by Mari Sillva
-Jesse, what happened to your apartment? It´s beautiful! -she rolled her brown eyes at three hundred and sixty degrees across the room, arranging to change the subject soon, but deep down she was really surprised at the sudden change of place.
-I do not know, my friend, when I got back from the hospital it was already like this. - The owner of the building said that someone bought it and had him retired now stop changing the subject and tell me what happened to leave you like this. - It was straight to the point.
-He came back, Jesse ... -And the sobbing began again, she laid her head on her friend's lap and gave herself to an endless mourn.
- Who came back, Nayla? - She stroked the stylist's hair affectionately.
-That boy I told you about once, that I met in high school when I lived in England until my father's boss transferred him to Los Angeles, the only one that made my heart beat even stronger today.
Nayla took a box of tissues from her pink velvet pouch with a gold plaque written in capital letters "PRADA." she wiped his eyes and blew his nose in two at once, handing them to Jesse's hand, which he took at his fingertips and tossed them to the floor next to the couch, intending to throw them out later. She wiped her hand on her pajamas and returned it to the same place she was doing, stroking her friend's hair.
-Then you should be happy about it, not sad that way. -The stylist lifted her face to look at Jesse, eyes flooded.
-He's not like he was back in high school, maybe he was never the way I imagined it to be. -He sat down beside Jesse, hitting her back so that she could rest the head on her shoulder.
-No one is as you think, Nay, we must love people even when we find out who they really are.
Sometimes Nayla could not understand how Jesse could be such a good person, she always saw a good side in people, even when it did not even exist.
- It's more complicated than it looks like Jesse he's involved in stealing...
She thought better of it and stopped talking, believing it was not wise to share with a police officer that the great love of her life had come back only to get revenge, for a reason she had no idea. He was involved in stealing the jewels from the parade, which, thanks to the good God, had insurance, but nevertheless, what happened destroyed her image before the press. Nor did they talk about the pieces she had created with such warmth and dedication, but only about the robbery and still hinted that she had involvement with the criminals. How to explain to an FBI investigator, and her best friend, who was completely in love with a thug and who would give her life so she could lay eyes on him once more, even for a moment.
-Involved in what, Miss Nayla Borges? – Jesse asked in her best FBI investigator tone, was beginning to suspect that there were more things behind that story than Nay was telling.
- Nothing, Jesse! I need to go, bye! - In a fraction of a second, she reached inside the bag, taking out the cell phone and the old key from the investigator's apartment. I'm glad you're well, I love you best friend! she forged a sincere smile and practically ran out closing the door in a fine crack, giving no chance of Carter asking anymore. She sat on the couch looking at that piece of steel that was fixed to the wall, wondering why anyone would build a fortress-like that for someone else who did not even know how to live. From the thickness of the walls and the iron grids dropped on the windows, not even the Incredible Hulk in its greatest moment of fury could get in there. she was frightened by the ringing of the doorbell again, nor had she remembered that she now had one; She stood up to make sure it was Nay who had forgotten something or had taken the courage to tell her what she was hiding from her about this guy who had come back after many years. But it was not.
-Hi, - Blade said his voice hoarse and a tired expression on his face, the result of the last few nights clear.
- Hello! -She replied, unable to avoid a silly smile.
He was even more handsome inside his dark-colored polo shirt, hugging his broad, supple, well-muscled chest, worn-out jeans shaping his long, thick legs, his usual black leather boots.
His hands were hidden in his pocket, and, God, he had cut his hair short in a prison style, it was the most sensual thing in the world, a real crime, Jesse thought. His beard for two or three days, his lips lightly moistened with a hypnotizing scent. On her neck, she noticed an American Army cordon with the 1989BMN numbering, which left the young woman quite shocked, never imagined that he was a soldier one day.
-Are you going to leave me all night at the door? - He asked in a slightly raised tone.
He did not know how to treat her otherwise, not that he wanted to. His eyes went down to her shirt, she was not wearing a bra, and her breasts were swinging freely, completely at ease.
- Sorry, come in and make yourself comfortable.
As Maldonado did so, he passed her as if the apartment were his, not at all surprised by how many differences it had after the last time he was there. He sat up on the sofa in a gaudy fashion and crossed his legs, too elegant for a dangerous thug. Jesse closed the door, feeling his eyes burn every part of his body, despaired to remember that he had that bedclothes since his teens and that even though he had not grown much, he left at least half of his butt on display. It made her blush.
-I'm comfortable, - she said simply, as she turned visibly embarrassed at his presence, who stared at her with eyes like two brilliant sapphires in the moonlight streaming through the window.
-I'm going to change and I'll be right back, you have the flu? - She asked worriedly, turning her gaze away from the sweater, holding both hands at the bar, pulling her down in an unsuccessful attempt to cover something, with no psychological condition of making eye contact with him, for the intensity that came from those two blue lagoons were too strong, frightening, so to speak.
- No need, you look great! - he looked longer than necessary for her legs outside.
-But I'm not feeling good about being so" intimate "in front of you. - She blushed, pulling even harder on the hem of her dress, trying to cover something, without any success.
