| Chapter 18 "Ginger?". It was Jessi-Jay. She was knocking lightly on the door. "Do you have any fucking idea wot time it is?" Ginger groaned into his pillow. "It's ten forty five" she replied after a moment. He guessed she'd had to read it off her watch. Ten forty five, hey? Well, he was still fucking tired and he still had no desire to be talking to her, or even to be AWAKE, at this point in time. "Come back when it's twelve forty five" he mumbled, still with his face buried in his pillow. They'd only just dragged themselves home from Toretto's an hour or two ago. He'd woken up in Mia's room, on Mia's bed, with Mia wrapped in his arms. And that was when he'd decided it was time to get out of there before Dom dragged his ass out of bed and found them like that. "I have to talk to you, Ginge'. It's important" Jessi-Jay insisted. She was still talking through the door. Ginger didn't invite her in though. He wasn't planning on talking to her right now. He was sure whatever it was could wait another hour or two. His sleep, on the other hand, could not. He was already battling to keep his eyes open. "I'm sure it can wait" he answered, pulling his quilt up over his shoulder. He had enough problems to deal with without having to deal with Jessi-Jay's too. She was a big girl. He was sure she was old enough to deal with her own shit. "It can't wait". Her voice wavered. Something was wrong. She was upset. Really upset. Ginger sat up slowly, and even though his head pounded, he called her in. Jessi-Jay shut the door softly behind her and sat on the bed next to him. "Wot's wrong?" Ginger asked when she didn't volunteer any information. She stared at her hands as she spoke, and her words hit him like a tonne of bricks. "I slept with Carlos". He opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. She WHAT?? How could she DO this? Was she trying to get Carlos killed? Get them ALL killed? Did she not hear a word of warning he'd offered about this situation? "Fuck!" Ginger finally choked out, "FUCK!". "I'm sorry, Ginger" she began, eyes welling up with tears. Well, 'sorry' wasn't going to fix anything now, was it? Shit. If Stratt found out about this... "Wot the fuck were you thinking!?!" he cried, waving a hand at her. "I wasn't thinking" she admitted, tears breaking through the weak barrier she was trying to maintain, then spilling down her cheeks. "Yeh, that's pretty fucking obvious, isn't it?" Ginger replied, "Did you even listen to a single word I told you?". "Of course I did!" Jessi-Jay replied, wiping at her tears, "Do you think I would do this on purpose!?! Do you think I want to hurt anyone!?! I'm your fucking sister, Ginger! You know me better than that!". "Well I thought I did, but obviously I was wrong!" Ginger responded, angry and scared and confused. How could this happen? How the FUCK could this happen? Why did everything in HIS life have to go to shit? Why couldn't anything ever go right for him? He was trying to be a good person here, a brother, and then this shit happens!! "Well you've done a real fucking great job of keeping to yourself, haven't you?" she countered, scared and confused herself. Ginger frowned at her, "The fuck you talkin' about?". "Oh, come off it, Ginger! Get your lips off Mia's ass long enough to work out that the two of you have been all googly-eyed around each other since the first time you fucking met!" Jessi-Jay answered. It was so damn obvious. "Well I didn't go fuck her last night, did I?" Ginger responded, and she broke into tears. Guilt stabbed through him, adding to the teetering tower of messed up emotions he was feeling right now. He pulled her into a hug gently, and she cried against his shoulder. "I'm so so sorry, Ginger. I didn't mean for this to happen" Jessi-Jay choked out between sobs. "I know, Jess. It's a'ight. It'll be a'ight" he soothed, rubbing her shoulders gently. He hadn't meant to get so angry at her. Hadn't meant to bite her head off. He was just scared. More scared than any of them. This whole thing rested on his shoulders, as much as he hated it, and if he fucked up, they would all pay dearly for it. "I like him, Ginger" she admitted, forcing her sobs down to sniffles and tears, "I like him alot. I wish this shit didn't ever happen. I wish I could've just met him like a normal fucking person". "You are a normal person" Ginger reassured her softly, "This shit isn't yo fault, Jess. It isn't. It woz jus' bad luck. Could've happened to anyone. Come Sunday, it'll all be over. We can all go back to normal". "But