| 15. They were hanging out in the garage when Bridget got back from her date. Dom sat on the hood of a bondo-covered wreck cuddling Jesse. Vince and Leon played cards and Letty was talking on the phone to Mia. Letty was the first to hear them on the outside stairs. There were two ways to get up to the apartment. The exterior stairs led directly to the front door of the apartment and the interior stairs led up to a door that led to the landing where the entrance to the apartment was. �Mia, I gotta go. I�m gonna go pump B. for info on her new dude.� Letty said watching for a reaction from Vince. His lip curled slightly and he bit it as if to keep from saying anything as he tried to concentrate on the card game. There was a scuffling sound outside the door at the top of the stairs. �Awe, come on! Just for a few minutes?� The voice obviously belonged to Doyle the Date. �What part of no, don't you understand?� Bridget�s voice was tense. Vince slowly got up from his seat across from Leon and walked to the bottom of the steps. Dom gave Jesse to Letty and Leon stood up, hiked his jeans up and went over to stand behind Vince and Dom. They knew the sounds of brewing trouble when they heard it. Shit, they had started it often enough to have it memorized! More scuffling and the sound of keys being dropped were heard in the garage. Bridget spoke again. This time her voice was full of emotion. �Touch me again and I�ll make you sorry.� About two seconds later the sounds of all hell breaking lose rained down into the garage. Vince was up the stairs in the blink of any eye followed by Dom and Leon. Letty hauled ass outside to watch from the ground, she carried Jesse and the phone just in case she needed to call the cops. It was like nothing they had ever seen. Tiny Bridget Mahoney practically threw her six-foot date down the stairs. She followed him down and squared off against him ready for a fight! The look on the guy�s face said it all, he couldn�t believe she had the nerve to turn him down and then push him! He showed his true colors when he actually swung at her. It happened so fast they didn�t have time to move. Vince, Dom and Leon stood awestruck as Bridget ducked the blow and kicked Doyle the Date smack in the nuts. He exhaled all the air in his lungs, grabbed his injured package and dropped to his knees bringing him to Bridget�s height. She used his position to her advantage and hit him with a vicious right hook, which knocked him back onto the ground. �I warned you, Asshole! No means no!� Bridget screamed at the man writhing on the ground. She was ready to kick the guy when Letty stopped her. �Come on, B. Lets go up and get a drink.� Letty grabbed Bridget�s trembling left hand and pulled her up the stairs and into the apartment. Vince watched as Letty took Bridget in. As soon as the door closed he let out a sigh. �That,� He said, �Is the mother of my future children.� Doyle the Date was groaning, trying to sit up, and keeping firm grip on his smarting goods and busted face at the same time. He rolled over onto his hands and knees, coughing and trying to get some air back into his lungs. �Damn! Dude? How does it feel to get a crotchful of blazing Irish Whoop Ass?� Vince asked. Dom and Leon were laughing at the struggling man on the ground. They weren�t sorry for him at all. He got what he deserved. �Awe, man! That�ll teach you to try shit with our Bridget!� Leon scolded. Dom walked over to Doyle and helped him up off the ground. He could barely stand up. Dom stood back with Vince and Leon and crossed his muscular arms over he chest. Vince and Leon flexed, having his back. �You ever come around here again and I�ll make sure everybody in this city knows what you tried to pull. I�ll also tell them how you got your potential date-raping ass beat by a little five-foot Irish girl half your size. Now, get in that sorry looking Jeep and hit asphalt.� Dom had started out in his normal voice but by the time he was done he was practically barking at the guy who was frantically trying to unlock to the door to his Jeep. Vince and Leon picked up crumbling chunks of the street and hurled them at the vehicle as it pulled away. That was the last they would see of Doyle the Date. They stood in the street watching the taillights fade. Vince squatted in the middle of the road, his head in his hands. Dom and Leon stood around him. �That fucker could have hurt her...� �But he didn�t. Bridget is one tough little bitch! She and Letty have a lot in common. Come on, V., lets go up and check on our girls.� Dom pulled Vince up and they walked back to the stairs and climbed up. 16. It was almost midnight when Tran arrived at the airport. He tried to purchase a one-way ticket to the Cayman Islands. �I�m sorry sir, but this credit card has been denied.