Page 4 of Capicú Summer
Lenny’s expression shifts, the charm drops, and the mask cracks, letting the real him step forward. The one who only loves me when I’m quiet. When I’m small. I almost flinch, but I hold my ground, biting down on my lip with a lift of my chin.
“Mi vida*, it’s a new home,” he snaps in a demeanor so calm that it’s insulting. “A better one. It’s a great thing. If anything, Adriana, you should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” I choke out. “For what?”
He laughs, the sound cold and humorless. “For everything that you are. Without me, you would still be clinging to a block that did nothing but chew you up. Stuck in a bodega with no ambition. No real fulfillment. Maybe pregnant with some thug’s baby.” His voice rises, jealousy flashing across his features and I know exactly which street thug he refers to. “Now look at you, a respectable woman, mi mujer*. You had no direction and I showed you the way.”
My breath stutters, vision clouding with tears. “Don’t go there.”
But he does. He always does.
“Where would you even go, huh? Back to the hood that killed your brother? The same streets that put drugs in your mother’s veins? That place ruined your whole damn family, Adri.”
My heart drops—a freefall straight into the pit he’s been digging under me for years. He’s right and he knows it. Worst of all… I know it. Still, I hold my ground, not letting him control me. Not anymore.
“And for what?” he continues, stepping closer, eyes narrowing. “So you can run back to the same people who never left? The same one stuck there? The same one who—” Lenny stops, not stomaching to say what comes next, but the damage is already done. Because I know exactly who he means. Su primo, Yael.*
The name hangs in the air even though he doesn't say it. The ghost that haunts us, a wound he knows he can press when he wants to make me bleed without lifting a hand. My voice comes out lower and steadier than I expect when I finally speak.
“Altura didn’t ruin me.” I drag in a breath, finally feeling that last tether inside me snap, clean and irreversible. I grab my suitcase, my grip firm before turning my back on him. But not before saying, “You did.”
His answer is a bitter laugh, followed by another painful jab.
“Where would you go? There’s nothing there for you, Adri, this is your home. Your place is here with me. Where are you going, back to the hood?”
* Y Todo Para Que? - And everything for what?
* Y todo es mi culpa - And everything is my fault.
* Pero no hoy - But not today.
* Por Dios - For God.
* Mi Reina - My queen.
* Mi vida - My life
* Mi mujer - My wife.
* Su primo, Yael - His cousin, Yael.
CHAPTER 2
Adriana
Oh, and that I did…
The plot twist Lenny never saw coming.
Hell… I didn’t either.
Altura hits me before the cab even pulls off. If someone had told me I would be back at the place I tried so hard to forget, I would have laughed in their faces and called them a liar. But here I am, taking in the busy streets. The graffiti painted mural of the Puerto Rican and Dominican flags that merge on the walls is still as vivid as I remember. My lip quivers, and the emotions all come tumbling down. For a brief moment, I close my eyes trying to center myself, focusing on breathing. The smell of hot asphalt and fried onions invades my lungs. Of course someone’s grilling.
All the different scents merge into something cozy and familiar that makes my heart feel less heavy. The final realization that I’m back home.
That I’m free….
The bass from a random Honda Civic shakes the sidewalk, with the dembow blaring from its speaker. Kids double dutch, and the sight brings me back to happier times—before everything changed.
