Her car was bogged down with moving boxes and suitcases, all of the things that she had accumulated over her years in Los Angeles. Now she came back as a graduate of the University of Southern California, the one thing she had wanted since she was fifteen. She had done several internships and she had worked for the city of LA for the past four years but something about Santo Padre kept calling her back. Finally she answered. She was ready to return home.
She had already accepted a job with the city department and she has signed a lease for a new apartment. Things were shaping up for her. The only thing she hated was the growing distance between her and EZ, physically and emotionally.
Luciana pulled into the space in front of the door, watching as her parents parked behind her. She needed the help unloading all of the boxes.
Her father was the first one to pull her into a hug, kissing the side of her head as he did so.
"You've done so good for yourself, Lu."
To say he was proud would be an understatement. His daughter did what he never could when he was young. He had to start work almost immediately after he graduated high school. He released his daughter before he started grabbing boxes from the backseat.
Her mother opened the door to the apartment before she pulled her daughter to her. It had been a year since she had last seen her.
Each of them grabbed a box, carrying it into the empty apartment. Slowly, they filled the apartment. The only thing missing was her furniture, which wouldn't arrive for a few more days.
Luciana started unpacking, trying to find a place for everything.
"Maybe it's time to get rid of some stuff." Her mother remarked as she started going through the boxes.
She laughed as she stared at the boxes that covered her kitchen and her living room. A majority of them were packed as full as they could be. She gritted her teeth as she turned back to the task at hand. She wouldn't agree with her mom that quickly but the overwhelming amount of boxes made her second guess.
They worked in silence until they got down to the last box.
Luciana grabbed the final box and carried it to her room. All it was were letters from EZ, along with stupid mementos from school. Her parents didn't need to know how often she'd been writing to EZ, or that she'd even been in contact with him since he'd been in Stockton.
Her dad tossed the empty boxes to the curb as her mom helped put stuff away in the kitchen. The three worked in silence as they finished unpacking.
"Thank you for your help, mom." Luci was grateful to be home, though she had never expected to come back to Santo Padre so soon.
Her mom nodded her head in response as she rearranged the plates and silverware before she moved onto the living room.
Luci was left with the box in her bedroom and she stood in the doorway that led to the kitchen.
"I think I can handle it from here."
Her dad walked in through the front door, gathering more empty boxes before he walked over to his only daughter and kissed the side of her head.
"Call us if you need anything."
She nodded her head with a soft smile.
Her mom hugged her neck before the pair left through the front door.
Luci locked the door behind them before she grabbed her cellphone, shooting a text to Angel.
[lulu] come help me unpack
She waited for a response but nothing came through.
[lulu] i'll pay you in beer
A notification caused her phone to buzz.
[angie] okay i'll be there
Of course as soon as she mentioned beer, she knew he'd show up. That was the only thing she had in her fridge besides a frozen pizza. She cracked a beer open as she leaned against the kitchen counter.
The roar of a motorcycle's engine interrupted the silence and she moved to the front door, leaning in the doorway as she saw Angel drive up. It had been years since she had seen him but somehow, the two of them had gotten closer since EZ was sent to prison.
"You're not hard to convince are you?"
Angel rolled his eyes as he pulled his gloves off along with his helmet. He walked towards the front door and he snatched the beer from Luci's hands, taking a long sip.
"Can't start without me, mija."
She stood there, glancing at her empty hand before she followed behind him into the living room. She leaned against the wall as she watched him rifle through her junk. Most of it was just pictures and useless trinkets.
Angel stared at the empty shelves before he looked down in the box. He rubbed his chin, deep in thought as he took another sip of his beer. He started by pulling out a few pictures, looking at them in his hands before he glanced over his shoulder at her. He nodded to signal her over.
She raised an eyebrow before she walked up behind him and her eyes fell on the pictures in his hand. The first one was a picture of her with his parents when she was about nine or ten, Felipe stood beside Marisol as she rested her chin on top of Luci's head. She didn't remember who took the picture, she assumed it was her own mother.
He stared down at it for what felt like the longest time before he set it up on the highest shelf above the television.
"She always adored you, Lulu." His voice was soft.
Luci smiled as she looked up at the picture. If someone glanced at it, they'd think that the Reyes had a third child.
"And I adored her, she was the best."
The next picture she saw was from her graduation. Just her, Angel, and Felipe.
Angel didn't say much about it before he placed it on a lower shelf.
