“I’ll try my best.”
“Come on, I need you to be there, Tua needs you to be there.”
“Why? It’s not like we can be alone, anyways,” she stated.
“Stop being so depressing, get over it, let’s go. We’ll get drunk, and who knows, it might be the night Tua kisses you.”
Aquilla rolled her eyes. Like that would happen. “I’ll text you and let you know tomorrow.”
Hila was waking Aquilla before eight the next morning. She wasn’t ready to get up. What did she have to get up for?
“Come, Miss. You father wait,” she spoke in her broken English.
“Tell him I’m sick,” she moaned rolling over.
Hila ignored her, started her bath and laid her attire for the day on her bed.
“You get up now,” she coaxed, pulling the covers from her body.
Aquilla sat up, rubbing her eyes. She knew she had to get up. Breakfast was the one meal that her father insisted they ate as a family. He and Julius were usually busy working for lunch and, if his schedule allowed it, he would insist that supper be shared together as well.
Aquilla bathed and then groaned as she put on the customary dark blue dress slacks and white button up shirt. She wanted to wear shorts and a concert t-shirt or something. She didn’t want to dress like a nun. She changed as soon as breakfast was over anyways. She didn’t understand why her family had to arrive at the breakfast table in full blown funeral clothes.
“You button,” Hila demanded, wanting her to button the top two buttons that were allowing cleavage to be visible. She knew Mr. Chavez’s rules, and it was her job to see that Aquilla followed them. She had been with Aquilla since their arrival on Jamelia Lei four years ago. She wanted to keep her job, and did her best to keep Aquilla in line. She was never close with Aquilla, and Aquilla wasn’t close with her. Aquilla found her to be more annoying than anything. It would have been nice to have a female to bond with, unfortunately, Hila wasn’t her.
Aquilla placed her hands on her hips with a puff of air as Hila buttoned the two buttons. She slid into her heels and walked out, unbuttoning the two buttons as she descended the stairs.
Her father was seated at the head of the long table, wearing a black suit and tie. Julius sat across from her wearing his own formal attire. She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous sight. Julius smiled, amused at her. He knew exactly what the eye roll was all about. He knew her better than anyone knew her.
“Good morning, Quill, button your shirt.” her father spoke as they both respectively stood from their seated positions. Romano pulled out her chair and kissed her cheek.
Their coffee was served, and Romano led the conversation while they waited for their meals to be placed in front of them.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you,” she replied.
“May I go to the pits with my friends today?” she asked, forcing her eyes away from Julius.
“No, you have an art lesson today,” Romano replied.
“Why do I have to do that? I hate it, I suck at it,” she stated with a tone.
“Suck?” her father asked with raised eyebrows.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized right away. He had already warned her about picking up Talin’s vocabulary. She would have to be more careful. She didn’t want him to stop her from hanging out with her. “I just don’t understand why I have to paint, I don’t like it. Why can’t I just keep taking the flute lessons? I like that.”
“You already play beautiful music. I want you to be creative,” he explained.
“I can’t paint,” she tried to argue one more time.
“Your lesson is in an hour. Don’t be late,” he warned, dismissing the subject.
“Talin and Vennah aren’t going to the beach until this evening may I go then?” she asked, giving up on the stupid art class. She wasn’t sure how much more of her captivity she could handle; she was 18, for God’s sake.
“I will let you know at lunch.”
Aquilla moved her arms for her spinach quiche, and a refill on her coffee. Another servant followed and ground fresh goat cheese on top. She raised her hand, stopping him before he grounded the red pepper.
Aquilla picked at her breakfast and listened to the conversation that her father and Julius assumed she was oblivious to. They really did treat her like she was a child. She knew what went on there. She was no dummy, just because she was never involved or knew the details didn’t mean she was an idiot. When her father spoke of a shipment coming in, she knew that he was speaking of drugs. She had watched four new girls come in a couple of nights before, so she knew it wasn’t a shipment of chattels.
“May I be excused,” she asked, eating only half of her breakfast.
“Yes,” he excused her.
Julius’s eyes followed her out.
She went right to her room and removed the costume, replacing it with comfortable stretch shorts and a t-shirt. She had just gone on a cruise ship and fell in love with a hot maître d when Hila came in, interrupting her romance novel.
“You do art lesson,” she demanded, laying the prescribed clothes out once again.
“I’m not changing,” she assured her, got up, and walked out. She wasn’t wearing the ridiculous clothes to learn how to paint something that she didn’t want to paint.
Her father could have at least hired a good looking teacher. Armani was old with a balding top and a thick Italian accent.
“Aquilla, Aquilla,” he chanted, moving behind her easel. “You must feel the brush, right here,” he said, tapping his chest with his fingers. “Close your eyes and feel the strokes,” he requested, taking her hand.
Aquilla slid the brush across the canvas, creating a deep purple mountaintop that was nothing more than an elaborate zigzag. She didn’t close her eyes and feel anything. How the hell were you supposed to feel the brush? The only thing she felt was irritated that she was there.
“What do you feel, Aquilla,” he asked in a quiet, over dramatic tone.
“A wooden handle that feels like a fat pencil,” she replied with closed eyes and a smirk.
Armani looked at her crooked line and breathed a defeated breath. He couldn’t get through to her. Her heart wasn’t in it, and no matter how hard he tried to teach her, if she didn’t want to learn it, he couldn’t teach it.
Romano didn’t get back to Aquilla about her request. He never came to the table for lunch. She waited until after five to knock on his office door. She did replace her shorts with the formalwear, thinking she should probably go in with ammunition. She knocked on his door and Julius let her in.
“What can I do for you, princess?” Romano asked with a smile.
“You were going to let me know if I could meet my friends,” she reminded him.
“Who’s going to be there?”
“Talin, Vennah, and,” she hesitated, not sure if adding the boys would alter his decision. “Tua, Keiki, and Salem,” she spat out quickly.
“You will be home by nine,” he assured her.
“Eleven,” she countered.
He smiled at his audacious daughter. “Ten,” he reasoned.
She would take that.
“Valdez will drive you.”
“I’ll escort her,” Julius demanded. He didn’t like the fact that Tua was going to be there.
“You have a training session this evening,” Romano reminded him.
Aquilla knew what training session he was speaking of. She had watched the women come into the house late at night. She had never witnessed it, but she knew. The girls would stay in the north wing, where she was prohibited to go, but knew what was going on, sort of.
“Latium can do it, I’ll follow Quill,” he commanded.