Chapter Twenty Six
Two days later, disrupting his new daytime sleep schedule, Luis woke up to go sign contracts for a new apartment.
It was his first outing on his own, but he couldn’t rely on Karim or Julien being available every time he left his house. Eventually he needed to stand on his own two feet.
No one followed him on the drive over though and, in under an hour, Luis had the keys to a new apartment.
On the drive back from the leasing office, a grocery store caught his attention. On a whim and feeling bold because he was out of the house, Luis made the turn. Julien and Karim had made a lot of effort to cook and provide for him, but he missed some of his own junk food snacks.
He made the trip quick, filling up a basket and trying to ignore the buzzing nervous energy he still had about being out in public. Being out had been hard before all of this had happened though. It was just something he always had to work at.
Luis rang his items up, relief swamping him as he left the register. It was a small thing, getting his own groceries, but the success still swelled in his chest. He’d done it, he’d–
“Luis!”
The shock of his name in that voice, made him freeze.
He was just outside the store doors, and in front of him, across the crosswalk, was his mother.
She was wearing a floral blouse and loose khaki pants; her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her face looked worn, tired.
She marched across the crosswalk to him, fury on her face.
The panic was momentarily choking, and then Luis forced it down and planted his feet. He’d spent a lifetime letting her bulldoze him, bully him, and he didn’t want to be afraid anymore. He didn’t want to be a coward.
“Are you stalking me?” He demanded. Their city wasn’t that big, but the coincidence was too strong.
“I saw your car,” she started to explain.
He didn’t believe her. She was stalking him, he just hadn’t noticed. Shit. “I filed for a restraining order against you,” Luis said, cutting her off. “You can’t be near me.”
She sneered at him. “You think I give a shit about a stupid piece of paper? You’re my son.”
“You disowned me, I’m not your son,” his insides were shaking, but his voice was steady.
“You are,” she said, stepping forward. Luis stepped back.
He wasn’t afraid, he just didn’t want her close enough to touch him.
Around them people kept entering and leaving the store, but now they were getting curious looks.
“Not the evil that’s taken root inside you, but we can fix that.
I can help you.” She was between anger and imploring, like she couldn’t decide which method would get her what she wanted.
But Luis was done with all of it.
“No. You can’t help me, you can’t fix me. There’s nothing wrong with me!” Luis snapped. “I want–I want you to leave me alone. Stop stalking me, harassing me. Just leave me alone.”
“The devil has–” she started, and he couldn’t, couldn’t listen to that anymore.
“I don’t care!” He yelled.
More eyes swiveled in his direction. He knew what this must look like. He was taller than his mother, bigger. He moved his hands behind himself and grasped them together as a gesture of nonviolence.
“I don’t care,” he said, this time more calmly than he felt. “I don’t care what the Bible or God has to say. I’m happy with who I am.” Breath was heaving out of him as he met her eyes. “And I think you should leave me alone.”
Her face was pocked with fury. He had no doubt that if they’d been alone, she would’ve struck him then.
“You’re going to regret this,” she hissed.
“Okay,” Luis said, and took a side step to go around her.
Then he was crossing the road, hurrying toward his car and trying not to look back. She shouted after him, pelting curses in Spanish at his back. Luis got into his car, locked the doors, and took two tries to get his shaking hand to put the key in the ignition.
He didn’t drive directly back to Julien and Karim’s house. He instead headed in the opposite direction and wove the car down side streets and neighborhoods, checking in the rear view that she wasn’t following.
She already must know where they live, but in case she didn’t, if she really had just seen his car drive by, he would be careful.
The time also helped him calm his nerves. The sun was starting to set, and he didn’t want to be a mess when he got home. He’d fallen apart enough on them.
When Luis finally parked at the house, he just sat there a while, staring out the windshield at nothing.
Was this too a part of his new life? Always looking over his shoulder, always fearing that he’d run into her. He supposed that depended on whether or not she was sentenced to jail time.
Luis took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he made himself get out of the car and go inside.
“Morning,” Karim said as he strolled into the kitchen fifteen minutes later. Luis had put his food away and was sitting on the bar stool idly scrolling on his phone.
“Morning,” Luis said.
His voice gave him away, too throaty and sticky. Karim paused on his way to the fridge.
“What happened?” He asked, full attention on Luis.
It made Luis’s eyes burn. How could Karim be so caring, so in tune with him, but his mother couldn’t manage it?