� The girl behind the counter had told him. She also told him that about every one of the cards he had her try. He left in a huff. Having no cards meant he�d have to use cash. He finally found an ATM but when he tried to use the card the machine said that there were no funds available. What the fuck? Those were his personal accounts! His father didn�t have access to those! Where was his fuckin money? He figured he would just have to lay low until morning when he could get into talk to that fat squeaky little man at the bank who handled his wire transactions. Johnny jumped back into the Jag and headed straight for the Pussy Cat Palace. When he arrived at the club he parked around back in the dark employee parking lot. They really needed to have all those burned out bulbs in the word �Cat� replaced, but Johnny was thankful for the cover of darkness. He entered the club and slipped passed several waitresses. The floorshow was going on and there were six women in varying degrees of undress dancing on the runway. He didn�t even look as he headed up the back stairs to his private office. He really hoped the policed hadn�t been there yet. Tran unlocked the door and entered the room. After flipping on the lights he went over to the wall safe, cracked the sucker open and took out what cash he had on hand. There was about twelve grand in cash along with two Rolex watches that he could cash in if he needed too. The question was whether to get the fuck out of town immediately now that he had some cash, or wait until morning and see a man about some missing money? Johnny opted for the latter. He holed up in his office, called down for the bartender to order him some food from someplace out and told the guy to have one of the girls bring it up when it arrived. The phone rang a little after two am. Johnny jumped at the shrill sound. He was exhausted and more than a little scared. He�s had a bad day, what with the shit with Olivia and her father, his own dad disowning him and cutting him off financially, and then finding Jade like that� �Yeah?� He asked cautiously, quietly. �Johnny! How was your day?� The voice on the other end jovially. �Who the fuck is this?� Johnny demanded. �Now, now Johnny. Temper, Temper�You really should have been more careful, you know. You�ve been a bad boy and now there are people out there who wanna hang you on a hook. �Look, we can make a deal. Whatever you want. I don't want anymore trouble.� Johnny sounded pathetic. The voice on the other end of the line laughed. �You got more trouble than you know what to do with Tran.� Tran waited for more, but the line was disconnected. He was way past the point of being scared shitless. He grabbed the cash out of the wall safe and shoved it into his jacket pockets. The Cayman Islands were calling his name. He could find a bank there and sort out his finances. He�d be fine if he could just get out of the country. He grabbed his keys from where he left them on his desk, opened the door and ran right into the police. Johnny backed away from the cops but there was nowhere he could go. He was backed into a literal corner. Their guns were drawn so there was no way he was gonna rush them, not that he had the balls to try it. He was handcuffed, advised of his Miranda Rights, led down the stairs and out of the club to an awaiting police cruiser. From a table in front of the bar, a half-baked car salesman watched the commotion. The silent camera hidden in his eyeglasses clicked away. It had been much easier than he had thought. All he really had to do was watch and listen, he had put out a few feelers and someone higher up on the gangster food chain took over. The business with Jade Lee had been pretty nasty but he hadn�t had a hand in that so what did it matter. The job was over and he was gonna collect big time. 17. It was all over the news the next day. Johnny Tran, the son of a respected local businessman had been arrested for the murder of a known prostitute and other charges were pending. The INS, DEA and FBI all wanted words with him and it really didn�t look good for Tran. He had arranged to meet with his employer at noon at a small caf� downtown. He selected a table in front of the little place and ordered coffee. He had never met his employer so he wasn�t sure whom he was waiting for. Several people passed but none made any move to contact him. When he had first been approached to do the job it had been very hush-hush. All contact had been done through email and in fact he had turned the job down until a certified check for twenty thousand dollars arrived at his door the next day. There was a note attached to the check that said if he completed the job, if Johnny Tran was ruined, he would collect thirty thousand more. The note also said that if Tran ended up in prison, he would collect an extra ten thousand for a job exceptionally well done. A female voice greeted him from behind. �Sorry I�m late. I had some family business to attend to. I hope you haven�t waited long.