Hollywood Arts: A Beacon of Hope
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N:
Chapter 10 (Aid From an Unlikely Source)
Tori made her way through the school hallways with her piccolo, proud to be trying to learn this instrument. She only wanted to learn an instrument because most of her friends had something they could play. The tuba failed miserably, so she had high hopes for this. Trina, David, and Holly heard her play before she left and each told her she was good. She could see through the bared teeth and fake smiles that they were trying to make her feel better, but she didn't mind. She was going to ace this by learning Mary Had a Little Lamb first.
She stopped by a door and looked into the window, there were several tables with various colored fabrics laid out on them. In the middle of the room was a familiar looking girl. "Sasha," she breathed out and recalled the gang fight that occurred a couple days ago followed by Trina's warning not to approach the girl or her boyfriend.
Tori rolled her eyes and smiled as she ignored her sister's warning and pushed open the door. "I can handle myself." Sasha looked up from the fabric she was cutting and smiled upon recognizing Tori. "Hi! Remember me?"
"Yeah, you're that girl Jesse helped out." Sasha laid down her scissors and swept her hair over her shoulder. "I didn't know you came to school here. Jesse's the one that got me here-he gets a lot of our Knights to come to school here."
"He does?" Her eyebrows rose and she made her way over to the table. She set her hand on the fabric, feeling of the soft red silk tone. Her lips curved into a smile as she studied the folds and creases in it. "You're making a dress?"
"Yeah. Jesse and I have a movie date coming up and I wanted to make my own dress. He's never been big on going out, but I think he needs to." Sasha picked up the end of the dress and grabbed a nearby ruler for measurement. "I guess you and your sister didn't think a gang leader could be as kind as him? He's got a good heart underneath all that muck."
"I had a feeling he did. I mean, you guys saved our lives from those bikers." Tori's eyebrows closed together and her forearms folded across her waist. "What's the story behind the Knights anyway? Why's Jesse involved if he's not a traditional gang leader?" Sasha started to cut off the edge of the fabric and focused her gaze on the cut.
"His father's ex mafia, he created the Knights. Jesse moved down to be with him. Ralph wants him to be this big dangerous leader like everyone else, but he's really just too softhearted for that." Sasha laughed slightly and looked up to Tori. "He says I'm the reason for that. I don't think I had any effect on him."
"Well you must have. Ralph is his dad?"
"Yes. That other guy that was with us, Roger? He's Jesse's best friend. He doesn't think we should go on this movie date, but I'm insisting." Tori grabbed the other edge of the fabric, holding it in place so Sasha could cut it off. Sasha's eyes narrowed and the right corner of her lips tucked back into her cheek. "I want to get out of that god-awful mansion and out of the gang life. This school's giving us that chance."
"Does he attend classes here?"
"No, but he does hang around here a lot." Tori glanced over her shoulder, curious if Jesse was around anywhere now. "Anyway, those bikers you ran into. Clinton Argon is their leader, he's been in and out of jail a lot the last twenty years." Tori pursed her lips and felt a sudden tremble as she visualized the man's face once again. A chill shot down her spine, forcing her hair to stand up on end. "I've heard a lot of stories about him. He's a dangerous man, and of course his primary trade is narcotics. PCP, Heroin, Cocaine…He hates the Knights because Jesse refuses to deal with drugs unless it's just the simple transport. Only higher ups can transport, people he trusts not to use it."
"I don't think I want to run into those bikers again. There's just something about Clint that…scares me." It was difficult to say what scared her about him. It wasn't just his overall appearance or the way he spoke, it was something deep. "There's something evil about him that I can't understand."
"Evil? I believe it." Sasha leaned back and rubbed her neck, sighing heavily. "He used to run with a gang twenty years ago. Could have been the Hell's Angels, but I'm not sure if it was them-either way it was a massive biker gang. He went to jail and left the gang, or maybe they kicked him out, but he seems like he wants back in."
"You know all this because Jesse does?"
"He does his research, so yes." Tori's breath stuck in her throat and her body began to heat up as she thought back on the man. The air of mystery that surrounded him, and the vague familiarity was too much for her. She hardly wanted to talk any more about Clint and was uneasy with the mere mention of his name.
Sasha looked at her with a frown and tilted her head. "You alright? We can talk about something else if you'd like. I could use a second hand with this dress." Tori looked up at the clock with a smile and nodded, there was plenty of time before class started up. "The more help, the sooner it's done and that means I have more time to decorate it before our big date!"
"Well, I'd love to help. I don't know much about making dresses, but I'll do what I can."
"Thanks." Sasha held up the fabric and slid her hand along the front of it, smoothing it out. "I want to be a designer one day, so maybe Hollywood Arts can get my foot in the door."
"I bet you'd make a great designer, Sasha."
Outside the door, Trina stood with her back to the wall and her arms crossed. Her head was bowed and a frown stretched across her face. "I thought I told her to stay away from Sasha and Jesse." She wasn't going to fault her sister for this, however. Tori always had a good judge of character, and she seemed right in the fact that Sasha sounded like a good person.
As far as what the woman said about Jesse, Trina was skeptical. Yet, she did want to ask him some more in regards to gang life. "Those nightmares…I wonder if mom and dad were in a gang." She moved the back of her head against a wall and sighed as an ancient memory fought in her mind.