that's the thing, Ginger" she pulled back to look him in the eye, so that he knew she was serious, "I don't want to go back to normal. I don't want to go back to Hillside. I want to stay here. I want to stay with Carlos. I want to stay with Hector and Edwin and the Toretto's and Vince and Leon. I want to stay here, in L.A. I don't wanna go back to Hillside and keep working for Stratt. I don't want to, and I won't". He just looked at her, unsure what to say. Afraid, because her words described exactly how he felt. He didn't want to go back to working for Stratt either. He didn't want to leave Mia. He didn't want to leave Dom and his team. He didn't want to leave Hector or Edwin or Carlos or anyone else. He couldn't remember ever being as happy as he'd been this past week. "I know wot you mean" he admitted, dragging his gaze up to hers, "I do. But... we can't. You know that, Jess. If, no WHEN, when Stratt finds out, you know wot he'll do to them. We have to go home. If only for their safety, we have to go home". Jessi-Jay sat in silence for a long moment. Processing this. Working it through her mind. Trying to see it from a better angle. Trying to come up with a remedy. Hoping and pleading for anything better than this shit pile she'd been told to work with, but it was useless. "I hate this shit!" she snapped, not angry at him, but seethingly mad all the same. Ginger only nodded, "I know, babygurl. I know". * * * "Dom". He groaned, covered his head with his pillow, and tried to ignore the pounding on his door. "Dom!". It was Edwin. What the fuck could he want at this time in the morning? Warm golden rays filtered in through the thin curtains and warmed his bare back. His legs were tangled in the quilt, but he wasn't planning to get up any time soon, so he wasn't fussed about that. "Dom, I'm comin' in" Edwin announced. Dom groaned loudly and opened one eye. Letty wasn't there. She must've gone downstairs already. She was usually hungry when she woke up. She'd probably gone to get some food. "Fuck orf, Edwin" he responded. "Nuh uh, big man. This is important" Edwin replied, and shoved the door open. Dom sat bolt upright. "I said FUCK OFF!!" he bellowed. Hector appeared behind Edwin, "I'm sorry, Dom. I tol' him to wait till you woz up". Yeah? Well gee-fucking-thanks. Did a great fucking job of that one, didn't you? "Dom, you don't even know wot the fuck I'm tryin' to tell you here, man!" Edwin protested, "Jus' fucking hear me out, a'ight?". "Edwin, you've got three seconds to get the fuck out of my room" Dom replied, ignoring him totally. Hector intelligently took the warning seriously and made himself scarce. "But Dom.." Edwin began. "One" was the response he got. "Dom, jus' listen for a minute.." "Two" "Shit, man, give me two seconds!" "FUCK OFF!!" Dom bellowed, and hauled his pillow at him, "Get the fuck out! I'm tryin'a sleep here you fucking moron!!". "Dom, I found out about Ginger, man!" Edwin protested, holding his arms up to fend off the pillows being hurled at him. The attack suddenly stopped. "Wot'd you find out?" Dom asked, interested and willing to put his anger aside for a moment. "This guy has got his hands in everything" Edwin began explaining, sitting on the corner of the bed, "He was racing for weeks before yous came back from Mexico. He was just on other scenes. Never showed up at the Isle till this week. Anyways, he made more than half a million racing in just them two weeks". Dom nodded slowly. Taking it in. Filing it away in his memory. "But that's not the best bit" Edwin went on, "Me an' Hector looked into it a bit further, and it turns out Ginger McVeigh works for this big time drug pusher, Stratt. Jai Stratt. You remember, he woz on trial for possession and distribution, but then all them cops got killed and all the evidence was stolen and there was nothing to pin it on him?". Dom nodded again. He remembered that on the news, a little while ago. Actually, perhaps a year or two back. "Yeah, well wot Ginger does is all right up there in the computer age. See, he seeks out buyers and distributers on the internet, so there's no street involvement or anything, and no looking over yer shoulder for cops, no evidence, no nothing. It's pretty much fool proof. Hell, even Hector could do it" Edwin explained further. "What's all the money for?" Dom asked, his brows furrowed. He wasn't liking this one bit. Not one single fucking bit. A drug dealer around his sister? Over his dead fucking body! "I dunno, man. Jus' a get rich quick thing, I