Page 59 of The Filth Kings

“You, okay?” His voice was low and urgent.

“I’m sorry, Monni…I didn’t know you had company.” She stuttered over her words.

Monster used his work boots to move the glass out of her way.

“I’ll go get the broom to sweep all of this up.” She avoided my gaze.

She stumbled slightly, and he was there with his hand on her back to guide and steady her out of harm’s way of the broken glass. I don’t know if I was disgusted, curious, jealous, or just amazed. I shook my head again, and pulled out a cigar to light and waited on Monster to return.

Monster walked back in the room with a broom and dustpan. He silently swept all the broken glass up and walked away to discard of it. He walked back into the room with an icy look plastered on his face. He ignored me then sat down to eat the rest of his food. I puffed on my cigar and waited for him to break our silence. Ten minutes went by before he guzzled his beer down.

A loud burp left his mouth as he moved the food tray to the side of him. He reached for a box of tooth picks on the table then finally looked up at me.

“Did you kill your friend a week ago?” A sinister smile etched across his face.

“Did you fall in love?” I asked, not wanting to answer his question first.

It seemed like we both went through some unusual changes.

“Natavi is mine. I don’t know what love is.” He shrugged.

“I take that as a yes, you fell deeply in love. I like the changes around here.” I chuckled as I eyed the soft touches around his front living room.

“You got candles burning. They smell delightful,” I added.

“I came by to let you know that I’m going to Arkville to have a talk with Impurity.” I sat up to ash my cigar.

“You came here alone today?” Monster asked as he folded his hands in front of him.

I took in his attire as I nodded my head yes to traveling alone. Monster had on cotton plaid pajama pants with a black long-sleeved shirt.

“Jalissa is around, I’ve been looking for her. I think you should move around with protection until things get settled for good.” Monster’s eyes grew dark.

“Do you want to come with me to Arkville?” I asked.

An uncomfortable silence for seconds too long went by before Monster spoke.

“Since I was a kid, I didn’t understand my life. I didn’t understand my parents either. I thought that the way that I got treated was because I was Black and ugly as fuck. Until I saw beautiful people getting treated worse than me. After everything, I wanted to meet my parents and ask them questions. I already had it in my mind but not in my heart to forgive them just to feel wanted and cared for by somebody. I thought that was Jalissa… she came to my rescue in Thailand with her supermom cape on. I believed every word she said to me, about you, and Impurity. I didn’t know… but as the years went by, I saw that you were nothing like Impurity. All I knew was that before I killed that bastard for selling me and breaking Jalissa’s heart that I would ask him questions. Until it backfired…” He swallowed down hard and looked away for a couple of seconds.

“There was a boy always with her. At first, I thought it was a girl…” His dark eyes locked back with mine.

I sat up in my seat and felt my chest constrict.

“She always said that she saved the boy and how the boy always wanted to be a girl. Until I went through her shit and saw hormone pills and all sorts of other medication that no kid should be taking. The boy always looked sad and trapped, Jalissa kept him hidden most of the time. Now that I look back at it, I think it’s the reason why she moved me to her second apartment when we got settled back in the states from Thailand. He sort of looks just like?—”

“Octavio…” I cut him off.

I could barely breathe as I felt a lump grow thick in my throat.

“She calls him Octavia…” He uttered lowly.

Monster’s eyes mirrored mine, we communicated without saying to much of anything for a while with our eyes.

“When she revealed that you were my brother and Impurity is my father, I realized that the boy is our?—”

“Brother.” I whispered while I pinched the bridge of my nose to stop the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes.

I hadn’t cried since my twelfth birthday. I stood abruptly and clenched my fist at my sides, trying to keep all of this rage and pain inside. The cold reality of it all was ripping my insides up. The memories, the anger, and fear that I once had came to the forefront all at once. It all crashed like a wave that refused to let me breathe. My heart started to pound as my throat grew tighter.

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