Desolation (New Rochelle Mafia #1)

28. CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 28

ELODIE

D rake and I head back to my room. I know he has to go to school and work today so I decide that I’m going to get my camera out and develop the last pictures I took before all of this happened.

He drops me at my room and kisses me goodbye before he heads out leaving Zeke and Eren outside my door. I grab my camera bag from the closet. I can’t believe it’s been a year now since I have even held a camera in my hands. I get a little emotional as I pull it out. At one point in my life this was all I had to look forward to.

The feeling of joy I get inside my chest when I have my camera in my hands again makes my heart swell. This is the thing that has always made me happiest.

Even though so much bad has happened in the last year, I think about the good things I have now too. Drake, his father and brother, Reba, Gwen and Evan. I have a real home now. Not one filled with hatred and drugs, loneliness, and terror. Yes, it’s a house full of criminals, but they are good people at heart and that’s what matters.

I always knew my life would never be any kind of normal. My parents would’ve never let that happen. Maybe if I had gotten away and actually went to NYU like I was supposed to. But I can’t think about any of that now, it didn’t happen and this is my life now. I know Drake will try to keep it as normal as he can. Tonight, he and I are going to have a talk about how he feels about these new changes. This isn’t what he wanted for his life and now because of me, he has to be a part of it in a direct way. He’s made a lot of sacrifices and helped me so much.

After gathering my things, I head down the hall to the darkroom, Zeke and Eren following quietly behind me. When we get to the door I turn, giving each of them a hug and I say, “Thank you, thank you for helping me get away. I will never forget what you did for me.”

Eren blushes and just nods his head. Zeke clears his throat and says, “No way we were leaving there without helping you get away. You don’t need to thank us. We were just doing our job and protecting the boss’ lady. ”

I smile and open the door to the darkroom, entering and then closing the door tightly behind me. I head over to the computer to pull the photos off the card so I can make my negatives. Random pictures of the neighborhood showing the desolation that is living in the slums. A picture of my mother’s hand holding a liquor bottle hanging off the side of the chair while she was passed out. A few pictures of things and people at the park.

Then I came across some pictures that I took during the few days I was here before going to turn myself in to Dominic. Drake, standing on the balcony, overlooking the city, face turned to the sky soaking in the sun. Drake, laughing with his brother at the table while we were eating dinner. Drake, smirking at me from across the room. Gio standing against the wall looking every bit the mafia boss that he is, Anthony looking on with a small smile on his face.

The love in this house is bigger than anything I have seen in my life. And to think, it’s the home of a mafia family. It’s such a contradiction. Of all the photos on that camera that I could develop, those are the ones I pick. I’m going to frame these and present these pictures to them.

Humming to myself, I get to work. Moving the negatives to digital printing paper is fairly easy with this equipment. Drake really went all out picking the good stuff. I choose the roll instead of the sheets. I want to make these bigger than the standard size.

After printing, I hang them and turn on the drying fan to let them set for a bit before developing them. While those are drying, I pull out the trays to start setting them up. Once I get the developer, stop bath, and fixer baths ready, I shut off the main light and switch to the safe light which also turns on the red light outside of the door so that everyone knows not to enter so the pictures aren’t ruined by the regular light.

After the negatives dry, I make a test strip to check for correct exposure, then pop it in the microwave to dry it quickly. Once I figure out the correct exposure for my highlights I do another to figure out my contrast. Once I have the correct times needed for exposure, I make a test print on part of a photo using 5x8 print paper.

After doing that, I decide I need a little background noise. Pulling out my phone, I go to Apple music and find some Sleep Token. It seems like the best music to work to, right now, but my taste varies. It could be Taylor Swift another day, or Hosier, you never know.

After the test print dries, I make a bigger one and then take notes on a notepad with all the exposure times and filter grades as well as height of the enlarger head, lens aperture, paper type and developer. The chemistry of developing photos, the time that goes into it, the process, are all things I really love. Not just taking photos. I even love the smell of the darkroom the way some people love the smell of fresh baked bread.

