Page 28
Story: The Filth Kings
Twenty-Seven
Flowerpots? I frowned as I observed the front of Monster’s porch. I expected the usual—cold and empty, the way it has always been. I stepped back off the porch and froze in place as I took in the scene. This wasn’t what the fuck I expected. His house was different, the porch had been transformed.
Soft lights hung off the railing, his old wooden chairs were replaced with nice cushions with a small table in the corner with a crystal glass vase with fresh flowers. It hit me hard and fast…it was because of Natavi. There was no doubt in my mind about it. Lights caught the edge of the doorframe to make visitors feel welcomed. Ain’t this bout a bitch!
As long as I’ve known Monster, he had never let anyone in close enough to rearrange shit concerning him. Monster didn’t even seem like the type of man to want anyone this close. I shook my head to shake the shock off and picked up my fist to knock on the door. Out of habit since I had no guards along with me today, I turned around to check out my surroundings until I heard the door open.
Monster grunted without speaking. Before I turned around I heard his heavy boots stomp away. I turned around to step inside but paused, ready to take more steps backward. What the fuck is going on here? I couldn’t bite back the low chuckle and smirk that shifted my face. I unbuttoned the top button of my suit jacket and leaned against the door frame.
“Your letting my warm air out.” He mumbled grumpily.
I raised my brows at his statement. I didn’t visit here often, but whenever I did, Monster kept it as cold as an igloo inside. The torn wallpaper, the old worn furniture and the way that his house lacked life inside of it breathed some type of resurrection.
Monster had new furniture, bookshelves in each corner of his living room that was stacked with books like he gave a damn about reading. He sat on his sectional couch with a wooden folding tray with a glass plate of food stacked. I couldn’t wrap my mind around none of what was displayed in front of me. I didn’t understand what any of it meant except Monster had fallen in love with Natavi and was in denial about the shit.
“Homecooked meal…you got the place redecorated.” I mumbled underneath my breath.
“And?” He spoke up with a mouth full of food.
“Change of clothes, the house is warm instead of cold.” I smirked as I continued my rant.
I turned around and finally shut the door behind me and that’s when I noticed that this fool had the door replaced.
“What happened to the thick piece of wood that went in front of the door?” I asked as I took a seat across from him.
“Natavi thought it was best to get rid of the door. It was barely hanging on anyway.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
I still look around in amusement, his house didn’t have the same oppressive weight to it. His heavy black curtains were drawn back. There’s a comfort that doesn’t belong here, warmth that I never experienced in any home.
“Natavi thought it was best, eh.” I repeated just as I heard glass break against the floor.
I locked eyes with Natavi, she looked like she pissed herself.
“Dammit Detavio!” Monster gritted as he turned around to check on Natavi.
Without a second thought, he jumped up, almost knocking his tray of food over. My heart clenched as tightness entered my chest. She gasped as she tore her eyes away from me. Monster, whom I just found out to be my brother, the one that’s always still and quiet, locked into himself… I watched him react as if she was in pain….it was like the sound of that possibility snapped something inside of him to react, to cater… I sat frozen, unable to look away.
As she bent down, he kneeled in front of her, his normal cold expression was soft in a way I’d never seen. His eyes focused on her, he didn’t give a damn that I was a witness to what he was doing. I almost don’t recognize him at all.
“You, okay?” His voice was low and urgent.
“I’m sorry, Monni…I didn’t know you had company.” She stuttered over her words.
Monster used his work boots to move the glass out of her way.
“I’ll go get the broom to sweep all of this up.” She avoided my gaze.
She stumbled slightly, and he was there with his hand on her back to guide and steady her out of harm’s way of the broken glass. I don’t know if I was disgusted, curious, jealous, or just amazed. I shook my head again, and pulled out a cigar to light and waited on Monster to return.
Monster walked back in the room with a broom and dustpan. He silently swept all the broken glass up and walked away to discard of it. He walked back into the room with an icy look plastered on his face. He ignored me then sat down to eat the rest of his food. I puffed on my cigar and waited for him to break our silence. Ten minutes went by before he guzzled his beer down.
A loud burp left his mouth as he moved the food tray to the side of him. He reached for a box of tooth picks on the table then finally looked up at me.
“Did you kill your friend a week ago?” A sinister smile etched across his face.
“Did you fall in love?” I asked, not wanting to answer his question first.
It seemed like we both went through some unusual changes.
“Natavi is mine. I don’t know what love is.” He shrugged.
“I take that as a yes, you fell deeply in love. I like the changes around here.” I chuckled as I eyed the soft touches around his front living room.
“You got candles burning. They smell delightful,” I added.
“I came by to let you know that I’m going to Arkville to have a talk with Impurity.” I sat up to ash my cigar.
“You came here alone today?” Monster asked as he folded his hands in front of him.
I took in his attire as I nodded my head yes to traveling alone. Monster had on cotton plaid pajama pants with a black long-sleeved shirt.
“Jalissa is around, I’ve been looking for her. I think you should move around with protection until things get settled for good.” Monster’s eyes grew dark.
“Do you want to come with me to Arkville?” I asked.
An uncomfortable silence for seconds too long went by before Monster spoke.
“Since I was a kid, I didn’t understand my life. I didn’t understand my parents either. I thought that the way that I got treated was because I was Black and ugly as fuck. Until I saw beautiful people getting treated worse than me. After everything, I wanted to meet my parents and ask them questions. I already had it in my mind but not in my heart to forgive them just to feel wanted and cared for by somebody. I thought that was Jalissa… she came to my rescue in Thailand with her supermom cape on. I believed every word she said to me, about you, and Impurity. I didn’t know… but as the years went by, I saw that you were nothing like Impurity. All I knew was that before I killed that bastard for selling me and breaking Jalissa’s heart that I would ask him questions. Until it backfired…” He swallowed down hard and looked away for a couple of seconds.