� He stared at her opened mouthed. This woman had been his boss for the last three weeks? She was great looking in an exotic sorta way, not really his type but he would have slept with her if circumstances were different. Well, he would have tried. She sat down across from him and slid an envelope across the table. He reached for it and opened it to find a crisp check for thirty thousand bucks stared back at him. God! He loved payday! �I trust everything is in order?� The beauty said, peering at him over her dark sunglasses. �Uh, yes ma�am, it�s just that I wasn�t expecting you to be�� Her throaty laughter rang in his ears. �A woman?� She flipped her hair back off of her shoulder and scratched absent-mindedly at a sun-browned freckle at the base of her neck. �Yeah.� �Tell me, where the papers delivered to the police?� She was getting bored with him. �You mean the ones regarding the unsolved murder of that Jesse kid? Yes, those are now in police custody along with Johnny Tran. I�m betting he gets life at least.� The woman had flinched when he referred to the victim as �that Jesse kid�. She must have been close to him whoever he was. �Yes, well. If he does do time, you can expect another check. Nice doing business with you.� She got up and began to walk away. He stood, almost spilling his coffee in the process and watched her leave. She got into a bright green Nissan one of those street racer cars and sped off. He noticed the tag on the car, it was a vanity plate that simply read �M A M I�. 18. �Hey, B.? When will Letty be home?� Dom watched as Bridget walked across the living room bouncing Jesse on her shoulder. He really liked her. She was good for Letty and Jesse and he knew that if Vince could ever get around to it, she would be good for him too. There was a lot simmering between the two. �She had a meeting with your financial people and then mentioned getting diapers and renting some movies. She said something about �chilling like old times?� Brian and Mia and the guys are all coming over tonight, so I�m assuming you know what that means.� Dom knew exactly what it meant. The whole crew would be under one roof, eating and hanging out. Letty would rent movies guaranteed to get him in the mood and then once everyone had gone home and Jesse was down for the night, he could have his wild wicked way with her. Dom smiled to himself, remembering what Letty had whispered in his ear the other day in the kitchen. Tonight was gonna be a good night! Letty got back about an hour later with diapers, movies and two salads from that little place down the street where she and B. had started going. Bridget swapped Jesse for the bags Letty carried and took it all into the kitchen. Letty sat down with Dom on the couch in the living room. Letty kissed Jesse�s head and blew soft raspberries on his tummy. He clutched her finger and held on tightly. She felt as if her whole world as suddenly gone from black and white to vivid color. The weight that had been bearing down on her since the first Jesse�s death was lifted and she simply felt�good. As always, she had done what she had to do. She had made Tran pay for what he and his boys had done to Jesse. He hadn�t deserved to die on a sidewalk, full of bullet holes, not over a fucking car! Tran took things to far and she had simply righted the wrongs done. She may have had to go above, below and around the law, but what good was being a millionaire if you couldn�t buy a little justice? For Letty, there was no guilt involved and certainly no regrets. She left baby Jesse with his father to snooze peacefully on Dom�s chest on the couch. Dom stretched out under his son and flipped the TV off, deciding to nap himself. He had a long night planned. Letty helped Bridget put away the few things she had brought home and then they sat down to eat their lunch. Bridget was quiet. �You know you�re invited tonight, right? In a non-nanny way, just come and hang with us.� Letty wanted B. there for Vince. She had talked Leon into digging up a girl so Bridget had to be there or poor Vince would be alone. �Uh, well, I�� �No, buts, girl. Be there or else!� Letty teased. �Yes ma�am!� Was the only answer Bridget could give but she didn�t look happy. She picked at her salad pushing the lettuce around with her fork. �What�s wrong B.? You look like someone either just ran over your puppy or the damn puppy chewed up your best boots�Come on, girl. What�s up?� Letty watched as Bridget munched on a carrot stick. �I think I�m in love with Vince.� Letty almost spewed her California salad with gorgonzola, walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette across the table. �Please don't laugh.� �Shit girl! What�s the problem? Just grab him and have your way with him!� Letty was serious. She knew Vince wouldn�t mind at all. �I cant. I mean, I�m don't, uh, I�m not�� God how embarrassing! Bridget wanted to cry. �B.? What is it?� Letty was truly concerned. She wanted both Vince and Bridget to be happy and knew that if they could just manage to get together they would be. �It�s just that I�m�� Letty cut her off. 19. �Oh shit, girl! You a virgin?