Her muscles tensed and her eyelids clenched down as the sound of a baby's cry echoed through the air along with the screams of a woman whose shadow appeared on the wall crouched beside the shadow of a man swinging his fist down on her.
Three years old and crouched behind the couch, the little girl could do nothing to stop the violence.
"Are you okay?" She felt someone's hand on her shoulder and her eyes flew open to see Jesse standing nearby. He withdrew his hand as she jolted to the right, growling and baring her teeth at him like a rabid dog. "Hey, calm down, I'm not going to do anything."
"What do you want?"
"I was actually coming to check on Sasha. I didn't know you came here." He walked past her and looked into the door with a subtle smile. "Looks like she's made friends with your sister."
"Yeah." Trina turned to the door, her body was shaking tremendously and her heart was racing. Her eyes fixated on the girls in the room and her body slowly began to relax as she watched them laugh. "I won't separate them." Jesse raised an eyebrow at her.
"Even knowing she's a part of a gang?"
"Half of the students here are in gangs and trying to get out. Who am I to control who my sister befriends?"
"A concerned older sister." She chuckled to herself and swept her fingers through her hair.
"I suppose." She lowered her arms and sighed. "Anyways, I'm sorry about the other day. I know I prejudged you because you were involved in a gang-but I have to be honest, I didn't expect a gang member-or a leader to save my sister's life."
"Well, I'm not the typical gang member, I suppose." Jesse rubbed his chin and turned towards Trina. "You asked about people involved in narcotics back then. Do you have any names for me?"
"Unfortunately no." She put her palm to the wall beside the door for support as she leaned forward, gazing in at her sister. Her voice softened and her gaze grew sharp. "I remember a lot of things about my parents, but I don't remember exactly what they looked like or who they were." Her voice began to tremble as her features grew tense. "I know my dad was abusive. I thought maybe he was either an alcoholic or involved with drugs. I don't think he was in a gang, or even mom, but I don't know."
"If you want, I could try to look into it. I have some people in intel that can figure out if maybe there was anyone with a kid matching your name back then." Trina moved her arms back and inhaled slowly. "I'm not sure that I could find anything, but it's worth a shot. There's bound to be a lot of people that bought or sold drugs and alcohol from venders-and when you count all the gangs in LA that deal with it."
"I know."
"Why do you care, though?" Her muscles tensed and her eyes darted out to the corners. "I mean, what if your mom or dad, or even both were involved in a gang. Is that something you really want to know?"
"I guess…" Her gaze dropped down to the floor and she started to slouch. "I guess it would kind of confirm for me who they were and what happened-maybe even why they gave us up." Jesse's lips tightened and fell into a flat line. She pushed her trembling hands into her pockets and shrugged gently. "Then if you don't find anything, then maybe they weren't involved with gangs. Would I feel better about that? Sure, but it doesn't change much."
"If your father was abusive…"
"It could very well explain what happened. Maybe it could even explain if he's alive or not, or even if mom is alive." She lifted her gaze back to the door and exhaled softly. Tori and Sasha were laughing at something else and folding up the fabric. "Katrina and Victoria. Those are our names. I was three, she was one."
Jesse snapped his fingers. "So born 1993 and 1995?"
"Yes. Our mother was Latina, that's all I know…or what I can remember right now." It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, having to ask a gang leader for help, but there was a possibility of gaining at least a name on her parents and Jesse wasn't a typical gang leader, so it was an opportunity she was sure she should take. "So, you really have all your members come to school here?"
"Well the ones that want a good life. I don't make them, I suggest the place and they go if they want." He turned towards her and tapped his foot on the ground. "I try to give my people a sense of community. Most people in the Knights are lost, hopeless, and I try to give them what this school gives."
"Hope?"
"Yeah." She felt a flicker of emotion grab inside of her and tucked her lip under her teeth as Jesse extended his hand to the door. "I'll try to see if there's anything I can find out about connections to the city gang around-I'm supposing 1996?"
"Yes…"
"Okay. If you can remember anything else, come find me." He pushed open the door and Trina watched as Sasha hurried over to hug him close. Her body relaxed and her heart started to skip while watching the couple.
"Right." She scoffed and turned away, shaking her head. "Who has time for relationships?" Her heart sank as she looked over her shoulder, envious of the happy pair. It was just like Beck and Jade, or Andre and whatever girl he dated. She wanted to have that, but she couldn't allow herself to let a man distract her from the things that needed to be dealt with in life.
As she walked away, she thought about her parents and what she would do if she ever did find out who they were. Part of her wanted to find and confront them, but another part of her wanted to stay away. At the root of it all, she only wanted answers and nothing more.
So we see what Jesse's purpose to the story is going to serve, helping to locate the girls' father. There will be another thing that he and Charlie (son of cop whom Trina will shadow) end up doing much later on with Trina that may help resolve a resounding issue for one of Tori's friends. (Well, you can guess whose issue it could be. You've got a cop-Charlie, cop in training-Trina, and a gang leader-Jesse).
Those of you who know the history of Jesse and Sasha-well onto the subject matter of this chapter! Jesse's going to help, Trina's beginning to see the ramifications of being 'selectively' single, and Sasha's getting herself all dolled up for a big date.