Chapter 7 #3
An excruciating pain shot up his throat, forcing him to clamp his mouth shut. He turned to get Roy’s attention. Roy nodded his head as Luca released Abel to use his hands to sign the rest of his words.
“Tell my nephews that they will come with me… I won’t allow them to stand in the cold like nobody wants them. Tell them I will prove to them that I can be their father and protect them. I’ll raise them right and protect them from their parents.”
Roy nodded his head and repeated everything Luca just signed to him. He then explained to the twins that Luca couldn’t speak for long periods of time, and surprisingly they understood since they witnessed Luca’s visible pain.
“Okay, Abel is tired,” Cain stated lowly.
“We can trial run this situation with you.” He pulled his pants up with his free hand, shifting his box of candy to the side.
“If we ain’t feeling it, we’ll go back to be with Tracy. We ain’t kissing nobody’s ass.” He offered his uncle a crooked smirk.
“Y’all ain’t got much of a damn choice.” Roy eyed Cain seriously.
Luca stood to his feet and pulled Abel to his side.
He wrapped his arm around Abel’s shoulder then motioned for Cain to come to him.
He wanted to give them both reassurance through touch.
Luca wanted to make it clear to the boys that he cared and hated what all they had endured.
Cain stepped closer to Luca but didn’t let his uncle embrace him.
Luca didn’t take offense. He knew with time, Cain would grow to trust and love him.
“I see you the one with a slick ass mouth. Just letting you know I’m ya Uncle Roy. I whoops ass and dish out tough love. Y’all gon’ have a bedtime, get in school ,and learn some damn manners,” Roy rambled on.
There was so much that he wanted to say, and Luca wasn’t going to stop him, so he continued.
“You out here pulling guns out on women and shit. Bring y’all asses on so we can get you two settled in your rooms.” Roy nodded his head toward the car.
Luca wanted to laugh, instead he tucked his lip into his mouth. He felt relieved that him and Roy wouldn’t have to move into plan B. Plan B would have gotten ugly and would’ve caused a scene. If the twins refused, he was going to have his men force them to come.
“We get to go to school?” Abel asked.
He stopped walking and looked up at Luca for answers. His little chest bloomed with excitement. Tracy never enrolled them in school. He longed to be around other kids. Luca looked down at his nephew and nodded his head.
“Me and Cain not too good with reading but we try to study labels at the grocery store. When Tracy goes to sleep, we sneak her phone and watch learning videos on YouTube,” Abel said.
“That’s good, we gon’ get y’all in private school once we get all y’all paperwork. Your uncle Luca.” Roy pointed at Luca. “He’ll have a teacher come by his house to test y’all to see what all you know.”
They approached Luca’s Maybach, the boys marveled at the beautiful sleek car in awe.
“So y’all rich as fuck!” Cain exclaimed, dropping the candy box.
Abel sniggered, wiping his tears with the sleeves of his hoodie.
“Nah, we wealthy and watch yo mouth. I swear.” Roy shook his head as he opened the back door. “I’m gon’ have to wash yo mouth with soap and make you do a hundred push-ups,” Roy uttered.
“I can do push-ups with one hand.” Cain shrugged, sliding into the backseat.
Luca opened his door and was stopped by Abel’s hand grabbing his wrist.
“Thank you. My brother is a good kid…he’s just been hurt the most protecting me and—”
“It’s okay,” Luca whispered, not wanting Abel to apologize because in his eyes they did nothing wrong. “I won’t give up…on neither one of you.” He offered Abel a reassuring smile.
Luca waited for Abel to nod his head in understanding then watched him slide into the back seat. Once Luca got behind the wheel, he took the time to rest his hands in his lap for a moment. Nobody spoke, the silence spoke volumes as the engine hummed lowly.
For the first time in a long time, Luca’s chest felt full. It overwhelmed him so suddenly that he had to drop his chin and pace his breathing.
“You good bro?” Roy whispered lowly.
Luca slowly nodded his head and held a finger up, indicating to Roy that he just needed a moment.
Something unfamiliar sparked deep inside of him.
It spread through his ribs, igniting places in him that had been dormant since childhood.
Responsibility, purpose, something close to hope.
Although he had halted the Bonetti Mafia until he sniffed out his father’s killer, Luca felt like his life in the moment had tilted on its axis.
In the span of days, he had claimed a woman he barely knew but somehow already understood.
He stepped into the lives of two boys that his brother had already decided were disposable since they were born.
He stared through the windshield at nothing in particular.
All of the twins facial expressions replayed in his mind.
Luca had already started planning. School would bring them structure with good tutors.
He would make sure his security wouldn’t suffocate them but protect and make sure no threats got close enough to breathe the same air as them.
He was happy to provide a home where heat worked and food stayed stocked up for weeks at a time.
He thought back to how his father always made quality time for him and Kentrell no matter how busy he remained as the Don. Luca also remember the many therapy sessions Dontrell placed him in to get him right.
Luca was determined to not fail the twins. That thought anchored itself in his chest like a vow. Roy glanced at him from the passenger seat, saying nothing, sensing the shift from his close friend. Before Luca pulled off, another thought crept into his mind.
His throat.
The familiar ache had settled again, dull, constant, like a bruise that never healed. Years of whispering. Years of refusing help, and telling himself that the damage was permanent, that his silence was safer.
But tonight, and after days of speaking more than he had in years. After seeing the boys flinch at his voice yet they still listened… He touched his neck unconsciously.
Maybe it doesn’t have to be like this forever. He thought.
Luca considered the possibility of trying, like his father begged him to do over the years in his adulthood.
He got determined mentally to find a good specialist. Someone who understood scarred vocal cords and chronic pain.
He needed a specialist who could help him get his old voice back but could also ease the burn.
He wanted to speak more in order to teach the boys without suffering from every word spoken.
He thought about La’Nova as well. How witty she was and stubborn. He needed his voice and her understanding as well. He imagined them conversing and how both of their word play could be mixed together. The chemistry that he already felt empowered his thoughts even more to push for the specialist.
He swallowed, throat tightening. The idea scared him more than violence ever had.
Because fixing his voice meant reopening the wound.
Reliving a moment that he survived and buried so far deep inside of him that he had forgotten intricate details of the night he was stabbed brutally by someone that was supposed to protect him.
“You good?” Roy broke into Luca’s thoughts.
Luca nodded his head, grateful for the interruption. He was so far into his thoughts and all the new possibilities that if Roy hadn’t interrupted, they’d sit in that parking lot for hours.