I begin processing and washing the photos, making a few copies of each one before hanging them, just in case there may be any errors. It happens often enough that this has become a habit. Then I turn on the drying fan and look for framing supplies.

Drake really did make sure I was fully prepared in here. I don’t have to even order frames. Everything is all here, in as many sizes as a person could think of. Did he buy an entire print store?

Shaking my head at how well he stocked this room, I start pulling out the frames and prepping them. About an hour later, I check to see if the prints are dry. Since I used resin paper they should be ready. I pull them down and begin the framing process.

My stomach growls. How long have I been in here that I’m actually hungry? My appetite isn’t always great and when I’m working I can often forget to eat. Looking at my phone, I see that I’ve been here for about six hours. Holy shit. I’m surprised that no one knocked after the red light went off.

Shrugging my shoulders, I continue working. I’ll just finish up here and get them ready and move them to my room so I can give them to Drake, Gio, and Anthony after dinner. I’m actually really excited about how they came out. I went with black and white prints for these because I think they will go well with the decor, though I don’t know for sure that they would even want to hang them. Just wishful thinking.

Shaking my head to make those thoughts leave my head, I continue working. When I’m finally done, I lean each picture up to inspect it. These actually turned out really well. I’m pretty proud of them, and the fact that I didn’t lose my touch in the dark room in the last year either. I guess it’s like riding a bike, or muscle memory at this point since I’ve done it so many times.

I’m so thankful that Ms. Bates helped me with all of this and got me where I needed to be. Thinking of her makes me wonder if she has been worried since I never showed back up for school. I know they went ahead and sent my diploma, but it must’ve been weird that I never showed up again. I’ll have to remember to ask Drake about it.

Satisfied that all the photos turned out the way I wanted, I gently stack them and wrap them with some brown paper off a roll. I shut off all the equipment and clean all my trays, dumping the chemicals safely into the waste containers set up in the room. The city has a way to dispose of hazardous materials and they can pick them up weekly if needed.

I marvel again at how well Drake set this up. Grabbing the frames, I open the door and click the lights off and step out into the hall. Zeke takes the frames and follows me down the hall. When I step into the living room, I see Drake coming in through the elevator at the same time. Gio, Reba, and Anthony are also in the living room. Drake comes over and kisses me and looks at the frames Zeke is carrying.

“I guess you couldn’t wait to get back to photography stuff huh? It must’ve been hard not being able to do any of that for the last year. What did you make?” he asks.

Blushing a little, I motion for Zeke to hand the frames to him. I guess now is as good a time as any. Gio clears his throat and looks at me pointedly, “Next time, you need to either take a lunch in there with you or find a safe stopping point to come out and get something to eat.”

Drake looks at me, narrowing his eyes. “Just how long were you in there today?”

Flinching, I say, “Since you left this morning.”

“Elodie! Seriously? You can’t do that. You gotta take care of yourself,” he says. “Well I guess the next upgrade the darkroom is getting is a mini fridge.”

Everyone laughs and follows Drake to the ottoman where he unwraps the photos and lays them out for everyone to see. The room goes silent. I look around nervously and try to figure out what everyone’s thinking .

Anthony speaks first. “Is it just me or can anyone else actually feel these pictures? The mood, the emotions, all of it. These are amazing Elodie.”

Drake walks over and just pulls me to him. Very quietly in my ear he says, “Thank you Elodie. No one has ever taken photos of us like this. As you can see we have had no family portraits or anything like that done since we were little and my mother was still alive. This really means a lot.”

Gio is silent. I hope I haven’t upset him. He leaves the room and comes back with one of the men a few tense minutes later. And a pack of nails and a hammer. Gathering the frames he starts directing where he wants them hung. Adding a couple of other spots that I have no pictures for as well.

He walks over to me, “Now all we need is pictures of you and Reba and they will be complete. Thank you Elodie, for bringing life back to this home. I’m sorry for everything that you have had to go through but we will make sure the rest of your life is as happy as we can make it.” Crying, I nod and he leans in to give me a hug. “Now, now, none of that. How about we get you fed?”

Drake comes over and takes my hand and we all head to the dining room to have some dinner.