Page 32

A week had passed since Lo’s family dropped him off at the summer camp, and he was over it.

Thoughts of running away plagued his mind but he didn’t want to get into trouble.

It was boring, and the people were so fucking corny.

He sat at dinner, away from everyone while looking down at the dry-ass sandwich and chips.

He’d give anything to have a burger from Juicy’s right now.

Everything was just so bland and lacked taste. Lo was miserable.

He looked up a noticed a girl sitting at the edge of the table. Her head was down, and her eyes were distant. Lo didn’t even think she’d touched her food yet. She appeared out of it like she was in a deep trance. He couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong. She seemed so melancholy.

“Aye,” he said.

She looked up at him with teary eyes. It immediately caused great concern from him.

“You good?”

She blinked before shaking her head. Lo prepared to ask her more but when she put her head down again, he halted his words.

Looking around, he wondered if anyone had concern for this girl like he did.

The instructors were off into their own world while kids continued their chatter.

Lo wished he could help but he had his own woes.

So, he stood, threw the food in the garbage, and traveled to the phones so he could dial Ada.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Ma.”

“Oh, hey, Lo,” she greeted him with glee. “I’ve been waiting on your call. How you doing, baby? Did it get fun yet?”

“No, I’m ready to come home. I don't feel comfortable here.”

“Aw, boy, we’re not going there again. It’s been a week, and you should’ve adapted by now.”

“Well, I didn’t,” he retorted. “The food is nasty and everybody is corny. Come get me.”

“Lo, we talked about this already.”

Instantly, he rolled his eyes, hating how dismissive Ada was being toward him.

“Why you not listening to me?” he gritted between clenched teeth. “I hate it here.”

“You got five more weeks un—”

Lo ended the call mid-sentence. He had never disrespected Ada so blatantly and was certain he would pay for it when Dax found out.

Lo was so over her, he didn’t care about the consequences that awaited him.

He vowed not to call Ada for the remainder of his time there.

Her inability to comprehend him was frustrating to say the least.

Lo headed down the hall when he saw the camp instructor, Liam, walking the opposite way.

“Hey, Kylo. How’s it going?” he asked in a chipper tone.

“Straight,” Lo spoke dryly, not in the mood for conversation.

Liam planted his hand on Lo’s shoulders.

“I get it. Being away from home is really an adjustment. I promise you that you will have fun during the upcoming weeks. This week was all about getting to know the camp and now that we’ve gotten the boring stuff out of the way, fun things are on the horizon. ” He smiled.

Lo didn’t reciprocate the energy. He didn’t want to hear about what was going to happen in the upcoming weeks. He was suffering now.

“Hey, I haven’t had my one-on-one with you yet.

I usually invite kids to my quarters so we can talk about what it is you wanna do at this camp.

How about this, you come to my dorm, and we’ll get to know each other better.

I also could use your help with my robot, too. ” He grinned. “What do you say?”

Lo sighed, tempted to decline. Since he was stuck there for another five weeks, he figured he would make the best of it.

He nodded, making Liam smile broader.

“Great. Meet me at cabin C around seven o’clock, okay?”

“A’ight.”

“See you later, Kylo.”

He walked away, and Lo headed toward his dorm until it was time to meet Liam.

The reveries were no longer making appearances in Lo’s dreams. They were invading his thoughts now.

He felt like a prisoner inside his own body.

Why couldn’t he escape this trauma? Knowing it was no good for him, Lo should’ve been able to move past this.

Why could he conquer everything except his gruesome memories?

It was debilitating roving through his existence with this on his mind.

It held him back from becoming the man God wanted him to be, but he didn’t know how to fix it even if he had a manual.

Lo pulled out his phone and checked the time.

It was a little after one o’clock in the morning when he dialed Bria.

Hearing her voice always put him at ease and feeling her touch soothed him in ways he couldn’t put into words.

Since he couldn’t be with her, he decided her voice had to be his therapy for the night.

“Hello?” Her voice was groggy but still sweet.

“You was sleep?” he asked.

“Yeah, I dozed off trying to wait up for you.” She sounded as if she was adjusting her body. “Where are you?”

Lo’s gaze traveled to the guy who was tied up with duct tape covering his mouth. Sweat pooled on his oily face as he whimpered quietly. Lo was sent on a mission to end his existence.

