Dom's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen before flipping it open. .
"What's up, Mia?" he said casually.
"Why?" I heard him ask. "Alright, alright, hold on."
He nudged my arm with his phone and said, "She wants to talk to you." He seemed a little miffed by this but it wasn't my fault.
"What's up girl?" I asked her, taking the phone from him. I wondered if she was still with Brian.
"I got someone that wants to talk to you," she said. If she put O'Connor on the phone I swear to God…
"Letty," a very weak Jesse said.
"Jesse, man, how you doing bro?" I asked him. Jesse! I was glad that he was on the phone. Hearing Jesse was so much better than hearing Brian would have been. It was amazing to hear his voice. But, honestly, hearing his voice sound so weak killed me. But, at least I was able to talk to him. God, I had missed him.
"You know, I uh, I'm okay," he said. I loved this kid.
"It's good to hear your voice. I've been worried about you man," I told him.
"How are you?" he asked. How am I doing? Well, comparatively, I guess I was doing better than he was.
"Livin'," I told him.
"Where are you guys?" he asked.
"We headed south," I said, not trying to give away too much information over the phone, just in case.
"I hear ya. Well, you know, I wish I could be there," he said. He sounded sad.
"I know man. You will. Get better, you hear?" I told him. He needed to be with us in Mexico. He needed to lie on the beach and have a Corona. He needed to sit with me and trash talk all the skanks that attempted to hit on Dom. It was just no fun alone.
"Totally," he said.
"I promised," Mia said, apparently getting the phone back from Jesse.
"Thanks, Mi," I told her. "How's he doing?"
"Um, alright I guess," she said. Vague. I guessed that she didn't want to talk about it in front of him. That was polite.
"So," I started and then looked up at Dom and Leon who were both staring at me. I raised my eyebrows at them and then walked out the house, closing the door behind me. "What was that shit this morning?"
"I don't know, Let," she said.
"Nah, you going to have to do better than that. Dom put his hand through a wall and I probably got to be the one to fix that shit. So, I need more than 'I don't know'," I explained to her.
"I don't think I'm going to get back with him," she finally said.
"So why'd you run off?" I asked. It wasn't like Mia to run away from things. Perhaps she had spent too much time with me over the years and I had become a bad influence.
"I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed to figure it out for myself. Dom's been running my life for long enough. I needed to make this decision without him, without anyone," she said, apparently implying me also.
"Well, you do what you do girl. But, if he shows back up here it ain't going to be pretty," I warned her. This time Dom had put his hand through a wall. Next time, I would venture to guess he would probably put his hand through O'Connor.
"How's Vince?" she asked.
"You care?" I asked. This was probably a little harsh of me. I was glad she had let me talk to Jesse but this whole Brian thing still had me completely thrown.
"Letty!" she yelled.
"He's getting out tomorrow," I told her. "We went by there tonight. He's alive. He's recovering. He kind of looks like shit. But, it's V, he's looked worse. He'll pull through," I reassured her.
"That's good. I wish I could be there when he gets out. But, at least tell him that I'm thinking about him, will you?" she asked.
"You're thinking about him?" I asked curiously. I had no clue what that was supposed to mean. And, after Mia's escapade with Brian, I wasn't about to give Vince any false hope.
"Or, I don't know, yeah," she replied, confused by my response.
"Why don't you just come back down here and you can tell him yourself?" I asked. I didn't want to take her away from Jesse, by any means, but I wasn't going to be a messenger pigeon between two very confused people.
"Please don't start with that. I want to be here for Jesse. Just don't tell him anything then if it's going to be too much of an imposition," she remarked frustrated.
"It's not. I'll tell him whatever you want me to. Is there anything you want me to tell Dom and Leon when I go back inside? They were staring at me pretty crazy before I walked out here to talk to you," I mentioned.
"Tell them I miss
them," she said.
I just laughed. I didn't think that would
satisfy their curiosity but I just laughed and said, "alright Mi."
