AHRI
Jack was fully reclined in his red leather seat. He got comfortable the second we parked, taking off his boots and setting his long legs on the dashboard while he did more research on all the people who lived in Golden Ridge. He was still trying to find Link, but no luck. I, on the other hand, sat stiff as a board, staring the entrance of the prison I should’ve entered two hours ago.
“Ahrianna.” Jack’s voice thick and cut, his eyes still on his phone.
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“Ahrianna,” he said in a firmer tone.
This was the thirty-second time he’d said my name since we parked.
“Yeah…” I peeked to my side to see Jack with an eyebrow so high I thought it was going to come off his face.
This was also the thirty-second time I’d said, ‘yeah’ since we parked.
I had been stalling to meet Luke. I should’ve met him last Saturday, but I wasn’t feeling well. I had killer period cramps which I’d never gotten in the past.
Jack and I ended up staying on the couch all day, watching all the movies I hadn’t had time to watch because of lack of hours in my day and Jack hadn’t seen because of prison. We ordered anything covered in cheese or chocolate from The Bayne restaurant, and we ate like pigs. Jack had to bribe the head chef, Mateo Flores (again) so I could have my special grilled cheese sandwich.
I wasn’t the only one that was feeling down that day. Jack was too. Not because we couldn’t visit Luke, no, Jack was upset because he’d failed to knock me up. I’d never seen him so down. He plopped on the couch in his black briefs, his head on my lap as he stared at my stomach with a pouty sad face. He rubbed my bloated belly and kissed it, making it feel better. Jack let out heavy sighs here and there saying, “You wouldn’t be in so much pain if my little Jack’s swam faster.”
Yeah, sure. Did you forget about the pain of labor, Jack? I thought.
Jack had some high hopes for his ‘little Jack’s,’ but so did I. The idea of being pregnant with Jack’s baby put a huge smile on my face, warmed up my heart, and made me feel whole.
I’d moved in with Jack right away. But it’s not like I had a choice, nor did I want one. The day after our kitchen bonfire we went over to Wazowski’s, grabbed all my things, paid the early termination fees, and left.
I quit my jobs at Maddy’s and Diablo’s that same day and said my goodbyes to the only two people I was going to miss. Gomez and Felicia.
Gomez was upset with the idea of saying goodbye, but Jack and I would still visit him. I would miss the bar too much, and Jack couldn’t pass the chance of pissing off Gomez, bringing Papi Gomez out to play.
Felicia, on the other hand, was thrilled that I was finally quitting, mostly because she was leaving too. She was moving to California. Yep, out of the blue, but that was Felicia. She did this a few years back when she moved to New York because she was bored with her life in Chicago. When her money ran out, she came back to live with her parents and repeated the process.
“Ahrianna,” Jack mumbled, this time looking at me.
Thirty-three.
I dropped my eyes to my highlighter yellow shirt and tugged on the hem, covering more of my loose jeans.
I sighed, “Yeah.”
Thirty-three.
My eyes focused on the missing button on Luke’s jacket. I figured wearing his clothes would be a good icebreaker. I could only hope. Jack, too, was wearing Luke’s clothes—the Waldo shirt. Jack thought it would be a good way to show off Luke’s clothes on a new sexy model and a good way to mess with him.
“Ahrianna, it’s time.” Jack grunted, sitting up and moving his seat back into position. He slipped on his Docs and tucked in the shoelaces before he got out of the car for a cigarette.
“Yeah. I know,” I spoke to myself, this time choking the handle of the door.
Jack stayed by my side the whole time we walked the long journey to the visitation area. The guards we passed tensed up when they saw Jack. I’m sure they weren’t expecting to see Jack so soon.
We got to the front desk where we had to show our ID’s. I was allowed to go in without any trouble since I was family, but Jack had to pull a few strings. Strings that involved money, persuasion, and connections—Emilio. Jack technically wasn’t allowed to be inside the prison nor did he have the right paperwork, but something tells me he was going to get his way.
