Still, Kid can't help but laugh as he zips his pants. "Did you have to bring me the lime green suit? I look like a gangly lizard." Celia laughs and sniffles, Felipe shakes his head, and the three of them rush out of the panic room.
Outside, Reynaldo is waiting for them in a pitch-black Cadillac CTS. Kid barely has time to admire the vehicle before Felipe's hand lands on his head and urges him into the backseat. Celia and Felipe slide in beside him. "Where're we goin'?" he asks. Despite his cooperation, Kid is more than a little nervous about the night's events. "What's going on, Celia? Why are you both acting so strange?" His mind quickly fills with all sorts of awful scenarios.
"Sit back," Felipe snaps. He places one hand on Kid's chest and reaches across for his seatbelt. Kid looks at Celia who is already with the program and latching her belt. Felipe makes sure hers is secure anyway before he sits back and secures himself. Reynaldo is seriously hauling ass down the driveway.
Once they're off the property, Reynaldo slows down and Felipe visibly relaxes. It's odd to see this side of the older man and he doesn't particularly like it. He prefers his master's haughty and over-confident demeanor because it makes him feel safe. Kid doesn't feel like he's out of harm's way right now. He rubs his abdomen.
"I apologize," Felipe says softly. He turns his face toward the window and reaches out to hold Celia's hand in her lap. "I shouldn't have hit you. Rafiq surprised me and I didn't want to discuss your safety." He meet
s Kid's eyes and says, "I won't ever do it again. A man has the right to choose his own destiny."
Everyone looks so grim. It makes Kid nervous. "Hey," he smiles, "just because I'm more of a lover than a fighter doesn't mean I can't take a punch. Ask Amanda Simpson; she punched me all through third grade and I still went out with her in junior high."
Felipe grins in spite of himself and covers his mouth. "I still should not have done it. You're my lover, not just my 'fuck toy' as you so eloquently put it once."
Kid scrunches his nose. "Gross! Do you have to say it like that? Lover? Sounds so...old." He winks at the other man, instantly pleased by the charmed look in his master's eyes.
"You're free." Celia's broken voice hits Kid's ears like a slap.
"Excuse me. What?" Kid takes Celia's free hand in his and squeezes. It isn't until Celia hisses in pain that he loosens his hold the slightest bit. "Celia, what the hell are you talking about?"
She turns her blotchy face toward him and looks up at him through spiky lashes. "Is that what you want?" She's so sad. Kid's heart feels like it's pulling apart in his chest.
"Celia," Felipe says in his 'I know what you're up to' voice. "Stop trying to manipulate him. You know better than I do that if we don't give him his freedom, he'll resent us no matter how well we treat him."
Kid has never been more glad or miserable for his lessons with Celia. "You're letting me go?" He covers his face with his hands. The worst days of his life begin typically. Kid's parents went out for lunch and never returned. His uncle went out for a beer and wound up with his head separated from his shoulders twenty-four hours later. The normality of the events leading up to each catastrophe has always sat heavy in his gut. This morning, he woke up to Celia's warm kisses and Felipe's hot mouth on his skin. He was happy.
"Isn't that what you want, boy?" Felipe asks. "Your freedom?"
"Yeah...I guess." Please. Don't send me away. Celia thrusts her face onto his chest and sobs. "Celia--"
"--We'll travel by car for a few hours to a private airstrip. Reynaldo can take you anywhere you wish," Felipe says. His tone gives nothing of his emotions away. Except...Kid can see how hard he's gripping Celia's hand. He can't look away.
Kid has been wary of ever feeling safe and secure. Wary of the happiness those things might bring him. Terrified of what might happen if he ever found himself completely alone.
Terrified of this fucking moment.
"Boy. Look at me," Felipe says.
Kid calls upon every lesson Felipe and Celia have taught him. He meets the other man's eyes without sobs or protests. He sits, quiet and patient, as this world crumbles around him too.
"Do you remember what I asked you when we met in the dungeon?"
Kid answers steadily. "You asked me what I wanted most in the world."
"Do you remember what you said?"
Kid doesn't dare look down toward Celia who is still sniffling on his chest. Felipe has a fondness for poetry, and Kid has to hand it to him--this shit is poetic. He's going to give Kid his freedom now that he doesn't want it anymore. Felipe has somehow found a way for him to provide his own send off and break his own fucking heart in the process. "I said..." he wipes at a tear that has somehow escaped, "I said I wanted to go home."
"Yes, and you said you couldn't because there is no one left to love you," Felipe whispers.
"That too."
"Do you still believe you're unloved?" Celia's shuddery words are softly spoken against him.
Kid shrugs. He's getting fed up with this shit. "I guess."
Felipe stares at him for several minutes as though he's trying to decipher truth from fiction. "I'd wager you're wrong," he says simply.
Kid can't take any more. "What are you saying?" He glances first at Felipe, then Celia. "You want me to go? I'll go. You want me to stay? I'll stay. Stop being so shy all of a sudden because we all know how ridiculous it is and tell me what to do! You've been doing it for months. Nothing new."
Felipe kisses his teeth but a smile lurks in his expression. "I'll take your desire for instruction under advisement, boy. For now, I'm asking you: Will you choose to stay with Celia and me? Will you choose us? Will you give us the chance to love you?" There is a hint of yearning in the question.
Simultaneous emotions bombard Kid's every synapse. He's falling and flying. Terrified and yet elated. He wants to cry and to laugh. But he settles for spewing out a stream of consciousness. "Fuck!" Kid exclaims. "Why the fuck didn't you just say that? I thought you were getting rid of me! I'm over here choking down my dinner so at least I have something in my stomach when you toss me out. I'm wondering how I'm going to live without you guys, and the whole damn time, you never said I can stay?"
Felipe laughs heartily and pulls both his lovers close to him. He kisses both their heads. "Language, boy." He pecks the younger man's lips when Kid lifts his head. "Such a filthy mouth."
Celia wipes her eyes and grins. She kisses Felipe, and then Kid. "We'll just have to remind him of his manners."
Kid laughs. "Yeah, I guess you better." He boldly reaches beneath Celia's dress to bury his fingers in her slippery pussy. Seconds later, he takes those fingers and slides them into Felipe's mouth before he kisses the older man senseless.
They unbuckle their seatbelts because:
Celia can be too brave.
Felipe can't tell her no.
And Kid is determined to obey.
-Fin-
Thank you for reading.