27. Raven
Chapter twenty-seven
Raven
Sitting in the living room, I’m two drinks in, and there’s no telling how many Luis, Damien and Reyes have had. Sitting between Damien and Reyes on the couch, Luis is kneeling in front of me, his head hanging between us. You can feel the sadness in the room, like a dark cloud looming over us. Grabbing both my hands, he looks up at me, his eyes filled with tears on the brink of falling. My fucking heart is beating through my chest as I wait for them to tell me.
“Okay, Princess. Here goes nothing. So we had a little sister, until we didn’t anymore.” He takes a deep inhale and I'm stunned into silence. What the hell?
“I was six and Reyes was seven, Mia was five. My father hated her from the moment she was born. He said a girl could never run this business and she would just be a distraction for us. Our mom died during childbirth with her, so she never even got to hold her only daughter. Even though she loved us, I knew she wanted a little girl.” He pauses again, a single tear falling down his face. Looking over at Reyes, his tears fall too. God I’m scared to know what even happened.
“We came home one night. Me, Damien and Reyes had all been hanging out all day, riding bikes doing boy shit. When we walked through the door, our dad was kneeling over my sister's bloody body with a knife. Damien called Zeke and we ran to her. Reyes tried to pull our dad away from her, but he wasn't strong enough. I knew when I picked up her lifeless body that we were too fucking late and she was gone. I checked for a pulse and tried to listen for her heartbeat, but there was nothing. Just her warm dead body laying limp in my arms. We were just kids, I didn’t know what else to do.” All three of them are full on crying now and God, my heart is breaking for a beautiful little girl I don’t even know and for them to go through something like that as children. As for their dad, if he wasn’t dead already, I’d kill him, myself.
“I’ve never felt pain like that in my life. I still remember both of us screaming when Zeke showed up, rocking her in my lap as we all huddled together praying she would open her eyes or at least take a breath. Losing her destroyed us. That day, not only did we lose our baby sister, but we lost the last piece of our mother we had. She looked just like her. She had so much spirit and would light up every room she’d walk into. Zeke didn’t hesitate when he walked in and saw the scene. He moved Reyes out of the way and put three bullets in our dad. His own fucking brother.
After that, he raised us and then basically raised Damien. None of us deserved the shit cards we were handed. Not even you, Princess. You’ve told us your past, we know you have your demons. We're giving you our story now. The dark parts you don’t know.” He finishes, wiping tears that keep falling down his face. Sliding to the floor and wrapping my arms around his neck, I hold him while he sobs into me. Damien and Reyes slide down next to me, wrapping their arms around us. I never thought I’d ever see them cry, yet here I am, crying with them for someone they truly loved and lost.
“I’m so sorry, I truly have no words.” I whimper out against him. Trying to wipe tears from my face, he just holds me tighter. My heart is breaking for them. Pulling away, they all loosen their grip.
“She was the best parts of us. Since our mother wasn’t around, it was up to me and Luis to take care of her. Raise her. I know we were young and we still don’t fully understand why our father was so cruel. We always took the beatings when he was mad, to keep Mia out of the crossfire. Maybe it was losing our mother, or maybe it’s just who he was deep down, but I’ll never forgive myself for leaving her there that night, alone. She was always with us, we fucked up and now she’s gone.” Reyes breathes out, covering his face while more tears fall.
“Look, don't blame yourself babe. It’s not anyone's fault but your piece of shit dad. She’s probably so proud of you guys. All three of you.” I choke out through a sob. I can’t even imagine losing a sibling. That would be like me losing Naomi.
“I remember coming over to play with the guys, Mia always joined in. She was one tough little girl, she was one of us. While she wasn’t my blood sister, I considered her as that. My sister, just like they are my brothers.” Damien sniffles, trying to wipe the tears from his face. Closing the distance and wrapping my arms around him, I hold him tight.
“I think that’s it, now you know all of our story. Zeke was the hero in all of our stories, just like Eddie was for you. Honestly, you pull a side from all of us I didn’t think we’d ever see again.” Luis whispers, trying to get his emotions under control. Standing, all three pull me up.
“Baby Girl, I have never felt more at peace than I do when I’m with you.” Reyes admits, giving me the sly smile he has since the day I met him.
“You feel like home to us, Angel. Wherever you are, is where I want to be. Where WE want to be.” Damien chimes in, and damn these guys are going to make me fucking cry again.
“Guys, I have never felt safe in my life. YOU make me feel safe.” I mumble out, gesturing to all of them as the tears fall down my face, yet again. One big circle of limbs, they pull me in and we just stand there, holding each other. Someone takes a step back and the circle falls, but the energy is still coursing through us. We look around at each other.
“Alright, it’s time for a distraction. How about some food? We’ll cook dinner. You go sit and relax, I know that was deep.” Luis huffs out being the first to pull away.
“Nah, I think I’ll help. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two.” I giggle and roll my eyes, causing them all to let out a low chuckle.
“Alright, no more sad shit. Reliving that was rough, Raven is back with the sass.” Reyes chimes in, slapping my ass as he walks towards the kitchen with Luis.
“Come on, Angel, let’s show you how to cook an actual meal. You won’t survive on coffee alone.” Damien states, grabbing my hand and walking us into the kitchen together.
“What’s it going to be, Princess? You pick.” Luis turns to face me.
“Haven’t you noticed, I don’t like to choose. So surprise me, I’m really not picky. Just no brussel sprouts or shit like that.” I make a gagging sound and they laugh in unison.
“Such a child. Considering you have not one but three boyfriends, I think it’s safe to say you don't like to choose.” Reyes retorts, still chuckling. Asshole.
“Boyfriends…that sounds pretty amazing coming from your mouth.” I say, a smile pulling at my lips. Working alongside them in the kitchen, Luis shows me how to make homemade Alfredo sauce. While Damien and Reyes joke back and forth cutting up chicken. They were right. This is home and I feel at peace.