Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 248926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1245(@200wpm)___ 996(@250wpm)___ 830(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 248926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1245(@200wpm)___ 996(@250wpm)___ 830(@300wpm)
“Why not? Avoiding all of this never helped. And I have already messed things up. I will not add lying to the pile of mistakes for this week—”
“Fuck that. Avoiding this will be easier, until we—”
“Easier for who, Maxwell?” I pointed my joint at him. “Would it be easier for you?”
“Fuck you, man.” He looked away.
I must remember that this is hurting him too.
Killing people was so much easier than trying to dissect everyone’s trauma and emotions. I was the last person qualified for this job.
I gritted my teeth. “You say it is better to stay silent about this.”
“I do.”
I gazed at the lit joint. “But, I promised Emily that we would never have any secrets.”
Maxwell directed his view to the dark sea below us.
“You think I want to tell her what happened tonight?” I held out my hands. “No. It is the last thing that I want to say to her.”
“Then, keep it chill and don't—”
“By the time Emily wakes up, everyone in this hotel will know what happened. If not me, then Emily will find out from someone else.”
“You're the Lion. Threaten everyone to keep quiet.”
“I will not lie to her.”
“Yeah, but. . .” Maxwell rubbed his forehead. “I'm scared, man.”
“Of what?”
“Of breaking her with this shit.”
Cold shivers ran through me. “Me too.”
“What the fuck are we going to do if she breaks down?” Maxwell touched his chest. “I won't be okay. If she feels pain, I feel it too. If her heart is broken, then mine is shattered.”
“I understand that more than you know.” I twisted the joint in my hand. “But. . .I cannot make any more mistakes when it comes to her. . .and lying would be a big one for us.”
I have to stop fucking up.
Someone tapped on the glass.
We looked that way.
Baba stood in the doorway. She wore a disapproving expression which told me that she was not pleased with me either. “I was told that you wanted a reading this evening.”
I scowled at her. “Why did you not warn me about Lunita?”
“How does one warn someone about something that is intense and unfathomable to understand?”
I spoke through clenched teeth, “By simply saying it.”
Her voice rose. “I would rather discuss your audacity for thinking you could get rid of my Paolo.”
I groaned in annoyance. “Baba, you are not new to the Brotherhood. His father was a traitor—”
“He is an innocent little boy that is protected by a force that you cannot understand. Do not get in the way of Paolo’s destiny again or you will find yourself in real danger.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Is this what the cards say?”
She jabbed her finger at the air. “This is what I say.”
I gritted my teeth. “Maxwell, you, and. . .Lunita have been very convincing this evening. Therefore, I have already decided that the boy—”
“Paolo.” She sneered.
“That Paolo will remain with us. Do we have an understanding?”
Baba crossed her arms over her chest. “I already knew that Emily and you would raise Paolo once he came into all of our lives. And. . .unfortunately I knew that you would be too hard-headed to except that very fact.”
Maxwell chuckled.
Baba put her gaze on Maxwell. “You should come with us too. I would love to give you a reading also?”
“Hell to the no.” Maxwell put his back to her. “I already told you in Moscow, Baba, that I don't fuck with that card reading shit.”
“I assumed that after your time in New Orleans, you would be more open to—”
“I'm even more closed to that shit because of New Orleans.” He spun around. “And who told you about that?”
“I have visions of you.”
Maxwell gave her a skeptical look. “Yo. How about you don't have any more visions of me?”
“I cannot control my visions and what I see. They come to me whether I want them to or not.”
“Yo. . .when it comes to me, I need you to ignore that shit.”
I eyed her. “What have you seen for Maxwell?”
“Come on, man.” He wagged his finger at me. “If you play with this shit, then demons and things will attach themselves to you.”
I grinned. “Is that how it works?”
“Whatever, man. Keep on playing with this shit if you want.” Maxwell returned to his joint.
“Baba, I would like to know your visions for him.”
Maxwell groaned. “Man, I’ve heard enough this evening.”
“The visions were beautiful and loving,” Baba said. “My advice to you, Maxwell, is to hold on to your lemon tree.”
Freezing, he held the joint in mid-air.
Baba’s face held a warm smile. “One day, you will be planting that same lemon tree with the love of your life. It will be in front of your new home. She will laugh as you tell her the story about how you grabbed the tree. Years later, your kids will pick lemons from that tree and make the sweetest lemonade. And even later, your grandkids will pick from it too and hear the story from their parents, and your grands will smile because they know how funny their grandpa can be.”