think. Doesn't really matter though, does it?" Edwin replied, recognising the white hot rage building in Dom, even as he sat there quietly. "No. It doesn't" he answered after a long moment, "Thanks, Edwin. Tell my team to get in the kitchen NOW, on your way out". Edwin recognised the tone, and didn't dare to argue. Chapter 19 "You will NOT see him again!". Mia burst into tears. How could he just say that? How could her own brother tear away her tiny ray of happiness? "Fuck you Dom!" Letty snapped, wrapping an arm around Mia's shoulders, "You don't even know the whole story". "Edwin said.." Dom began. "Edwin!?!" Letty cried, "EDWIN!?! Wot the fuck would he know! He's a fucking moron, Dom! You know that!". Mia tried to control her tears, but the thought of not being able to see Ginger again tore her apart. "He's a drug dealer, Letty" Dom tried to make her see his point of view, "That means trouble! You know who he works for? Stratt. Yeah, that fucking gangster on the news. I will not have my family put in danger because of him". Leon and Vince sat at the kitchen table in silence. They neither supported nor protested what Dom said. Mia felt like screaming. "Dom, you don't know the situation! Look at you with the trucks for fuck sake! You did what you had to do!" Mia tried to make Dom see reason. See beyond black and white. But he wouldn't be swayed. "I will not, I repeat, WILL NOT, jeopordise the safety of my family. And if that means severing contact with that team, then that's what we'll do!" Dom insisted firmly, "I will not let anyone hurt you. I will not let him put you in danger. You are NOT to see him again. Him, or any of his team". Mia could see where Dom was coming from. She really could. But why was he being so unfair? Why would he only see the black and white, when there was gray to look at as well? Why wouldn't he take anything other than the facts he had into consideration? He didn't know the situation, and he had no right to pass judgement on Ginger or his team. "I don't know about this one Dom" Vince said softly, then looked up at his best friend, "I know... I see where you're coming from. I do. And I don't want anyone to get hurt either, but... it seems a little extreme and a bit unfair, y'know, to jus' kick 'em out of LA or something". "He's right, dawg" Leon piped up, "We don't know the whole story. We can't jus' exile them coz'a one thing that we don't even know about for sure. I mean, who says he's still dealin' now? Who says he hasn't given it up, an' he's like, spendin' his dough here in LA or something?". "I have a commitement to my family, and my team" Dom replied stubbornly, "And what I say, goes. It's for your own safety". "Bullshit, Dom!" Mia shouted, "It's because you can't handle that the trucks blew up in your face while he's out there makin' shit loads of money!". "That's not true Mia, and you know it!" Dom responded angrily. Yes, she knew it. She knew that wasn't true. But she hadn't said it to be truthful. She'd said it to get his attention. Mia wasn't swayed on bit by his tone. This was the first time she'd been happy it what may as well have been forever. She was not about to just let him take it away from her. "FUCK YOU!!" Mia screamed, getting up and knocking her chair over in the process, "This is the first good thing that's happened to me in forever, Dom! How can you take this away from me!?!". "Mia, clam down" Dom tried to get through to her, but she wasn't hearing it. "No! No, Dom! You're not even trying to understand!" she cried, shoving him in the chest, "You fucking idiot! How can you do this to me?!? What the hell did I ever do to you!?! Is this about Brian, Dom? Coz I'm SORRY!! You know I'm sorry about that! If I could take it back, I would! If I could give my life to have Jesse back, you know I would gladly hand mine over, Dom!! Please don't do this to me! Don't blame Ginger for what happened with Brian". "Mia, I don't blame you or him for what happened with Brian. You're not listening to me. This has nothing to do with Brian. This is about..." Dom tried to push his reasons onto her. "Dom" Mia sobbed, "This isn't about you. It's not about the team. It's about me. I LOVE him, Dom. I LOVE him. How can you take him away from me when I love him so much?". Dom just stared. He didn't have anything to say. Couldn't think of anything to make it better. Couldn't get past how much his little sister was hurting. Mia choked on a sob and ran upstairs. Her bedroom door slammed moments after, and she flung herself onto her bed, sobbing