"Take care, Letty. Call me, okay? Let me know how Vince is doing," she said. I could hear legitimate concern in her voice.
"Sure thing. You too. Don't hang out with Brian anymore," I added.
"Uh! You're
infuriating sometimes," she said in a very incensed manner.
"Yeah,
well at least you and your brother can find common ground on that,"
I stated.
"We always have,"
she said. I could tell she was smiling with this statement.
"Thanks," I told her and hung up the phone. Mia. Despite the
fact she stated she was running away from it, Mia sort of enjoyed
drama. I didn't. But, I did find her drama to be fairly humorous at
times. This was not one of those times.
I walked back up to the
house and opened the door. Dom and Leon were standing in the exact
same spots I had left them. They were staring at me, no doubt waiting
for me to regale them of all the things Mia and I had talked about in
the short few minutes we were on the phone. I decided not to.
"What?" I asked shooting them the same type of confused stare
they were shooting me.
"What was that all about? Why did you go outside to talk?" Dom asked suspiciously.
"I'd think it'd be obvious," I started. "I didn't want you to hear our conversation."
"Why not?" he persisted.
"Cause it was private," I retorted.
"What were you
talking about?" he asked, slightly louder.
"If I'd wanted
to you to know that I'd have stayed in here to have the
conversation," I said, handing him back his phone. I knew I was
getting to him. But, I didn't care. I was tired of being the
middleman.
"Whatever," Dom replied angrily, taking his phone and putting it back into his pocket.
"By the way, Mia wanted me to tell you guys she misses you," I said, relaying message number one. I smiled. This was not what either of them had wanted to hear. It was obvious by the expression that was forming on Dom's face that this little piece of information was just enough to send him over the top.
"That's it?" he asked, still getting louder.
"Yeah, what did you want?" I said, almost yelling back at him.
"Maybe an explanation!" he yelled.
"Well, what the hell are you yelling at me for asshole. Ask her yourself!" I yelled back.
"She apparently only wants to talk to you," he ranted.
"Jesus! I wonder why," I said sarcastically.
Dom stormed out of the room. That left Leon. He was standing there looking very uncomfortable, as he usually did whenever anyone was fighting around him. Leon was a very non-confrontational kind of guy. He attempted to deescalate situations as quickly as possible. When Dom and I, or any of us for that matter, got into an argument, he always stood there looking like he was sorry he was caught in the same room.
I looked over at Leon who looked at me timidly. I rolled my eyes and went over to the couch. So much for our vacation. Sometimes life just comes back and sucker punches you in the face.
"He's just really
stressed out," Leon stated, coming over and sitting across from me.
I didn't respond. I gave him a look that I hoped portrayed what
I was feeling- don't make excuses for him.
I laid back and closed my eyes. Damn. Stress. I was tired of stress. Now it was Dom again that was stressing me out. I knew he was angry. I knew he felt out of control. I knew that he was upset about what had recently transpired with Mia. But, damn. He didn't have to be so volatile. Clearly it was obvious that I was keeping things from him. Dom and I really didn't have any secrets. How could you have secrets with someone you had grown up with, shared your life with, and loved so deeply for so many years? He was angry about that. I got it. But, he definitely had a streak of selfish to him and I saw it playing out. His desire to control all situations was how his selfish nature manifested itself. He couldn't control all this, no matter how hard he tried. It was killing him. But, I didn't feel sorry for him. I felt like punching him.
"You okay?" Leon asked.
I guess I had drowned
deep into thought.
Was I okay? This was a question I had heard
way too much of recently. I didn't think that I was probably okay.
I was mad. I was mad at Dom. And, I was mad at Mia. Torettos. Ugh.
"Are you okay?" I asked back instead of answering.
Leon thought about this for a minute before responding, "I'm a lot better than I was."
"Yeah, I can tell. You aren't trying to gank my pain pills anymore," I responded with a chuckle.
"We don't need to be fighting with each other," he started.
I interrupted him by saying, "Leon, please."