“Working. Why? You miss me?”

“I kinda do.”

He smirked. “Cap. The way you act like I stress you out, I’m sure you be glad a nigga be gone.”

Bria tittered. “You are a lot to deal with but you’re mine so there’s that.”

Her words sounded like a verse to his favorite rap song.

Lo needed to hear that. He needed someone to claim him as their own.

For years, he felt abandoned. A feeling he wouldn’t wish even on someone he loathed.

He hadn’t belonged to anyone in years; not Ada, not Dax and neither of his brothers.

Maddy had taken claim over him, but it didn’t feel right.

Almost like an obligation since he had distanced himself from his family.

“You still scared of me?”

“No… are you scared of me still?”

“A lil’ bit.”

“Lo, come on. I’ve proven myself to you by now.”

“I know, I’m just… cautious. I gotta protect myself.”

“Even from me?”

He thought about her question for a moment. “Yeah.”

“What happened in your past that made you lose trust in people? I’m on your team, and I’ve been here. I know I haven’t made the best decisions in the past, but neither have you.”

Lo pulled on his beard, staring at the surface while attempting to answer her question without revealing too much.

Bria was right, she had been there. Her patience was a virtue that he didn’t know he needed.

The desire to let her in was present but the fear of her not looking at him the same halted him from opening that door.

“It’s a lot, and I ain’t ready to talk about it. Just be patient with me, Bria. You don’t know all the shit I’m fighting through to be the man you need. I ain’t never been in this position before so bear with me.”

“What made you get married, ‘cause you’re not the husband type?”

He chuckled. “I am the husband type. I got you, didn’t I?”

“You know what I mean. Did you agree to this out of obligation or what? I can’t see you wanting to get married. I also can’t see you willing to help my father merge his family with yours. So, what was it?”

Licking his lips, Lo released a deep sigh. “It’s a combination of things but…I knew you.”

“Huh?”

“I knew who you were. Seen you out a couple times and admired you from a far. I ain’t want you like that or try and step to you because I wasn’t on that type of time. When your pops said he had a daughter that was available to marry, I knew it was you, so I said yeah.”

“Are you playing with me right now? So, you had a crush on me?”

He chuckled, pinching his bottom lip. “Nah, no crush. I wasn’t on you like that. I just thought you were beautiful. So, I was with it when your pops came at me. Besides, my brothers were married, and I didn’t wanna be left out.”

“Really? I wouldn’t even think a man of your caliber would care about what they were doing. You just seem to move on your own accord.”

“I do but…” Lo didn’t know how to articulate how he never wanted to be separated from his brothers again.

Therefore, whatever move they made, he would ensure that he was on full accord.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but it was time.

Plus, I’m thirty-four years old and it was time for me to try something new. ”

“And how are you liking it?”

“Mmmmmmm!”

Lo looked up at his target trying to scream through the duct tape.

“Aye, hold on.”

Sitting the phone down, he walked over to him and struck him in the face. Within seconds, he was out cold as his head hung. Lo walked back to the phone and resumed his call.

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing… what you asked me?”

“I asked how you were liking being married?”

Lo ruminated for a while before he responded, “It’s cool. Still new to me, and I’m trying to get to know you better. I really like you, Bri-Bri.”

She tittered. “I like how you gave me a new nickname.”

“That’s my name for you. Don’t let nobody else call you that either.”

She snickered, “Yeah, okay. Hey, guess what?”

“What?”

“I got booked for a Nike campaign.”

“Word?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited. It’s for their body collection. It’s in two weeks, so I’m going to go hard in the gym to make sure I look good.”

Lo admired her work ethic. Bria was always working out or rehearsing for a performance. That was one of the things he admired about her.

“You look good already. You don’t need to do anything else.”

“No, I have to look perfect. This is a big deal. I can’t believe my agent got me this booking. Now I’m just waiting to see if I got the part for Swan Lake.”

“We’ll have to celebrate.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’ll plan something,” he assured, making a mental note to call Devyn so he could help him out with the task.

“My sister wants to go out tomorrow to celebrate. Do you want to come?”

“Nah, I’ll let you do your thing with your sis.”

She smacked her lips. “I knew you would say no.”

“What I look like hanging with you and your sister? I ain’t no bitch.”