into her pillow. Even when Brian had told her he was a cop, it hadn't hurt this bad. She hadn't hurt this badly since her parents died. Since Jesse was killed. Since they almost lost Vince on the last truck heist. It was a pain that squeezed her heart mercilessly and enveloped her entire being so that she couldn't escape it. "Maybe you should go talk to Ginger or something" Vince suggested, "Y'know, see if you can work things out? If only for Mia's sake, brotha. I ain't never seen her this upset". Leon nodded solemnly. Letty just sat with her arms folded over her chest and a scowled pasted on her face. Dom sighed, buried his face in his hands, and sighed again. He hadn't seen Mia so upset in a long, long time. And to think that he was the one who had upset her so... It hurt. It hurt alot. Vince stood fairly abruptly, and headed upstairs. Letty was too angry to talk to Mia, Dom was the last person she wanted to see, and Leon was even worse with words than Vince was, so he guessed he should go and try to calm her down, or at least give her someone to talk to, if that was what she wanted. He knocked on the door lightly, before letting himself in. Mia was curled up on her bed, back facing him, hugging her pillow against her chest. "Go AWAY, Dom" Mia said firmly, even though her voice was wrought with tears. Vince shut the door behind himself softly. "It's jus' me, Mia" he said, sitting on the edge of her bed, "I can go, if you want me to. I jus' thought you might want someone to talk to". Mia sat up and hugged Vince tightly, crying against his shoulder. Her rubbed her shoulders soothingly. This wasn't about impressing Mia. It wasn't about getting her to go on a date with him or getting into her pants. He'd known Mia since, hell, since she'd first come in to the world. They had something stronger than a date or even a sexual relationship could forge. They had a life long friendship. And right now, that meant more to him than anything. Vince knew exactly how she felt. He liked Kaylen. He liked her ALOT. She made him laugh, he made her laugh, and the two of them made everyone else laugh. She had this power to make everyon around her smile and feel happy. She made him feel at ease. He liked spending time with her. Having her abruptly torn away from him was like tearing his arm from his body. He didn't feel that he could go on living without Kaylen as the warmth in his life. "I can't imagine him gone, V" Mia got out after a long moment. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, "It's a'ight, Mia. Things'll work out". * * * "GINGER!! DOM'S HERE!!" Lizette called from downstairs. Ginger sighed and gently Jessi-Jay down on his bed. He pulled the quilt up over her, then moved to the other side of the room to pull on the same clothes he'd been wearing the night before. He'd barely been awake enough to take them off when he'd gotten home. "GINGER!!" Lizette yelled again. He shut his bedroom door behind himself and thudded down the stairs. "I'm comin'" he called back, stepping off the bottom step. Dom was standing, rigid with what appeared to be anger, in the middle of the living room. Ginger ran a tired hand back over his head, "Whassup, Dom?". "I know about the drugs" was all he replied with. Well, shit. "The fuck you talkin' bout?" Ginger tried to make out that he didn't know what he meant. He didn't really feel in the mood to have his head kicked in. And he really, REALLY, did not want to lose Mia. "Don't give me that shit!" Dom pointed an accusing finger, "I know all about Stratt and the racing and the dealing". "If you know about Stratt, wot the fuck're you doin' here?" DeShaun asked from where he had sunk himself into the couch beside Nueto, "He'd cap yer ass a'fore you could even blink". Dom only scowled at him. Ginger wasn't sure whether it was because of whatever he thought he'd found out, or because what DeShaun said had been taken as some kind of diss at his manliness. "Look, Dom. Tell me wot you heard. I'm... I'm not exactly followin' you here" Ginger said, and it was true. How could Toretto know about his situation with Stratt? The racing, well, who really gave a shit about that? The drugs, now that could have been any number of people narking him out. "I know about you dealin' for Stratt. I know about you racin'. I know about all the money you made. I know everything about you, Ginger, so why bullshit?" Dom replied in the most convincing tone he could conjure up. Act like you had the power, and people would believe you. It was all in the act. If