Chapter 4-

That was early in the morning. By late afternoon Dad, Sophie, and I were in New York City. We were settled in at the hotel and everything was set up for me to go to the apartment and get everything together the next day. Then the day after that was my moms funeral. There was so much I wanted to do in the four days we'd be there.

The first thing I had to do now that I was in my city was go see my friends. I walked down the street of my old neighborhood seeing how run down and grungy it was. I wondered why my mom let us live here. But I couldn't keep wondering because I was at my best friend's building. I opened the barred doors and walked into a small stairway. I never used the main entrance. I always went in on the side because it was faster. I climbed the stair to the third floor, opened the door and entered a long, dark hallway. I made my way down the hallway until I saw 320. Suddenly all my memories of walking to this door came back to me and I felt warm.

Knocking on the door and hearing crying coming from inside surprised me. Michelle's place was never loud. Except when her brother came back for the few weeks he had before he was allotted another prison term.

When the door opened I was surprised. The young girl standing in front of me wasn't my best friend. She was a young mother with a tiny infant in her arms who was crying its little head off. The apartment behind her smelled like dirty diapers and cigarette smoke. I gasped when I saw the sight before me. Michelle's life changed so much since I had last seen her.

"Lucy! Oh my God, I haven't seen you for so long. Come in." Michelle seemed so happy. She hugged me so hard I didn't think I'd be able to breathe. Although everything around her smelled awful, including the tiny baby in her arms, Michelle still smelled like she used to.

I remember picking out the perfume she wore. We were 15 and Michelle wanted to do anything and everything to get the attention of Ramón Sanveros. We spent 3 whole days picking out the perfect perfume and in the end it didn't matter because Ramón was practically in love with her anyway.

"Hey." I said coming into the dirty apartment. "When did this happen?" I asked touching the baby's hand.

Michelle smiled and I could tell she was proud of her child. "About 2 months ago. Ramón says she looks like me but she doesn't." I looked at the baby and saw a definite resemblance between her and her mother.

"She looks exactly like you, Chelle."

A voice came from the couch. "Tell it to her, Luce. She won't believe me."

Ramón's voice surprised me. I hadn't seen him slumped on the couch drinking a beer. "Hey, Ramón, I didn't see you. How's the mechanic job going?"

"Eh." Ramón shrugged not taking his eyes off the TV. "Pay sucks but I'm alive so it must be pretty good."

I laughed and Michelle rolled her eyes. We talked for a long time catching up and remembering good times. I told them all about Horizon, Peter and Sophie, and my mom and step dad. But they already knew about the last one.

"So anyway," I changed the subject from my mom to other topics of interest. "Have you guys seen Jordan lately?"

"How did I know this is where we'd end up?" Michelle laughed. "I haven't seen him lately but I heard he's not doing so hot. He was in jail for a while."

Ramón added, "Tried to sell to an undercover in Central. I warned him so many times about that place. Cop Heaven, I'm telling you."

"Do you guys know if he's got . . ."

I couldn't finish my sentence before Michelle interrupted. "No way, girl. He only has eyes for you even if you were on the other side of the country for a year."

I knew I couldn't be with Jordan anymore but knowing he wasn't with anyone made me happy. I couldn't wait to go see him.

Soon after Michelle divulged the information about Jordan I said my goodbyes, promising to call and email. They couldn't afford a computer but they used the ones at the library.

After leaving I made my way a few blocks down the road to Jordan's place. He lived with his grandmother and little brother in a brownstone. I walked up the steps and rang the bell. Jordan's giant boxer dog, whom I helped name Ali (after the great boxer Muhamed Ali), started barking wildly when he saw me standing at the door. Most people would think he was angry but I knew he was happy. That was Ali's way.

In the few second following my ringing the bell a few things happened that made me feel lighter then air. Jordan's brother Ricky opened the door and let me in calling to Jordan who came down the stairs instantly. When I saw him standing at the bottom of the stairs I ran to him and jumped into his arms. He held me tightly kissing my cheek and I started crying, I was that happy. When we finally pulled apart Jordan kissed me full on. It was the best kiss of my life and I felt like I was floating.

Jordan made me feel that way. Like nothing could go wrong. I always felt safe with him even though he was the most dangerous guy I knew. I was so happy to be with him that I forgot I wasn't supposed to be doing this. This wasn't why I came to see him. But he was like a drug that I couldn't get away from.

Jordan and I talked until I was late for dinner with Peter and Sophie. I called my dad on his cell phone and asked if I could bring a friend with me and he said yes. So Jordan and I walked the 15 blocks to Wally's hand in hand.

The whole way to the restaurant we talked about everything we could think of. Jordan kept asking me about Horizon and what it was like. He asked if I hated it and I told him the truth. No, I didn't hate it. I loved it and it taught me a lot. I knew he didn't understand anything I was saying but at least I was with him. Talking to him. Talking to my Jordan. God, how I missed him. Before we went into Wally's I turned to face Jordan, wrapped my arms around his muscular stomach and kissed him. "I love you, J. I always have."

"I love you, too, Babe." He said putting his hands on my waist. My head was buried in his neck when I heard coughing coming from behind me. I looked up and saw Sophie and my dad. I had told him all about Jordan and what he was like so my dad just happened to looked a little bit pissed.