Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 19:22:09 -0500
From: S N <sum1plezzcall_911@hotmail.com>
Subject: Ladulcevida, chapter 25

       Disclaimer: This is a FICTIONAL story describing the life and
problems from the POV of a Young man.  If you find this type of story
offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you Are, then refrain
from reading it.

      This story is a continuation of Rain_On_Me (found in HIGHSCHOOL
section of nifty)
       Feel free to send email or comments about the story to
       sum1plezzCall_911@hotmail.com


Edited


     -Dedicated to my new nephew

      LaDulceVida- The Sweet Life

                                                          ADRIAN'S HORIZON
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had missed. I remember kicking at her strong and running up the stairs
trying to wake up Eric. Elle didn't pursue me. I didn't know why, but
truthfully I thought it was some kind of small blessing. You know the kind
of blessings that happen when you least expect it? I figured this one of
them. You could call me stupid, but you wouldn't be thinking if someone was
getting at you with a baseball bat.

Eric was still sleeping. I ran inside of the room and closed the door,
slamming it so hard that he woke up. He was wiping his eyes, probably
wondering why I wasn't still laying next to him in the warm bed that we had
just shared. I didn't know how to explain it.

"Elle knows..."

That was the only thing I could get out of my mouth. Eric looked at me with
a clear confusion at first, but not much panic. His new haircut seemed to
have a little more maturity in him but that innocence was still there to
the point that I thought for a moment that he was looking at me for
answers.

BAM! There was a loud knock on the door that caused me to jump away from it
and onto the floor! I knew it was Elle. She had hit the door with the
baseball bat. I made out a little noise, not sure what to do, but then I
felt Eric coming up from behind me. He held me real tight, holding me with
his arms so that we hugged tightly.

"Don't worry, Damien," he assured me, with this strong look of stableness
that for some reason made me believe him. I usually wouldn't believe these
little words of comfort, because most of the time they didn't mean
anything. This one meant something though. I could see it in the curl of
his lips.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

Eric grabbed onto me and led me to the other side of the room. We started
frantically packing stuff in suitcases and shit. I was never in a rush like
I was today. I hardly even recognized what I was taking. I just started
shoving shit into bags and grasping it.

"Eric, I think she called for help . . . I think she called Robbie," I
frantically told him.

He looked at me with this look. Damn. I loved that look.

It was one of those looks that said, "I'm here until the end." I just
wasn't sure what end he was talking about. I had the feeling. It was this
deep ass feeling that said something else was going to happen today. It
felt as though Karma was rearing its ugly head at me once again. I hated
the feeling. I more than just hated the feeling actually. Elle was still
screaming outside the door, but she wasn't hitting the door with the
baseball bat anymore (probably because she didn't want to put dents in the
door).

"She just a girl, I'll knock that bitch out," I suggested, in a sort of
cold way because my mind was full of fear and discomfort.

"No. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore..."

I hear the crackling in his voice as he said it. He was thinking about
Adrian. Was I jealous? I had this completely strange feeling, as though for
the first time Eric's mind was somewhere else but on me. Perhaps jealousy
was too strong of a word, but I disliked the idea of Eric feeling such a
strong regret for protecting me (even though I found his choice a little
drastic).

I walked up to him and kissed him on the lips.

"You love me?" I asked. I had an urge for him to say it. It was hard to
describe. I wanted it to come out of his lips.

"I love you more than life."

"Then if you are my boy, then you are my boy until the end."

There was another bang on the door from Elle! I knew she was trying to get
in. There were footsteps around the house. Eric leaned over and kissed me
again, holding me tightly this time as though it was our last kiss. It was
that kind of passion I had from him every time we kissed.  Every time he
held me, it was the best.

He let go of me and leaned out of the window, looking over at the ground
that was just below us.

"Damn, it's too tall to jump from here."

There was a loud thump on the door and this time I couldn't take it
anymore.  I had run to the door and opened it. I threw myself at Elle...or
at least I thought it was Elle...