Ginger thought he knew everything about him, he might get more answers out of him. Hopefully a damn good explination too. "Everything, huh?" Ginger raised an eyebrow. He'd been toyed with too much in the past to fall for the act. Hell, he'd even tried this one out a few times himself. If you acted like you were in charge, nine times out of ten, people would believe you. And if you came across that tenth person, well, there were always ways of getting around that, if you were Ginger. "Everything" Dom spread his hands as though the space between them encompassed everything he knew about Ginger. Which was supposedly everything there was to know. Ginger wasn't convinced. Not even almost. "Wot the fuck you doin' here, then? You wanna get yo self killed or some shit? Wanna get yo team killed? Mia? Vince? Letty? He'll get you ALL, Toretto. Everyone you ever met or gave a shit about. Trust me, I've seen this guy at work" Ginger hoped the threat, which was next to being the truth, would scare Toretto into admitting what he REALLY knew. He didn't want to volunteer any new information. That would be, well, to say the very least, *bad*. "That's why I'm here" Dom replied, seeming not to waver in the face of the warning he'd just recieved, "I don't want to see you, or any of your team, near my family EVER again". Ginger stood silent for a long moment. He, who always had a sharp comeback, was lost for words. Totally and utterly dumbfounded. He could not for the life of him think of a good enough protest to bother voicing. Because Toretto was right. He was a fool for letting himself and his team get involved with them in the first place. "You told your team about this?" DeShaun piped up again. He'd noticed how close Lizette, Kaylen and Ginger had become to various members of the Toretto team. No one thought he noticed things like that, but he did. It was just that no one ever asked him about it. "Yeah. I told them" Dom replied, not even looking back at DeShaun. He kept his eyes on Ginger, who tensed up at the thought of never seeing Mia again. Toretto could not keep them apart. He couldn't, and Ginger wouldn't let him. "I'm pretty sure they can make that decision on their own" he said coldly, "If they wanna see my team, I'm not stoppin' them". "If I hear of you near any of my family" Dom stepped right up to Ginger, "And I WILL hear of it, I'll shove your fucking balls down your throat". "Not if I get yours first" Ginger replied, keeping his face deadpan. "You go near Mia I'll break your neck" Dom responded. "Isn't that what you told a certain undercover cop who fucked you over royally?" Ginger taunted, sick of this shit, and that did it. Within the blink of an eye, he was on the floor, underneath Dom, and they were at each other's throats as though it were a war of attrition. Lizette and Kaylen started screaming, too scared to get in the way or try to get them apart. DeShaun and Nueto jumped up from the couch, hurrying to try and pull the two off of each other. It was almost useless. They may as well have been invisible. Both were fighting for what they needed. Dom needed Mia to be safe. Ginger needed Mia to be with him. And neither was going to give that up. Dom wished Ginger would just lie down and let him beat the shit out of him like he'd done at the races. He was becoming quite a challenge. Ginger was quite a bit smaller than Dom was, but it was to his advantage. Big guy, big reach. Little guys could fight to the bitter end. Dom hit harder but fell harder too. They punched and kicked and thumped and kneed and elbowed and bit and scratched and gouged and swore. They were going for it. Tearing each other apart. A bomb could have dropped right outside the room and neither would have noticed. It took all four of them; Nueto, DeShaun, Kaylen and Lizette; to pull Dom off of Ginger, and even then, it was quite a task to keep Ginger away from Dom. He wasn't going to give up Mia. No way. No how. It was out of the question. This guy couldn't just come in here and exile him. He didn't own this place. Who died and made Toretto king of Los Angeles? "Ginger! Jus' leave it! This isn't helpin' anyone!!" DeShaun yelled, and Ginger pulled back from them all like he'd been burned. He ran the back of his hand against his bloodied lip. Dom had three parallel gouges in his cheek and his lip was split in two places. Ginger was bleeding from the outside corner of his right eye, where Dom had punched him more times than was appropriate. "Get the fuck outta here" Ginger said, softly but