“Hey, why don’t you go inside. I’ll come in when I get this figured out.” Jack kissed my forehead and pushed me towards the door.
I followed the guard who escorted me into the visiting room, my gut knitting into a tight sweater as I walked passed the orange jumpsuit inmates who were glaring at me. I took a seat at a metal table meant for four and fidgeted with the last button on my jacket, hanging by a thread. I waited patiently and anxiously as I watched the white chipped door inmates came out of.
I had no idea what to say to Luke. Do I apologize from the start or should I wait for him to say something? My emotions morphed into a ball of yarn when a fat guard appeared, his bulk taking up the whole door frame. He looked over his shoulder and yelled, “Lore, walk faster!”
I shot out of my seat, my legs stiff as I watched the fat guard struggle with the lock. I inched forward when the guard opened the metal door. When the guard finally moved to the side and let Luke through, I felt as if I was buried alive.
My heart burst like an overfilled balloon when I locked eyes with Luke.
Luke was taller and more muscular, but he still had his slender model-like build. He kept his hair long, going past his ears and eyebrows, and it was still sandy blond and wildly messy. His orange jumpsuit made his skin tone look warmer and richer. He was still a pretty boy, and I was still the runt. You’d think I was the one who had spent the last few years in prison, not Luke.
“Lore! To your seat!” The fat guard shouted.
Luke rushed to me like a jet, the impact of our hug knocking the wind right out of our lungs. He lifted me up with no effort and spun me around. Luke hugged me as tight as he could while I returned the favor. He smelled different, but he felt the same. Warm and safe. The longer I held him, the more real it all felt. I let my tears burn my face as we both sobbed. He hugged me tighter, it hurt, but I welcomed the pain.
Luke chuckled. “You look like shit, Tinks,” he muttered into my hair, his voice deeper than I remembered.
I hiccupped a laugh and sobbed into Luke’s arms until the guard yelled at him. “Lore! Enough!”
Luke dropped me like a bomb, but we stayed only an inch apart. We both rubbed our tears away as we watched each other with a smile.
“You’re blonde?” Luke softly chuckled at my nest of hair. “Were you trying to look more like Aurora and me?” he teased.
I laughed, wiping another tear away.
“At least now you live up to your nickname, Tinkerbell.” He smiled, but then looked down at my body. “Jesus…you got skinny. You need to put on some weight. Even I look better than you.” Luke showed off his perfect smile.
“I’m working on it.”
Aka. Jack’s working on it.
We sat down and stared at each other for a while. We took in each other’s facial features and stupid memories. Luke trailed his eyes down the scar he gave me from cutting the pizza while I stared at the small cut on his chin. He got drunk with his friends and fell down the stairs when he was thirteen. He didn’t want to tell Aurora he got shit faced, so I had to stitch him up myself. I could’ve done a better job.
The warm memories hit me hard, but so did the cold ones. My organs dropped down to the ground and then another six feet under when I cried, “I’m so sorry Luke. I should’ve—but I was scared. I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s fine. Really, Tinks. It’s fine.” He held my hand and squeezed it tight. “Hey, look at me. I swear it’s fine. Really, it is.”
Luke offered me his warmest smile at his disposal.
“How? How is it fine? You’re going to spend the next thirty-two years here…because of me.” I leaned over the table and whispered.
Luke bit the inside of his bottom lip. He gulped, giving my hand a light squeeze before pressing it against his cheek, holding me tight.
“I was pissed in the beginning. Really fucking pissed, but not at you. At everything. Myself. I realized too late what had happened to Aurora.” Luke bit down on his jaw. “I, out of anyone in the house, should’ve figured it out. Or at least suspected something.”
“Luke, how did you find out about Aurora? How did you find out it was…him?”
