Hi readers! I've finally decided to talk to you! Lol, actually I just discovered the wonders of this nifty tool called 'horizontal ruler' XD. Anyways, due to a rather fortunate mistake, I realized that this chapter was long finished quite a while ago, I just didn't ralize that it needed some quick editing. So, the chapter preceding this one should be up in less than 24 hours. Isn't that great :D Thanks a lot to those who have reviewed and favorited and alerted, it makes me happy ^_^ Enjoy the new chapter!
PS: Check my profile often to see how new chapters are progressing so you know how done (or not done) they are :)
The following morning, the pair went to pay their good friend Tej a visit. Pulling up beside his garage, they greeted the man with open arms. They hadn't seen each other in months. It was much too long.
"Yo, Rome! We got a couple o' strangers up in here!" He smiled at Brian and Jess, giving each one a hug.
"What the hell? Where you two been, man?" They heard Rome's loud voice boom behind them.
Laughter spread inside the garage Tej owned. Looks like they had arrived earlier than the garage's open business hours, but that didn't mean the man of the place wasn't up this early, prepping for the day's customers. Giving Jess a long glance up and down as Tej grabbed chairs for everyone, Rome commented with a mocking smile, "Still got tiny tits, girl."
"Still got a tiny dick, Rome." She joked back, motioning to his groin. Brian and Tej laughed, waiting for Rome's too-soon reply.
"Girl, you know I'm packin' some muscle under these pants!" he said, thrusting his pelvis in a vulgar way to make a point. She just rolled her eyes and smiled as they all sat down and caught up with each other on their recent adventures.
"They're not letting you sign up for bounty huntin' no more?" Tej asked, incredulous. Jess nodded in reply.
"You're the expert on Florida's streets. We were hoping maybe you could help us pinpoint the locations of our targets...or throw us in the right direction." Brian stated.
"You down?" Jess asked their friends as she leaned back on the chair.
Tej and Rome exchanged looks.
"Man, what you think?" Rome replied as both smiled mischievously.
They all burst laughing, which lasted for a few minutes, then got back to business. Rome and Tej were handed the file on Armando Cuevas, which included both the considerably small amount of intel the police provided and the research conducted by Jess and Brian the previous night.
"Armando Manuel Cuevas," Rome read off the file.
"Sound familiar at all?" Jess asked them.
"I think it does, actually," responded Tej, who was staring into blank space as he thought. He rose from his chair suddenly and exited the garage. Jess raised an eyebrow at both Rome and Brian.
"Huh..."
Minutes later, Tej emerged with some papers in hand.
"June 24th: Armando Cuevas orders a tune up for a Lamborghini Murciélago. Wants NOS installments, a new engine, brakes, transmission and suspension; the typical stuff racers want. It wasn't cheap for him, but here's the thing: the guy himself never went to set the order or even pick it up. He sent some other dude to do it. I know because I recognized him from one of the races. And his name is not Armando Cuevas."
"So what's his name?" Brian pressed on.
"Calls himself 'Blood Dog'. Cause he's always lookin' for blood to spill."
Jess snickered at his nickname and Tej continued on. "Anyway, I seen this cat every once in a while. Especially when he's runnin' them motorcycle races. That seems to be the guy's signature thing. Maybe with some persuasion," he winked at Jess. "He could get you guys deep into Cuevas's business. He doesn't seem to be very clever; he'd probably lead you right to him. Just a thought." He shrugged.
Brian 'hmm'ed and thought calmly about it. Jess, on the other hand, was anything but calm.
"When you say 'persuasion'...what do you mean?" She asked.
Tej chuckled. He motioned for her to get up from her chair and asked her to spin around. Confused, she followed his orders and after finishing the spin, kept standing up.
"Hmm. What you think, Rome?"
Rome scoffed. "I think you outta yo mind, bro. She needs work, man."
"Oh, I need work!" She sat down angrily.
"Yeah, you need work. Start with the chest, you won't get any man's attention if you don't find a way to make it bigger. Next...look at how you dress. You need to look like Brian's slut or something, not a grease girl. That could throw someone off. And pay attention to how you act. You know… move and walk like a girl should; not that guy swagger you always got." He crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair.
She turned to Brian. "Can you believe this?"
He froze in his seat and looked at Jess, then Rome and Tej. He snickered in reply and shook his head in amusement.
"This isn't funny, Brian." She said sternly, staring at him as if she was his mother.
"He's got a point though," he admitted raising his gaze to her face, then looking her up and down as he remembered what Rome had said.
"Are you serious right now?" She was incredulous. "I don't need to look like a slut to get us inside. Come on, I don't want to go undercover! Besides, there's another version of persuasion we can use!" Her hands balled into fists and waved them in the air for effect.
"And that attracts attention," Tej stated. She sighed in defeat. All eyes were on her.
"Look, it's simple. Brian's lookin' to run with Cuevas and his crew. Jess can...persuade 'Blood Dog' to give Brian a chance to hang with them. You earn their trust, you'll get to Cuevas. Then you take him out. Done deal." He continued.
"Easier said than done," Brian muttered, scratching his chin as he pondered the plan.
"Seduce! How the fuck am I gonna seduce the guy! I'm not sexy! I don't even want to touch him! And 'Blood Dog'? Really? How the hell is that supposed to turn anyone on!" She yelled mostly at Brian. Rome scoffed.