-I do not think you've been so" intimate "in front of another man, have you? -He asked in his hard, straight, straight face, assessing her up and down with an enigmatic semblance, not caring about a shocked Jesse at his indiscreet question.
-My intimate life does not concern you. - Jesse shook his head slightly and cursed softly, purple with rage, wondering why he had to be so handsome, so fucking sexy and attractive in those hellish jeans and messing with her that much.
Blade looked like the embodiment of sex, which made her panties wet with just a look. She wished she could hate him for being such a jerk, but she simply could not.
-You blush like a high school girl you talk like one and wear sneakers at a formal ball. I bet you kind of are the the girl who's waiting for the right person. It's written on your face that you're still a virgin, so stop pretending you have an "intimate" life because we both know you have not - said Blade without patience, cold and sarcastic.
-I think that person has already appeared. - Blade stopped breathing, literally. - Since today Michelangelo called me asking me out, remember that bartender at the ball I was wearing sneakers? Two weeks from now, there's going to be an exhibition of photographs that we're going to go together, just like me, is passionate about photos and novels, likes me the way I am and is always kind to me. We have more in common than I thought and maybe he is, yes, the "right person, that I have waited until today, which will show me that it was worth keeping me all this time, not like the ones that make me feel like an idiot for the same reason.
At first, Maldonado looked furious, his skin turning red and his mouth swelling, a frog swelling when he felt trapped. Then he let out a loud laugh, leaned his head back against the sofa, closed his eyes, and put his hands on his belly, which must have been aching with laughter.
-You waited all your life for Snow White's dwarf, the investigator? - He laughed, even more, a warm laugh that took over everywhere.
-Get out of my house now! - She shouted,
pointing to the door, and stomped to the bedroom to take her bath and fall on the bed in the hope of sleeping to forget about that awful day. If she had not been so polite she would have cursed him, she wanted to offend him just as he did her.
-Will not you offer me anything to drink or eat? - He laughed, holding back the laughter and covering his mouth with his hand.
-Sure, sorry, are you hungry? - She asked, wryly no matter how angry she was of a person would not leave her hungry.
-Yes. - Blade paused as if he needed to take a breath, then the deep voice took over again. -But what I want to eat at the moment I suppose is not available on your menu. - He slammed his palm into each other and started to laugh again, this time leaning forward, still holding his belly in his hands. Tears of hate ran in the corner of her eyes.
-Blade Maldonado! -The serious manner in which she called him by his full name made him stop laughing immediately and look at her. He was surprised by the enchantment Jesse had looked at him at that moment.
- You are smiling! - She approached him carefully. She did not want to scare him. -You should do this more often, your smile is beautiful, - she said, holding his face in his hands, looking deep into his eyes. she could see the fear there, visibly confused by that situation. He then realized that he had not remembered the last time he smiled, maybe he never had.
-I ... I ... - The words were missing for Maldonado, like a child learning to speak.
-What scares you so much, Blade? - I thought I was not afraid of anything it's always so sure and straightforward about everything.
-You frighten me, Jesse, I'm terrified every time I'm around you and I hate that, - he confessed, finally getting rid of her touch.
And so Blade fled, confused, without saying goodbye, thinking of the fact that what no one had done for him in all his life, his angel had done in just under a month.
Nayla left her friend's apartment lower than when she arrived. She hated leaning on her unlocked the door of his envelope light pink, car gift from Mary Kay Cosmetics. It was being given away by famous brands. She went in, tossed her purse into the white leather seat that was the predominant color inside the vehicle, and began to say:
- I'll stop crying ... I'll stop crying ... I'll stop crying...
She repeated this mantra several times before putting the car in motion, keeping the dark glass closed, had some fear of walking with them openly in that neighborhood. After thirty minutes of driving, she did not even notice that she had made a wrong turn, heading for the south side of the city, where everything was worse. She was talking a dozen profanities to the head of a newspaper who had published a story completely distorting everything she had said in an interview she had made about the stealing of the jewels, insinuating at all times that she was involved with it.
After an unfriendly conversation, he was able to make a second publication, portraying himself as unkind in his work. As a result, she entered the endless street on the left instead of the right, which would take her to downtown Los Angeles, which at that time of the night would be quite busy because of the large influx of people returning home after a tiring day of work. When she realized where it was, it was late. The street was dark, filled with strange people around a campfire right in the middle of it, selling and using drugs, wrapped in dirty old blankets, who were quite alarmed to notice the presence of a pink car invading the their "area”. A normal person would turn around and run away as soon as possible, and that's what she thought of doing at the time, but she saw from a distance a rather familiar man entering a dark alley, looking sideways as if afraid of that they should see it.
-What is Stephen doing in a place like this? - That's what Nayla asked herself.
Without a second thought, she got out of the car and followed him with quick steps, having to face the greedy eyes of those dirty men, smirking at her with three or four missing teeth, a shower of whistles and low words referring to her body that took care of from street. She thanked God for wearing an old sweater that she used to sleep on colder days.
