The thought of a 12 year old boy being forced to train grown women was sick. It twisted her stomach in knots. When she read about the way he took care of Quill, and how he nurtured her, she felt her original perception of him was skewed. He was thrown into the life of drugs and chattels at a very young age. He really didn’t have a choice on the way he turned out or the things that he did. She also knew that even though he was somewhat of a pervert, he fought his feelings for Quill extremely hard and tried to keep them in check. He lost. He loved her and Seri could now see that without blinders.
“Are you still reading?” Quill asked after her very long, annoying introduction to the rest of the family.
“Yeah,” Seri said in a sad tone, closing the laptop.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Quill, I won’t go after him. I promise.”
Aquilla smiled. “He’s not the bad guy that you thought he was, is he?”
“No, Quill. He’s not. He was just as much a victim as you were.”
“Can you understand now why I am so determined to find him?”
“I can, but I still don’t know if that is such a good idea. He’s always going to be on the radar, Quill. I want you to have a normal life. You deserve that.”
“I don’t want that, Seri,” Quill explained, sitting on the end of the bed with her head down. “I’ve never had a normal life. We’ve always lived on the radar. It’s what I know. It’s what I’m used to. Can you understand that?” she asked, lifting her eyes to Seri’s.
“I’m trying, Quill.”
“Will you help me, Seri?”
“Quill, I___,”
“You don’t have to go with me, just help me track him down. You did it once,” Quill interrupted.
“And it took me almost a year.”
“I have almost a year before I will really be 18.”
“I’m not making any promises.”
“Promises about what?” Monica asked, walking in.
“That I will talk to her mom about her coming to stay with me for a week before school starts,” Seri lied.
“Whoa, I’m still not going to some fucking high school with a bunch of drama infested teenagers,” Aquilla assured them both.
“You’re a teenager, Quill,” Monica reminded her, plopping beside her.
“But, I’m more like a 25 year old teenager. Reese and Lil drive me crazy.”
Monica and Seri laughed, but knew she spoke the truth. She was way beyond her age of 17.
“Hey! Let’s smoke a joint!” Aquilla exclaimed excited.
“NO!!!” Monica and Seri both yelled at the exact same moment.
“Geesh, alright, alright, I get it.”
“Come on. We have to go sit by the fire with your family,” Monica lured the two.
“Great, are you sure we can’t smoke some of that first?”
“You stay away from weed. I think you’re allergic to it or something,” Seri teased, ruffling her hair. She felt even more compelled to be there for her now after reading her secrets. Nobody could understand Julius without reading that, let alone comprehend Quill’s feelings for him.
Aquilla liked her Aunt Kerri, and her Uncle Jake was funnier than shit. It wasn’t near as bad as she thought it was going to be. Of course, she did have Monica and Seri there for refuge too. That probably helped.
“You should go get your flute and play something for us, Kerri,” her grandpa urged.
“You play the flute?” Quill asked.
“Yeah, a little,” she replied modestly.
“She plays more than a little. She played for the New York Philharmonic for three years,” her Uncle Jake boasted.
“You did?!” Aquilla asked, excited. She would love to see the New York Philharmonic in concert.
“Do you like orchestra?” Keri asked surprised.
“Yeah, and I love to hear the flute. Play something for us,” Quill begged.
Aquilla’s cousin Samantha ran to her car and got the flute. Aquilla was astounded. Her Aunt was amazing. It was beautiful. Seri and Monica watched Quill get lost in the melodramatic melody. Neither of them pictured Quill to be into that sort of music, let alone the flute.
“That was beautiful,” Aquilla proclaimed when she modestly dropped the flute. “Can I see it?” Aquilla asked.
Kerri handed it over with a smile, happy that someone in her family finally appreciated the sophistication of the flute.
“May I?” she asked, dying to play. She couldn’t remember the last time she played. She missed it.
“Absolutely, do you play?” Kerri asked.
“A little,” Aquilla replied, just as unassertive as her aunt.
Aquilla brought the flute to her mouth and positioned her fingers. She closed her eyes and played, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the movie “The Lion King.” It was breathtaking. Even Reese had tears in her eyes.
Aquilla was a little embarrassed when she blew the last long note. She hadn’t realized she had lost herself so deeply into the music.
“Aquilla, that was beautiful,” Liz exclaimed, wiping a tear.
“Thanks,” Aquilla said, handing the flute back to her Aunt Kerri.
“How did you learn to play like that?” Kerri asked.
“I had a teacher since I was seven. Have you ever heard of Randy Durban? I was taught by a nephew of his.”
“Randy Durban’s nephew taught you to play? It wasn’t Johnathan Durban, was it?”
“Yes. You know him?”
Kerri sat down with her hand over her heart. “Are you seriously telling me that Johnathan Durban taught you to play the flute?”
“Who’s Johnathan Durban?” Reese was the one to ask.
“Oh My God! He is the most amazing flute player in the world. I think he was even better than his uncle Randy.”
“Oh, me too, without a doubt,” Aquilla agreed with all eyes on her and Kerri, having no idea who they were so excited about.
“How in the world did you luck out?” she wanted to know.
Aquilla shrugged her shoulders. “I was only seven. I don’t really know how my father acquired him. He taught me from the time I was seven until I was fourteen. When we moved, I had another teacher, but he wasn’t near as talented as Johnathan was.”
“I cannot believe that Johnathan Durban was your teacher. This is crazy. That must have cost your ____ somebody a lot of money.”
“Yeah, probably,” Aquilla agreed with a sad tone. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. It made her miss her father and Julius. She wanted to be back there. She wanted everything to go back to the way it was. She would never complain about being isolated, if only she could go back.
“I’m kind of tired. I think I’m going to turn in,” she announced and walked back toward the cabin alone.
Seri showered and joined her already in bed. “Do you want to read some of Julius’s writing?” she asked, crawling into bed beside Quill.
“No. I don’t want to think about that anymore. I want you to tell me about you. Make me think about something else.”
Seri took a deep breath. She wasn’t overly excited about going down memory lane either. “What do you want to know, Quill?”
“Where did you grow up?”
“In New York.”
“Do you have brothers or sisters?”
“I had a sister, Lakota. She died seven years ago.”
“I’m sorry, Seri. Where you close to her?”
“Very. We were raised by my Grandma Violet.”
“Where were your parents?”
“I never knew who my father was and my mother is serving a life sentence.”
“WHY!?!” Aquilla asked, shocked. She was expecting to hear how perfect her family was.
“She was a heroin addict. I was only two and Lakota was four. She gave birth to a baby boy and dumped him in an alley, wrapped in a trash bag.”