Chula

Chapter 20

Marco

Life can change in the blink of an eye. Mine did.

It did when she showed up on my corner, and it changed again when I saw my brother.

I thought I hated him. I thought I’d never want to see him again, but over the last couple of weeks, he’s been coming around more.

He shows up at my apartment, where I’ve moved Luna in.

We got her things from her place and brought them here because she couldn’t stand to be there anymore.

Damion offered us a place to stay with him, but we both knew that wasn’t a good idea. We weren’t comfortable there. It wasn’t our home. So here we are.

Damion set us up with internet here, and that’s what we’ve been doing the last two weeks.

Not that I haven’t been out dealing, I have.

I have to pay for this apartment somehow until we get going.

Damion offered to pay my rent, but I wouldn’t let him do that.

This is my place, and I have to be able to do it on my own just like I have been. It isn’t ideal, but it is what it is.

“I don’t get this shit,” I snap at the computer sitting in front of me. Luna doesn’t look up, just continues what she’s working on, but she does answer me.

“What is it?”

“Numbers, Chula. I fucking hate numbers,” I tell her. Now she laughs a little and closes her laptop, walking over to sit next to me. She grabs the laptop off the table and pulls it into her lap to look at it.

“What don’t you get? This is all correct.”

“It is?”

“Yeah. You’re doing everything right, Marco.

Cut yourself a little slack,” she says, passing back the laptop.

I drop it onto the other side of me and grab her before she can walk away, and pull her into my lap.

I press a kiss to the side of her head and just hold her in my arms. This is where I like her.

I want her next to me all the fucking time.

I want to hold her and know that she’s here.

“We have work to do,” she reminds me.

“We’re taking a break,” I tell her as I run my lips along her neck. Just then, her phone rings, and mine dings with a message. I groan, but I let her up to answer it as I grab my own and check the messages.

When I open it, I don’t like what I see.

It’s a picture of me and Luna walking down the street.

The number is blocked, of course it is. I’m not sure who the hell would be taking pictures of us or what the fuck it means, but I delete it and listen to her talking on the phone.

In seconds, she’s screaming. I shove to my feet and move toward her when I see the smile on her face.

“We get to see him, Marco! We get to go see Davey!” She throws her arms around my neck, and I lift her off the ground, pressing kisses to the side of her neck.

“That’s good news, Chula. Very good news,” I tell her. I know this eases a little stress, but I also know that it’ll cause more when she has to leave him.

“Will you go with me?” she asks when she pulls back to look at me.

“Yeah, I’ll go. You didn’t even have to ask.”

“I love you. God, I love you, Marco.”

“I love you too.” She kisses me now, her lips soft against mine. But as quick as she kisses me, she pulls back and squeals once more.

“I have a little saved. Can we go shopping? I want to get him something from us,” she tells me.

“Of course we can. You want to go now?”

“If you don’t mind. We can see him at three.

” I look at my phone to see what time it is and nod my head.

Luna rushes through the apartment, grabbing her shoes and sweatshirt and pulling them on quickly.

I grab my hoodie and slip it on while I wait by the door.

She grabs her things and we leave, climbing in my car.

“I can’t believe we get to see him. It’s been weeks,” she rambles on, and all I can do is smile.

I’m happy for her, but I also know I’m going to have to be there for her, too.

She’s not going to take leaving him well.

It’s going to rip her apart one more time, and I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.

We drive to the store, and she buys a few little things for him and packs them up in a bag before we head toward the address they gave us. When we pull up, I raise my eyebrows. This wasn’t what I was expecting to find. It’s too … nice.

“He’s living here?” she asks more to herself than to me.

“Looks that way.”

“Fuck, Marco. We’ve never lived in anything this nice before,” she says as she looks down at the bag in her hand.

“Don’t you fucking do that. Don’t you doubt what you got for him.”

“Look where he’s living! How the hell could I not?”

“Because it came from you, Chula. Not some rich people. You, his sister.” I see the tears in her eyes, and I reach over, gripping her chin in my hand so that she’s forced to look at me.

“You are the best sister he could ever ask for. Don’t doubt that just because of material things.

” Luna nods her head before I lean over and peck a quick kiss on her lips.

We both climb out, and I grab her hand, leading her up the steps and raising my hand to knock. It doesn’t take long for a woman to answer the door.

“You must be Luna,” she says, smiling brightly.

“I am. This is Marco,” she introduces me. The woman smiles and introduces herself as Mary, and invites us in. We follow her through the room until Luna spots Davey.

“Davey,” she calls softly, sobs clogging her throat.

Her brother turns his head to see her, and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen crosses his face.

He climbs off the floor where he was sitting and rushes toward her.

