Room 221 || Lucaya

Her Shiny Penny

MAYA'S POV:

The sun sets so effortlessly upon the open space that lies around the bed of the truck. Sounds of crickets hum lightly in my ears, creating a soft and steady melody. Winds breeze gently through the air, brushing upon my exposed skin while the sun kisses my face, slowly creating freckles upon my cheeks.

Lucas, with his eyes fixed on the nature around him, grins from ear to ear, soaking everything in like a sponge. He seemed so comfortable; almost as if he was one with nature.

"Alright, tell me something about Miss Maya Penelope Hart that I don't already know," Lucas jumps in all of the sudden, pulling me out of my gaze.

Sitting there on the blanket, nuzzled into my gray sweatshirt and my natural, untamed hair, I think. If I don't even know what Lucas does know about me, how do I know what he doesn't?

Do I even know myself?

"Um, what do you want to know?" I question softly, my voice croaking under the pressure.

Lucas chuckles under his breath. "Anything. What about... What's your middle name?"

I manage to crack a genuine smile despite every other emotion and thought that consumed my entire being in that moment.

"Well, um, I like art," I choke out, not quite knowing what to say.

"Really?" Lucas smiles, "Maya Penelope Hart, the artist. I like it—has a nice ring to it."

I painfully force a smile this time. Painfully because smiling has never in my life been so foreign to me.

The aura that surrounds us screams hesitance. From the silence that followed Lucas' remark, I could sense his hesitance to speak. He was scared to set off a grenade.

I am the grenade.

"What kind of art are you into?"

"Painting, and music. A little," I correct myself.

Lucas' eyes light up with a sense of hope. "What do you like to paint, the most, I mean?"

The answer to his question slipped off my tongue before he even finished the question.

"Penny."

"Pennies? Like the coin?" Lucas asks with genuine curiousness in his voice.

I sigh heavily, gazing down at my abused wrists. "No, Penny's my little sister. She—"

Lucas smiles from ear to ear. "Maya, I didn't know you had a little sister too! That's crazy how similar we can be. So, since you're from here, do you get to see her often?"

"Not unless I can get to Heaven any sooner."

In that moment, all I could hear were the quiet breaths of two people.

"Maya..." Lucas whispers with sympathy in his voice as he reaches out for my hand.

I pull my hand away awkwardly. "No, Lucas. It's fine. She just, um... She was killed instantly in a car accident because of a drunk driver," I mumble through tears on the edge of spilling down my cheeks.

Somehow, Lucas' voice manages to comfort me by remaining steady and quiet. "Who was the drunk driver?"

"My step-dad."

In that moment, all I could hear were the quiet breaths of one person.

The tears fall.

The tears fall like the waters of a hurricane flooding out bridges and buildings.

The tears fall like the raindrops crashing against your bedroom window during a thunderstorm. 

The tears fall like the river streaming down the bank, headed in no particular direction.

"Tell me about her," he whispers calmly, turning the subject matter in a different view.

"She was eight years old. She had the most beautiful golden blonde hair that reached her shoulders, and dark blue eyes that looked like the ocean," I smile as her image lingers in my mind, "She had light porcelain skin like me."

Lucas, seeming to visualize Penny in his mind, smiled with me. "Sounds like she's your twin."

"She acted like me too. Penny loved music and art. For a tiny little girl, she had a big voice. And she was so smart, wise beyond her years. I... I guess she had to grow up when our step-dad came into our lives."

Lucas glanced down at my wrists, slowly moving his hand on top of mine. "We don't... You don't have to talk about it."

Something clicks.

"No, no... I mean you've practically seen me naked, I guess you can't get anymore vulnerable than that, right?" I say sarcastically, trying to contain my escalated emotions. "My real dad—Shawn—was practically kicked out of our house when my mom started dating Kermit. He brought out the worst of my mom... Kinda like how Charlie did to me..." I breathe heavily as the connections come through.

Everything made sense, in some twisted way that took years to discover. My brain connected the dots one by one—I am turning into my mother.

"Penny and I were practically on our own. My mom would not let us see our real dad, she was too busy drinking and being dangerously toxic with Kermit. So, for about two years, I raised Penny on my own. But when Kermit killed her that night, I lost it. And that's when I met Charlie," I whisper, my eyes wide open, staring at nothing.

Lucas gives my hand a comforting squeeze. But neither of us speak, for neither of us have to. Each breath taken during that comforting silence translated into a thousand words that soothed my soul from the inside out.

In the midst of tranquility, Lucas' lips curve slightly. "Penny... Penelope."

Still fixed on the sight of emptiness, I respond automatically. "My mother let me name her. Her name gave me an unbreakable connection to her."

"She's my shiny penny."