Luci remembered what happened that same night, remembered how it changed the course of their lives for better or for worse.
He continued digging through the box but nothing else really piqued his interest.
"What else do you need help with?"
Luciana looked around before she moved into the kitchen to grab the rest of the beer.
"The bedroom."
Like a fish to a baited hook, he followed behind her.
The boxes were stacked in the middle of the room and he moved towards them, opening the first box. He pulled out a lacy thong and flicked it in her direction.
She blinked a few times before her eyes grew wide.
"Get your hands out of there!"
Angel's lips held a coy smirk that he couldn't hide. He closed the box and moved onto the next one. He pulled out a bright pink notebook as he took a long swig from his beer.
"Is this...a diary?"
Luci glared at him before she closed in on him, aiming for his midsection.
"If you open that, you will never see the light of day again."
She tried her best to be menacing. But being a foot shorter than Angel, it didn't work in her favor.
He opened to the first page, clearing his throat before he began to speak.
"Dear diary," he held the book high above her head.
She tried to wrangle the notebook from his hands to no avail.
"Angel is so much hotter than EZ. But god, he treats me like I don't exist." He turned the page for theatrics, sighing dramatically.
She rolled her eyes before she sat down in the floor, opening another box. She grabbed the shoebox on top and shoved it to the side.
Angel was still reading through her middle school journal, almost caught up in it like a bestselling novel.
She ignored him. Anything he read wouldn't be anything he didn't already know.
He knew that she was in love with EZ throughout middle school and high school. He knew how bad it had hurt Luci when Emily and EZ started dating, no matter how strong Luci wanted to appear. He swallowed the last of his beer before he grabbed another one, sitting down on the floor beside her. He looked at the shoebox and pulled it to him.
"Well, what's in here?"
Luci finished off her beer and lied back on the floor and staring up at the ceiling. Anything to not make eye contact with him.
"Just letters from EZ. Notes from high school. Stupid shit I should really throw away."
Angel handed her another beer before he laid back on the floor beside her, their arms barely touching.
"I know you've missed him."
She sighed audibly. Missing him was an understatement. It was like a whole part of her life was just gone.
"He's not the same guy anymore. Every time I visit, it's like the shell of what he once was."
Angel closed his eyes. He had been to prison before, he knew what it was like to watch life go on without being a part of it.
"It's not easy being on the inside."
She shrugged her shoulders before she leaned up to take a sip of beer.
"Do you think he still loves Emily?"
Angel struggled to answer. He knew EZ adored the girl. Wanted a life with her, a future, a family. Emily had been his endgame since they had started dating in high school. Instead of speaking, he rolled over to face Luci and his arm snaked across her midsection.
She kept her eyes on the ceiling.
"EZ will probably love Emily to the end of time, but he can't do much anymore. She got married and she has a family of her own now." Angel sighed.
It was the first she had heard about Emily's marriage and she just nodded her head. Unfortunately for Luci, she knew how head over heels EZ was for her. Emily hung the moon in his world. She looked down at Angel's arm before she started to trace random shapes across his caramel skin.
Angel's phone rang, pulling them both from a trance before he crawled across the floor to pick it up.
Luci tried her best to listen but all she heard was an automated voice followed by someone who sounded a lot like EZ.
The phone call was short and simple.
Angel glanced over at Luci before he pulled her to his side, his hand moving up and down her waist as he leaned into her shoulder.
"He's getting out this weekend." He whispered into her hair as though it was a secret.
Luci's heart fluttered in her chest. Her best friend would be free in less than seventy-two hours, but it's not like it really mattered. She knew what would happen when he came back to Santo Padre.
The first thing he'd do would be to find his ex-girlfriend. Or at least, she was sure that's what he would want. In Luci's head, her chances with EZ were gone. They had been since she was still in high school.
"Does EZ know? About Emily?" Her eyes were glued to the ceiling.
Angel shook his head. It wasn't his place to tell his brother about her moving on. It didn't feel right to destroy his brother like that. If EZ knew anything about Emily, he wouldn't even try to get out. He would isolate himself more than he already had, doing something far more stupid. All it took was pissing off the wrong person in Stockton for his life to be over.
Title Credit: Go Easy - Matt Maeson
If you want some back story, there is a collection of drabbles called 2008 that take place before this story.
I sincerely hope you enjoy the beginning. Leave a review if you'd like, I always love reading them.