Caitlin held onto her secret for years, remaining a burden she was willing to carry. She desperately wanted to protect her son Zion from this world and from his father Bronze Marcelo, the most prominent artist of the rap industry. Simultaneously, sh...
Four days in a row. That's how long the storms had casted a shadow over the tiny city, where the brimming clouds cluttered the skies in their grayish hues, and the raindrops rapidly tapped dance along the windows of Mrs. Rosario's classroom.
The kids somewhat quietly marked their answers, whispering to one another, and Caitlin listened to the clacking sounds of their pencils scratching the paper. It was soothing in a sense. The unusual sense of tranquility that often was absent in a classroom. With her eyes on the back of students' heads, she paced back and forth at the back of the classroom. Her students anxiously stared at their smart watches or snuck several peeks at their smartphones. The digital clock ticked the lingering minutes left before the end of the school day. Laura, the most intelligent of the class, stood first and dropped her finished product into the bin.
Giving Caitlin a sly smile, Laura returned to her desk, and looked back at her. She raised her smartphone in the air and Caitlin nodded. Laura silently thanked her, tapped the home button with her thumb.
"Do you hear Yanny or Laurel?" Laura asked her nearly half-asleep friend, Demetrius. He perked up from his sleeping pose and repositioned his body to face her. She leaned over and placed the Bluetooth piece into his ear.
"Yanny, duh," he replied, leaning his chin into his hand. He yawned, with his mouth exposed to her. Laura covered his mouth with her hand and made a face that clearly demonstrated her annoyance. He chuckled a bit.
Caitlin rolled her eyes. It's definitely Laurel.
She wiped her hands down the sides of her black pants. It had been several days where she was unable to converse with Ace. Usually, after school, Caitlin caught a glimpse of him supervising the construction with the contracted company and managers. Her mind went instantly into the dirty depths of a filthy gutter. Damn why did he have to be so damn good-looking. He was never that good-looking before. At least in her memory he wasn't.
She would gazed at him in distance. Notice things she hardly notice before.
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His smile. Oh man, that smile of pearly whites. His mouth had naturally puckered, and his jaw would clenched when he analyzed a critical task. Those sultry dark eyes. They've always been there. Caitlin remembered quite well. She remembered how some of the high school girls would gossip about how Fat Ace had the perfect lashes. Girls would've kill for those damn things.
She had been secretly grateful to have him walk back into her life.
I hated to admit it.
She speculated too often about his current life. Did he have someone he cared for? Did he have children? Did he ever marry? When did he lose the weight? What school did he go to? How did he become so successful? When did he change his horrible eating habits? Did he stay in contact with our old friends?
The bell rung, which shook Caitlin from her trance. The class rushed out of their desks, placing their unfinished papers into the tray and waved goodbye as they exited.
