Tales of the Underground: Blinded - 25. The Cake Run

You never know what tomorrow will bring…who you’ll meet, who you’ll be, what you’ll learn, what you’ll do…what will be taken from you…and yet that’s the magic of life, isn’t it? You never know what the next 24 hours will bring, yet most of us rush head first into the day anyway, so confident in what’s going to happen, so confident things won’t radically change. Well a few weeks ago my life radically changed. An ex-gang member landed on my best friend’s door step, and ever since that moment…ever since I met him in the foyer of that huge house…well I can’t stop thinking about him.

“Alexa!” I cheerfully called out to the black circle on my counter, as I rose out of my bed “Play The Beatles.”

“Playing The Beatles” the small circle responded, beginning to blast music as I went about my normal morning routine. Days are uncertain, we never know what’s going to happen…but to me, that’s what makes life worth living…that’s what makes it all so-so exciting!

I carefully scanned through my closet, knowing I had to look perfect for the big day…for my boyfriend’s birthday! As the music played I couldn’t help but dance along with the rhythm while picking out some nice but casual stuff I was sure Riley would like.

“Incoming text Aaron James” the small circle called out, interrupting the music.

“Alexa read text” I shouted, still deep in my closet, throwing on the change of clothes.

“Sorry I don’t understand, please try again later.” The black circle replied, as music began to play once more. Stupid firggin thing!

“Alexa!” I shouted at the top of my lungs “Read text!”

“Reading text from Aaron James” The circle finally understood “Hey can you come earlier. C Y has been begging mom to let you all morning.”

“Alexa text Aaron James Yes” I yelped, heading towards the door and throwing my phone into my pocket. I headed towards the stairs, but quickly stopped in the bathroom to fix my hair. I snatched the thick comb from the counter and ran the long hair that was hanging into my face up to the sky. It never went all that high, but the way the brown hair softly lifted up into a lighter shade…I just really love my hair! When it finally met my standards I turned around and finally ran down the stairs.

“You love that thing so much that I thought you were going to stay in your room all day talking to it.” My dad teased, having overhead the yelling from the kitchen downstairs.

“It makes life easier!” I laughed “All I have to do is call its name and tell it what to do.”

“And you were shouting at it because…” he pestered.

“Because I like to yell every now and then, it’s good for the soul.” I smiled, grabbing my keys of the counter.

“Where are you headed off to?” he poked, with a raise of his eyebrow.

“The James’, it’s Riley’s birthday, remember?” I exhaled, knowing what was coming next.

“Riley?” he repeated, unsure of who I was referring to.

“Cy” I clarified, wishing he didn’t only know him by his gang name. My dad shook his head, but bit his tongue so not to upset me “So can I go early, or is there something I need to get done first?”

“As long as it’s okay with them.” He waived off, picking up the new paper “I just wish you didn’t have to hang out with that kid.” He confessed, finally speaking his mind.

“I know, but he’s changed, I swear!” I explained, trying to make eye contact with him “He’s totally harmless!”

“I have about a million and one police reports I can show you that say otherwise” he muttered, not bothering to look up. I let out a deep sigh and kept my eyes focused on him “Alright sorry!” he laughed “Go have fun with your friends, just be careful, you can never be sure what’s actually going through someone’s head.”

“You could say that about anyone” I shook heading towards the door.

“I am saying it about anyone!” he lied, having a specific someone in mind “Drive safely, and you better text me when you get there!”

“I will” I yelped, quickly running out of the house. I know he doesn’t like Riley…and I know he has good reasons not to…I just want him to keep an open mind about him. I want him to realize Riley can change…that Riley has changed!

They didn’t exactly get along the first time they met, but that was different! That was when I still knew him as Cy…when I still looked at him the same way everyone else does. Thing have changed, he’ll see that! Even if he doesn’t…well I know they’ll both play nice for my sake…at least I hope so!

