Pretty Poison

Twenty - Four

The world outside passed by in a flash. The individual trees and bushes passing by in one large blur like a canvas covered in spilled green paint. Few cars passed us by, and when they did they slowed down to get a good look, men rolling down their windows with drool dripping from their mouths.

Luca didn't seem to notice, for he was too focused on the road in front of him to even care. He passed slower cars, stopped at lights, accelerated, slowed down, all like a mechanical machine. The time passed in silence, either one of us lost at what to say. Finally, the silence becomes unbearable.

"I, uh, wanted to thank you, for everything," I convey, looking up from my intertwined hands up to his unclenched jaw.

Luca looks away from the road only for a moment, and I see that in his eyes he struggles with an internal fight alone.

"Of course, love," is his only answer.

"I don't know what came over me last night to come, but a voice in my head kept telling me over and over again to come back, back to you I guess."

From the corner of my eye, I see the thoughts etched on his face vanish, something else replacing it entirely.

"I'm so happy you did, I can't even explain to you how much I wanted you back," he pauses, his lips slightly curling up at what he's about to say next. "I know it's strange, but ever since you left I felt alone, even though I only ever talked to you once. I always admired you from afar," he says, prying his eyes from the road to focus on mine.

I look away from his gaze, my cheeks a bright red and my skin hot and burning. "I did, too."

We fall silent again. More and more cars pass by and follow us as we get close to an unknown city. We pass people walking on the pavement, shopping bags in hand and smirks on their faces as they talk with friends. Others sit outside under the shade of umbrellas, sipping hot tea from a cup. The city seemed calm, everyone knowing their place. Buildings stand on either side of the wide street, but the landscape shifts to be more rural with small shops spread out as we reach the border.

The sun beats down on the expansive farmland, far off in the distance tractors till the land, preparing crops. They seemed to pass by so slow yet so fast, for it has been an hour already but it felt like an eternity.

"Want to play a game?"

His voice startles me in my seat, his deep voice echoing in the small space of the car.

"Sure."

"It's called twenty questions, you usually play it to get to know someone, it's simple."

"How do you play?"

"We go back and forth asking each other personality questions, like I said, to get to know each other."

I nod in understanding, finding it quite silly yet enthusiastic.

"I'll go first, what's your favorite color?"

"Are the questions supposed to be that simple?" I ask.

"They can be, you can ask anything you want to know, that's what's fun about it," he says, shrugging his shoulders and taking one hand off the wheel to rest it on the shift. "Well, what is it?"

"Blue, indigo blue. What about you?"

"Yellow, like a sunflower or sunset yellow...it was my mom's favorite color, too."

I wanted to ask what happened to her, but I knew that's not how the game's played.

"My turn, lemme think," Luca rubs his chin in mock thought, "What is your favorite characteristic about me?" He laughs a little as he says the question, peering over his shoulder to look at me with an ecstatic beam.

"Your eyes, hands down," I say, "I've always loved your eyes."

"Damn really? I have expected you to say this," he gestures a hand down his chest then back up and I can't bite back the laugh that comes out of my throat lightly.

"Yes, yes, I like that, too, I admit," I say, still laughing.

"I knew you did, I saw you drooling," he winks at me, displaying his pearly white teeth when he laughs with me.

It didn't feel forced, talking to him, it felt natural. Every question leads to conversation, simple questions leading to long talks about the stars in the night sky, the value of family, and the meaning of life. I never knew it would be possible to get to know someone in such a short amount of time.

The more he spoke, the more it dawned on me how intricate life is, and that there's so much more to it than just my own mind. It amazes me to think that all this time he has been living his own life of pain, something I thought someone like him would never be able to experience.

He said something to me that struck deep, "I don't care much for the riches, but I would do anything for my family to make sure they have everything they need. Sometimes I wish I was born into a different family, but then I realize that I wouldn't value it as much as I do now, if I had a normal family I would take it for granted, but in a way I was blessed with the one I have, for it made me realize the true meaning of love."