Chapter Forty-Seven

**

�You gonna stick by me?�

�Maybe��

**

�Hey!� Jamie said to me the next day in the parking lot before school.

�Hi�� I replied, slowly. Yeah, okay, so it didn�t seem like she was actually the psychotic bitch I�d thought she was. It�d almost been fun, working on that dumb project with her and Miguel. She hadn�t been kidding when she�d said she didn�t know anything about cars�hell, that was an understatement! But I still didn�t know if I could trust her.

�What�s up?� I asked when she didn�t say anything for a few minutes.

�Well�umm��

�Lemme guess,� I groaned. �You think Dom is the hottest thing on earth and you want to know everything there is to know about him��

�Dom?� she cried, interrupting me.

�Not Dom?�

�No!� she laughed. �He kinda looks like a rat, don�t you think?�

�A rat? Okay�� I muttered, wondering what drugs she was on and what the hell else she could possibly want. �What, then?�

�Well�I was kind of wondering about that guy��

�Leon?�

�No�� she said slowly.

�Hector?�

�Not him��

�Not�Miguel?�

�No!� she exclaimed, jerking her head up and finally looking at me.

�Okay,� I muttered to myself. �What other guy is there? Have to warn you, I don�t know much about anybody at school except for Miguel� Someone in our English class? Or in Loz�s class maybe? You aren�t lusting after Loz are you? The man is like fifty��

�No!� Jamie shrieked. �That is just�disgusting! And no one from school��

�Who the hell are you talking about, then?� I wondered, thinking aloud. �Not Dom, not Leon, not Hector, not Miguel� Unless you met someone when Vince took you out yesterday� Weird, he didn�t say anything about seeing anyone� He didn�t race with you in the car, did he? If he did anything stupid, just let me know, and I�ll kick the shit out of him for you.�

Jamie didn�t say anything, just looked back down at her feet.

�Oh my fucking God!� I yelled, not quite believing what I was thinking. �You�re� You mean� Vince! You like Vince? You like Vince! Oh my fucking God!�

I didn�t say anything else, waiting for her to tell me I was wrong�but she didn�t.

�Really?� I asked, after a few minutes of silence. �Vince?� I couldn�t stop laughing. Just the thought of someone digging Vince�it was too much.

�Yeah�� Jamie said eventually. �I� He�s not� Are you two�?�

�What?!?�

�Well�� she said slowly, �I figured, you know, when you didn�t mention him�that, well�maybe the two of you had something going on��

�I ought to beat the shit out of you just for thinking that,� I said, gasping for breath.

�Oh�sorry,� she said after a few minutes. �So�what�s wrong with Vince? He married? Gay? What?�

�No, he�s not married,� I laughed. �And definitely not gay� He�s just� Well, he�s just Vince!�

�He�s hot!� Jamie said, blushing.

�Oh God�� I moaned. �I�m just going to pretend I never heard you say that��

�So�� she went on, �does he have a girlfriend?�

�Vince? A girlfriend?� I sputtered. �Vince never has a girlfriend. Vince has girls that he fucks. Not girlfriends.�

�Oh�� she said, actually sounding disappointed. �So�he never like�stays with the same girl? At all?�

I finally managed to stop laughing as I thought about her question. �Lemme see�there was this one girl, when Vince was a freshman, I guess? Jenny, I think her name was� Anyways, Vince was crazy about her. They were together for a long time, almost the whole year...� I trailed off, remembering what Vince had been like back then.

�What happened?�

�Well�I guess Jenny just decided Vince wasn�t good enough for her one day. She started dating this other guy�some jock on the basketball team. But she didn�t tell V she wanted to break up�she just went behind his back and started cheating on him. Oh�there was a huge fight when Vince found out what was going on� Vince and Dom against the whole basketball team. I remember they almost got expelled� It was pretty bad. And Jenny told him all kinds of shit�like she�d never really cared about him at all, he was just a distraction while she was waiting for something better to come along. Really fucked Vince up�he was depressed for months after that. Barely talked to anyone, not even Dom. When he finally got out of it, he was different. I mean�not completely different or anything� But, when it came to girls, yeah. Stayed with a chick just until she�d fuck him, then he was on to someone else. He was a total slut. Still is, really. Not as much since he�s been home, but��

�Since he�s been home?� Jamie echoed, interrupting me.

