Their Obsession

Chapter 24

Dinner continues quietly with the exception of Reyna continuing to spill everything about her life and her sons'; much to their dismay. I continue to sense Javier staring at me from across the table. But each time I look at him and catch him staring, he quickly looks away. I can see that he is still having a mental debate with himself. He doesn't seem present in the conversation that the rest of us are having, but nods and pretends that he is listening when Reyna makes a comment directed towards him. Even Damien throws small glances at him to which Javier is completely oblivious to. After dinner, I help Reyna to clean up in the kitchen whilst Damien and Javier disappear. Not to fight, I hope.

"You know, you're the first girl I've ever seen Damien brought over," Reyna says as she passes me a plate to dry.

"Really?"

Damien doesn't bring girls over.

"Well... ever since high school at least," she clarifies taking the plate from me to dry. "He would have his entire high school's female population running in and out of that room."

"Oh!"

I would rather not hear about Damien's whore years.

I think Reyna could clearly sense my discomfort, so she quickly added, "I'm sorry! Me and my big mouth. Don't be too worried about that. They all go through that... well except for Javier."

"How so?"

"He is a big softy that one. Gets attached really easily, if you know what I mean. Been like that since he was small. I remember this one time..." Reyna chuckles as if unable to contain the hilarity of the memory. "So, this one time right, he comes running back to me from the park with a bruise on his arm crying. So, you know, I asked him what happened. And he tells me some girl punched him. Now me, I was ready to go punch that little snot-nosed brat for hitting my angel, don't care that that little turd was five years old. But him, sweet little thing, said he thought the girl liked him. So, he continued to try to talk to her but just kept coming back with more bruises."

"That's terrible."

"You telling me. Tried to explain to him, that people who like you, aren't just going to just punch you. But he was convinced and said he was going to prove me wrong. Begged me for weeks to have me help him set the two of them up. So, I finally conceded. Figured it was just a faze. So, he made me help him buy her flowers and went back to the park to give them to her."

"Did she take them?"

"No!" Reyna bursts into a tearful fit of laughter.

Oh my god! Now I see where Damien, gets his storytelling skills from.

"She punched him square in the nose," Reyna says still laughing. "Mean left hook that little snot-nosed brat had. Don't know what the hell her parents were feeding her."

"Poor Javier."

I try to hold in my laughter but I can't and soon Reyna is laughing with me as well.

"Figured it was maybe a lesson he just needed to learn; that people who like you don't show you that through assault. Poor thing was depressed and cried for weeks. Didn't show much interest in girls for a while after that. I actually thought that little cunt had punched him gay or something."

"I don't think that's how that works," I try to explain through my gasping fit.

"Yeah yeah," she says pulling a joint from her back pocket and lighting it. "But we all know he isn't now don't we," she says slyly, raising her an eyebrow at me.