Josiah Marquez Part 2

I walked into the reception and answered the intercom.
“Open up, Jow!” Isa said cheerfully.
“Hey, you crazy bastard!” Harry shouted from the background.
“Forgot the key, as usual, huh?”
I pressed the button to unlock the gate and then went back to my task of cleaning my work area. I didn’t even need the money I made at the studio, after all, I had all the income from the stocks my father made Marta give to me and Lucah. In fact, I used the studio’s earnings to pay my partners, who lost their jobs because of me. Harry managed to get into the scheme my father set up, but Bill was really fired. I felt deeply in debt to those guys. Even though it was the craziest thing I’d ever done, I always felt it was worth it; finally, my father got off my back and stopped threatening to cut off my mother’s pension. Ana had been left alone for years since that bitch betrayed me with my brother.
Cristian hated Ana because she was problematic. He discovered many things about her, like her hospital records, her parents' obituary, even her aunt's income, and the fact that Ana was on a scholarship at my school when we met. But the worst, what he loved to shout around, was “Ana, that troubled one! She’ll ruin you, kid! You really want a woman who lives on the edge, like I read in that psychiatric file, who can’t control her emotions, her body?” He loved talking about the report the doctor made about Ana, her time in the psychiatric clinic, her suicide attempts... As if my father wasn’t a narcissist, caring about nothing but appearances, money, and power. His dream was to put me into politics, which is why he wanted me to follow in his footsteps, to sell a “perfect lineage” to his voters. He said he didn’t see the same determination in Lucah as he saw in me, which is why he never pursued him as he did with me.
During my years as Ana’s boyfriend, I learned to deal with her ways, with her mood swings that occurred at the slightest hint of abandonment. I felt a lot of empathy for her suffering, especially after our first Christmas together when she once again received a major blow from life. But it was impossible not to build up hatred and resentment for the things she did later on. It was unjustifiable, and although I knew my decisions made me just as much of a villain in my life as she was, I still felt that the weight of Ana’s actions was greater. I no longer felt empathy or justified her behaviors... I was tired. In the end, it felt like my father was right. Cristian was always right about the woman with whom I had a child, about the woman who betrayed me with my brother, who broke the promise she made to me when we were sixteen, who tried to lie that my daughter was the result of a relationship with Lucah.
So many things happened... So much changed. Ana’s best friend was now one of my closest people, working and enjoying life with me and Harry. Isabela was graduated in Marketing, and I had no idea why she liked Ravina. But it was undeniable that she enjoyed our company. She was a cool girl, didn’t seem to hate me in school. She completely switched sides after everything turned upside down, leaving her friend and siding with me regarding what happened and separated all of us.
Ana and Isa were like two peas in a pod, almost soulmates, inseparable. Now, they hated each other, and I won’t deny that I loved it when the redhead would start playing along with my game, pretending we had something just to provoke my daughter’s mother.
My friend had a mysterious aura. Harry had tried to hit on her, but Isabela wasn’t interested. I never saw her with anyone after we finished school, and if someone told me she was a virgin, I wouldn’t doubt it.
“Good morning, Jow!”
“Good morning, Isa! How’s it going?”
“Good! I’m going to make coffee.”
“Hey, my man!” Harry said, walking over to me and raising his hand for a high-five.
I slapped my palm against his. Harry glanced over his shoulder to check if Isa, clad in a tiny denim short and a black Ravina logo t-shirt, had already left.
“Hey, I’ve lined up some cuties for us!” he announced, as if confessing a crime. “Sisters, you know? The one I’m working on for you has some big tits like this...”
He gestured to show how they should look.

“Until when?”
“Tonight, man. I’ve set it up at my place and…”
“Only if it’s tomorrow. Today I’m picking up my daughter from daycare and taking care of her at night. I want to take advantage of it and make up for lost time, the time I spent away from her,” I interrupted, laughing at my friend's disappointed expression. “Damn, but I really need to get laid. Ana is screwing with my patience, not with my dick.”
“Damn, man. Seriously?” he laughed, looking at me with disbelief. “At least the Crazy One is letting you be with the ‘little one’, right?”
“Thank God! Did you see how beautiful she is? Now she calls me ‘daddy’ just from seeing me,” I said, accepting the black cup Isabela brought on a mirrored tray, with a jar of butter cookies in a black glass accompanying it. “Yesterday morning, I left her with the mother next door, and then Júlia cried her ass off when she got out of the car. She kept reaching out for me with her little hands. Ana even let her stay here in the morning, but she cried again when she had to leave at lunchtime.”
Just thinking about my Little One filled my heart with relief. It was truly a feeling of peace, love, of being in a serene part of life. How could I love another human being so much? It was crazy, man…
“You’re such a doting father, you know?” the redhead teased, stuffing two cookies into her mouth at once, laughing at my scowl, crumbs escaping.
“And you?” Harry laughed. “Isa, you even bought a little black outfit for Julinha.”
“Oh, I did. I’ll get it!” Isa said, running outside. When she came back, she took something out of a kids' store bag. It was a black dress, adorned with frills on the skirt, with straps attached to a small white hanger. There were two matching bows tied to a nylon cord attached to the hanger. “And these little bows are for the ‘Pigtails’, and these little shoes here…”
“Ana will set fire to it!” Harry mocked.
“She won’t…” I said, sipping my coffee and looking at the concern on my friend’s face. “At least I think she won’t mind.”
“How do you know?” Isabela asked, putting the clothes back in the bag, making a small pout with her red-painted lips. “She’s unpredictable…”
“Ana still likes you!” I reassured. “That’s why I think she won’t throw it away. Plus, the gift is for Júlia, not for her.”
“Okay!”