I turned away, silently pleading for Scout to show up. “I’m going to go get some pizza,” I lied and hurried away. It felt odd walking through her house without her, but I figured I’d go back up front and wait. As I walked through the hall, I paused to stare at the markings over the wall. It was… a mural.
The entire wall was a story. Two faceless lovers, entangled in each other. They were running from shadows. In between city buildings and cars, but the shadows kept chasing them. They ran until the woman collapsed, and then the man turned and decided to fight. But there was nothing there. The drawings promptly stopped.
“She’s good, isn’t she?” A man’s voice startled me, causing me to come out of my hypnotic stare and turn.
“Who?”
“Scout. She draws all this shit.”
“Scout drew this?” The razor-bald man with the dark goatee and long shirt nodded.
“She’s an artist.”
“Do you know her well?” I asked. My own insecurities were suddenly flaring. The way this man spoke so highly of her, as well as his good looks and Hispanic heritage, gave him a leg up on me. I was a stranger in her world. Why would she want me when she had all these guys fawning over her?
“We go way back.” He licked his lips. “We all grew up in the same neighborhood. You?”
“We just met.”
“I saw you outside, talking to Chino and Julio. They give you shit for being white?” This guy was blunter than the others, but I appreciated it.
“Some,” I admitted. Not wanting to come off as a dick, I shrugged it off. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. So, Scout likes art.” I tilted my head to the wall. “She go to school for it?”
“You mean like college? Only rich people do that.” He patted my shoulder and smiled. “All good, homie, you don’t gotta worry about me. I ain’t your competition. Scout’s like my little sister. They call me Mota.” He licked his lips and eyed me up and down so quickly it made my muscles tighten. “And you don’t gotta introduce yourself, because I know who you are.”
I gulped. A million thoughts ran through my mind all at once. What was he going to say?
“Yeah?” I reached up and rubbed my neck.
“It took me a bit to figure out why you looked so familiar. And when I remembered, I knew I had to come and talk to you. I know your secret.”