Nay passed between alleys and alleys without a trace of fear. Love can fill the hearts of cowards with courage, not that this is the case with her. The Englishman was big and had long, agile legs the poor woman was sweating so she would not lose sight of him. Even with just a few flashes of light on the spot, he could see it and hear the sound of Stephen's cloak flying behind his back as he took quick strides. And she thought it was the most erotic thing in the world. It was then that he stopped walking and approached a white man of medium height, wearing Nike clothes, a set of cheap red fabric very wide, very bad taste in her opinion a black cap on his head and a golden cord with the huge S-letter hanging from his neck, his gold-clad teeth.
-So, bro, did you bring the money? - The guy asked, with a lousy vocabulary stuffed with slang, it was obvious he was waiting for him.
Nayla watched everything hidden behind a wall, from where she could hear clearly and see them at a glance unseen. The girl was smart.
- Yes, now give me my order. - he winced at the sound of Stephen's voice, thick and steady.
- Calm boss, there is merchandise here that can smell for a month. Do you like the heavy stuff, bro? I know people who would wear their boots with a lot less, if they are alive when they finish and only look for me to find much more where it came from - completed the tricksters satisfied with the sale, giving him a small bag full of white stones and some cartons of tablets blue and white.
-So besides stealing, are you a drug user now? -Stephen literally paralyzed when he heard Nayla's voice. There was so much disappointment in her eyes. He did not know what someone like her was doing in a place like that, especially with those awful old slippers on her feet, yes, he noticed that.
-That's none of your business! Go away from here, I do not want to see you anymore your falsehood makes me angry. - He vomited the words uncomfortably, but too embarrassed to look at her.
-I will not let you do this to you! - She had a fit of fury and took the wrap in his hand and threw away, punching several breasts in his chest to dispel some of the anger he was feeling.
-Did you see what that bitch did, man? - I hope you have a good reason for me not to end her life. The dealer pulled a gun from his waist and pointed it at her head.
-Because I am the one who will do this, little by little, so that she may suffer so much that sh has made me suffer. - Even the rascal was startled by the way Salvatore uttered such words: totally cold and hostile.
- That's a good reason, man, I liked your style! As Jack Matador would say, "let's go for parts". Pull an ear today, one arm tomorrow, and so it goes. - He let out a loud chuckle, showing his golden teeth, a scene of fear in anyone.
-I do not care that you end my life, but I will not let you kill yourself in such a horrible way, consuming those crap. I would not want such a life for my worst enemy least of all for the man I love I have always loved since school. She put her hands to her face and began to cry.
- Love me? Do not make me laugh, Nayla, love nothing more than your career full of mediocre, heartless people who humble those who are not like you. - He was so nervous that he paced back and forth, trampling so hard that the ground trembled, completely out of his mind. "What you did to me completely affected my life, those things that filled your mouth to call it crap was what saved me all this time, filling the emptiness you put inside me. How could you make me believe that you would like me just the way I was, just to make fun of my feelings along with your friends? He could not remember that day without shaking his hands, wiping them incessantly on his clothes as if they were dirty from the ink of the bladders they threw at him that day.
- Have you been drugging since school? And you came into this life because of me, because of something you think I did? - She stared at him, not believing what she had just heard. She had to lean back against the wall to recover from the shock.
- Since the night of the ball, I only stopped when my younger brother was still small and saw me having an overdos
e after spending the dawn all over the face of heroin, after waking up from a fucking dream with you, with white flowers in his hair smiling for me. Every night was the same cursed dream. - Nayla smiled to know that he had dreamed of her, even though Estevão did not see it as a good thing. - My friends made me promise that I would stop, could not stand to see me in this deplorable situation, but my biggest reason was because every time I was going to use, I remembered Bobbi's eyes full of tears, looking at me on the ground, kneeling beside me, Please ask me not to die because you loved me. I was clean for ten years, but after our meeting, I could no longer control myself. Nayla cheered her heart to discover the existence of an important person in the life of Salvatore, a younger brother who encouraged him to stop the addiction.
-If my presence is the reason for you coming back to grugs, I will move to another city or another country if I have to. Sumo of the map, mute of name and even of a face, I am capable of anything for you - she said, sincere, and Estevão realized this.
-Give the girl a chance, man, no woman has ever said such a romantic stop to me, you have to cherish this type, dude! - The dealer was touched by the stylist's words, Nay took out two tissues from the bag that was tucked under his arm and handed it to him.
-Thanks, girl, I did not call you a bitch. - He blew his nose, making a loud noise.
-I'll apologize if you promise not to sell the crap to anyone else. - Every ten seconds in the world has a mother crying around a coffin the loss of a child to the world drugs, and it is people like you to blame it. Today is someone's mother, tomorrow can be yours. Nayla's words touched the boy, who remembered the sad look of his mother as he left for the big city in search of a better life and where, without success, he became a drug dealer. -No need to cry, okay? I can get you a scholarship for a good college and a part-time job to keep yourself honestly until you graduate, what do you think? -She wiped his tears with warmth, smiling sweetly at him with hope.
The Englishman was confused by her attitude, heartless people were not kind to anyone, let alone to whom he did not deserve as a shameless rascal. In the face of that, she merely stared at the unusual scene of a little pathetic girl doing very well in the midst of the wolves.