“I found a pregnancy test a few months before,” he said softly. “I thought it was yours since Aurora was…” he sighed, removing my hand from his face. He stared at my small hand and thumbed it before he continued. “I thought the test was yours, so I didn't say anything. I figured if you wanted to talk about it you would’ve come to me. Months passed, and you looked the same, so I thought it was a false positive. Once we found out in the autopsy that Aurora was pregnant, that’s when I replayed the past months and saw how stupid I’d been,” he gritted.
“Once I saw the burning house and him in the back of the ambulance. I connected all the missing dots. That night I figured it all out. And I figured I was going to end up in prison. But I did it for you.” Luke smiled shyly. “I never hated you, never a hundred percent, maybe like sixty-three percent, but only because your plan failed.”
Luke let out a soft laugh as I sniffed my runny nose and chuckled.
“Ahri, I’m sorry for what I said to you. Especially when I told you it should’ve been you instead of Aurora. I-I’m so sorry.” Luke’s voice cracked. “I really am. I was angry at everything—myself mostly—and I just let it spill out. I didn’t mean it—”
“I know, Luke. I know. But I should have confessed. I should’ve told—”
“Ahri, I did it for you because I know what you went through. You did so much for Aurora and me when you didn't have too. You’ve been through fucking hell with Liam.” (Luke always hated calling him ‘dad’ or calling our mother, Erin, ‘mom’). Luke looked down at my hand and rubbed my thin fingers. “…And you’ve been through so much with Erin and Erica.”
“What do you mean?” I wiped away a tear, unsure of what Luke was talking about.
“I know. I know what they did to you.” Luke’s voice was faint as he grabbed my hand with both of his. “I know what you did to them. What you wrote in your journal.”
His hands were wrapping my hand in a warm blanket.
“You-you read it?” I shyly asked.
“Yeah, I did. I found it, and I couldn't help myself.” He let out a soft sigh. Luke was always a snoopy boy growing up. “I wish you’d told me, Ahri. I wish you’d let me help you when that all happened, but I know you. You would’ve never asked for help. That’s why, this time, I helped you out.” Luke scanned the room full of convicts.
I scoffed. “It’s not even a fair trade, Luke.”
“Eh.” He shrugged. “To be honest. Prison? Not that bad, Tinks. My ex-cellmate made my life easy before he left.”
Luke told me stories about his ex-cellmate, Jack. I didn't stop him even though I’d heard the stories. Not to mention, it was hard to stop Luke when he got excited and talked a hundred words per second. I listened to him, taking in his deeper voice and recording it until the next time I saw him, which hopefully was next week, and every week after that.
Luke stopped and stared at my jacket, noticing it for the first time. “You’re still wearing my clothes?”
“Always.” I playfully kicked his shin. “They’re our clothes remember? I paid half.”
“Fair enough.” He looked down at my cigarette burns and bit his bottom lip. “How's life treating you?”
“Recently? Perfectly.” I blushed, pulling my hair behind my ear.
Luke tilted his head. “Why is that—” He stopped mid-sentence, pulling on a small smile and a confused expression. I snapped my head back to see the very reason why my life was perfect.
* * *
JACK
Best form of negotiation: Money.
After about thirty minutes of pulling bullshit out of my ass and green out of my wallet, I made my way inside the visitation room. Fidget instantly locked eyes with me, giving me that dopey smile of his and a confused glare that screamed: What the fuck?
“Glad you made it,” Ahri said. Fidget looked back and forth between us as if he was trying to read Shakespeare all over again.
“Wh-what-what…You’re here?” Fidget babbled.
“Yep, it’s not like Ahri knew how to drive.” I smirked.
Blankly, Fidget drifted his eyes between us until he noticed my shirt. He glared at the white and red stripes as if someone was whipping his brains into scrambled eggs.
“Wait…Is-is that my shirt? How—why?”
“I wanted to show you how pretty I look when I’m not wearing orange.” I winked.
“But…why?”
“Cause when you told me ‘good luck’ with your sister, I took it as my permission. Remember?”