I felt butterflies begin to take flight as I pulled into the long circular driveway which led up to the James’ home. I’ve known Riley for over a month now, and I’ve been coming to this house since I was a little kid…but ever since I fell for him, I just can’t help but lightly shake with nerves. I parked my car as close to the curb as possible so not to block anyone, grabbed the two big presents off the passenger’s seat and headed towards the door. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and quickly pushed the doorbell.

Before I knew it two bodies rushed to the door, battling to see who could get there first.

“Get outta the way dickhead!” I heard a young voice cry out in broken English.

“I can’t open it if you’re pushing me!” A more structured voice replied with some anger in it.

The two distorted figures in the warped glass fought for control, until finally the smaller one corrected his footing and shoved the bigger one out of the doorway. “Hey” he greeted, finally getting the door open “What took ya so long?”

“Was the battle really necessary?” I giggled taking a look at the shortish teen in front of me. Dark shaggy hair covered his head, much neater than it was when I had first met him. Below hung thick black glasses which attempted to hide countless scars. One of the eyes drifted as the brown pupil struggled to show against a light yellow haze, both colors trying to envelop the eye, all of which was easy to miss as spots of blood seemed to endlessly be gathering in the corners of the eye. Below wore a blank grey shirt which hid even more scars, yet still some ran under his sleeves and into his arms, exposing the years of abuse and neglect he’s faced. However even those can be missed when you look at the bright blue band wrapping around his elbow, a hint of the saint’s logo showing at the bottom of the sleeve. “Happy birthday!” I yelped, realizing I had been staring.

“Yeah yeah” he mumbled walking off, towards the game room.

Aaron rolled his eyes and straightened himself up from the shove he had just taken “Hey Carter.”

“Hey, want to take these for me?” I poked, pushing the gifts towards him.

“Sure” Aaron sarcastically groaned “I’ll just be the butler for the day!”

“Sounds good” I teased, forcing the gifts on him, and catching up to my boyfriend who was disappearing off into the other room “So how’s it feel to be 16?”

“The same it felt to be 15” he quickly replied in an unamused voice.

“Oh come on!” I complained “I haven’t seen you since Tuesday, and you’re in a bad mood?”

“I’m not in a bad mood.” He protested, peering at me through the side of his good eye.

“Yes he is” Aaron laughed, finally entering the room “He’s mad because mom won’t let him wear blue anymore.”

I looked to Aaron, then Riley, confused by their words “Why not?”

“Because when he was volunteering…”

“Aaron!” Riley interrupted in a yelp “I’mma knock your teeth out if you don stop talkin.”

“Volunteering?” I repeated with a tilt of my head.

“Yup” Aaron confirmed with a smile “Since we both got suspended Mom made us go to some soup kitchen, so we could “tell people in unfortunate situations how we were ruining our opportunities with senseless violence.””

“Like I never been to one of those before.” Riley grunted under his breath.

“And Cy was wearing blue, because he’s stupid, and figured that since we were near the Southside he needed to wear gang colors.” Aaron began with a grin “But he doesn’t think so…”

“Man shut up!” Riley refuted “It happened one day and you gotta tell the world, I been volunteerin all week, and the one day you was there someone started trouble.”

“Long story short, someone called Cy the devil and started throwing food at him!” Aaron laughed, leaning away from his younger brother “So mom said no more wearing gang colors.”

Riley shifted his mouth from side to side with anger, and went to lung but I grabbed onto him before he could “Woh there! I think you’ve had enough fights for one week!”

“You so lucky he’s holding me back!” Riley squirmed, desperately trying to get at his brother “I’mma knock that grin right off your face!”

“What’s with you this week?” I asked, holding him a little more closely than a friend would “You’ve been trying to fight everyone!”

“Have not.” He pouted, pushing away from me. I raised my eyebrows as our eyes connected “It’s jus one of those weeks okay?”

