Josiah Marquez Part 2

“You, not! You’re not going to lie down next to my drunk little brat!” I growled, staring at her with a cynical and challenging look.
“And who do you think you are to tell me that? Are you going crazy or what?”
Ana tried to open the door again, but I grabbed her by the neck and forced her to look at me.
“You’re not going to lie down next to my drunk daughter!” I grunted, pulling her face close to mine with hostility. “Luana, get out of the car and tell Marta that Ana is coming in the morning!”
“I’m fed up with you guys!” Luana huffed, jumping out of the car and heading towards the pink house. “You messed up the night!” she shouted.
I let go of Ana’s neck, as she looked scared to hear me say out loud what she had been trying to take from me, the right to say that I was Júlia’s father.
“It’s so easy for you to say that now...” she whispered, crying and irritating me with that drama again.
“I never said it because, when I tried, you yelled that I wasn’t. Or have you forgotten? Don’t try to change things, girl! The past won’t change just because you’re feeling sorry for yourself.”
I drove the car to our door, angry and pissed off, watching the tires screech on the pavement. I parked haphazardly with a jolt. I stubbed out the damn cigarette on the steering wheel and shoved the butt into the cup holder between my seat and hers. I turned my face toward Ana, grabbed a handful of her hair, making her gasp as I pulled it. I locked my eyes with hers, clenching my teeth, with a strong urge to finish her right there in the middle of the street. I took a deep breath, my chest rising and falling as I looked at her round, perfect face, her brown eyebrows, full lips, and the dimples on her cheeks that were ready to sink at the slightest hint of a smile. And before I could make the mistake of biting her mouth, as she had the audacity to do to me, I let her go.
“Get out of my face!” I shouted, making her jump in the seat.
Every time memories of everything she had done came back, a rage ignited inside me. Everything good I felt for her was overshadowed, and my only desire was to make her suffer. It didn’t matter that she was the mother of my child, it didn’t matter the years we spent together, nothing mattered because she managed to screw up my head more than any damn person ever had. Ana was always a problem, a damn cloud full of rain, and I was warned to stay away, but I liked getting wet.
Ana got out of the car, whining and stumbling toward the white gate. She was barefoot, with her small, pale feet on the dirty ground. She even lost her shoes in that scene at the bar. I stood there, waiting for her to get inside so I could go back to my crowd, get drunk, and find someone to screw and take out the tension that was killing me.
But she was intent on testing my patience, which was already almost gone. She stood with her back to me, forehead resting against the metal gate.
I hated that damn house. When everything ended, I never went in there again. Only the facade was the same because inside everything had changed, turned into something that reminded me of that dirty betrayal, that damn knife in the back...
I turned off the engine and got out of the car, stomping toward her.
“What’s the little game now, Sweetie?” I yelled, as she tensed up in surprise. She said something unintelligible, staring into my eyes, looking even more drunk than I had noticed. “Speak up, damn it!”
“I lost my purse, Jow!” she murmured. The nickname slipping from her was a small blow, but I didn’t let it soften me. “I’m feeling sick...” she whispered.
“Damn it...” I murmured, pacing back and forth in place and smoothing my hair.
“Take me to your mom’s. I want to sleep,” she pleaded, walking toward me.
I moved away, feeling like she was about to hug me. I couldn’t have that kind of contact, I couldn’t! She was a bitch who screwed me over, and I wasn’t going to let her soften me up.

“I already said you’re not staying next to the drunk Júlia,” I warned, calmly, scratching my head.

“I’ll sleep away from her, because I’m... I’m getting angry with you, and I want to sleep, and I want our daughter... and... I... Ben, so small and... in the pool…”

Here it comes... Now she was going to start crying, talking about the past, her parents, her brother, saying a thousand sentimental things, and then pass out right there on the floor. I wanted to humiliate her, but I wasn’t going to let Ana sleep in the middle of the street, especially since Helena was right behind the curtain of the bedroom on the second floor of the house across the street, talking on the phone with my mom. I didn’t even need to look toward that wooden house to know that the old lady, Marta’s personal informant, was ratting everything out. And I didn’t want to talk to Marta, didn’t want a lecture for leaving my daughter’s mother drunk sleeping at the gate.

So, without the slightest delicacy, I wrapped my fingers around her wrist and dragged her into my house, took off my shoes at the door, and entered, breaking my rule of never letting her into my space.

“Alexa, turn on the lights!”

I guided my daughter’s mother to the gray sofa, surrounded by walls of burnt cement in such a dark gray shade that it easily blended with black. The yellow lights flickered above our heads, escaping through the open black molding on the ceiling. I made Ana sit down and rushed to grab some wet wipes from the bathroom. My touch prevented me from letting her leave a mess with those dirty, red-nailed feet.

When I returned to the living room, she was lying down, her feet dirtying everything and almost closing her eyes. I really didn’t expect to be Ana’s babysitter that night. Angry, I stared at the woman in front of me, very tempted to put her to sleep on the rug. I slid strips of wipes over her feet until they were clean. When I finished, I bit my lip, and regret consumed me as sharp pangs shot through me. The damn bite!

Suddenly, Ana opened her huge eyes and stared at me.

“You... so... beautiful,” she said, between sobs.

I ignored the drunk compliment, hoping she wouldn’t vomit on everything. It would be interesting to watch her wake up the next day. I would have the pleasure of telling her everything she did, of seeing the disappointed look on my Sweetie’s face.

“I loved you,” she said, holding back tears. I should have been pissed, but I sat on the coffee table, which was almost the same color as the tall walls, made of marble, resting my wrists on my knees, and stared at her. “And you’re a bastard.”

“Uh-huh...” I whispered, pulling out my phone and starting the camera, capturing the image of her slender body on the sofa. She was lying on her side, with her head on her arm, hiding her deformed hand under her face. Ana had lost a lot of weight after giving birth. “Say it again!”

“I always loved you...” she whispered and smiled, with a tear trickling down her nose. “And I’ll always love you, even when I hate you.”

I turned off the phone after filming, that sentence almost breaking the ice I felt. I traced my finger over the bitten lip, staring at her face. She was only saying that drivel because she was drunk. Sober, she’d be cursing me out.

“Júlia has your eyes,” she said, almost falling asleep.

“And your dimples...” I murmured.

“But she’s not your daughter!”

“You know she is!”

“You were just the sperm donor...”

“Go to sleep, Ana!”

Then she shifted, sitting up abruptly. I thought she was going to curse me out, try to hit me, I don’t know, but she bent over and vomited right on me.

“But... what the... hell!” I shouted.

“Sorry!” she murmured, dizzy, sitting on the sofa and staring at my vomit-covered shirt.

“Don’t sit!”

I removed my shirt, cursing softly, throwing it onto the coffee table. I closed the gap between us, lifting her arms and removing the vomit-soaked top. I ignored her full, vein-covered breasts, with brown areolas seemingly staring at me. I wrapped my hands around her wrists, pulling her to stand. She remained quiet as I slid her skirt down and then followed the same ritual with the red lace fabric. I tried not to look at that white pussy, always with a hint of light-colored hair above the pleasure center.