It didn’t take long before Fidget hounded me for answers. I gave him a brief summary of the past few weeks—minus the sex details. Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve told him, but Ahri dug her pointy elbows into my ribs and Fidget covered his ears singing, ‘la la la’ to block out any words that might result in him accidentally imagining Ahri and me fucking.
“Wow.” Fidget laughed nervously. “Okay…wow, okay.” He cleared his throat. “So, you’re dating? Cool, cool, cool, cool. Totally not weird. Nope. Not weird at all…so, you’re dating?” His voice got higher with each word.
“For now, but soon I’ll be your brother-in-law.” I bit my whole bottom lip and nodded while Ahri rolled her eyes with a large smile.
I was going to marry Ahri, there was no question.
Ahri thought it was too soon.
I thought it was well overdue.
If I had to, I would force her down to city hall and forge her signature. I’d already kidnapped her and placed her in my tower with no problems, well, almost no problems. Ahri was headstrong with adding color in the penthouse, but she could only do so after: one, she has my babies (apparently all the Lore woman had twins, so getting my two kids as planned was going to be easy-fucking-peasy), or two, she marries my fine ass. Other than those two reasons, my place will remain two colors.
“How are you even here? They don’t allow non-immediate family inside?” Fidget tilted his head.
“I got some green to throw around to break some rules. Kind of a millionaire,” I confessed.
Fidget darted his eyes to his sister as she nodded to confirm what I’d said.
“You’re a millionaire?” he whisper-yelled, knowing very well to keep that secret, a secret in a room full of convicts. “You have money? How? What? Y-you—hold on—you said you didn’t have any money to buy me another ramen cup!” Fidget growled silently, getting as angry as he did the first time (and not the last time) I dumped his ramen cup in the toilet where it belonged.
“I could’ve, but I didn’t want to. Shit’s disgusting.”
“You jackass,” Fidget growled.
“Well, how about this? Would you rather have your damn ramen cup or your case looked over by some real fucking lawyers?” I cocked my eyebrow.
You would’ve thought I’d shot Ahri and Luke by their expressions. I hadn’t told Ahri about the lawyer because I wanted to see that exact face she was giving me right now. Complete and utter joy and shock.
Yeah, she fucking loves you so much, Jack.
I know.
“Holy shit, is this real?” Fidget’s eyes sharpen on mine.
“Yep, he starts next week. He can’t find you innocent, but he can make you get out by the time you’re my age instead of in your early fifties.” I paraphrased the lawyer.
Ahri stood frozen in time, looking at me like I’d been sent from heaven. I was, but my heaven was red, and technically below us.
We only had ten minutes left, and I still wanted to talk to Fidget in private. “Hey, Ahri. Can you give me a few minutes alone with Fidget?”
Ahri nodded.
She already knew I wanted to tell Fidget about him, but that wasn’t all. Ahri spent five minutes hugging Fidget as he kissed her hair and told her she needed to put on some weight. I am working on it! Ahri gave her baby brother one more hug before she left us alone. I planned to make this a weekly thing, or an every other week kind of deal so Ahri didn't need to worry about saying goodbye for too long.
“What’d you want to talk about?”
I laced my fingers together and leaned over the table. “Him.”
Fidget went numb. Gravity took a hold of the corner of his mouth and eyebrows.
“I read the letter you wrote to Ahri. And I know everything.” I looked around the semi-empty room. “You remember Hooch night? The first week you came in?”
Luke clenched his jaw and swallowed. “You told Ahri, didn’t you?”
I shook my head.
“Don’t. Ever,” Fidget growled threateningly. “It’ll kill her.”
It would.
“Never,” I reassured him.
“Why’d you bring this up?”
“Cause I did the whole Lore family an overdue favor.” A baleful smile struck my face.
Fidget didn't have to ask me about what I’d done.
He knew.
As for telling him the details? Maybe some other day. As for the rest of my stories? Only Ahri, my future bride, my universe, and my other crazy half would ever know exactly who I am, and what I had done. She’s the only one who gets to know all my sins, my confessions, my eternal vows.