“Okay” I nodded, not fully understanding what he meant

“Let’s just play somethin” he grunted, tossing me and Aaron controllers. For the next hour or so, we hung out and just had fun being teenagers for while…not worrying about who’s better than who, not bickering with one another over stupid things, or calling one another name’s, just relaxing and having fun.

“Boys” Mrs. James began entering the room “Oh Carter, I thought I heard you walk in before.”

“Hi Mrs. James.” I happily greeted “How are you?”

“I’m good” she warmly smiled “I’m going to pick up Riley’s cake, would any of you like to come help me carry it?”

“Aaron does” Riley quickly responded without hesitation.

“What?” Aaron yelped throwing his hands up “Come on, I helped decorate this morning, you could at least…”

“It is his birthday” Mrs. James reminded us

“Carter, don’t you agree…”

“I’m pleading the 5^th here.” I backed out, caught between my best friend and boyfriend.

“Alright Aaron, come on, it’ll only take a few minutes.” Mrs. James ordered, heading towards the door. Aaron reluctantly stood up and began muttering under his breath. “Carter, make sure Riley behaves.” Mrs. James teased as the door shut behind them

“Come on” Riley let out jumping up and grabbing onto my hand.

“Where are we going?” I giggled, as he pulled me throughout the house.

Riley kept his head down, pulling me by the arm up the stairs and into his and Aaron’s bedroom. The second the door shut I felt him pull me close, as he laid his lips upon mine. I stood there for a minute or two, just enjoying the moment until finally I pulled away slightly “It’s good to see you too.” I teased, getting a closer look at how energetic he had become.

“Come on, we got like 20 minutes tops” he instructed trying to pull me close once again.

I giggled but turned my face before he could latch onto my lips “What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“I jus really missed you” he shrugged with a mischievous grin “Besides when’s the next time we gonna be…well…alone.”

“Oh…OH” I let out finally catching on to what he was trying to initiate “Riley, I…I was just kidding at the Bull’s game. I mean you’re still not even okay with being called gay, don’t you think this is a little soon.”

“That’s cause I ain’t gay!” he protested, trying to drag me closer to his bed.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation “Okay, look, tell yourself whatever you want, but I’m not going through on this until I know you’re fully okay with it.”

“I am!” he shouted “Oh my god! Jus get over here!”

“It’s a very romantic mood you’re setting” I teased, pushing his buttons more “I mean the music is good, the lighting is perfect, and you’re being extremely charming right now!”

“I’m sorry” he quickly let out “We jus don’t have time for all that crap right now, you can set it all up next time if you wan, but right now we gotta make do with what we got.”

I slowly walked over, sat down on the bed next to him, and smiled “You’re sure you’re ready?” before he could answer he pulled me close and landed a deep kiss on the lips “Well that’s enough of a yes for me!” I giggled, as he wrestled me down to the mattress “Wait, wait” I let out, as a combination of nerves and excitement began to pump through my heart “I-just…go easy…neither of us have ever done this before so…” I paused as another mischievous grin crossed his face “Riley!” I yelped “You’ve totally done this before!”

“No I….”

“Riley!” I cried, starting to see through him.

“I was in a gang, what did ya think?” he shrugged, as his face turned red “but it never really worked.” He softly admitted “It was with girls, and I just didn…I couldn…okay?”

“Oh…” I exhaled, catching onto what he was trying to say “Is that going to be a problem today?” I teased catching his dirty smile.

“NOPE!” he yelped, pulling my lips onto his.

Being with him was better than I ever could’ve imagined. We just seemed to connect…like really really connect. I know he said he’s not gay, but god damn does he have himself fooled. Every action…every kiss we shared…it wove our souls closer and closer together. It wasn’t just sex…it was the meeting of our who we are, our final connection…the last pillar in the way of us truly becoming a couple.

I looked over to him and smiled, as we both laid back to catch our breaths “You sure you’re not gay?”

“Only for you” he giggled, trying to hide the smile which coated his face “So it was…I…it was good?”