Robbie was standing there. I had tackled him down to the floor and was now
positioned over him, staring into his eyes. His eyes were looking in my
eyes. He was watching me. I didn't know what to do. My heart stopped. It
was probably the same emotion that Eric would feel if he saw Adrian
again. I just felt creeped out. I could feel Eric standing behind me and he
was probably confused as hell why I had so much intensity looking at
Robbie.

I felt Robbie looking at me strangely and then I squirmed slightly as he
put a warm hand behind my head. He still had that SEXINESS about him. He
was from my past and yet he still had that straight tension every time we
were near each other. I would never really love him, but I would never stop
lusting over him either.

"You remember that song you always used to listen to," he whispered so
softly in my ear that I could hardly hear, "Storms will come, this we know
for sure, but tell me can you stand the rain?"

I remembered the song. Robbie would always watch me listening to the song
when I was in my room. He would never listen to it really, but just sort of
watch me listening to it. He said that when I was enjoying myself that I
looked like a young Caesar.

"Damien, come on," Eric said and went to me. He grabbed me by my arm and
lifted me up off Robbie.

Eric held my hand, (the cuddling our fingers together kind) and he pulled
me away. We were running then, running to the staircase as though we were
clear. We should have known better. I saw Byron standing there all of a
sudden. Him and some other guys from the Syndicate.

"Byron?" I asked, a little confused that he was standing with Syndicate
guys.

"I'm sorry, Damien, but me and Robbie made up," Byron explained with this
sort of pathetic sympathy like Eric and I were lost puppies, "I just
couldn't take it when I heard that Adrian was dead. Robbie was right all
along. You two have dangerous emotions. You need to be broken up."

"What!"

I couldn't believe that Byron, the guy who actually planned the entire
thing was now backing out of it! Not only was he backing out of our deal,
but now he was preaching to us about a choice he wanted us to make!

"Fuck you," Eric said, defensively and coldly with all the emotion that I
had.

I realized that we were walking right back into Robbie. I would rather face
Byron and the entire syndicate than face Robbie. Robbie knew ways to
conquer people with just an enticing stare. He didn't have to look very
long either. He just have to give a short, beautiful stare and you were
lost in his eyes forever.

"Damien, come on," Robbie explained and showed me his hand in a welcoming
way, "You are innocent. The cops won't even ask you any questions if you
are with me. You don't want to be with a murderer."

I saw Eric clenching his fist. He was going to swing at Robbie. I wasn't
going to stop him if he chose to, but I did want a chance to talk to Robbie
before all hell broke loose.

"He's not a murderer," I explained and went to him, "Please Robbie. You got
to believe me. He's not a murderer. I can't let you kill him Robbie."

Robbie looked a little confused all of a sudden and then he started to
laugh. This confused the hell out of me because then Byron and the other
guys in the Syndicate began to laugh. I didn't understand what they were
laughing about, but it seemed so goddam funny at the moment. Were they
laughing at me? Was I that funny to these guys?

"Kill him? I'm not here to kill him. I'm here for you Damien. I don't give
a fuck about Eric. I just made Jay think that so that he would tell me
where you were. We got that girl Elle tied up downstairs. Neither Jay or
Elle will mention you in court if they value their lives..."

"What about Eric?"

Eric was still holding my hand. He grasped on tighter. I knew he didn't
want me talking to Robbie at all. It wasn't that he was worried about what
I might say, but he seemed to realize that Robbie still had that same look
in his eye for me. I could see that Robbie was still in love with me. It
surprised me even more that Robbie never really wanted to harm Eric.

"We gotta leave him," Robbie said with this bluntness that made me a little
shaky, "I'm here for you Damien. Come with me."

"Please . . . Eric . . ."

"He killed Adrian. It's all over the news. This is going to be the court
case of the year. I don't want you to be a part of it, Damien. I got
connections so that you won't even have to appear in court."

Eric pulled me away from them. He was still holding my hand tightly. He was
still claiming me as though I was the most precious property that he ever
had. I knew he was mine. He had killed for me and now I was going to live
to pay him back. My honor wouldn't let me settle for any less.

In the corner we started to talk, "Damien listen to what I got to say
before you say anything. I want you to take the offer."

"No!" I argued.

