#task218

[liquidcxurage]

That’s my cue

New Orleans. Some things never changed. There was something about being back in the crescent city that just eased the deepest part of  his soul. Even the air smelled different here. It was easier to breathe without ever knowing why, without ever pinpointing the moment breathing became labored. His first stop was out in the Bayou, no one came home without seeing mama first. It was nice to be back at the home, even if it was a home that he had mixed emotions about. The first half of his childhood had been somewhat of a nightmare, being the shield between his brother and his father made for plenty of scars but far too few good memories. After his father’s disappearance things were a relief. No longer forced to rush home so Kyle wouldn’t be alone with their father, no more explaining away another busted lip with a smile and a smart a s s comment. Ten was too young to know how to manipulate a situation, to know the perfect amount of annoyance and attitude to make them give up on answers or frustrate them enough to make them forget they were looking for them in the first place. Regardless, the place was still home.

Ash was heading back out to the French Quarter to catch up with some of his old buddies when he stopped by a little bodega in the Ninth Ward that had the best crawfish po’boys. That was something he missed the most about moving back to Hartsville; the food. He put his order in and was leaning against the wall when what felt like a torpedo hit him square in the chest. “Ashie! Oh my god, I thought that was you!” The high pitched screeching voice was enough to send a shiver down his spine but the small frame wrapped around him made him want to disappear. His relationship with Alicia Johnson was short but the most toxic thing he had ever experienced and that was saying something. She had done a real number on him making him a less sure person at nineteen than he was at ten.

With a smooth motion, he turned them and removed himself from her grip. “Alicia… what, uh, what are you doing here?” She was still clinging to the sleeves of his jacket as she pouted in a way that he was assuming was supposed to be pretty, though it made his stomach turn. “Ashieeeeee,” the whine in her voice sounded like nails against the chalkboard, “aren’t you happy to see me?” She leaned in toward him just as they called his name at the counter. “Excuse me.” Saved by the po’boy. Literally. Asher had never been a coward, never run from a fight, but he wasn’t an idiot either. When Alicia waited where she was, clearly expecting him to come running back to her to talk, he saw his opportunity and seized it. With his bounty in his hand, he slipped straight out the open door and was gone before she even realized it.