Chapter 4 - Welcome to Los Angeles
We landed at LAX under a hazy afternoon sun.
When I turned my phone back on, it nearly overheated from the notifications.
Fifty missed calls from my father.
Thirty from my mother.
Twenty from Chloe.
My banking app showed a bright red error message.
Access Denied. Contact Branch Administrator.
He had done it.
He had cut me off completely.
I had my wallet, my passport, and about three hundred dollars in cash.
I walked off the plane behind Valerie, carrying her heavy duffel bag.
Lucy was awake now, riding on her mother's hip, staring at me with quiet curiosity.
"You don't have to carry that," Valerie said.
"I want to," I insisted.
We walked out to the rideshare pickup zone.
"Where will you stay?" Valerie asked, glancing at my empty hands.
"I don't even have luggage."
"I'll figure it out," I said.
"Maybe a cheap motel near your place."
Valerie sighed, a sound of pure exhaustion.
"Don't be stupid."
"You don't know LA, and you don't have money."
"You can sleep on my couch."
"Just for a few days, until you figure out what you're doing."
My chest swelled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
"Thank you, Val."
We got into a rideshare and drove through the sprawling, sun-drenched city.
Valerie lived in a small, slightly rundown apartment complex in Silver Lake.
It was a far cry from the penthouses and estates I was used to.
There were children playing in the courtyard, and the smell of jasmine mixed with exhaust fumes.
She unlocked the door to a tiny, two-bedroom apartment.
It was modestly furnished but impeccably clean.
There were colorful drawings taped to the fridge and a small mountain of toys in the corner.
This was Lucy's home.
This was the life my family had banished them to.
"It's not a mansion," Valerie said defensively, noticing me looking around.
"It's perfect," I said honestly.
Lucy suddenly squirmed out of Valerie's arms and ran to her toy bin.
She pulled out a set of wooden blocks and sat on the rug.
I walked over and sat down cross-legged on the floor next to her.
Lucy stopped playing and looked at me.
"Are you staying?" she asked, her voice high and sweet.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"If that's okay with you," I said.
Lucy pondered this for a moment.
Then, she handed me a red wooden block.
"You can build the tower," she commanded.
I smiled, taking the block.
"It would be my honor."
I sat there for hours, building blocks with the daughter I had just met, while Valerie watched us from the kitchen, a complicated mix of hope and fear in her eyes.
I knew this peace wouldn't last.
May you like
My family was coming for me.
But for the first time in my life, I was ready for the war.