I caught them looking at us in the corner of their eyes. They could hear
us.  I was trying to fight back these emotions that I had been holding for
so long. Eric had sacrificed so much for me. He had killed a man that he
probably loved because of me. I couldn't leave him.

"Go with Robbie," he pushed, palming my hands in his own, "I did what I did
out of my own judgement. I knew I would have to pay for it. I didn't do it
so that we both can go down together.  You go away with Robbie and I'll
take blame for what happened."

"Did you hear me say NO!" I yelled out.

This time I was sure Robbie and everyone around us could hear it. I didn't
want it to be like this. I never wanted to leave Eric. I wanted for one
time in my life for our relationship to just be "cool".  No more drama, no
more anguish, no more law and definitely no more crime.

Eric pulled his hand away from me, breaking the bond, "Get the fuck off me!
Didn't you hear me the first time that I said it? I said that you should go
with him! STOP CARING WHAT HAPPENS TO ME!"

He basically then shoved me into Robbie, so hard that even Robbie fell back
hard when we bumped into one another. I looked at Eric. He couldn't act
hard against me even if he tried. Even as he shove me, he was probably
praying that I wouldn't get hurt by it. He was trying to show tough love,
but all I saw was the love. I loved him even more.

"Aren't we emotional today?" Robbie said to Eric and then gave him a stern
look, "You did the right thing . . ."

He was leading me away, as though he expected me to just leave Eric and
wait till the cops showed up to take Eric away. I took Robbie by the
collar, first as though I was about to threaten him, but then I just
loosened my grip and felt my legs give up from underneath me.

"Please," I begged Robbie, grasping onto his arm tightly, "I know you can
help him somehow. He is innocent. I swear that what happened with Adrian
was an accident. Adrian was trying to kill me and Eric stepped in."

Eric gave me a look. I knew he didn't approve of me begging Robbie and
putting aside my manhood and pride like I was doing now. I really couldn't
believe what I was doing either.

"Damn boy," Robbie realized, appealing to the fact that I kneeled to him on
one knee as though asking him to marry me, "Why should I give a fuck about
Eric?"

"You care about me right?"

Robbie put on a mean looking face as though not wanting to weaken his
stance, "More than you would know. All Eric did was cause you to get in
that bridge accident . . .  or did you forget about that?"

"It was not my fucking fault!" Eric cried out, rushing forward in a way
that I was almost sure that he was going to start fighting with Robbie for
the umpteenth time. I couldn't believe he was

"I don't care!" I bursted out and then I finally let that single tear drop
come out, which sort of was my last hope.

I swore that I wouldn't cry anymore. The last time I cried was the day that
Robbie came to visit me and Eric got mad, which caused me to get into that
whole bridge accident.  I wasn't a fan of tears. It was such a weakness to
me. I even hated to see baby's cry, not to mention grown men who had been
through shit that hardened me like stone.

Robbie suddenly said it, "Damien, you're crying."

"I have to. I mean, if I'm going to beg you, I might as well go all out."

Robbie laughed. He thought I was joking, but I was so serious. Eric was mad
as hell by now.  It confused me. I saw how he was looking at me. Eric was
pissed, while I was trying to save him.  Robbie turned around.

"You guys are way too fucking dramatic for me," he said, his back facing us
in this cool and laid- back way.

I looked back at Eric. That was one thing that he could agree on. Eric and
I were too fucking dramatic for our own good. Thinking about all the shit
that we been through, Eric had really began to believe that the world had a
vendetta against him. I could even see in his eyes that he really still
thought it was absolutely necessary to deal with Adrian the way that he
dealt with him.  We both were beyond emotional at this point.

Eric and I were riding on madness and we both knew it.

"If you were in my position . . . wouldn't you be a little dramatic?" I
asked Robbie.

Robbie had changed.  He wasn't the person that he was before. I wasn't the
person that I was before either.  I had gone from a flirtacious, grimy,
rough-house hoodlum to this deep, emotional wreck.  I still had a little
bit of the old Damien in me though and I figured Robbie still had a little
bit of the old Robbie in him.

"So what do you want me to do?" he asked a little sarcastically, "After all
I been through to be with you, you just want me to let you go this
easily?!"