“There was a boy always with her. At first, I thought it was a girl…” His dark eyes locked back with mine.
I sat up in my seat and felt my chest constrict.
“She always said that she saved the boy and how the boy always wanted to be a girl. Until I went through her shit and saw hormone pills and all sorts of other medication that no kid should be taking. The boy always looked sad and trapped, Jalissa kept him hidden most of the time. Now that I look back at it, I think it’s the reason why she moved me to her second apartment when we got settled back in the states from Thailand. He sort of looks just like?—”
“Octavio…” I cut him off.
I could barely breathe as I felt a lump grow thick in my throat.
“She calls him Octavia…” He uttered lowly.
Monster’s eyes mirrored mine, we communicated without saying to much of anything for a while with our eyes.
“When she revealed that you were my brother and Impurity is my father, I realized that the boy is our?—”
“Brother.” I whispered while I pinched the bridge of my nose to stop the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes.
I hadn’t cried since my twelfth birthday. I stood abruptly and clenched my fist at my sides, trying to keep all of this rage and pain inside. The cold reality of it all was ripping my insides up. The memories, the anger, and fear that I once had came to the forefront all at once. It all crashed like a wave that refused to let me breathe. My heart started to pound as my throat grew tighter.
“Octavio…Octavio is—our younger…brother.” I forced the words out and started to pace in front of Monster.
I felt his dark eyes watch me, he waited for me to say something like I waited for his next set of words like my life depended on it. I was stuck in an internal battle with my emotions that were trying to force its way out to the surface. My chest burned and felt raw, and I was getting ready to drown in all of my self-pity that once made me weak.
I can’t fucking hold it in! I panicked as my breathing hitched. I took a step back to try to distance myself from all the memories that I had with Octavio and nothing worked. It felt like I was getting ready to break into pieces right in front of Monster. It was too late, the weight of everything came through my eyes. My tears started to trickle at first and then my floodgates opened and poured out. The pain, guilt, and rejection that I felt over the years couldn’t be contained.
I dropped my head in defeat and pressed both of my hands over my face to hide it, but even that was a hard task. I couldn’t hide shit right now. Octavio, I thought he was safe, I thought Jalissa at least loved him and…
I sobbed out loud and choked on my own sobs. I growled and cried angrily, ready to rip anything apart until I felt Monster by my side. His cold, rough hand grabbed the back of my neck as he pulled me into his chest.
“They fucked us all up, the three of us.” His voice cracked.
It all hit me harder than I thought it would. I couldn’t even force myself to look up into his eyes. I couldn’t even imagine what he went through out in Thailand. He thought Jalissa saved him only for her to use him as a chess piece in her sick ass game to get back at Detavio and me. Monster bowed his head to mine, I felt his chest jump, heard him sniffle and it broke me more. It felt like we both were drowning, we both struggled to bring each other back to life.
“I got to find our brother.” I grabbed a handful of his shirt and squeezed for dear life.
“Listen to me, Detavio.” Monster spoke through a broken voice.
He planted his hands on either side of my shoulder and shook me until I locked eyes with him.
“You go to Arkville…get all of the answers and closure that you need from Impurity. After the ball…He’s a dead man. There’s no need for me to gather any closure from him or Jalissa. They are the reason why we are so fucked up and demented. We accept who we are and move forward with them dead. I will have men look into Octavio, I’ll find him soon. I promise.” He gritted out painfully.
“I can kill Impurity.” I stepped back and fisted my tears away.
“You won’t. It doesn’t make you weak either, Detavio. I just know that you won’t kill him. Even though you know he deserves it, you wouldn’t be able to kill him because while he rejected me and Octavio, he accepted you; he tried to groom you to be just like him. While you thought the world was against you… Impurity appeared to be a father that was trying to prepare you for a world that he knew would reject you.”
I nodded my head to what he said. Deep down, I knew he was right. I battled with myself and stayed away from Impurity once my company took off and was making good money. I thought about killing Impurity several times but felt weak and hated myself because I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t understand why, but for years I tried to justify not pulling the trigger or carving his organs out like he did to hundreds of innocent people.
I craved to see and feel blood because of Impurity. He forced me into his dark world and held me as prisoner without me accepting accountability for it as a grown man.
“It’s okay to cry. A close friend of mine used to tell me that,” Monster stated.
“We don’t have to pretend that we strong all the time…we don’t have to always hold it in either, because if we do, the shit will continue to eat away at us until we are nothing. We human, it’s alright to feel shit. I keep telling myself that. How can we want to feel free of all of this bullshit if we don’t allow ourselves to feel anything…hurt, anger, pain, sadness…How can we get to happiness if we don’t feel all the other emotions that hit us?” He asked.
“It makes me feel weak.” I muttered.
“No, it makes you feel real.” He smirked.
“Besides, I won’t tell a soul if you don’t.” Monster cracked a full-blown smile.
That was new as well. I never seen him smile, just like I came here and saw his house redecorated filled with warmth and a touch of love.
“I feel good knowing that the pieces to our broken puzzle is starting to come together. Once we get Octavio, everything will be okay,” I said out loud to Monster but more so to myself.
“Indeed, but right now and the following days will be hell. We have to continue to operate how we been operating and see shit through.” Monster’s voice was back cold and void of any emotion.
“You right,” I said.
“I’m always right, I guess it’s a big brother kind of thing.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28 (Reading here)
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40