Quill did very well in school. Although she still didn’t want to go, and thought it stupid, she did well. The funny part is that she insisted that Reese do well too. Liz loved to see the two of them sprawled on each other’s beds doing homework together or sitting at the table while Quill helped Reese with the geometry that she insisted she couldn’t do. Quill made sure that she could do it. She would even stop her in the halls to ask her how she did on a quiz or a test.
Quill pulled into the driveway, noticing the dark house. Her mom was still with Connor and, of course, Reese was with Lil. She stuck the key in the front door and looked up cautiously when the door wasn’t locked. Her mother would never leave the house unlocked. She hung the keys on its rightful hook and dropped her jacket and bag to the sofa. That’s when she heard the creak on the hardwood floor. Someone was in the house. She was scared all of a sudden.
Should she leave? Should she call the cops? Where was her phone? She placed her hand on her front pocket, feeling the phone. She was frozen in time, unable to move. Was the noise from upstairs? No. No. It sounded more like it was coming from the dining room. What did they want? She listened, not hearing anything. She was being paranoid. Nobody was in the house. Just stop it, Quill, she said out loud and flipped on the light. She walked to the kitchen for a yogurt and flipped that light on as well.
She took her favorite strawberry yogurt from the fridge and looked around the counter. Didn’t they buy bananas that afternoon? She could have sworn they did. She snickered when she saw them where they were always kept.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Seri answered Quill’s call.
Quill slid to the kitchen chair and dipped her banana in her yogurt. “Nothing just got home. What did the doctor say?” She wanted to know about her morning visit.
“He said I was as good as new, but he wants to do a hysterectomy.”
“Why? That doesn’t sound like good as new to me. What about having a baby?”
“You can’t have a baby if you don’t have a uterus, Quill”
“You’re such a bitch. What if you want to though?”
“I’m not going to want to. I wouldn’t be good at that, and besides, your dad says he’s too old to go through teenage girls again anyway.”
“But, what’s wrong with your uterus?”
“Mostly scar tissue. When the bullet fragmented that part of my body, my uterus was kind of in the way. He says I shouldn’t try to carry a baby.”
“Are you sure you never want to, though?”
“I’m sure. My little Quill is going to find a nice man and give me one to spoil rotten.”
Quill laughed. “If you marry my dad, that’s gonna make you a grandma,” she reminded her.
“Fuck you. I hate you.”
Quill laughed again. “You said it, not me.”
“Besides, if I don’t have a uterus, I don’t have to worry about that monthly thing anymore. I can have sex any time I want.”
“Yuck. You do remember that is my dad that you do that with, don’t you?”
Seri laughed. She sometimes forgot that fact. “Are you coming here next weekend?”
“I don’t know, for what?”
“Really, Quill? Your dad’s birthday, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Yeah, but I want to drive. You think I could get away with buying a car with all this money? I could say I found it or something.”
“NO! Don’t even try it.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve got to go start a report. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Okay, and don’t go getting any bright ideas. Your dad wants to get you a car for graduation anyway.”
“That’s like months away.”
“You’ll live. Now be a good little girl and go do your homework.”
“You drive me crazy.”
“You drive me crazy and I love you; talk to you tomorrow.”
“Alright, see ya.”
Quill walked back to the living room to get her bag, head upstairs and start on her paper. She didn’t have time to scream, she just reacted. She felt the hand over her mouth and the next thing she remembered was the loud sound of the twice-her-sized-body hitting the hardwood floor and then the moan.
“Jesus, Quill,” Julius moaned.
“Julius!”
“Hi, baby,” Julius smiled up, holding his shoulder, which he wasn’t quite sure was dislocated yet or not. “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”
“You taught me, you big dumb idiot. You could have just said my name, might have saved your back a little. What the hell are you doing here? I thought you would be back in Spain by now.”
“I have been here all along,” he admitted, sitting up. “What the hell are you doing in that junkyard all the time?”
Quill helped him to his feet and fell into his arms as it hit her. Julius was there. He was really there. He didn’t leave her. He was there.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an emotional embrace. How was he supposed to just let her go? How was she supposed to let him go? She couldn’t. She didn’t want to.
“I can’t live without you, Quill,” Julius assured her, holding her face and kissing her lips.
“I don’t want you to, Julius. What do we do? I can’t just run away anymore.” She couldn’t do that either. She didn’t want to.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t want you to run anymore either, Julius. You don’t have to. Just keep clean and don’t do anything illegal. They won’t bother you. Seri promised that as long as they didn’t get word that you were transporting or training chattels, they would leave you alone. Do you have money, Julius?” she asked, rattling on and on. She couldn’t believe that he was there. Right there in her living room.
Julius let out a short puff of air. “My nose is clean, and I have money. You should know that.”
“Well, do something with it, Julius. Do something that’s not going to get you sent to prison.”
“I’m not sure I know how to do anything like that.”
“You can. You’re a smart man. I know for a fact that you had the same education as me. Father made sure of it. You can do something, Julius. Please. I don’t want you running anymore,” she begged.
Julius didn’t have time to respond when the headlights shined through the window.
“Shit, my mom is home.”
“I’ll go out the back door,” Julius decided. He didn’t want to get her in trouble, and he sure as hell didn’t want her mother to find him there.
“NO!” she almost yelled. “Go to my room. She won’t come up there.” Quill wasn’t about to let him leave. Not again. She was too afraid of not seeing him again. What if he disappeared again?
“And do what, Quill?”
“Just go, Julius. I’ll be up in a minute.”
“You’re early. I didn’t expect you home yet,” Liz said, walking into the living room.
“I have a paper due Monday,” Quill replied. Liz smiled, proud of her passionate outtake on her school work.
“Want to eat ice cream first?” Liz asked.
“No, I just had a yogurt and a banana. I’m going to head up for the night. Is Reese coming home?” Quill wanted to know, worried about her being right across the hall from her.
“No. She’s staying with Lil. Why?”