"No, listen," he insisted. "We got enough shit coming in. Now's the time when we got to be there for each other, dog."
"Hm, that's deep. You're like the Dali Lama now," I said flippantly
"Such a fucking smart ass," he said smiling.
"I try to pick a role and stick with it," I told him as he walked out of the room.
I closed my eyes again. I tried to clear my head. It was unsuccessful. All the events of the day, or rather the days, kept racing through my mind. I heard Jesse's voice, weak and distant. I saw Vince lying in the hospital bed. I saw Dom and Brian fighting on the floor of our house in Mexico. I saw Mia running off in the wee hours of the morning. How had things gotten so bad so quickly? How could they still be getting worse? It was as if we ran away from everything that made us happy, made us a family.
"Letty," I heard a voice say.
I shifted slightly before opening my eyes. I guess I had fallen asleep. I looked up. It was Dominic.
I sighed. I knew why he was here. I hadn't come to bed. I could only assume that he thought I was too mad to come to bed with him. That wasn't the case.
"Fell asleep," I told him.
He nodded. He reached out his hand to me. I reached for it. He helped pull me up, off the couch. He led me into the bedroom. He sheets were mangled. Clearly, Dom had been unable to sleep. Or, he had been unable to sleep restfully.
I climbed in. The spot I moved to was still warm. I laid down and felt the mattress shift as he climbed into bed also. He pulled me flush to his body and held me tight.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear.
"I know. Just chill the fuck out. Everything's going to be okay," I said. I didn't know if I even believed this but I knew it was what he needed to hear.
"I love you," he whispered again. I could feel his breath against my ear. It sent chill bumps down my spine. Sometimes it pissed me off how much I loved this man.
"I know," I replied.
"…And?" he asked
after a few seconds.
I let out a small laugh before saying, "I
love you, too."
"I know," he said.
---
"Knock, knock," I heard a familiar voice announce.
I turned my head towards the direction of the sound and slowly opened my eyes. It was so bright. As my eyes adjusted to the light I made out the figure standing in the doorway. Vince!
"Look what the cat dragged in," I managed to let out before stretching and sitting up.
I looked him over. He looked somewhat better outside of the hospital bed. At least he was out of the gown and not connected to machines. His arm was wrapped up with bandages and he looked pale. But, there he was. Standing right in front of me. He had been lucky. I knew that. He knew that. We all knew that. And, for his injuries, he had been released pretty quickly.
I noticed that Dom was not in bed. I hadn't even felt him get up this morning. But, from the brightness of the sun shinning in the windows I had a feeling it was not quite morning anymore.
"They couldn't hold me down," Vince said, walking in and leaning against the wall.
It was obvious that he noticed the hole in the drywall at that point because he walked up to it and made a perplexed expression.
"Who did…," he
started.
"Take a wild guess," I interrupted.
"Damn," he replied.
"Where is captain destructive?" I asked.
"Other room," he said, pointing out the door with his index finger. "Thanks for coming with them to get me by the way. I'm glad to know you care so much."
"Shut up," I told him. "If they'd a told me they were going, I would've joined the party."
Vince came over and sat down on the bed. It was good to have him back. I wish that Dom would have woken me up and told me they were going to pick him up, though. Of course, I felt like I had slept for days. I felt so rested. I felt much less stressed today. Of course, I was sure that something would happen to bring that ever-present feeling of stress back. It seemed to be the routine lately.
"It's okay," he said. "I know you love me. It's just too bad you gave up on me so soon and settled for Dom."
This just made me laugh. Vince and I could never have had a chance of working together as a couple. We never felt that way towards one another. But, it was for the best. Instead, we were amazing friends.
"Just don't tell
him, okay?" I joked.
"Secret's safe with me," he joked
back.
"By the way," I interjected. "Mia wanted me to tell you that she was thinking of you. I know she wanted to be here but she's with Jesse right now."
"Yeah, about Mia," Vince started.
TBC
---
AJ
A/N - Sorry for letting it go so long without updating. It won't happen again.