firmly, pointing at the door. Dom glared at him coldly, then turned to leave. Ginger watched Toretto's retreating form, and called after him. "We'll see who's rules Mia's gonna follow" Chapter 20 "You shouldn't have gone there at all, Dom" Letty said as she dabbed at his wounds with disinfectant. She was voicing both of their thoughts. "I know" Dom replied sullenly, staring at his hands. What was Mia gonna think now? Vince? Leon? What did Letty think of this whole steaming pile of shit they'd found themselves buried in? "What're we gonna do?" Letty asked, dropping her hands to her lap. They were on the couch, in the lounge. Dom had driven around Los Angeles all night. All fucking night. Trying to clear his head. Trying to find some sense in all of this. It was now five thirty, Sunday morning, and he was home, being taken care of by his Letty-girl. "I dunno" Dom sighed truthfully. He had no idea. Not one. And no one was voluteering any, so he supposed he was gonna be stuck in this rut for a while. "Well, they're goin' back to Hillside today anyways, right?" Letty asked, picking up the cotton wool balls and diinfectant from her lap. She didn't want them to go. She really didn't. At first, she'd thought of Jessi-Jay, Kaylen and Lizette as three little ho's whom she didn't trust as far as she could throw them, but now... now that she'd gotten to know them, grown to like them, become friends with them; she didn't want them to leave. DeShaun and Nueto made her laugh, which was quite an achievement, and Ginger reminded her alot of Dom. He made Mia so happy. And she couldn't imagine going back to the way they'd been before. "Yeah, they are. I suppose we'll just have to wait until Mia realises that this was for the best" Dom replied with a slow nod. Letty frowned disapprovingly. "Y'know, Dom, she's not that only one who doesn't want them to leave" Letty informed him. She knew for a fact that Leon, Vince, Hector, Edwin and Carlos would all be none too happy with Ginger's team's depature. She wasn't too sure about what Dom thought of it, but to be perfectly frank, he was outnumbered if he opposed them staying. "I know" was all Dom replied with. He didn't know how he felt about the whole situation. He was plagued with warring emotions and feelings on the subject. It was a war of atrittion, but neither side seemed to be able to override the other. And so, he was stuck sitting on the fence for the time being, until he could work out what the hell he should do. * * * "Ginger! Latrell's on the phone!" Lizette called up the stairs to him. Ginger groaned, face buried in his pillow. He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to move. His head was pounding, and he had his second black eye in less than two weeks. And then he remembered. It was Sunday. Shit. "Comin'" he called back, and hauled himself out of bed. His head pounded and his vision swayed. Ginger leaned one arm against the wall long enough for his head to clear up so that he could at least walk downstairs. Lizette was waiting at the bottom of the stairs in a blue mini skirt and a white cap-sleeved shirt with white Nike Cortez sneakers. She looked like a tennis player. Lizette handed Ginger the cordless phone, and he pulled up his quickly escaping jeans as he headed outside. Jessi-Jay and Kaylen were out there. Kaylen in flared cargos and a white wifebeater. Jessi-Jay in studded jeans and a white baby-t with a rainbow on it. Ginger had no idea why he was paying attention to such small and un-important details. No idea what so ever. Especially with everything that was gonna go down today. "Latrell. When've I gotta meet the twins?" he asked, getting right to the point. The last 200 thousand was coming from this deal with Simon and Tyson. That would make up the 2.5 million, which he would soon be handing over to Stratt. "Deal's off" Latrell said simply. Ginger blinked once. Twice. Swayed a little, lightheaded, then sat abruptly on the pavement by the pool so that he didn't fall over and crack his head open. "What?" he choked out. Praying for a snicker. A laugh. Something that would tell him this was a sick joke his cousin was playing on him. "The deal's off" Latrell repeated, not even a hint of happiness in his voice. He didn't volunteer any more information. Just let Ginger absorb what he'd told him. "Why?" Ginger demanded. