The weeks rolled by and May brought Darien's graduation. Devin and Rya sat out in the audience to represent her family. They were the only family she had left. Devin could be a distraction most times, but it was times like this that she remembered their childhood. A part of her had hoped Marcellus would show up, but the reasonable side of her knew he would not. They had successfully avoided one another for six weeks. Yes, she was counting. She had grown accustomed to his touch and she had been tempted to seek him out on occasion but had decided against it. Instead, she had thrown herself into her books and preparations for graduation. She assumed Marcellus had gone back to his life before their date.
Marcellus stood at the back of the auditorium. He had wanted to stay away but knew this day was too important to Darien for him not to acknowledge it in some way. He had not seen her in six weeks. Six weeks of not touching her. Six weeks of not kissing those soft full lips. Six weeks of not being inside her tight body. She looked beautiful as she walked across the stage smiling and waiving at Devin and Rya. Marcellus smiled to himself. He remembered those rare moments when she had smiled at him that way. Those times were over and done with now.
When the ceremony was over he put on his sun glasses and made his way to his car. Church was waiting for him. As the graduates and their families all spilled out of the auditorium, Marcellus looked back and his gaze collided with Rya's. He placed his index finger to his lips, telling her to keep their secret. She nodded slightly and turned her attention back to Darien and Devin.
Church watched from the review mirror as Marcellus just rode in silence. "You ok, Marcellus?"
"Yeah, Churchboy, I'm good."
"I know it's hard to let her go, but you have to." Church usually did not get into the personal affairs of Marcellus. He never had a reason to until now. Marcellus' reaction to Darien had him acting in ways that Church had never seen. They had been friends since they were both on the high school football team. Church was on his way to the pros before he got sidelined with a knee injury in college. Marcellus had encouraged him to finish school. Church went and got a degree in Heath and nutrition and then became a personal trainer. When he and Marcellus had gotten back in touch with one another, again Marcellus had convinced Church to partner with him. He needed someone he could trust, and with Church, whose real name is Keylin, Marcellus knew he had chosen right. Under the guise of being a bodyguard, Church was able to see and hear things that Marcellus would miss. Church glanced at his boss and friend from his review mirror again. "You can go and claim her soon."
Marcellus had a hint of a smile on his face. "I don't think she will have me."
"There are ways around that. You know that more than anyone."
"Naw, after our last time, I don't think she will want anything to do with me." Marcellus ran his hand down his sun kissed face. He was in awe of Darien. Nothing he did, normally, worked with her. He would buy expensive gifts for women, with Darien that wouldn't work. He would take them on exotic trips. He had done that with her and it had not worked. He had given out wads of cash at times. Darien took that as in insult. He smiled when he remembered going back to his home in Miami and finding the cash, he had left her taped to the full length mirror with the words "no thanks" written in lipstick underneath it.
Darien. She was an enigma, something so different. Marcellus was not used to defiant women who would stand up to him. Hell, he was not used to anyone that stood up to him, except Church. The fact that Darien was so independent made him want to choke the hell out of her in one moment, and hold her close the next. What was he going to do? She was slowly driving him crazy.
Church stopped the car and Marcellus got out. They had made their way to the foot of Ferry Street. Lake Erie flowed along and with it came the smell of sewage and fish. Marcellus hated coming down here, but this was one of the few open places he knew of in the city. It provided him and his associates the anonymity that they needed to conduct their business. Marcellus watched Moe walk toward him, but paid more attention to the man leaning against the car behind Moe. "What's up with Meech?"
"He's just being Meech." Moe had hoped Marcellus would not notice that Meech was high.
Marcellus shook his head. How dumb did Moe think he was? Why would he attempt to cover the fact that Meech had been snorting his shit, unless they had been snorting it together? Nothing irked Marcellus more than a dealer who used the product. That usually just made for bad deals, snitching, and murders. Too bad, he had really liked Moe. Marcellus looked over at Church. Church only nodded.
"Yo! Meech," Church called the skinny white boy over to where he and Marcellus were. They both noticed that Meech seemed more sluggish than usual, and he needed a shower badly.
'Meech, I need you and Moe to load the keys in the back of truck."
Meech nodded and he and Moe began taking the suitcases from their vehicle and loading them into the mini-van, that Church would drive to the next location. Marcellus would take the car that he and Church had ridden in. Once the van was loaded, Church went back over to Meech and Moe. "Meet me in the Falls. We will go to the casino and spend a little time at the club. Both men nodded then left.
"Call Jimmy and tell him to take care of them." Marcellus then walked to his car and drove off.
Darien was all smiles as she let herself and Rya into her apartment. She spotted the lavender tulips sitting on the granite counter top and she stopped. Rya ran toward the bouquet and inhaled deeply. She looked for a card, there was none. "I guess we'll never know who sent these."
"Throw them out or take them with you." Rya was confused by Darien's words. The flowers were beautiful. "They are from Marcellus. You can take them with you or they will go in the garbage."
Rya placed the flowers along with the vase in the kitchen trash bin. She went to the guest room to change her clothes. She had been staying with Darien for the last few days while her apartment was being painted. She actually liked having a roommate and if Darien were not moving away for her new job Rya would have suggested they room together, but her friend was only going to be around for another two weeks so she had to make the best of it.
Darien was sitting on the couch checking her email from her laptop when Rya came back into the living room. The girls had decided to have a movie night. They had ordered a pizza and were going to stuff their faces all night. Darien looked forward to it. Rya had cancelled her date for the night and Darien as usual did not have any plans. She had decided to relax until it was time for her to start her new job.
They were getting ready to sit down with the first movie when the pizza arrived. Not too long after the pizza arrived, Devin dropped by unannounced. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to talk to you." Devin looked at Rya. "In private."
"Don't even try it, Devin. I don't have anything to hide from Rya."
Devin looked skeptical but then just blurted out that he needed to borrow some money. A feeling of déjà vu came over Darien. She finally realized that no matter how many times she tried to help Devin he would always get himself into more trouble. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes briefly, and then reopened them.
"Get out." Her statement was plain and simple; her words clear and concise. She was finally able to see her brother for the user he was. The memories of his last urgent visit came back to her and with them came thoughts of Marcellus. She had been fine without the memories and now here was Devin throwing them back in her face.
