Chapter 16 BRAVURA
Possession: This word has a lot of meanings. But in a simple word, it means ownership, and ownership doesn’t necessarily mean stating claims...but most prized possession comes with a different meaning—treasured.
That word carries a deeper meaning when it comes to Ixora and the keytar. The keytar was the only thing that strengthened her friendship with Blake.
He gave her the keytar the first day they met, and that was the last day they ever saw each other physically. Ixora valued the keytar more than anything. It wasn’t her dream...but Blake’s.
He gave it to her because he trusted her enough for them to keep in touch, and, since then, she has been keeping it all her life.
But today, that same thing she valued so much was in hot flames, making its way to ashes, and all she could do was watch.
She choked on her sobs and hurried to the fire since she could still see some part of it. She tried dipping her hand into the fire, but the burning flames emanating from it were capable of turning her hands to ashes within a few seconds.
She sniffled, and this time her eyes finally went to Drexton—he also had his gaze on her...the flame illuminating in their eyes as they stared at each other. Fire. Fury. Softness
His gaze—cold. Way cold. Cruelly cold. Her gaze was soft, not because of him, but because she felt another important part of her had been burned with the keytar. She had traces of tears in her eyes as she stared at his emotionless eyes.
The fire was burning slowly and little—just like the tension between them, until the fire was completely quenched.
Ixora finally stared at the ground, seeing nothing but her valued item turned into ash.
Her eyes found their way to his again, and this time, her tears were gone. She had heard and read of cruelty, but had never witnessed it. But today, this monster not only disturbed her sleep... He had done what he shouldn’t have, and today he was going to give her answers.
Her fingers slowly curled into a fist as she began walking toward him. Their eyes held on each other. Strong. The silence thickened, as only the soft echoes of their breaths could be heard.
Maddox and Jaxon’s eyes were also on her as she walked towards them... Drexton especially. Slow and deliberate.
As she got to them, her mind reeled back to Drexton’s words: ‘I HIDE, YOU SEEK. IF YOU DON’T FIND ME, I’LL TAKE MY PRICE’.
Was this what he meant by ‘PRICE’?
“Why did you do it?” she asked, not flinching a bit despite his cold stares.
“Play pet wants an answer...interesting,” Maddox said, his eyes devoid of emotions as he stared at her.
The way he was staring at her could make people question whether Drexton was the one who hated her or him.
“Answer me, you heartless monster!” she yelled and slammed her palm on his chest in an attempt to push him...he didn’t bulge.
His eyes twitched. “Heartless monster? Try something else,” he said, his voice dripping with venom.
Jaxon had a smug look on his face. If there was anything he enjoyed more than his old man’s beating, it was seeing her that way.
“What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Why do you act as if you’ve known me for so long and have a strong beef with me? I barely know you, and if not for the fact that I... I,” she stuttered, remembering how she had stolen from him.
He took two steps near her, his cologne filling her nostrils.
“Go on, little thief.”
Ixora glared at him so hard that if looks could kill, he’d be six feet under. “Little thief? I am not trying to deny it. I stole from you because I was helpless. You took it back before I could even get home, and you stand here to call me a little thief,” she paused.
Her eyes began shooting lasers at him. “Little killer.” She spat defiantly.
Drexton and the guys’ eyes turned dark...so dark that it began cracking Ixora’s newfound confidence.
His lips twitched to the corner as he stared at her with great interest. If only she knew how interesting,she had just made this game become.
Ixora, refusing to allow his stare to weaken her, spoke up again. “What happened? You call me a little thief, but you can’t bear being called a little killer,” she glanced at both Maddox and Jaxon.
“If it isn’t the well-known doctors of the Creed hospital. Need not remind you that the three of you are wanted all over the country. I chose to keep quiet about it, but I can easily report you three to the police, and get you arrested...THE HELL DEVILS,” she said, and that seemed to have hit them hard as Jaxon spoke up.
“Play pet got bold overnight.” He already had a pipe in between his lips.
Drexton opened his palm, and Maddox placed a phone on it.
“Here, call the cops, U.C. police station,” he stretched his hand to her.