I stopped looking at him. Adrian came up to my head again. I couldn't stop
thinking about Adrian. How many people had Eric and I hurt for our
happiness. When would it all end . . .

"Robbie, please," I began to say, realizing that Eric's eyes were piercing
into mine as well as everyone else in the room, "I died. I was kidnaped. I
have the weight of Adrian's death on my shoulders. Eric isn't your enemy. I
am. I led you on. If the cops come then I'll confess everything to
them. Eric didn't kill Adrian. I did. I think its about time you stopped
hating Eric. "

Robbie stopped talking. I guess he was thinking. I wasn't sure. I was tired
and there was a heavy thumping on my chest that kept beating and
beating. It wouldn't end. I watched Eric and Robbie.  They were looking at
each other. Their eyes stared deep into each other's eyes. I was wondering
what was going to happen next. Crazy things came in my head like Eric
snapping at Robbie or Robbie turning a pistol on him.

For the first time Robbie was nervous.

Eric came out first though. I guess my speech had affected him directly. He
reached out his hand to Robbie.  At that time, I was holding my
breath. Yeah right . . . like Robbie would shake his hand!

That was when Robbie shook it.

"You're right. This is getting crazy," Robbie suddenly explained, "Damien
if this is what you want . . . then I'm cool with it. I believe what
happened with Adrian 'was' an accident. I guess I always believed it, but
couldn't admit it. There's a car outside. We'll take a trip to see my
lawyer and I promise nothing will happen to him."

I was happy. We all were happy. Eric thanked Robbie with this glassy look.
Byron gave both of us looks and then just left the room. I guess he was a
little mad that things hadn't turned out the way he wanted them to. I
looked over at Robbie. He was leaning against the wall and staring back at
me. It was one of those things that we both wanted to say something, but
neither of us knew what to do. I thought about thanking him, but I doubted
he really wanted thanks from me anyway. I didn't know what to say. He was
being so understanding all of a sudden.

"Damien, c`mon." Eric said, grabbing at my hand like he usually did when he
wanted me to move.

I pulled back, "Can you go on ahead. I'll be right there."

I looked at Eric. He didn't like it. I knew he had shook Robbie's hand and
all but I doubted his shaky feelings for Robbie all of a sudden
subsided. Eric looked at Robbie and then back at me.  Then he disappeared
down the stairs without saying another word.

I walked up to Robbie and leaned against the wall, exactly how he was. In
fact, I was mocking him a little. He let out this sexy smile. The smile
that had trapped me into believing I had deep feelings for him in the
start.

"I'm really gonna help him," he assured me, probably because he thought the
reason I stayed back to talk to him was to get reassurance about it.

"I believe you," I said softly, "I just wanted to say . . . I wanted to
say, ah . . ."

"It's ok, its fine," Robbie explained, before I had a chance to finish, "My
life isn't what it seems.  With you, it seems like I couldn't have gone
wrong. Do you know that I would give it all up just to be with you?"

I didn't say anything. Robbie had a little crush and in his mind it had
grown into something so much bigger. Yet he was able to do what Adrian
wasn't able to do . . . he was able to let go. I had a sort of respect for
him admitting to it.

Robbie continued talking after a second or two of silence, "I would give it
all up in a heartbeat.  No lie too. Well, it's too late I guess. Hm, how
about a kiss?"

"A what?"

He laughed, but I really hadn't heard him because he had said it so low. He
quickly repeated though, "One last kiss."

I hesitated. I should have known he wouldn't let go so easily. I didn't
want to do it. The truth was that I didn't even want to stand too close to
Robbie before this dream of peace between him and Eric evaporated.

"Damn, I dunno."

"I'm not gonna kidnap you like your boyfriend did," he said and caused me
to crack a little laugh and just as I was he quickly added, "What about I
just steal one so your boy won't know about it?"

He didn't wait for me to answer before he quickly pressed his lips against
mine. His lips were soft. The smell of his cologne was strong. Before I
knew it, it was me opening my mouth and trying to force my tongue into his
mouth. He refused . . . keeping his mouth closed and then pushing me away.

