Page 49 of Nocturnal Sins
“I don’t need a fucking guide. Just give me the address,” I snapped.
“Santana, please. Let me come with you,” Sammie clutched my hand in hers and my resolve began to melt.
“Sit down, Sam!” Pop boomed. She didn’t flinch or budge though. She held on to me for dear life. His directions meant nothing to her. She was waiting to hear from me.
“Listen to me, Sammie…” I smoothed her hair back and pulled her face closer to mine. “Nothing can break us apart. You know that, right? Me and you, we’re nocturnal and as long as night time falls, we’ll be together.” She curled her pinky around mine and I chuckled a bit but it was a pained sound.
“Pinky swear?” She asked in the saddest voice I’d ever fucking heard.
“Pinky swear,” I nodded earnestly.
When she let my hand fall, she hurled a furious stare at Pop and said, “I will never speak to you again if you try to rip us apart, Papa. If you try to force me into a space without Santana, I will cut you out of my life no matter how fucking bad it hurts.” Her words rang out with the clarity of a sword being unsheathed. Sammie was ready for war.
“Go to your room, Samira,” Pop growled, slamming his hand down on the kitchen table. His glass rattled at the power behind his fist. Sam gave me one last glance before she rushed up the steps tearfully.
It took everything in me not to march up the steps behind her and toss her over my shoulder. She should have been with me. I didn’t want to cause any trouble for her though and it seemed like that’s exactly what I was doing.
So, I left the house and slammed the door behind me. I sat in my truck for a few minutes staring into the inky black sky. After a while, I moved my gaze to Sammie’s window. Her light was still out and I hated the thought of her crying alone in the dark.
“Follow me,” Pop knocked on my window, breaking apart my concentration. I didn’t nod, I didn’t speak, I just revved my engine. And waited for him to get into his car.
***
The apartment Pop got for me was almost on the other side of town. The neighborhood was nice, not too flashy. Pop slowed his car to a stop and punched in a code at the gate.
My apartment was on the third floor. It was already furnished and looked like it belonged to someone. I looked at Pop and he leaned against the doorway leading into the kitchen.
“This is a place I go when I need to lay low. It’s yours now.”
“I don’t need to lay low,” I told him with my brows lowered and my eyes narrowed.
“You do now. I don’t want you around Sam.”
“We’ve already done everything you’re pissed off about. Splitting us up isn’t going to accomplish much.”
“Santana, do you really think you have leverage with me right now to speak to me like that? You and Sam have done something I could have never fathomed. You have crossed the line.”
“We fell in love.” I shot back at him. I felt the muscles in my neck pressing against my skin. Blood stomped through my veins as Pop and I stared each other down.
“How? When? How is that fucking possible, Santana?” He tossed his hand in the air so close to my face he almost hit me.
“I don’t know. All I know is when I saw her after I got expelled…she didn’t look like the same little Sammie I remembered. She was different. She was beautiful in a way I can’t explain,” I raked my fingers through my hair and sighed. I knew I was probably making shit worse by telling him everything but I couldn’t keep it in anymore. It was out in the open in front of the one person I was terrified of telling.
Nothing would stay put. My feelings refused to be locked away behind the shadow of night. “She grew up and we connected in a way we’ve never connected before. It was some kind of perfect storm.” I lifted my eyes to look at Pop and pulled my shoulders back.
“Enough, Santana. You’re telling me you’re in love with your sister. In love?” I saw it. I saw it in that split fraction of a second. I saw the way he considered what I said. Beyond all the anger and confusion, he wanted to understand.
He was pissed and hurt but I knew at that moment that he’d work through it. “Yeah, we’re in love. I don’t want anyone else.” We stood toe to toe and I watched the idea sink into Pop’s head. He was still pissed though.
“I’m done talking about this shit. Come by the restaurant in an hour,” he told me.
I nodded and watched him leave without a goodbye.
The second I crashed on the couch, the weight of everything sank into my shoulders. I closed my eyes and spoke to my mother in my mind. I begged her to let Pop see that love was love and to finally come around.
I wanted to obey his wishes but I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay away from Sammie for too long.
***
