Bea had never visited Tuscany before —she told Ludo and Mahdi as much— which is why she spent a long time riding with the window car down, her head hanging to the side as they made their way through long, winding paths passing small resort towns and beaches that looked like they’d been ripped out of her dreams.
It was their third day traveling and, though they were sure they hadn’t been followed, Bea was still on high alert. She couldn’t fully believe they escaped, that they left Milan and all it meant. They were still carrying a worrying amount of cocaine that needed to be sold, but that’s why they were going to Rome. Everyone needs snow in the capital. Bea would get them the connections they needed by any means necessary.
And when the snow was gone? They would be free to start over wherever they want.
Bea’s thoughts came back to the car when it came to a stop at a motel parking lot. Looking over to the driver’s side, she saw Mahdi smiling at her.
“Are we stopping for the day?” she asked.
“We promised a beach day, didn’t we?” said Ludo, getting out of the car with two bags.
Mahdi put a hand on her leg and said, “we can spend the night here and get to Rome tomorrow. Who knows when we’ll be in Tuscany again?”
Bea smiled, recalling their brief day in Genova and how much fun they’d had. Taking another day to get to the city was worth it.
After Ludo checked them in and they dropped their things in their room, Bea quickly changed her top for a bright pink bikini, basking in the attention she got from her lovers as she did so.
“So? What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
They went down to the beach, pretty much deserted in every direction they looked at. Ludo lit up a joint and passed it around as they walked. When Bea took a hit, she let the smoke curl inside her for a long time before exhaling. Every inhale relaxed her a little more, until she finally felt she could let her guard down long enough to enjoy the moment.
Before they reached the waves, Mahdi sat down on the sand. “I’m not going in,” he said.
Ludo stopped unbuttoning his shirt. “What?”
“Someone has to look over your stuff.”
Bea took off her shorts and dropped them on Mahdi’s lap, then she got out of her sneakers. “There’s no one even remotely interested in stealing these shorts, Mahdi. Come on.”
Without waiting for an answer, she ran down to the sea, squealing when the warm water touched her feet. This was something she could never have if she stayed with la Misa. La Misa liked their women tending to the men in all their needs, keeping a low profile, obeying the Palabrero’s rules. Bea didn’t have it in her. She loved her mother, but she would not become her.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ludo came up behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist.
“Is it everything you dreamt of?”
Wasn’t that a great question to ask? Being away from la Misa was not only a dream come true, it was freedom beyond what she ever imagined.
“It’s better.”
She turned around in Ludo’s arms and kissed him, a deep, drawn out thing that made her feel butterflies in her stomach. Bea wished it never got old, that they would keep kissing each other like that until time itself stopped. Ludo, however, had other ideas and lifted her up, walking into the sea with her in tow.
Once they were inside enough, Ludo put her down, the water reaching up to her thighs. She splashed him as soon as she got her feet under herself. “That’s cheating!”
“If no one got you in the water, you’d never get in.”
When Bea turned to look at Mahdi, she saw him walking towards them, carrying their clothes and shoes.
“What did you do to convince him?” Bea asked.
“I always knew he’d come around.”
Mahdi took his time to walk to them, as if they had all the time in the world. In a way, they had. They finally had each other and no one was breathing down their necks.
Mahdi grabbed Bea’s hand and Bea pulled him to her, kissing him hard, a kiss that reminded her of the first time her lips touched his, back in Ludo’s apartment. This time, Mahdi didn’t pull away when Ludo kissed the side of Bea’s face, instead, they kept kissing as a wave crashed against them.
Once they pulled apart, Bea pulled Mahdi by the hand she was still holding and walked them further into the ocean, until they were all waist-deep splashing around, kissing, laughing.
Time passed differently while they were in the water. She didn’t know how long they stayed inside, but at some point, Bea started to feel exhaustion pull her down. Mahdi, who was weirdly attuned to Bea suggested they move it back to the sand.
“Or a room?” Ludo suggested.
“No, I wanna watch the sunset,” Bea said.
They went back to where Mahdi dropped their stuff, where they sat down, exhausted. Bea wished she had the energy to go buy them something to drink, but right now, all she felt like doing was resting her head on Mahdi’s shoulder while staring at the sea.
She was far from la Misa, but not far enough to stop thinking about the people she loved who stayed there. Bea hoped her mom and Celeste were fine, that they didn’t have to deal with Ricardo’s questions that became beatings. She would get them out, she didn’t know how yet, but they’d move on far away from that world. Bea just needed a head start.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Ludo.
“My mom. I miss her. Not enough to go back, but I do.”
“Maybe you can call her when we get to Rome?”
“No, not until we sell the snow,” said Mahdi.
“He’s right. We can’t risk anyone finding us yet,” agreed Bea. “Besides, if Ricardo finds out, he’ll kill me.”
“He can try,” said Mahdi, throwing an arm around her back.
Without saying anything, Ludo placed a hand on her lower back, his firm touch grounding where Mahdi’s was protective. Bea felt incredibly loved. They hadn’t said it in so many words, but she could guess their feelings just by looking at them. She wondered if the same feelings were written on her face plain as day.
They didn’t speak as the sun set, each lost in their own thoughts, and once night crept in, they decided to go back to their room.
On the way there, they found a small cart that sold cotton candy, as bright as her bikini top. “I haven’t eaten cotton candy in ages,” Bea said.
Mahdi immediately reached into his pocket, producing a ten euro bill. Bea smiled at him, then dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. Once she had the candy, a cloud of sugary goodness bigger than her head, she made a point of feeding her boys as they walked back to the motel. Even with the three of them, they didn’t finish the candy and threw it out the moment they were in their room.
Leaning against the closed room, Bea watched as Ludo pulled Mahdi close and kissed him, hesitant at first, then confidently, hungry.
Bea felt heat pool in her stomach, quickly taking off her clothes while they were distracted. She walked to them and started undoing Mahdi’s buttons. They seemed to finally notice she was naked next to them.
“Are we gonna fuck or not?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Apparently, they didn’t need further encouragement.