He cleared his throat. “It’s okay. I just ran into my mom at the grocery store.”
“What?” Karim’s voice dropped into deadly tones.
A second later Julien was there. “What happened?”
Luis told them.
As he did, Julien came to stand beside him, a steadying hand on his back.
“I can’t believe this country just lets criminals out of jail,” Karim growled when he finished.
“Well hopefully soon the restraining order will go through, and they’ll be actionable things we can do if she tries to harass you again,” Julien said.
“I’m worried she followed me from here,” Luis said, “that she knows where you live.”
Karim chuckled meanly. “If she does and she comes on property, she’ll be sorry.”
“The house is warded and we have cameras. If she comes near us, it’ll only help your case. Don’t worry,” Julien said. His hand rubbed up and down Luis’s back, soothing. “I’m proud of how you handled that though, it couldn’t have been easy.”
Luis’s breath hitched, and he squeezed his eyes tight shut. He didn’t want to cry. He was so sick of crying. “Thanks.”
“Same, proud of you,” Karim said, and bent to kiss Luis’s temple.
Luis took another shaky breath and nodded, unable to speak.
“Now,” Karim said as he pulled away, “let's make you something good for breakfast. Food will help.”
He wasn’t that hungry, but he’d never tell Karim not to cook for him. It was clear he enjoyed making it as much as Luis enjoyed eating it. “Okay.”
Julien took up the stool beside him, continuing to rub his back as Karim started to move about the kitchen.
As Karim cooked and Julien tapped away on his phone, Luis felt his body calm down. There was nothing he had to do but be present, be with the two of them.
He could do that.
##
“Are you busy?” Julien asked from Luis’s doorway. It was the middle of the night, and Julien and Karim had been working in the basement for hours while Luis started to pick away at the website issues.
But he wasn’t in the middle of anything major now. “Not really, what’s up?”
“Well.” Julien stepped in with a smile, “We have a little surprise for you. We planned on waiting, but we thought… maybe you could use a pick me up tonight?”
Luis turned fully away from the laptop. “What? You don’t have to get me anything. You’ve already done–I mean, so much.”
Julien stepped close enough to lay a hand on Luis’s shoulder. “I know, but we wanted to. Would you allow us this?”
He was being tricky about the wording. “Fine,” Luis said with a smile. “But it better not be anything big.”
Julien only smiled at him sweetly. “Mmm, come, it’s in the living room.”
That sounded ominous. Luis got up and followed Julien out.
Karim was already there, on the couch on his phone. Julien guided Luis to a seat.
“Just one moment, let me go get it.”
Luis groaned. “I already know this is going to be too much.”
Karim laughed and nudged his shoulder. “Julien loves to spoil. Do you think that Audi out there was something he picked out for himself? Julien doesn’t know a thing about cars.”
Luis looked at him horrified. “Do not tell me that you got me a car.”
That only made Karim laugh harder. “No, I think a car is the first anniversary gift.”
Luis couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Uh huh.”
Before Luis could double-down on how much he could not accept ridiculously big gifts like that, like ever, Julien came back into the room.
Luis’s eyes zeroed in on what he had in hand.
A guitar. A familiar guitar.
It wasn’t the one he’d lost from his apartment, that one was yellow and this one was black, but the shape was familiar. It was a Fender Acoustasonic.
Julien walked up and placed it in his hands as Luis gaped at him.
“You didn’t…” Luis stared down at it.
“We thought since yours was stolen, we’d replace it for you. I know it meant a lot to you, and you’d mentioned liking the black one,” Julien said.
It wasn’t a car, but somehow this was an even bigger gift than that. They had–had–but–
“I don’t understand,” he said, as a lump rose in his throat.
Julien took a seat on his other side. A steady hand touched Luis’s shoulder. The guitar was a familiar weight in his arms.
“I–I can’t–this is too nice,” he stuttered out. Luis knew how much this exact guitar cost, and they’d just gone out and gotten him a new one?
His eyes burned and his heart was pounding. He felt like he could barely breathe.
“You deserve to have something that brings you so much joy,” Karim said with resoluteness.
“It was no trouble, really,” Julien said softly.
Then Luis was crying. He couldn’t stop the tears, and Julien and Karim pressed in on either side, half hugging him.
“Fuck,” Luis said wetly after a moment. He reached up and wiped at his cheeks briskly as they backed off to give him space. “You two can’t just–just buy me a guitar.”