I couldn�t really believe I was just telling Jamie all this shit about Vince. I mean, I barely knew her. But, I could tell she was into Vince�she actually liked him. And I guess some part of me decided that it was about time he got over Jenny and stayed with one chick for longer than a week. Plus, if I found someone for Vince, it�d mean less girls coming around the house thinking Dom was up for grabs�

�What�was he abducted by aliens or something?� she went on. �Spent the last five years living in the jungles of South America with some pygmy tribe? On the road with the circus? In a cave somewhere, maybe?�

�What?� I asked, laughing to myself a little. �Nah�he got into some trouble after Dom got arrested. Spent the last few years in juvie, just got out in August.�

�Oh.� She was quiet for a few minutes before continuing. �So�what�d he do?�

�Eh�nothing big� Got wasted one night, went out and boosted a car, completely wrecked it. Crashed into a storefront, wrecked that too� Really shouldn�t have been away for as long as he was, but his step-dad�s a cop, and just a complete dick. Decided Vince needed to be taught a lesson, or some shit like that.�

Jamie didn�t say anything after that, and we just stood there in silence again. It was kind of weird, though. I mean�it wasn�t an uncomfortable silence, like you�d expect with a virtual stranger. It was comfortable, like we�d known each other since kindergarten or something.

�Hey,� I said after a few minutes, �Dom�s having kind of a party Saturday night�Vince�ll be there. You wanna go?�

�Uhm�sure, that sounds great,� she said slowly. �The only thing is� Well, my parents are really strict. They don�t let me stay out after like ten. So�I�d have to spend the night or something.�

�God,� I thought to myself. �This had better be worth it.� I just don�t do slumber parties.

�Uhm�okay, we can do that,� I said, reaching up to brush a piece of hair away from my face.

�And�well�they�d have to like�meet someone, or talk to them at least�they�re very big on knowing the adult in charge of things� Maybe your mom could stop by my house sometime this week and talk to my mom? Just like�reassure her?�

�Heh,� I laughed. �Yeah, if your mom wanted to talk to a crack whore� And if I�d spoken to my mom at all in the past year� What about Leon? He�s pretty good at looking responsible��

�Uhm�how old is he again?�

�Twenty,� I answered, after thinking for a second or two. �He�ll be twenty-one in May��

�Okay� No offense or anything, but I don�t think they�d be impressed.�

�Yeah, I kinda figured that�� I muttered. �Lemme think� I guess I could ask my aunt to do it� But she�s pretty busy with work, I don�t know if she�d have time. Plus, she wouldn�t lie to your mom� Not like she�d just offer information, but�she wouldn�t try to hide that I stay with Leon. She�s proud of him, you know? Proud of all of us, actually. And once she got started talking about Leon, she�d start talking about the rest of us� And then your mom would figure out that the only �adult supervision� I get on a regular basis is from the guys and Mia. And I�m sure that would go over great.�

�Oh, I�m sure�� she laughed.

�Yeah, I can see it now. There�s Dom, who�s not only my b - my ex-boyfriend but would also still be in jail if he hadn�t of gotten out early� Vince, who just got out of juvie and doesn�t even really have a job or anything� You know, Leon�s the only one of them who�s never been in jail�and that�s only because he�s never gotten caught at anything so far� And Mia, well� she�s a �good� girl, but she�s still only nineteen� They�d prolly think of her as a kid� Damn, but I never realized how hard it is to have parents who actually give a shit about what you do!�

�Yeah, tell me about it,� Jamie sighed, leaning her head against her hands. �God, my life sucks.�

�Okay,� I said, ignoring her self-pity. �What if I came over to your place a few times after school this week�today and Wednesday, maybe? We�re not too busy at the garage, they should be able to manage without me for a couple days. And then, we can have Mia call and pretend like she�s older� Or just say she�s the adult in charge�they might not even ask how old she is, right? People always think she�s older than she really is. Well, least until they see her drive��

�You know�� Jamie said slowly, finally lifting her head up off of her arms, �that just might work��