𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨

darrell knows

chapter nineteen
"darrell knows"

The beauty of the Villa was not lost on me. It still held much of its original architecture, which it lost refurbished mostly to its original state. Tiled bathrooms of beautiful golds and blues and reds, beaded curtains lining doorways, courtyards residing at the centre as a prized jewel.

Outside was just as much a culture shock, if not more. Now, as we walked barefoot along the side of the road, it surprised me at how many people were half-naked! Many girls were topless, and children under the age of eight were completely free, tanned beautifully from the sun. Not only this, which made me feel a bit like a prude but the streets were packed to the brim, making us all fear for our safety. The markets hung beheaded animals (gross), fresh fruit (lovely), jewelry (beautiful), and other knickknacks and tried to tempt us into buying using languages we had never heard of as we walked past.

Cooper was ogling at everything like a little boy, and Buddy was not far behind. The frontman walked shirtless, albeit with a healthy layer of sunscreen, with a cowboy hat on his head (a tender had been selling them), smiling toothily as Molly clung to his arm. She was dressed to the nines in a lovely red sundress, blonde curls spiralling everywhere, bare feet tracking dirt from the earth below. She looked genuinely happy, especially with Jamey just beside her, holding Melody yet still dancing, and trying to sway like the snake being charmed in the middle of the street.

Buddy and I held hands, just behind the couple, thinking of things to buy and thinking of Nicky and Darrell. Ultimately, the poor boy had been deemed too weak to join us on our trek into the village, and Nicky had passed on it in support.

NICKY: Every time I denied him something my heart broke a little. You try to deny a man like Darrell Rivers anything, let alone a walk! But he was weak, his body hurt, and I was on edge constantly after the accident. Overbearing, yes, but I've always been! Anything he missed out on, I did too. With us, it is always one for one and one for all. When you lose that, you ain't got shit.
Still, it was a shame not to see Nicky out with the locals. She would've worn a sun hat, a big floppy one, and Darrell would've indulged her in anything she ever wanted.

"Do you think we should bring these back for him?" Buddy looked at me expectantly, holding up a small guitar figurine carved out of wood. I smiled, nodding, digging in my purse- Grant had tracked down enough currency for us all, and shelled it out for us like little kids at Disneyworld.

Cooper was farther ahead, walking along the side of the road, trying to balance on the curb as if it was a tightrope. Then, suddenly, his attention was caught by something else and his balancing act was forgotten, "Guys! Look! A beach! Let's go!"

He ran without hearing any sort of agreement, his pale body contrasting beautifully with the darker citizens until he reached the water, where he looked at us with that wolfish grin, and I thought about how easy it would be to fall in love with him.

Maybe Buddy knew this; I always felt he could read my mind. He followed my gaze, to the splashing sea now full of our happy, jumping friends, and spoke with a tight-lipped frown, "I know he's beautiful. But you can't love him.

"I don't love-love him, but I love him-" I tried to argue- I was very argumentative with Buddy, in those days- but was stopped, both from Buddy's sad sigh and the way he dropped my hand.

"No, Selene. You can't love him at all or I'll lose you." Buddy seemed angry then. His brows furrowed, and his narrowing eyes weren't for the sake of protecting him from the sun.

I was so much shorter than him; I always was, but it became incredibly apparent at that moment, "You really believe that, don't you?"

It was not a question, but a statement. Buddy looked away, his jaw clenching, and a sight that would've made me want to drag him back to our bedroom made me angry. I was so, so angry, my hands balled into fists, and Buddy knew this. Even when we were fighting, he always knew me.

"Do we have a problem?" I asked though I know we did.

"Problem? Why would we have a problem? We're on a beach in the fuckin' French Rivera, why would we have a problem?" His voice stunk of sarcasm, and for the first time, I saw a small glimspe of Buddy's temper yet to come.

"Don't do that." I shook my head, annoyed. We were vaguely aware of the others not far away, within earshot if were to start yelling. Jamey was building a sandcastle with an unknown little boy, just short of erecting an entire kingdom, and Molly and Melody dipped their feet as Cooper hobbled through the waves. Everything smelt like jasmine and the end of something good, and things had changed.

"Do what?" Buddy asked. His eyes were viscous and cunning.

"You know what, don't be a prick."

His frown was replaced by a scowl, though he tried weakly to hide it, "Oh no, we wouldn't want to ruin precious Cooper's beach outing."

It all circled back to him, though at the time, I blamed Buddy for this. I gawked, "It's not his fault."

"It never is!" Buddy's voice raised, and we met at a standstill, teeth clenched until heads turned back away, pretending to be focused on something other than our argument.

All the same, he seemed done with it as well. Opening and closing his mouth like a fish, Buddy gave his head a final defiant shake, "Okay. Whatever. Enjoy your beach trip, cause I'm heading back."

He left, without any sort of conformation. Not far away, a child cried for losing their toy, and everything was wrong.
Nicky had prepared an ample spread by the time we got back, and it was only fitting some of us had lost our appetites because the food had not gone to waste. Cooper's guests, some of the most beautiful girls I had ever laid on, followed the herd, arms linked with Molly as if they were already sisters.

It was not for a lay Cooper picked these girls up, although that much was obvious. Molly seemed to be his other half- his better half, by all means- and the only one who could really keep up with his activities, if not top them. She pulled the girls into the Villa, sat them on the plush couches, gave them Valium and soon joined them in what they called their 'break' (which was really just toplessness, the same way the boys always were).

Peter appeared for a short while, though left quickly. His time apart from of all was visible even just in the way his skin was untouched by the sun; apparently he could tan, afterall the pale boy did live in California, but we had yet to see it. Pregnancy was turning Eileen miserable, so we hardly ever saw the princess, who seemed permanently chained to sitting in front of the toilet, vomiting her poor heart out and crying thick tears.

Buddy and I sat on opposite couches, both forefully involving ourselves in conversation with whoever was closet just to prove how unbothered we were. I sat beside Darrell, his arm around my shoulders in a brotherly way, "Trouble in paradise?"

Darrell had a habit of saying exactly what needed to be said. He was a man of mystery; his smiles were saved for Nicky. I turned, pretending to be shocked, "What do you mean?!"

Darrell just shook his head, giving a little nudge to my shoulder, signifying I wouldn't be getting an answer. I welcomed this, "Do you still hurt much?"

"Ehh..." Darrell laid his hand out, swaying it side to side, "No big deal. Y'see, Nicky feels guilty. Likes to baby me. Babied Tommy too, the git. Look at her," She gestured to Nicky across the way, twirling in beautiful robes vintage from Biba, bejeweled stars plastered to her cheeks like beacons of light, "She likes to care. Shit, maybe I'm lying. But anyway, the way she cares is takin' that weight, too. So for all things considered, I'm completely fine and am just doing it for Nicky."

"You is learned to avoid the question from Cooper?" Turner asked, on my other side, breaking his peaceful revoirvare. He seemed quite happy watching the girls Cooper brought over, staring at one in particular with his Charlie-Brown grin.

Darrell smiled a bit, "Yes indeed, Turner. It's a valuable skill, you should learn it."

At the time, I had no idea what Darrell knew. Yes, I should've known that he would always know everything about Cooper before even I did, but I had no idea. It was only when he squeezed my knee after Turner had mentioned the name, a small reassurance, that I did. Wide-eyed and stricken, I looked at him and he shook his head.

His smiles were saved for Nicky.

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photo: jamey in the hot tub located at the villa. taken by molly.