“Yeah” I bashfully nodded as my face turned red “It was good” I took another few seconds to compose myself, before reaching out and running my hand across his chest. Thick scarring coated the skin, causing it to appear bright red and angry. In the center laid a dark red brand in the outline of the saints logo…I wanted to ask about it, but couldn’t find the nerve. Finally I followed one scar up to his shoulder where a small red indent laid, as my finger hit it he involuntarily flinched away “Sorry” I let out, not sure if I had actually hurt him.

“It’s fine” he dismissed, hoping I would leave it alone.

“They did all this to you?” I poked, looking at all the damage that laid on him. From his collarbone to his waist…every inch seemed to be beaten, battered or bruised in some way shape or form. His eyes met mine, but he refused to speak. “Why?” He shook his head, refusing to answer once more and reached for his shirt on the nearby counter. “No” I swatted away

“It’s disgustin” he finally spoke “You don have to see…”

“I don’t think it is.” I comforted, placing my hand back on his chest “It’s a part of you…it’s not going anywhere and neither am I.”I took in another breath as I took a good look at him, all his scars and marks exposed there for me to see…yet I don’t want to run…I don’t want to scream. “Thank you.”

“You was good too” he sheepishly admitted, misunderstanding what I meant.

“Not for that!” I blushingly giggled at the compliment “For not being afraid to show me who you are…to look weak in front of me.”

“I…” he shrugged, and thought it over “I jus trust you…I wasn worried you were gonna hurt me, or make fun of me…I just knew I wanted you close to me…I knew I wanted you.”

I leaned in and landed another kiss on those small lips of his. To so many people around here he’s a threat, he’s scary….he’s a monster, but to me…he’s an angel. I can’t get enough of him. It’s been a long hard road, but with every challenge we’ve overcome he’s let me in further and further, and now, here we lay…both exposed, both leaving everything out there, and yet we fully trust one another…we know we won’t get hurt.

“Did I fuck up by punchin Owen?” He poked looking over at me.

As our eyes connected once more I couldn’t help but smile. When I first met him I didn’t know where to look, it’s not uncommon for his left eye to drift off, making it difficult to keep eye contact with him…but after a few days I learned that if I track his right eye my left eye lands where his left pupil should be. “I’m not going to say you did the right thing by hitting him” I began, recalling the situation “but you weren’t totally out of line.”

“I jus didn’t want him to make Aaron feel like shit for bein adopted” he explained, letting me further and further in.

“So why hit him?” I poked, hoping to get a better look into how he thinks.

He shrugged his shoulders, and lightly shifted his mouth “Quickest way to get him to shut up, bet he didn go near Aaron all week.”

“Nope” I shook, smile fading “He’s been too scared to go near any of us.”

“Good! he’s a fuckin douche!” Riley exclaimed, still proud of his actions.

“You can’t rely on making people scared of you.” I let out, reaching over and gently rubbing the side of his face.

His eyes drifted to my hand, and for a second he thought about pushing away, but ultimately decided against it “Why? It worked didn it?”

“I guess” I exhaled “But now everyone in that cafeteria thinks you’re dangerous. Everyone thinks you’re the gang member they’ve heard about. You have to be the bigger man…you have to prove them wrong, or you’ll never escape your past.”

“Maybe I don wanna escape my past” he muttered, beginning to see my point.

I exhaled a deep breath and let out a comforting smile “I’ll be here for you on matter what…but if you don’t escape your past, then people will hold it against you for the rest of your life, is that what you want?”

“No” he grunted, too stubborn to actually acknowledge my point, but I could tell I was getting through to him.

“Then do both of us a favor, and let one of us handle it next time.” I offered, working my hand back down to his chest “We’ll deal with Owen without getting any suspensions.”

“Fine” he sighed, leaning his forehead closer to mine “but if he goes at my family again…I’m gonna do what I gotta.”