"You got lady friends, use them!"
"Okay, well, I don't know if you noticed, but my lady friends aren't sluts! So how are they gonna teach me to be like one, huh?" She retorted.
"Well, maybe if you-"
"Not happening!" Jess interrupted Tej.
"Look, this isn't an acting gig, Jess. But we can't find any other way to get close to this guy. We need him if we're gonna get to Cuevas. Plus, should I remind you that we're up against the clock? These guys could ship off to Europe any minute and we wouldn't know till it's too late," Brian said.
Once again, all eyes were on her. She sighed desperately, hoping an alternative would come to anyone's mind. Nada. She was about to say something witty in hopes that it could get her out of this when Brian cut her off.
"Don't worry; I'll be with you 24/7 in case they try to get tricky. I won't let them hurt you, Jess."
Silence.
"I get to carry a gun with me at all times and I get permission to blow my cover when I feel even the slightest bit threatened. IS-THAT-CLEAR? Otherwise, deal's off."
"Looks like we're in business," Tej grinned.
"Alright. Now go get yourself slutted up and call us when you're done. I need to see what I'm working with, here." Brian told her.
Jess rolled her eyes and muttered "The girls are gonna get a kick outta this one." She exited the property with her cell phone in hand.
Once she left the garage, the guys all got to work as Tej's business opened up and customers came walking in.
Hours later, after the majority of Tej's clients were satisfied with their fixed cars and left, the three men sat down once again to chat. Their backs were towards the entrance of the garage, which meant they all faced the lake where Tej sometimes held ski races. They spent some time reminiscing when Brian got a text. It read 'Turn around' and was sent by Lexy, one of Jess's best friends.
Confused, he turned his head, Tej and Rome following his actions, to see three women standing there. One of Jess's best friends, Ayana, dark skinned with her hair in a bun, and clad in a hoodie and jeans, was on the far left. Suki, wearing a plain white shirt and short red skirt with her hair flowing, was on the inner left. To the right was Lexy, light skinned but still tan, wearing shorts and a tank top as her red streaked hair was picked up in a ponytail, no doubt due to Miami's fierce heat.
And on the inner right stood...Jess? It almost didn't look like her, except for the unmistakable scowl on her face. It has to be her.
She was by far the tallest one of the three girls, even taller now because of her high-heeled boots. She wore black leather shorts with a white belt; attached to it was a chain hanging from the left side. She had on a very low cut white shirt with only one strap. Her brown hair was down as usual and her eyelids were a smoky gray color but beyond that, the only thing that caught the three mens' attention was her attire.
"What the hell?" Rome exclaimed. Brian's jaw simply hung open.
"DAMN!" Tej yelled.
"One more word and I'll chop you dicks off!" Jess threatened, crossing her arms.
She did not like this one bit. Ayana, Suki, and Lexy enjoyed themselves, but not Jess. The shopping and trying on so many clothes was tiring enough, but add the makeup, the hair styling (which was very painful because her curly hair did not want to co-operate at all), the walking in high heels like a hooker should, not like a 12 year-old, and the flirting exercises and you get a very tired and annoyed Jessenia. If it were any other circumstance besides this, she would have had some fun, knowing that it was all just for laughs, and that it would come off right away so she could continue being the tomboy she always was, and Brian, or any guy she knew, for that matter, would never find out, and that she could just kick ass and take names without thinking twice about her dignity. But no, this had to happen. How lucky is she.
"What do you think, huh?" Lexy smiled at her best friend and turned to the guys.
"I have ten pounds of hairspray on my head, I feel like naked white trash, my eyes are burning from this piece of shit mascara, my feet hurt from these fucking boots, I have no place to put my goddamn gun, and now there's three dicks staring at me. I think this was the best fucking idea ever!" Jess answered her.
"Is she on her period?" Rome asked Brian.
"Yes, I'm on my mental period, Rome!" She spit back.
"Come on, chill. You look hot, Jess!" Ayana smiled up at her. Jess couldn't take it; she couldn't pull an angry face at Ayana. She looked so sweet and innocent when on the inside that girl could be as dirty minded as Jess. They had met back in high school and had become best friends ever since, always supporting each other and always giving one another a good laugh. Jess sighed.
"Well, I don't feel so hot," she muttered, upset.
"Oh, we put it on your tab, by the way," Lexy mentioned to Brian, smiling. His eyes grew wide. She looked damn expensive...too expensive for his tastes if it regarded his money.
"What?"
"You can kiss your NOS upgrades," Jess smirked evilly at him.
"Oh, you bi-"
She started heading towards him when Lexy and Ayana pulled her back.
"You wanna go? Let's go, you and me, Brian. Come on, fight me! Let's do this!"
"Enough!" Lexy yelled. Jess stopped struggling and they released their grips on her.
"You guys can fight in your own time, but right now there are more important things to do. It's getting dark soon and that means there'll be some races around here."
"Hey, didn't you say that one dick runs the motorcycle circuits around here?" Jess asked Tej.
"Sure did."
"So that means we should pay him a little visit," Brian smiled.
"And that means it's your first audition," Ayana added, pointing to Jess.
"Oh, joy."