He throws his arms around her, and she drops to the floor on her knees, crying and holding her little brother.

The sight would bring tears to anyone’s eyes.

In fact, it does. Mary rests her hand on her chest as she takes them in.

“Would you like a drink?” she asks, but I shake my head, too wrapped up in what’s happening in front of me.

“My husband is at work, but we had a few things we’d like to discuss. I assume while they spend time together, you wouldn’t mind?” she asks me.

“No. Of course not.” She nods her head, and I follow her into the kitchen, where she pulls out a chair for me and motions for me to sit down.

“How do you know Luna?”

“I’m her boyfriend.” She nods and rests her hands on the table.

“I was told a little about where he lived and his life, and while I wasn’t thrilled with it, I understand it.

I was once on the streets myself as a young girl.

When I was adopted, things changed for me.

And I want that for Davey. It’s only been a few weeks, but I can tell you I already love having him here.

I’m not his mother, and I could never replace her, nor would I want to.

I know it’s all up to the judges and all, but … ” She trails off.

“Luna would love to have her brother, but we all know the state isn’t going to give him to her. She just wants to be able to see him. She’s never been without him, and he’s never been without her.”

“I can see that by the way he smiled. That’s actually what I wanted to discuss.

When I took him in, they gave me the rundown on him and his sister.

I know how close they were, and I’d like to keep up with that.

I want her to call, text, video chat, and obviously come see him whenever she wants.

” What the hell? I’ve never met anyone or heard of anyone who would do this.

Not that state has picked. You always hear the horror stories but never the good side of things.

“Are you kidding?”

“No. And judging by that smile on his face, I made the right decision.”

“You don’t know how much that’s going to mean to her.”

“I also hear that she’s going to school to be a nurse. Is that right?”

“She is. She’s doing some online schooling right now until we save up some money,” I tell her. She smiles and nods her head.

“I want him to have her in his life. I want him to be happy, and I hope that one day we’ll be allowed to adopt him.” I sit back in the chair, blowing out a breath. This, this is going to both break her and make her happy.

“I know she wants nothing more than to have her brother, her family by her side and with her. I understand that, but I also know how hard and expensive it is to take care of a child like Davey. We plan on getting him the best care that we can.”

“I think she’d appreciate that very much. You seem like a great person, and the fact that you’ll let her see him, she’s going to love that.”

“I would never want to take him away from her. Not after the life they lived.” I nod my head as Mary stands and we both walk back into the living room, where Davey is playing with his new toys Luna got him.

I lean against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest as I watch them.

Mary walks over and climbs onto the floor, and she and Luna begin to talk when I get another message.

I slide my phone out and see the pictures of me and Luna walking into this house. Who the fuck?

I turn my head and glance toward the door, but the windows are covered and I can’t see out. I don’t want to make it obvious I’m looking for something, so I delete the message and look back at them.

I just watch them for what seems like hours, and before I know it, it has been. Luna kisses Davey goodbye, and Mary hugs her before she rushes into my arms. I hold her against me, keeping her close as I lead her out of the house.

“That was the best feeling in the world,” she tells me.

“I’m sure it was.”

“And she said that I can come anytime I want and call and everything.”

“Yeah, she told me that.”

“It’s a good place for him, right? I mean, they have everything he needs. She said they were going to get him into different therapies and everything.”

“Yeah, I think that’s where he needs to be, Chula. He’s going to do great there.”

“And you’ll come with me to see him?”

“You know I’d do anything for you,” I tell her.

She presses up and kisses me before we walk to the car and climb in.

I keep glancing around to see if anyone is out here, but I don’t see anything.

The thought that anyone is out there watching her, me, us, bothers me, but I’m not going to break her heart and tell her this shit right now. She’s too happy for that.

“I’m starving,” she says as we take off driving.

“Lucky for you, Damion asked us to meet him for dinner. He wants to talk about how work is going,” I tell her.

“Really? Are we doing badly?” Now I laugh.

“You couldn’t do anything badly, Chula.”

“I could be.”

“It’s probably about me,” I tell her.

“What about you?”

“I’m failing.”

“No, you’re not. I checked your work. It was all right. Shut up, Marco!” She teases with a grin.

I follow the directions back to the restaurant where we’re meeting Damion and park. But before we get out, I grab Luna and pull her against me. I crash my lips to hers and savor every fucking taste of her.

“You know I love you, right?”

“I know. I love you too.”

“Good girl. I’m going to remind you of that when we get back home,” I tell her.

Her eyes light up, and I can see the lust dancing in them already.

That’s when I pull away from her and climb out of the car with her right behind me.

She reaches for me and wraps her hand around mine as we walk inside and find Damion.