“I need to run to the car. Come with me,” Seri beckoned.
“Where you guys going? Don’t you want to see this? We just intercepted,” Manny exclaimed, not understanding how they could not be into this game. It was intense.
“I need to run to the car. We’ll be back,” Seri explained.
“Why are you going to the car?”
“My purse is in there.”
Manny tilted his hips for his wallet. “Do you need some money?” he asked, thinking they were going for drinks or snacks.
“No. I don’t need money. I need a tampon.”
“Oh,” he said, looking around her to the field. He just had to ask.
Quill and Seri made their way through the dark multitude of cars. Theirs was parked toward the back in the grassy part. The game was a big deal and people came from everywhere to watch the Bobcats go up against the Lions. It wasn’t such a big deal to either of them. Seri laughed when Quill stepped into a pothole, landing her right on her butt.
Quill didn’t even have time to see what happened. She could hear Seri’s muffled scream and turned in the direction of the shrill. Her eyes darted, trying to focus on the two silhouettes. She could tell that he had one hand over her mouth and the other one held a gun with a narrow rod on the end. Quill knew it to be a silencer. The game was so noisy. Nobody would hear the gunshot. This couldn’t be happening again. How the hell did Seri keep getting held at gun point? People go lifetimes without ever being held up, and Seri just happened to be the once in a blue moon, or twice.
Quill could do nothing this time. She wasn’t close enough to do anything. What did he want? She had to react, but how?
“Quill?” she heard the voice.
Her feet felt like butter in the sun. They were going to collapse below her legs. Her stomach found a nice tight knot and made its way to her throat.
“Julius?” she managed to mutter.
He didn’t speak. He just stared. He couldn’t speak. She couldn’t speak. It was him. Julius was there. He came for her. She knew he would.
“Julius, let her go,” Quill finally remembered the gun being held to Seri’s head.
“What are you doing with her, Quill?” Julius didn’t understand. Why would she be with the bitch that split them up?
“She’s my friend, Julius. Please let her go,” Aquilla begged, taking a step toward him.
“Your friend!?! She’s not your friend, Quill. You know what she did. She deserves to die.”
“Julius, NO! PLEASE! I’m begging you. Let her go. For me,” she tried.
“How can you say she is your friend? She shot your own father. She’s a cold blooded murderer, Quill.”
“No, she didn’t. She didn’t kill anyone, Julius. She only did what she had to do.”
Julius let go of Seri and shoved her in front of him with the gun now in the exact same place she had just been shot.
“Tell her!” he demanded, shoving the gun in her back. “Fucking tell her who pulled the trigger,” he demanded.
Tell her what? “Seri,” Quill questioned. “What is he talking about?”
“I’m sorry, Quill.”
Quill looked into her eyes with pure confusion. “You shot him?”
“Quill, he pulled a gun. Either I shot him or he was going to shoot me. I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Now can I do away with her?” Julius asked.
“No. Let her go,” Aquilla demanded again. What the fuck just happened? It was all too much. Julius was there. He was right in front of her. Seri shot and killed her father?
“She’ll come after us, Quill. We can’t just leave her.”
“Come after us?” Quill asked in a daze. Did he come to take her away? What about Seri, her mom, her dad, and Reese. What would Whisper think?
“Yes, we can’t just leave her.”
“Quill, listen to me,” Seri tried, right before Julius sent a left hook right into her ribcage. Seri hit the ground. She’d been sucker punched there a hundred times, never had it ever felt like that.
“Julius, you idiot!” Quill yelled, dropping to her side. She was worried he did something to her injury.
“Let’s get out of here, Quill,” he ordered, “before I do blow her head off.”
Quill looked up to him. He wanted her to leave with him?
“Quill, please listen to me,” Seri begged. “Do not get in that car with him. Please, Quill.”
“I have to, Seri. I don’t belong here. I belong with Julius,” Quill spoke softly, kneeling beside her on the damp grass.
“Quill, no you don’t. You belong right here with your family who loves you. Please don’t do this, Quill.”
“Come on, Quill,” Julius warned. He didn’t like being exposed out in the open like he was. He needed to get his Quill and get the hell out of there.
“I’ll call you. I promise,” Quill said as Julius pulled her to her feet.
“Quill, no, Quill, stop!” Seri yelled. She managed to get to her feet, holding her side, and to his window before he pulled away.
“Julius, you’re off the radar. Nobody’s looking for you. All charges have been dropped. If you take her, you’ll go down. I will fucking take you down. Don’t take her. I’m begging you. She’s doing well here. Leave her alone. Please.”
“You expect me to believe a word you say? I will always be under the radar. I’m a Chavez.”
“No. I swear. All charges were dropped after your note to Quill was read. Quill, please get out!” she begged.
“Seri I am fine, Julius would never hurt me. I will call you, I promise.”
“Quill!!!!” Seri screamed after the taillights.
Julius made it as far as the next dirt road and pulled in. It wasn’t his plan. His plan was to get her as far away from there as he could. He couldn’t help it. He had to. He shoved the car in park and reached for her. She came to her knees and threw herself in his arms. He rubbed her back as she sobbed in the crook of his neck.
It was him. It was really Julius. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t stop crying. His arms, his smell, his hands, and everything about him were real. Julius pulled her away from him and kissed her lips. “God, I missed you.”
Quill couldn’t stop crying. This was what she wanted. This was what she had been waiting months on. Why did she feel so sad? Why did her family’s faces keep lingering in her mind? She didn’t care about them. Did she?
“We have to go, baby,” he said, sliding her away so that he could put the car in gear.
They drove in silence, both deep in their own thoughts for around 20 minutes.
“Throw it out the window, Quill,” Julius demanded when her cellphone rang.
“Julius, I have to answer it. Let me talk to her. I don’t want them to call the cops.”
“Quill, the cops are already there,” he assured her.
“No. They’re not like that. They love me. Please, Julius. Let me answer.”
Julius didn’t reply. He sighed, a deep breath and turned his attention to the road.
“Mom, I’m fine. I promise,” Quill answered. She could hear the wheeze in her mother’s lungs before she ever spoke.
“Quill, where are you?”
“We’re on the road. I’m not sure where we are going, but I will call you. I promise.”
“Quill, get out of that car. NOW!” her father yelled, frantically taking the phone from Liz. Seri stood helplessly watching. She felt horrible for not being able to stop him.
“Dad, I’m fine. I will keep you updated, okay?”
“No. Quill, it’s not okay. I’m giving him one hour to have you standing in this front door and I’m calling the cops.”
“Please don’t do that. I am fine. I belong with Julius. Please try to understand that.”
“Quill, you belong right here with your family, and Seri. For God’s sakes, Quill, please don’t do this.”