Part 7

Vince had stayed that day and helped out with the garage work until closing time, and then he had followed Letty to her place. It turned out that Ash had made a nice little home for himself with room to spare and he had opened his home to Letty with much eagerness. He had grown quite attached to Letty in the short time that they had been together and had longed for companionship. And so the two had decided to try it out and were now falling into a happy routine. Vince, however, was somewhat disturbed by this arrangement and was wondering just what in the hell Letty had gotten herself into.

"Nice place," Vince said as they pulled up and he exited his car.

"Yeah," Letty added, "It is pretty damn nice."

"So's-- it Ashes?" V asked.

"Yeah," Letty responded.

Then Letty motioned for V to follow and they went up an old wooden porch complete with rockers and in thru the front door. When V stepped in, he was automatically filled with the sensations of country, home, and belonging. It was as if the house itself spoke of an ability to heal. V then followed Let thru a breezeway, past a kitchen, and into a homey living room.

"You can stay here V while I go get cleaned up more. The bathroom's down the hall to the left if you need and I'll be back in a few. Ash is out in the barn and he'll be inside soon. K??"

"Sure thing Let," Vince stated and was already walking towards the open window.

Vince watched from the window as Ash emerged from the old weathered barn and headed for the house. Ash made his way in and stopped in the living room upon seeing V.

"Letty cleaning up?" Ash stated.

"Yeah," V replied, "Said she�d be out in a few."

"Well then Vince is it?" Ash stated waiting till V�s quick nod, "I�m a gonna go clean up too and then we�ll start dinner."

With that Ash headed down the hallway.

Only a few minutes later, Letty emerged all shinny and clean with a wet mop of hair pulled back from her face in a messy tail. "Come on" Letty said and motioned for V to once again follow her. They went to the kitchen and Letty began setting things out for dinner.

"You cook?" V asked.

"Nah man," Letty responded, "You kidd�in?? You want me ta poison ya? Nah, Ash is the cook �round here. I�m just gett�in things ready for him�plus I can make a salad."

At that�V burst out into his hearty bellowing laugh and earned a sideways smack against the temple from Letty.

"Real funny man!" Letty said and added, "Just laugh it up why don�t ya!"

After V had settled down at one of Letty�s more vicious looks, the two worked together to get a salad made complete with tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and cheese.

Dinner started out mostly uneventful, each of the three keeping to themselves and wondering what the others were thinking. Ash set to one side of Letty and Vince to the other side. Their gazes kept slipping towards each other and meeting only to drop when the wondering hardening glare became to intense and a rumbling scoff from Letty was heard.

Finally Vince spoke up, "You�re a good cook Ash."

"What kind�a dope ass remark is that?" Letty wondered with a scowl.

"Uh� Thanks Vince." Ash responded.

"Yeah," V stated, "Doesn�t even come close to Mia�s grub, but not to far a cry from it."

"Well I guess that�s a compliment�." Ash replied.

Finally, Letty decided to speak up� "What You Stall�in at V?? I mean come on man, when have you ever appraised the food before?"

"Letty�I��" Vince trailed off.

"FUCK Letty�I think I�ve been pretty patient here," V carried on as he scooted back a bit in his chair, "Grl�what am I stall�in at? You are the one stall�in here�not me. Why the hell did you call me up back home and hang the hell up? HUH?? You got an answer for that grl? What I wanna know is what the hell is go�in on that caused you to be so scarred that you couldn�t even talk to me. ME Letty�we are like family and we�ve always shared everything. That is what worries me��"

"Vince�. I was just�I�" Letty stuttered.

"What Letty? You what? I know someth�ins up. You�ve changed grl. I can see it just by look�in at ya. I�m not sure what the hell it is, but someth�in�someth�in is just�. Newish." Vince stated standing up and scratch�in his head a bit.

Ash chose this time to speak up himself, "Vince�if you will just calm down a bit I�m sure we can all discuss this like rational adults."

"Who the hell asked you??" Vince snarled at Ash.

"This is my home Vince and if you don�t wanna abide by my rules you can get the hell out!" Ash responded standing up himself.

The two men stood across the table from one another and dueled gazes�each like a snorting , raging bull just priming for that first attack.

Letty was beyond even wanting to deal with two testosterone charged males and so she now stood and yelled as loud as she could, "Fuck�in ENOUGH!!"

As V and Ash jerked suddenly towards Letty in shock, the slight clatter of silverware on the table could be heard.

Letty turned to Ash and stated, "V�s just aggravated and worried Ash�he doesn�t mean anything."

--And then turning to Vince she stated, "I�m pregnant Vince."

It took a few seconds for the information to process in V�s head and then� he stated a brief, "What the Fuck??"

-- And then turning-- he charged straight for Ash, nearly knocking the table over in the process. Within merely seconds�V had Ash pinned up against the kitchen wall with his forearm jammed into Ashes throat. Ash was coughing a bit and his face was beginning to grow red when Letty approached V trying to pull him off of Ash-- but it was not use. It was as if V had suddenly transformed into a solid block of steel that refused to give even the slightest bit.

"V MAN�LET HIM GO!!!!" Letty shouted, "Vince�he didn�t do anything. I swear-- Vince�.."

"Not a FUCK�IN chance Letty�not after what he�s done to you. Do you really think I�m gonna let him off that easily after touch�in you?" Vince interrupted her.

"V�Letty stated softly, "Don�t man-- It�s Dom�s��"

With that, the whole world seemed to slow�spiraling downwards in halting motion and V�s grip on Ash relaxed and then went slack all together. Ash straightened regaining posture and swore under his breath that if this overgrown mammoth weren�t one of Letty�s friends he�d��

"Dom�s�." V trailed hesitantly, "You�re pregnant with Dom�s kid?? DAMN grl�no wonder you hung up on me. When he find�s out �bout this�he�s gonna loose his cool big time that you left and all. It�ll be like the fourth of July all over again!"

"I know." Letty stated, "I know�."

At that point Letty was looking pretty beat herself. Her eyes blurred and tiny, hot tears began to cower in the corners of her eyes.

"What am I gonna do V??" She said.

V moved to enfold Letty into his broad arms and hugged her tight and warmly against his chest letting her tears soak his shirt. She cried for a good few minutes and the tension that had soaked up her being recoiled. She felt free and so much better. Small hiccups began to escape her lips as she continued to wind down and V relaxed his hold on her eventually releasing her.

Letty looked up through puffy, shinny, but beautiful soulful brown eyes and smiled. Vince took one look at her and his heart skipped a beat and he to was forced into this moment of hope and love and all that was. His own face took on the character of a grin splitting smile and he slowly brushed a last remaining tear from under Letty�s left eye.

Ash was standing off to the side, but even he felt the power of the moment. It was the bond between two friends, two members of a family that was signaling that it was okay. That everything was gonna work out just fine.

--Life was good