PURE HEROIN

XIII.

13 | Pure Heroin

Exodus unclasped her hands then clasped them again fixing them in her lap. She opened her mouth to address the elephant in the room but no sound came out. The words were there, lying dormant on her tongue but somehow to heavy for her lips to speak out loud.

Eli sat very casually with one arm thrown behind Juels and munching on a cupcake. While Juels on the other hand, looked at the spot above Exodus's head not quite able to look her in the eyes. Exodus really wished she had stayed out longer on her run to avoid all of this.

"Exodus you can't tell Fredo." Juels blurted out breaking the silence.

Before Exodus could reply Eli beat her to it. "Why can't she? I'm tired of hiding our relationship." Both girls looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"There won't be a relationship to hide if Fredo finds out because we'll be fucking dead Eli!" Juels shouted. Exodus shifted uncomfortably in the armchair. all she wanted to do this evening was eat some cupcakes from Mary Annes and watch a movie on Pay Per View, but she supposed that was asking for too much.

"Well that's a risk I'm willing to take. I still think we should tell him. Are you just going to be scared to live your life because of what your brother thinks?"

Juels leaned back into the couch, "You know how Fredo is...He's been on edge with Aj and everything..I just don't want to upset him right now."

Eli sighed, "I know baby." Exodus cleared her throat after enduring a few seconds of them kissing like they had forgotten she was present.

"How long have you guys been..." Exodus trailed off motioning with her hands awkwardly.

They looked at each other before Eli answered her. "Awhile."

"I presume that you guys are safe about it..." Juels blushed and Eli smirked but they both offered a nod in response.

Exodus was floored. Her parents had always been the type to let her make her own mistakes and learn from them so she had no idea if she should reprimand them or not.

"You guys are going to have stop fucking in here though. Suppose if it was Fredo that had walked in?"

"Eli probably wouldn't have a face anymore." Juels said giggling. Exodus knew she shouldn't have laughed because this was serious but the image in her head alone was enough to have her joining in. Eli rolled his eyes at both of them not finding any of it funny.

Exodus waved them off to Juels's room but told them to keep the door open. Exhaling loudly she picked up the box of cupcakes and headed to the kitchen. She was never having children.

-

Fredo hadn't been home in almost three days. Not that Exodus was counting or anything. A part of her was relieved; it saved her from feeling the guilt she was sure to feel when he would be around her. The weird part was that no one seemed to notice.

Biting her lip, Exodus glanced at Juels who sat across from her eating a bowl of fruit. It was driving her crazy how everyone was so nonchalant. "Does Fredo usually do this?"

Juels never bothered looking up from eating. "Do what?"

Exodus regarded her strangely."Juels...He hasn't been here in three days."

Juels pulled out her phone played around with it for a second and then placed it back in her pocket. "He probably won't come home till sometime next week."

"Why..." Exodus was beyond confused.

Juels didn't respond, instead she got up and opened one of the kitchen drawers. Moving back over to the breakfast bar where Exodus sat she placed a few pictures in the front of her, before sitting back down.

Exodus glanced down at them. The smiles of an attractive looking couple stared back at her.

"He makes us hide all their pictures in that drawer. He hates to be reminded..." Juels said swirling her spoon around. "They died in a plane crash when I was three, Aaron going on five and Fredo was thirteen."

Juels saw the look on Exodus's face and immediately offered a small smile. "It's ok..I don't really remember much about them..Fredo took it the hardest. He's never been...right...since then. He disappears every year around this time. Always for about a week. No calls, nothing. I guess we've all just gotten used to it."

"It never really affects Aaron and I. Fredo was the only parental figure we've known. The only thing I remember about them is that my dad always smelt like the ground after hard rain." She paused laughing. "..My mom's favorite song was 'Volver,Volver' ..It's a Spanish song about unrequited love and the desire to come home...she sang it all the time to me."

Juels pushed one of the pictures on the table closer to Exodus. "She was a dancer to...And I know it sounds crazy but when I dance I...I feel...Closer to her than ever." Exodus could feel the tears well up in her own eyes.

"What about you? You never talk about your family."

Exodus smiled sadly. "They're in New York. I haven't seen them in two years. I was afraid to go home. I feel like some things that I've done in life...I just know they'd be disappointed. "

"What are they like?" Juels asked playing around with her food.

"Amazing. My mother was probably the most free spirited person I've ever known and she cared about everyone. She'd give you the clothes off her back if you needed it. But I was a Daddy's girl though. My mother always called us twins. We were inseparable..." Exodus ran her hand absentmindedly against the ridges of the necklace around her neck. "When I started dancing my mother was just content that I was doing something I loved, but he pushed me the most. He just wanted to see me succeed and he worked his whole life to give me the best of everything."

"Why don't you call them?"Juels asked curiously.

Exodus shook her head. "There are just some things I'd rather do in person. I want to see them, memorize every new detail that they have acquired over the two years I missed. Hug them forever until I no longer feel the ache of their absence in me. I want to tell my dad that I never stopped being his little girl..." She wiped her eyes closing them briefly.

Juels stared at her the wheels in her head turning, Fredo was already going to kill her anyway. She didn't have anything to loose, before she could stop herself she decided to say what was on her mind.

"How would you like to take a trip?"

Exodus glanced up at Juels."A trip?..Where?"

"New York." Juels smiled.

Exodus shook her head. "And how exactly do you plan we get there?"

Juels stood up holding up one finger signaling for Exodus to give her a moment. Exodus sighed watching her disappear into the hallway. Why did she feel like she was going to regret asking?

Juels came back smiling triumphantly with something in her right hand. Holding the piece of plastic up for Exodus to see, she raised her eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

Exodus noticed the black Amex card between her fingertips and immediately started shaking her head. "Juels no."

"He said to use it for emergencies. This feels like an emergency to me."

"What if Fredo decides to come back while we're gone?" Exodus protested.

"Trust me he won't. He's been doing this for years. We'll be back before he ever comes home."

Exodus sighed. "No Juels and that's final."

Juels simply smiled wider.