She glanced between him and the phone; her confidence was beginning to thin.
He forcefully took her hand and placed the phone in her hand.
Ixora’s eyes went to his again. Her gaze had softened, so soft that tears brimmed at the corners.
“Seems she needs your help,” Maddox said.
Drexton’s lips curled into a smirk as he took the phone, dialed the number, and pressed the phone to her ear.
“U.C. police station, what is your complaint?” a sergeant’s voice said from the other end.
She snatched the phone from him and crashed it loudly against the wall. The phone landed on the floor and was scattered in the process.
“Why are you tormenting me?” she asked in a soft voice.
The smirk on Drexton’s face was still there as he leaned near, not too near but close enough for her to hear his voice, and sniff his scent, which lingered like a curse.
“Tormenting you...I’m just getting started,” he whispered, his breath grazing over her neck.
Ixora froze as his voice went deep into her systems.
She didn’t get her answers, but she knew one thing was for sure, and that was ‘he hates her’.
\[HELL DEVILS’ HIDEOUT\]
Jaxon threw a glass cup towards Drexton. Drexton ducked, just in time, or it would have shattered his face.
Since they got back, Jaxon had been crashing the hideout: bulbs, mirrors, tables... The only thing Maddox and Jaxon could do was watch him unravel.
Maddox puffed out smoke from his rock, watching Jaxon throw tantrums. Drexton? He stood motionless on the stairs. Silent, calculating.
“She had the guts to call us little killers. What gave her that right?” Jaxon barked. “She has no right to talk back at us. I had to smoke to stop myself from smearing her face with the fire.” Smoke escaped his ear.
“Keep your calm, bro,” Maddox said. He wasn’t denying he wasn’t angry either, because he was burning with rage.
Jaxon marched up to Drexton. “We do the talking. She listens and nods her scared little head.”
He dropped beside Maddox, snatched the rock mid-smoke, and took a deep drag, the smoke flooding his lungs before he blew it out.
Maddox turned towards Drexton. “Next plan?” he asked.
“Black men think we are the ones who caused the blast that killed Viren’s wife and son,” Drexton replied flatly.
Maddox narrowed his brow. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Pet’s friend will be the price,” Drexton said.
“The bitchy one,” Jaxon added, already scrolling through her picture.
Drexton nodded once and headed upstairs to his room. He made sure to lock the door before sitting down. He typed a few things on his phone, and Ixora’s room popped onto the screen.
She was curled into a ball, knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them, and her face buried deep in the space between them.
Her position was telling: Crying.
A feeling of contempt surged through him as he watched her state.
She lifted her head and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief...the same one that was stitched ‘DO. NOT. CRY’.
He was the one who kept it for her that day. He didn’t ask her to stop crying because he cared for her in some way or sympathy. He said it because she was crying for someone else...she was crying because of her parents, not for him—he was the only one destined to make her cry... no one else.
And right now, he was satisfied in ways he couldn’t name...watching her sob for him.
Little killer—he recalled the bravura in her eyes when she threw those words at him—so daring.
He began typing on his phone, and soon he was done, staring at the text he typed.
LITTLE KILLER.
Send.
\[IXORA’S ROOM\]
Her head was still in-between her thighs when her phone chimed. She picked it up and read the text...a reminder of what she had called him.
Crack.
She threw her phone, “Go to hell!” she screamed, and the phone shattered into pieces. She had destroyed two phones in a day, all because of that monster.
The door creaked open, and Georgia walked in.
“Mum,” Ixora wrapped her arm around her waist when she got to her.
Georgia slid her fingers through her hair. “What is wrong?”
“I’m fine, mum,” she mumbled, breaking the hug.
Georgia sat beside her. “You haven’t had dinner.”
“No, mum, I’m not hungry.”
Georgia nodded. “Want to tell me what is going on with you? You have been acting strange these past few days.”
Ixora forced a smile. That’s her mum...at times they get along and other times, they don’t.
“I’m feeling sleepy,” she said and gently placed her head on her mum’s thigh.
“Goodnight,” Georgia said, stroking her hair.
Ixora said nothing more, but deep down lay a rage...something to be told...something dark.