“Who?” Henry pleaded. His voice was soft and silky as he rounded to stand in front of me.
“Why do you say who?” I muttered.
Henry’s eyes darkened, “I have seen enough subcutaneous bruises to know which ones are caused by accidents and which are caused by human infliction. So who, Maya?”
Was it just me or was this guy really smart? He sounded like the anatomy book I’d read this past summer.
I shook my head and bit my sandwich. “Please leave it alone.”
I could feel tears welling behind my eyelids as my lashes fluttered. Marco pulled the shirt back down and lifted me into his arms. Do all friends carry one another? There was no way I was carrying these guys. I mean, I really would if I could, but they were huge. I rubbed my nose against his warm neck as he rumbled in that deep purr again.
Once I was situated in Marco’s arms in what he deemed the family room, he sat down and Ledger offered me a blanket and my tea. I continued to nibble on my sandwich as Henry sat down. I knew I was taking advantage of their friendship, but this was the most comfortable I'd ever been. I briefly noticed the three other men talking in quiet whispers from the kitchen. They sounded worked up, but I hoped they would figure out what was bothering them.
“Okay, so put your finger here,” Henry instructed. I could tell he was frustrated, but thankfully he had dropped the conversation from before. For now at least. The screen lit up and filled in a huge thumbprint with my own. I smiled at the idea.
“Now it will only open to you,” he muttered and met my eyes.
I frowned, thinking about my lack of knowledge, “can you put multiple thumbprints?”
Henry nodded and I smiled, “please put everyone’s thumbprint, I don’t want to have to always open it for you guys if you need something.”
Henry’s eyes softened as Marco spoke in a voice that still seemed tense, “I have no idea what’s going on at home Maya, but it would be best to hide this. I don’t want anyone taking it away.” I didn’t know what to say, but I could tell Henry was preloading some data that probably had to do with what I asked for. I wanted my friends to be able to do what they needed.
I nodded, “okay. So what is this for?” I was talking about the phone of course.
Henry frowned as Marco muttered something in a different language and answered, “it’s a way to contact us.”Neat.
He showed me how to text and call. I scrolled through six names, Atlas was the only one I didn’t recognize. I assumed there was a good reason for including him. I sent out a text with smiley faces to all their phones. I jumped at the sound of bings through the room. Marco chuckled quietly. I really liked the sound coming out from his mouth.
“You didn’t have to buy this,” I muttered, “it’s way too much.” It was pink though. So pretty. I loved the color pink. It was the color of the roses that bloomed near the church’s base and the color of the fading sunset. I loved those shades. Pinks, purples, oranges. Especially red. I would keep the phone for now, but only because I knew it was important to my friends. I wasn’t positive why though.
“Consider it giving us peace of fucking mind,” Sai snarled before coming to sit in front of Marco and me. He leaned his head back to look at me. I lifted a hand to comb through his hair and while his eyes flared in surprise, he relaxed into the motion.
“You guys are being really sweet,” I untangled myself from Marco, but the man didn’t let go of me, he kept a hand in mine, “do friends normally act like this?”
All five of them shifted uncomfortably as Anani spoke after a moment, “peanut, have you ever had any friends like us?”
I shook my head. I had a response to this. “Nope. I have only known Pastor Malcolm, mother, and Jed.”
“You mean those have been your only friends?” Henry clarified.
I frowned and explained, “no, like those are the only three people I have ever met. Well, I suppose after today that has expanded slightly...”
Sai cracked the table he had his hand on in front of us, the wood splintering before he stormed off. Ledger sighed and jogged after him as Anani grunted before following. Henry bit his lip and moved his gaze to the window portrait that faced the front of the house.
“Where did you move from?”
“Louisiana,” I stated proudly.
“Who is Pastor Malcolm? Where did you live there?” Marco demanded with enough force to pop me out of my sense of security.
I knew he wouldn’t want the answer to these questions. I sighed, “Pastor Malcolm was my father, and he’s dead now.” I just ignored the other question.
The room was quiet. I stood up, finally escaping his comforting grip, and walked toward the large glass window that featured the impressive front driveway and forest landscape. The rain had begun in earnest and caused a fine fog to filter through the area. It was beautiful.
I liked these boys. Men? Men. But they were asking a lot of questions and I didn’t think friends did this only a day after meeting. Plus, biology told me Marco might like me. That was a problem. They were really nice and didn’t deserve to be deceived. At the same time, I can't exactly tell them how worthless I was. If my mother were here, she would have done a much better job.
I knew there was only one solution and it broke my heart.