“And I’ll be there to stop you” I teased, as my hand unwillingly flowed back to the small indent on his right shoulder. Once more he flinched away, except this time his eyes flared with intensity “What is this?” He slowly blinked, trying to scare me off “I’m sorry but…is it from a bullet?”

“It’s from a bike accident remember?” he teased, recalling one of the first fights he had gotten into with Owen.

I forced a smile, and kissed him on the forehead before sitting up “Seriously…will you ever tell me?”

He thought it over for a seconds and slowly began to get dressed “Jus from a turf fight is all.”

“So it is from a gun?” I gasped, taking one last good look at it as he threw his shirt on.

He bit his lip but after a few seconds began to nod “It was a long time ago…I don wanna talk about it.”

“I understand” I smiled, jumping up and throwing my own clothes on “Now about those tally marks…”

He rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the door. “Come on, Aaron and Nancy will be home any second…the last thing they need to see is us in the bedroom.”

“You think he suspects anything?” I poked quickly joining him in the hall.

“Nah, he’s clueless” Riley softly giggled, placing his arm around my waste “He doesn even know whats goin on around him most of the time. Sometimes I move shit around just to see if he notices.”

“Will you ever be okay with telling him?” I pressured, curious to hear his answer.

Riley immediately shook his head and peered over at me “Never.”

“Bet you said that about blowing guys too” I taunted, as a frisky smile crossed my face “Yet here we are.”

“Shut up perv” he shoved, as a blush formed on his face “Jus…don tell anyone about this…okay?”

“Too late” I giggled, starting to press his buttons once more “I actually took a video of us; it’s going up on pornhub as we speak.”

“You so nasty.” He grunted, blush only growing stronger.

I let out another small laugh before slowing down and lightly grabbing onto his face “You have nothing to be embarrassed about…”

“Save it” he dismissed, pushing me away “I don need no pep talk, this won’t be the last time we do it…its jus where I’m from…if someone heard what we did, we’ll we’d both wind up buried.”

I quickly caught up with him, seeing more concern instead of shame “Well you’re not there anyone, besides I thought no one catches the notorious Cy Walker.”

“They don” he confirmed, a small flash of pride starting to show in his eyes.

“Then I guess we’re fine.” I teased, as a smile finally broke on his face “Riley…”

“What?” He exhaled, expecting another joke.

I could feel nerves shoot through me as I thought carefully about my next few words. Its about time I say this…actually it’s long overdue “…I love you.” He froze where he stood, but didn’t say anything “I’m sorry” I quickly followed up “I didn’t mean too…”

“No” he interrupted “I jus…Nancy said that to me for the first time last weekend, and now you…I never heard those words.”

“Never?” I repeated, surprised by his confession.

He shook his head as his eyes drifted down “Never”

“Yeah well…I love you” I continued starting to gain confidence “I love you…I love you…I love you… I love you…” I continued for a few more seconds until he raised a hand “Have I caught up for all those years you didn’t hear those words yet?”

“No” he let out in a small broken breath, I couldn’t tell if it was a laugh or a cry.

“Well I love you…I love you…”

“Stop!” he goofily shouted “I love you too alright?

“That’s all I wanted to hear” I teased wrapping my arms around him from behind.

“I mean it too” he exhaled, turning his head and kissing me on the cheek “I really do love you.”

“Good” I giggled, surprised by how affectionate he was acting today. Normally he ran at the sight of hugs, but today he’s acting different…a little more reflective “Are you okay?”

“Yeah” he nodded, knowing what I meant “I jus, it’s good to be around people who love you for once.”

“Get used to it.” I encouraged, pulling him closer “There’s a lot more where this comes from.”

Cy…La Culebra…the serpent…Riley…there’s a lot of names people use to describe my boyfriend…but honestly I don’t care. I know who he is…I know that down deep he’s not that person he was…I know he’s changing…I know all he ever wanted was to be loved, and well…I’ve got more than enough of that for him.