kill to have a figure like yours."
"f.u.c.k you Ricky!"
She yells though the door.
"Anytime woman, anytime!"
***
"Is she awake?"
"Yeah, but why is she here? I thought you had a restating order."
"I do have one, but she"s a f.u.c.king lunatic."
I walk into the bas.e.m.e.nt. A cold draft blows and the lights flicker. My footsteps and the rattle of chains echo throughout the place.
"h.e.l.lo Layla."
She spits on my boots.
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How dare you keep your baby mother chained up like this?!"
I ignore her rambling.
"Layla, you"re not pregnant. You never where."
She glares at me.
"I AM! AND IT"S YOUR CHILD!"
I laugh at her bulls.h.i.t lies and toss a file on the floor.
"I had your sister get a cup or your pee. She took it to the lab and it came back negative."
"LIES! IT"S ALL LIES!"
"I always did like Lucy better than you. She was the only sane person in your f.u.c.ked up family."
She burst into tears,
"I love you Ricky, I just didn"t want you to leave me."
"You don"t love me b.i.t.c.h, you"re obsessed with me, and if you did love me you wouldn"t have cheated."
"I was drunk and he was coming onto me! I wasn"t in my right state of mind!"
I stand up to leave,
"Layla, I swear on my own life that the next time I see you, i"ll put your f.u.c.king brains on this wall. You get me?"
She nods,
"Ok Ricky, i"m sorry. C-can I go now?"
"Sure, whenever Lucy comes to pick you up."
"But Lucy hates me. She"ll never show up."
I shrug,
"Not my problem."
The door slams behind me and as I walk to the stairs, her screaming gets quieter until her voice absolutely disappears.
Back upstairs, Zero and Carlos are on the couch watching tv. Her legs are propped up on his lap.
I don"t know why, but it makes me a little upset.
"Oh hey Ricky, you wanna watch tv with us?"
"Yeah, come sit down."
"d.a.m.nit, I can"t resist her."
I sit down beside her and grab her legs.
"Ah, what the h.e.l.l?!"
I pull her towards me and then turn her around so that she"s sitting on my lap and her back is facing me.
"I don"t like how comfortable you are putting your legs on other men Zero."
I whisper in her ear so that Carlos won"t here.
"What I do with my body is my business, you don"t own me."
I grip on her exposed thigh,
"I. Do."
She squirms to my touch.
"You two getting freaky over there or something?"
We both look up at Carlos who"s looking at us with a smirk on his face.
"Nah man, we"re just talking."
"Well whatever you"re talking about must really be exciting because look at her face."
He points to Zero and I look at her face. Her cheeks are red and her eyes stare at the tv, trying to avoid making contact with me.
"Well that"s enough tv for one day, I think i"ll go take a walk."
She gets up and grabs her shoes.
"Byeee."
"d.a.m.n Carlos, why couldn"t you just ignore it? I was tryna cop a feel."
"Pft, like you didn"t get enough of that last night."
The blood drains from my face,
"You heard that?"
"I don"t know know who didn"t. All we head was, "Oh Ricky! Oh Ricky!""
I cover my face in embarra.s.sment,
"You know what, I think i"ll go walk with her."
I rush out of the house and look for Zero,
"I think I like her. s.h.i.t, I think I really like her!"