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? It was Sunday. Sunday for fuck sake. If he didn't have the money when Stratt showed up.... "They're in hospital, man. I thought you would'a seen it on the news" Latrell replied. Ginger hung his head, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. After fighting with Toretto, all he'd done was crawl back into bed and lick his wounds like a coward. He didn't know what to do. He'd never, ever been stumped by anything like this before. He was a quick thinker. He could always find a way around things. ALWAYS. But not this time. "I didn't watch any TV last night" Ginger replied, barely able to keep up the conversation for the fear that wracked his mind and blocked all rational thought. "Simon's got a collapsed lung from a gun-shot wound and Tyson's got six broken ribs and a bruised kidney, among other things. They did a real number on them" Latrell explained the situation breifly, knowing his cousin couldn't handle any extra information at the moment. "Who? Who did it?" Ginger demanded. He wasn't planning on going on a quest for revenge, but the question had rolled off his tongue before he could stop it. "Stratt. They back out of a deal with him, an' he made them pay. That's wot ma boys tell me" Latrell replied. Ginger pressed the heel of his hand against his non-bruised eye. Shit. SHIT! It was his fault they were in hospital. He'd told them not to deal with Stratt, and they'd backed out and gotten themselves almost killed. It was his fault they were half dead. And it was his fault that his own deal with Stratt wasn't going to go through today. After all his careful planning, a tiny piece of well-meaning advice had unravelled everything. And Ginger was sure they would all pay dearly for it. Stratt was not know for being merciful. "Fuck" he said softly, betraying the anger and fear boiling away inside of him, "Wot the fuck am I s'pose to do now?". Latrell offered a sympatheric sigh, "I've been lookin' all mornin', man. I can't find anything. No one's lookin' for H, speed, ket, mull, nothin'. I know this is real shitty, Ginge', but if I'd have found something, you know I'd tell you. All I've got is 50 grand, and you can have it, if it'll help. If I'da known this woz gonna happen, I wouldn't have paid up big on this deal I jus' put through to China". Ginger sighed, then grunted in anger, frustration and fear. 50 grand was not enough. It was 2.5 million, or nothing at all. He knew that. He'd known that the whole time. He'd let his team down. Let his sister's down. And they were all going to pay for it. He knew that much. The only question left to ask was 'how'? Stratt would come up with something good. Something that suited his liking and temper. Something that fed his anger. Something that sprung from his violent nature. And the thought of this being unleashed on his friends, on his sisters, made him sick. Ginger felt it rise up his throat to his mouth, but he kept it clamped shut, and squeezed his eyes tightly closed. He would not let on to Jessi-Jay and Kaylen, who were right behind him. There had to be a way out of this. There HAD to be. And he was going to find it. "Ginge', you there?" Latrell asked, and Ginger swallowed hard, his throat burning. "Yeh, I'm here" he replied softly, feeling the questioning gaze from each of his near-by sisters burning into his back. "If I can do anythin' to help, jus' let me know, dawg. I'll be more than happy to" Latrell offered. Ginger didn't know what else to say but, "Thanks". He said his goodbyes, what could have been his last, and disconnected the call. He sat for a long moment. How could he tell them? How could he tell his team, his family, that he'd failed them all? "Ginge'?" Kaylen called softly. The single word held a million questions. He stood slowly and turned to face the two of them, an absolute outpour of mixed emotions filtering, without his permission or control, through his eyes. Ginger spread his hands. Of all the words in the world, he couldn't manage a single one. "Ginger. Wot's goin' on, man? We gonna do this shit right now or wot?" DeShaun called from the doorway. Ginger glanced over at him. DeShaun was so full of life. Ginger had drawn on his excessive happiness on more than one occasion. All the happiness in the world could have ben dumped on him at that moment, and he wouldn't have felt it at all. "No deal, dawg" he confessed, looking up at his friend finally, "Deal's off. Stratt put the twins in hospital coz they backed out of their bizness wit him. That means Stratt's in Los Angeles. He's here, and I ain't got his money, D" Ginger pulled in a pained breath, and admitted to his friend, to his family, to himself, "Game's up". |