"I'm. . . I'm sorry," I apologized, finally realizing how much I missed
those lips.

"Yeah, so am I," he said in a tone that sort of suggested he was sorry for
ever meeting me at all, "You should go though. Your boyfriend is going to
be waiting."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                         IN CONCLUSION...

Now its 6 months later and Eric is finally coming home.


You see, Eric had gotten trailed for Adrian's death and with the help of
Robbie's influence and Robbie's lawyers, Eric only got 1 year for leaving
the scene of the crime.  He got released a little earlier for good behavior
though (Eric was always the good boy). We talked to each other almost
everyday when he was locked up and I figured that it was giving him some
real time to think about what went wrong in our whole relationship and how
we could make sure that those things never happened again.

Robbie didn't really cut me out of his life.  We still talk even to this
day. He kept his promise and helped Eric. He had finally given up his
Syndicate to Byron (who was after it the entire time) and he retired into
publishing a novel called "Rain On Me." I guess it was based on our lives,
but he never truly admitted to it. The book was a bestseller, but he
already had enough money to last a lifetime anyway and he was willing to
share it with me.  I rejected most of his many requests to give me some
money, but I didn't reject when he bought this apartment for Eric and I.

As far as Elle and Jay, I never saw them again and I doubt I ever will. I
had tried to contact Jay and give my apologies for the accident with his
cousin, but he wasn't having it. What I heard was that Jay had gotten back
together with Elizabeth or at least were living together for the sake of
the child.

Then there was my new family. They were actually new, but they were
different. My father had married a nice woman this time around and I had a
half-sister.  My father almost died when he saw me come back. It was really
emotional, but I'm not gonna get too much into that. I've had enough
emotion for one lifetime.

I walked up to the wall of the prison. I finally had my driver's
license. My father has insisted on bringing me to come pick Eric up, but I
didn't want that. I wanted Eric all for myself. I leaned up against my
motorcycle (it was a hot red Taurus that my father had bought me as a
welcome home present). I hadn't used the motorcycle a lot or actually put
on the red blazer and timbs to match, but I had to now that Eric was coming
out. I looked myself up and down to make sure that everything was right,
but that was when I realized my shoelaces swinging around on the ground.
Shit! I dropped to the floor, trying to rush with the laces in case Eric
was coming, but then the more I rushed the more I messed up.

Suddenly I froze when I heard a sound of the gate opening and this sweet
voice singing. It was the most sensual, masculine, rhythm-filled voice
singing this soft Ginuwine-sounding song.

"Life isn't sweet
Takes you by the throat
Knocks you off your feet
I was anticipating
For ever waiting
For you...
Our bodies climb together
Making love forever
To you...
And the temptation moving over
I wanted you to finally love me..."

No. Not Ginuwine. The song was better. Each syllable pronounced perfectly.
The song was rocking me softly into a melody of happiness.

"You made my dream come true
And with secrets you only knew
You caressed my soul
A dream that grew
A bird that flew
A day that came
Give me your body, your love
As you touch those certain places
From the low up above
Give me your body, body, your love."

I got off my feet. I could smell the scent of him. It was still soft and
soothing regardless of how long he had been locked up. I felt the heat up
from behind me. I saw the shadow sitting on the bottom ground below me. His
voice had crawled up onto my back.

"Eric!"

I turned around to see him. He had grown his hair back and had it in braids
like the first time I met him. I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing
him. Then looking down.

"That a snake on your arm?" I asked him, looking at the tattoo on his arm.

He laughed, "No, not a snake."

I looked down, exactly I had done the first day that we kissed. I looked
down at the rope wrapped around the woman representing justice. I wanted to
relive the moment when I had first seen that tattoo. I only hoped that he
would say what he did that day.

"Touch it . . . its just skin," he said, granting my request.

I put my arm down and touched it. I did just that. My hand started rubbing
on it and I saw that it was just his skin. I hadn't taken his hand off when
I looked back up in his face. At first I was just smiling but then I saw
that he was looking at me too. Our eyes met and then all of a sudden, I
leaned over to him. I kissed him on the lips firmly.

Give me your body, body, your love.