Page 6

You Rollin or Nah?

I knew I wasn’t playing fair this morning, but Alexis left me with no choice. We had been trying to spare Abel’s feelings for far too long. The shooting could have gone another way. I decided that I wouldn’t live my life with any regrets. I’d spent years lusting over Alexis watching her date loser after loser. Abel was my right hand, but I couldn’t allow that to stop me from pursuing his sister. I didn’t believe in coincidences. This shooting was the universe’s way of waking me up.

My life was full of everything except someone to share it with. There had been plenty of women in and out of my life. I always found fault in them no matter what. They may have been perfect for someone else, but they weren’t Alexis. When I woke up in the hospital and hers was the first face I saw, I knew I couldn’t ignore my feelings any longer. It would be hard to break the news to Abel, but it would have to be done. I decided to take this time alone with her as an opportunity to show her how life could be with us together.

I guess asking her what she wanted was too much for her. She went from staring out the bay window to cleaning up our dishes from breakfast. I decided to give her some time and not follow her, but it had been over an hour. There weren’t that many dishes, and my kitchen wasn’t dirty.

I got up from the couch and made my way to the kitchen. She was seated on one of the chairs on the island scrolling on her phone. I walked to the opposite side of the island, so we were face to face. I took in the unreadable expression on her beautiful brown face. Her eyes were scrunched up as she played with her ponytail.

“Come on. Let’s go for a walk so I can show you the property,” I offered. I walked over to her as she finally set her phone down. Once I reached Alexis, I extended my hand for her to grab. It was warm, so we didn’t need coats. She rose from the chair, and I led us out the back door.

The house was on three acres of land, so there was plenty of land to cover. One of the things I loved about this property was the guest house I had built. I used it as my art studio most of the time, as I never had guests here. As we walked hand in hand, I allowed Alexis to take in the greenery that surrounded us. When we reached the studio, she gasped as she entered. My portraits covered the walls, so I figured that was the reason behind the gasp.

“Wolf, did you make all of these?” she questioned.

“Yup, this is my studio. I come here to clear my head and create. Since going legit, I’ve had more free time.”

She took her time to stop in front of each portrait and study it. I felt vulnerable, but there was honestly no one else I could be this vulnerable with. Over the years, Alexis and I have shared things with each other that we wouldn’t share with anyone else. This bond we shared wasn’t built overnight. Abel just thought I was being a brother figure to her. Honestly that was how it started initially, but over time it became apparent that it was far from that.

“I’ve always known you were talented, but these are much better than anything you ever shared with me. I can see the growth in your drawings. What’s the story behind these pieces?”

“When I started drawing, I had no idea what any of these pieces were. As I continued on, I guess they became my story. The first one showed my relationship with my parents. Next was the relationship between my mother and I now that my father is no longer with us.

“Then came my relationship with Uncle Will after my mother and I moved here. Here is Abel and I, which is a display of our brotherhood amongst the other club members. And this one represents you—the way I remember meeting you with pigtails and glasses.” I snickered.

Her eyes watered as she studied them all. I met Abel and Alexis at a very pivotal time in my life. The death of my father was sudden and unexpected but necessary. He was physically abusive toward my mother and I. His death wasn’t one that I talked about often, especially since I was the reason he was dead.

I had been a protector all my life. The first woman I ever had to protect was my mother. One night my father came home intoxicated and beat on my mother. She usually tried to fight back, and I would drown out the noise.

On this particular night I didn’t hear anything, so I came out of my room. My mother laid unconscious on the kitchen floor. At that moment I decided I had enough, so I grabbed the big knife my mother told me never to touch. My father came toward me and landed on the knife. I watched as he bled out on the floor. While he choked on his own blood, I didn’t call 911 like I was taught. I let him lie there next to my mother. When my mother eventually came to, she called my Uncle Will. He had his crew clean up the kitchen.

My mother and I moved into his home in Parkchester Heights that night. He told us as far as anyone knew my father left us. It wasn’t like the story was so far-fetched since he was a known womanizer. A man I never wanted to be anything like.

“Wolf, are you okay? I’ve been calling your name.”

“Yeah, I just got lost in the memories that led to these drawings. Come on, let’s go for a walk. I just wanted to show you part of the house you can come to if you ever need some alone time. It’s important to me that you are comfortable here. I know we uprooted you, but this is as much your home as it is mine.”

“It’s funny you say that. I have felt right at home since I walked into the house,” Alexis said with a smile.

While we walked around the property, I tried not to ruin the moment by letting her know I was tired. I noticed that I became tired a lot faster than normal since the shooting. While I didn’t expect to be running around the house right now, I also didn’t expect to be sweating profusely. Alexis must have noticed my pace slowing down. She stopped to look at me.

“Are you okay? We can go back inside if you need to. I don’t need you overexerting yourself.” She must have noticed my hesitation in response to her question. “Come on, let’s get you inside. I think we could both use a nap.”

Alexis had no idea how much I appreciated her not making it obvious that I was in pain. I was still a man, so my pride wouldn’t allow me to say out loud how this gunshot wound affected me. My only hope was that the recovery wouldn’t take too long. It was only the second day without drawing or inking anything. The withdrawal from not doing the two things that I enjoyed more than anything in this world was serious.

By the time we made it back inside the house, going upstairs to my bedroom was out of the question. I went to the living room, sat on the couch, then turned the television on. I thought Alexis was right behind me, but a few minutes later she appeared in the room with a glass of water, my antibiotics, and a painkiller. I patted the sofa next to me so she could take a seat. She watched me intently while I swallowed the pills.

I lay back on the sofa and pulled her down to lay on my chest, then I wrapped my arm around her while I tried my best to adjust the other arm that was in the sling. Before I knew it, I was out for the count.