Graffiti Casanova

Decoding Casanova

"Claire!" Our front door slammed shut and Bennie's voice drifted down the hall to the dining room.

"In here," I called.

"Okay, I'm just gonna set Timmy up with a movie." 

I rolled my eyes. Bennie's brand of nannying was way too easy.

I heard her shuffle back in and dump her bag in the corner, and then a chair scraped the ground as she pulled it out and sat across from me.

"You'll never guess what happened."

I looked up and arched a brow. "Well then, I won't bother trying."

Bennie pouted. "You're not even going to humor me with one guess?"

"Nope." I looked back down at the bills I was sorting. "You won't be able to hold it in much longer anyway."

She huffed and got up, heading for the pantry. "Since you're being so rude, maybe I won't tell you about Casanova's first painting in over a year after all."

At that, I looked up sharply. "What?" I said, a little breathlessly.

Bennie turned to smirk at me, curls tumbling over her shoulder, and grabbed a bag of cheese puffs and popped one into her mouth.

"Bernadette Louise!" Bennie glared at me, she hated when I used her full name. "This isn't the time to be uncharacteristically quiet!" I hopped up, leaving my work at the table, and followed her into the kitchen. "Tell me!"

She pulled out her phone and handed it to me.

I squinted at the screen. "'Where is "King" Casanova now?'" I read out loud, and looked back up. "Wait-- I know where this is. It's painted over Space Lovers. When was this?"

"Few days ago. Now scroll down." Bennie grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

"Oh. Wow." I zoomed in, wishing I was looking at it on a larger screen. "This is gorgeous."

"Right?"

Lush green vines-- the type that grow from a spray can-- climbed the wall, twisting in and out of the yellow letters, mostly obstructing them. Red graffiti roses speckled the vines, spilling out from inside letters and down towards the ground. "King Casanova" were the only words that were legible anymore. I smiled.

"Clever." I noticed a white fleck among the red roses and zoomed in. It looked like.... a lily. Interesting. Knowing Casanova, it meant something. "How do we know it's really him?"

"Well he signed it or whatever," Bennie said. "But I guess his crew confirmed that he's really back."

I handed the phone back to her. "I think you made my month."

"I know." She winked. "You needed it, after last night."

My smile faded and I leaned back against the counter, good mood immediately evaporating. "Yeah."

Bennie rolled her eyes. "You don't owe them anything."

"Not according to Jared."

"Well screw Jared."

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. "No, he's right. I choked back then, I choked last week, and last night--"

"Last night was--"

"Last night," I interrupted, louder than I meant to, "was how it should've always been." Bennie shook her head.

"They had no right to play that song."

"I had no right to tell them not to in the first place, to hold them back like that."

She frowned. "It was personal. Painful."

I turned away and stared at the counter without focusing. "Well, that's art."

There was silence for a moment.

"Hey Bennie?"

"Yeah?"

"Roses mean love, right?"

She looked at me strangely. "Yeah..."

"What do white lilies mean?"

"Uh... death, I think."

I frowned. Strange message to send with his first piece in a year. "Hmm."

"Decoding Casanova?" She smirked at me.

"Trying."

"Well." Bennie straightened and tossed her cup in the sink. "Hopefully the article is true and there will be more for you to decode soon." She padded into the living room. "Gonna check on Timmy!"

I headed back to my seat at the table and rested my chin on my hands, ignoring the papers poking out from under my elbows.

Maybe I did owe Jared and Davey. Maybe I did owe myself. But I definitely owed Dad, and I owed Sam.

I slipped my phone from my pocket and dialed the number.

"Claire?" He picked up on the first ring. I held back a smile. Kinda pathetic. But I guess I would've been waiting by the phone too, in his position.

"Okay, Jared. I'm in."

Chapter song is Bros by Wolf Alice :)