� Bridget�s face turned the same deep shade of red as her hair. �No. I�m not. I haven�t exactly had very good experiences.� Letty was no longer interested in her salad, only in helping her friend. �B, how many experiences have you had?� �Three, but the first one doesn�t exactly count. I was, uh, well I was�� Bridget took a deep breath. In the living room Dom held his breath. It wasn�t like he was really trying to over hear the conversation. When he hadn�t been able to fall asleep he had just stayed there with Jesse sleeping on his chest, with the TV off; he could hear them in the kitchen. At first he couldn�t make out what they were saying, only the tone of their voices, but when he focused on the actual words, he didn�t like what he was hearing. �You were raped?� Letty�s heart went out to the red headed girl across the table from her. Bridget seemed to get even smaller as the conversation wore on. Her _expression said it all and Letty felt sick to her stomach. �Uh, I was 15. He was a senior on the football team. He took me to the homecoming dance. I thought I was so lucky. I mean he really was gorgeous and he asked me, plain old me, to the dance. Anyway, afterwards�I woke up in the hospital. Apparently after he was finished, I was hysterical and he didn�t know what to do with me so he hit me over the head with his football helmet and dumped me in a park near my house. My dad found me. He knew. The cops picked the guy up and he said that he had dropped me off at my house and that I must have walked to the park and gotten myself in trouble. They got him though, one of those DNA things.� Bridget spoke softly without faltering, letting it all out. She chewed at her nails but never bit one off. Letty reached across the table and held Bridget�s hand. �So that really doesn�t count right? The next guy was just a jerk, I liked him well enough but when it came down to it�I froze up and it pissed him off. Then there was Ben. He was so sweet but I never did enjoy it. I never had a�� Bridget gave Letty one of THOSE looks. �There hasn�t been anybody since that and now there�s Vince and he�s so nice and �� �Bridget, Vince wouldn�t hurt you. He�d probably kill anyone who tried to hurt you with his bare hands but he would never hurt you. Trust me. Trust him. Give him a chance to prove what assholes those other guys were. Ok?� Bridget drummed her fingers on the kitchen table. �I don't know what I�m gonna do, Letty. Every time I see him, every time I hear his voice I wanna tear his clothes off, but then I think, what if I freeze up again? What if he doesn�t like it? What if I suck?� She was on the verge of tears. �You gotta relax B., Vince isn�t like those other guys. I guarantee, if Vince gets you between the sheets, he�ll have you begging for more�� Bridget�s eye went wide. �You mean you and Vince�� Letty laughed. �Fuck no! That�s nasty! V. is like my brother, girl. It�s just that I listen to gossip. I�ve never heard anybody complain about Vince being bad in the sack. Heard them complain about not being able to walk right for a week afterwards but never a complaint about the actual deed�I just gotta warn you. Vince isn�t exactly an alter boy. He has shitloads of experience. He used to be kind of a male whore, but since you showed up, I don't think he�s been out once.� �That doesn�t bother me, Letty. I know maybe it should but it doesn�t. I mean my past isn�t exactly snow white.� �Bridget. Please tell me you�ll come tonight. Leave all that shit in the past and start over.� Letty crossed her fingers under the table. She also crossed her legs, her ankles and several toes. She figured every little bit helped. Bridget sighed and tossed her head back, closing her eyes. �Thanks for listening, Letty. I�ll come tonight.� Dom listened as Letty walked Bridget to the door. She was gonna run home and change clothes before the crew arrived. Dom yawned as Letty walked into the living room to check on Jesse. He helped Letty take the sleeping baby off his chest and then followed her up to the nursery. He watched as Letty laid Jesse gently in the crib. Letty turned and led him out of the room. �You hear everything?� Dom was busted. �Most of it.� �I think you need to go talk to Vince.� �I�ll be back in an hour. I love you, you know that?� Letty smiled at her husband, patted him on his scruffy cheek and sent him off to have a little chat with their oldest, nearest and dearest friend. 20. Vince�s place was wide open. It looked like he was moving. There was shit everywhere and a large pile of it was sitting on the curb waiting for the trash pick up. Dom stepped over a broken guitar, several hundred beer cans, the naked leg of a female mannequin and a motorcycle tire as he entered the house. He watched as stuff flew through the air, thrown out of Vince�s room. Dom smiled. Vince was house cleaning. �V. Bro? Is it that time of year again?