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Jaipur, India.
2017
My shoes crunch the damp concrete. The blazing morning sun blares down on my forehead, making my throbbing eye just a little more painful. My ribs hurt when I breathe, and I'm almost certain I've got a goose egg on the back of my head.
You're so pathetic, Reyan.
The voice in my head is my father's. He'll be sure to give me an earful about this later when he sees me. Maybe even knock me around some more so I learn to "never embarrass him like this" again. My eyes leak, the throbbing turns to burning.
I take a deep breath, relishing the burn that spreads through my chest. Holding the cigarette between two fingers, the white smoke leeches from my lips into the air. The smell. The rush. The gentle buzz heating my blood. Fuck, I missed this.
Shame follows, but I shove it aside. I've run out of options to deal with this absolute shit show my life has become. At least cigarettes will always be the same. They'll always give me the feeling I'm after.
They sure as hell won't hurt me.
Atleast not the way he has.
You hurted him as well. A voice at the back of my head said and I rolled my eyes in annoyance. How am I this pathetic? After everything I have been through all my life but still I had the audacity to held the affection for the man who's father ruined my childhood.
I take another long drag, kneading my forehead as I watch the familiar car drove right infront of me. The morning sun barely warms the chill out of the late-October air, and from my vantage point on the Hotel Paradise balcony I can see the cops rushing in and out.
My phone buzzes just as I take another drag. I fish it out of the pocket of my rumpled slacks. It's a phone call from an unlisted number. I answer it with shaky fingers. I have an idea who it is, but I don't speak first.
"Rey?"
"What is it, Luke?" My voice is hoarse and I heard my friend Luke muttering something but I couldn't catch on it.
"Your father knows and he's asking for you." He says
I roll my eyes, perching the cigarette between my lips to run my hand through my messy hair.
"I will be there soon make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." I say slinking over to the other end of the balcony. I lean against it, looking at the expansive looking hotel pool. A sudden urge to jump from here rises in my chest but I hold it off.
"Yeah? As if I can hold that old man." Luke laughs on the other end.
"Just stay with him until I get there, alright?" I say and then there's a long silence until he spoke.