� Dom laughed at the growing mess. Vince walked out of the bedroom carrying a box loaded with beer cans and assorted women�s clothing. Things left by his conquests. Things he didn�t want anymore. He walked past Dom, out to the street and dropped the box on the curb. �Yeah, it�s that time of year again. I�m such a fuckin pig, Dom. I�m sick of living like this.� Vince moved through the house picking up different items and organizing things, stopping occasionally to throw things out the wide-open front door. �Something wrong, man?� Dom knew damn right there was something wrong. He also knew it had something to do with a certain redhead. Vince picked up a ripped-to-shit recliner and hauled it out the front door, he dropped it half way to the curb and practically kicked it the rest of the way there. It had been his favorite chair. �Things are just different now, man. You and Letty, you got Jesse; you�re a real family. And Mia and whatshisface, they�re gonna had rug rats soon and Leon�s getting serious about that girl of his. You all have someone. Everybody went and fuckin decided to grow up. I think I should do the same. I don't want Jesse growing up and seeing me as the nasty ass drunk dude with a different bimbo hanging off him every other day. I want what you guys have and I can�t have it if I live in this shithole!� Vince kicked at the broken guitar that lay at his feet. �Vince, man you need to calm down�� �Dammit Dom! Look at this place. It looks like fuckin spring break has been going on in here for the last�how long have we known each other? Well, for how ever long that is! You seen the way Bridget�s apartment looks? It�s neat and clean and she knows where everything is. I don't even know when I went to the grocery store last. You know what I found in my fridge? A pair of fucking boots!� Vince was really worked up. Dom cleared a spot on the couch and sat down, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together. �V.? You like Bridget?� Dom already knew the answer but he had to get Vince talking about her. Vince gave him an eat-shit-and-die look. �You know I do, she�s incredible. She�s funny and smart and she knows what to do with babies, you know not drop em and shit. She�s beautiful and tough�� �Yeah, she could kick your ass.� Dom looked at Vince with one eyebrow raised, baiting him. �Bridget Mahoney can kick my ass any time she fuckin wants to. Only why would she ever want to? Look at me, man. I�m all inked up and scarred, I never fuckin remember to shave. I probably smell as bad as I look and I my hands are never clean no matter how much I wash them. Bridget; she�s like a princess and I�m a fuckin troll. It�s better if I just stay away from her and find someone more like me.� Vince threw a bottle of corona at the wall and it shattered, foam and glass sliding to the floor. �You can�t do that man. Wouldn�t make Bridget very happy. She�s in love with you.� Dom watched for Vince�s reaction. 21. Vince stared at him, blinked twice and dropped in a heap on the floor. He just sat down in the spot where he had stood, stunned. �How do you know?� �I overheard the girls talking. I got it straight from the princess�s mouth, Trollboy. She�s in love with you, but she�s freaked out by the whole sex thing.� Dom waited for the question he knew was coming next. �What sex thing? She a virgin?� �No and that�s the problem.� Dom looked for a quick escape route if Vince went ape shit when he told him. �I don't give a flying rat�s ass if she aint a virgin. Never had much luck with those anyway. She coulda screwed a whole fleet of guys for all I care, god knows I�ve done enough whoring around to�� �I got no right to tell you this man and if Bridget ever finds out she�ll probably hate Letty and me, but you should know if your gonna make a move on her. It�s not just that she aint a virgin. It�s how she lost it. It wasn�t by choice. She was just 15.� Dom bit his lip and waited. Shit started flying. Empty beer cans, a tire iron, guitar picks, motor oil stained clothing, plates, anything that Vince could get a grip on he threw wildly about the living room. He put his heavily booted foot threw the TV but it was broken anyway so it didn�t matter. �VINCE!� Dom�s loud graveled voice pulled him out of his destructive rage. He stopped, his arms over his head, a broken ironing board held high. He would have thrown it through the window. Instead, he dropped it and sat down next to Dom on the couch. �What do I do, Dom?� Dom slapped him on the back affectionately. �You get your fuckin head screwed on straight, clean your smelly, skanky ass up and come back to the house with me.� �I mean about Bridget.� �You take it easy. Whatever she has to give, you take it. And you give her even more back.� Dom stood Vince up and shoved him in the direction of the bathroom. �Now go clean up, everybody�s gonna be at the house soon and I for one don't wanna keep our ladies waiting!� Vince trudged off to the shower deep in thought. |