Chapter Five: Bye Bye Love
"It does not take a majority to prevail…but rather, an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men"-Samuel Adams
"You did what now?" Cass asks, looking unimpressed. Her brow furrows into canyons, and her arms are crossed tightly over her chest. Lola starts to repeat herself, but Cass waves her off with an impatient noise.
"No, don't repeat yourself. Of course you offered to help a group of prostitutes escape from the Omertas."
"One thing led to another, huh?" Boone asks, mouth turned up into a gentle smile. "I've got your back."
"Yeah, so do I," Cass says. "But let me be an asshole for a minute. Crossing the Omertas is going to come back to bite you in the ass, Lola. You prepared for that?"
They're outside the Lucky 38. Cass dragged them out of Gommarrah as soon as Lola let her know the plan to free Joanna and the others. The sun shines brightly overhead, belying the seriousness of Cass' tone. Lola wonders what it must feel like to be trapped somewhere, seeing the sun through bars. She shudders as she remembers her short time with the Legion.
"Yeah," she says quietly. "Ain't right, way they treat them people." Lola could have been Joanna. It's a threat, one fuzzy and half-remembered, from long ago.
"They want out so they should be able to get out," Boone says.
"Yeah yeah, I'm not disagreeing," Cass says, holding her hands up. "I just want Lola to know the consequences of fucking with the Omertas. No one fucks with them."
"We do," Boone says, voice burning with conviction. He looks to Lola and, in a gentler voice, asks, "What's the plan?"
"We find Carlitos," Lola says.
"Lead the way," Boone says and Lola thinks, not for the first time, that she doesn't know what she did to deserve being the leader of their ragtag group.
"Yeah yeah, follow you into hell and all," Cass mutters behind them.
Following Joanna's intel, they make their way to Vault 21. Lola walks through the threshold of the Vault and feels distinctly uncomfortable. She works better if she can see the sky. A blonde woman sweeping the checkered floor looks up at them and smiles brilliantly.
"Oh. Hiya! Welcome to Vault 21," she greets.
"Hola-hello," Lola says. "We're looking for someone named Carlitos." At the mention o fhis name, the bright smile dims a little, and the woman says,
"He's down in the dining area right now. Red and white checkered floor. He's wearing a hat and a worn jacket-can't miss him."
"Thanks." The three of them move down the stairs, and Lola looks at Cass, who takes a deep breath to steel herself. She doesn't like being underground, and Lola whispers to her,
"We'll been-be quick." Cass waves her off, but some of the tension leaks out of her shoulders at that.
They move through the group of patrons to the dining area and, true to the woman's word, a man sits slumped in a worn jacket, a mostly empty bottle of whiskey in front of him and his hat pulled low over his eyes.
"Carlitos?" Lola asks.
"Hey, do you mind? I'm trying to drink myself into the ground here. Scram," he says without conviction.
"As good a place as any-though here you are drinking yourself "under" ground," Lola answers slowly. Cass groans at the pun but she smiles as Carlitos barks a laugh.
"Haha, damn straight! This is the last place in this fucking city I can burrow without having to look over my shoulder."
"Joanna sent us." At this, he sobers up and leans forward, grabbing Lola by the arm.
"She shouldn't have. Shit, she's probably in danger just from talking to you."
"We're helping her break out, genius," Cass says. "Shit or get off the pot."
"It's my fault she's even there," Carlitos says sullenly. "It was heaven-until you find all the glitter hides broken dreams and a knife pointed at your ribs. I moved her into Gomarrah. I was in love okay? Then Cachino, that back stabbing snake, got me out so he could steal my girl."
"She isn't going to stay there," Boone offers. "Not if we can help it."
"You don't leave the Omertas unless its in a body bag," Carlitos says.
"We're going to get her out," Lola says, and Carlitos looks at her in awe.
"Shit, you really believe that, don't you? That you can get her out."
"We can," Lola insists. "But we need your help." Carlitos brushes himself off, sitting a little taller.
"Ok, but we're going to need help." Carlitos outlines a plan-they'll smuggle Joanna out at midnight, when the club is the busiest. She, and they, will have to wear disguises. They send Veronica in to deliver the message, since Cass, Boone and Lola had already been seen. Veronica is happy to help, though Lola bristles at the thought of putting her friend in danger.
They end up recruiting two mercenaries, Big Beard and Little Beard. The five of them enter Gomorrah in disguises Veronica had helped assemble. She adored the chance to 'dress them up'. Lola had refused to wear another dress, so the five of them are clad in black tuxedos, though how Veronica talked Boone into one, Lola had no idea. She eyes Boone in what she hopes is a stealthy way. The jacket lines up with his shoulders, and the fabric hugs his arms appealingly. He turns, and she tilts her head slightly to admire the way his pants fit on him.
Once they get into Gomarrah, it's easy to blend in with the other patrons. Lola breathes a little easier as she spies Joanna, clad in a dress and a black hat with a veil.
"Oh hell, who does she have with her?" Cass asks. Lola moves to Joanna.
"Hey," she greets, leaning in to talk to Joanna. Joanna holds a drink up, shielding their lips from prying eyes.
"Sorry, these are my friends," she says. "I can't leave them."
"No wrong-worries. We'll get them out too," Lola says, ignoring Cass' quiet swearing.
"Come on," she says, nodding to Boone keeping a lookout. "Let's get out of here before we're noticed." Nonchalantly, in two separate groups, they make their way slowly to the exit. Lola, both surprised and pleased, marvels at the fact no one pays them any mind. Everyone else is in their own worlds, too drunk to care about the movements of strangers.
They leave the Strip in separate groups, Boone leaving with Joanna and her friends. The plan is to meet in Freeside-Lola had a free pass to travel there thanks to the King, and she's sure he wouldn't mind freeing women from captivity. The Omertas aren't much different from the Legion in that regard, and Lola shudders, glad to leave the grime and bustle of Gomorrah behind.
She, Cass and the Beards walk up to Boone, Carlitos and the women. He smiles at them, genuinely, and says,
"We made it, safe and sound." Carlitos and Joanna embrace, and he laughs, sounding lighter than his years. He reaches out to grab Lola's arm as she walks by.
"Thank you so much! I owe you more than-shit, what's that?" Carlitos freezes, and Lola turns to look behind her. Her hand flies to her pistol as four Omerta thugs round the corner.
"Well, well, if it isn't our whore, Joanna, and-son of a bitch, Carlitos!" Shit. All they have on them are silenced .22s, since that's all they could sneak into Gomorrah. If a fire fight breaks out, people will die.
"We had you and the whore clocked from the start," he says, and Lola grits her teeth. "But we though Carlitos would be long gone by now." To Carlitos, he says, "You should have fled with the caps you stole from the Family. We Omertas don't forget, and now it's time to pay for your offences."
"Your boss will hear how you spoiled the mission," Cass says. The thug furrows his brow.
"What mission?"
"Carlitos is trading what he stole," Lola says slowly. "For Joanna."
"You really want us to be the ones to tell your boss you fucked this up?" Boone adds. Carlitos throws a satchel at their feet, and it clinks heavily with bottle caps.
"That's all of it," he says. "You can have it." The thugs look at each other, and the one of the thugs says,
"What about the others?"
"That's more than enough to cover them," Lola says again, hand twitching. The leader picks up the satchel, weighing it in his hand.
"All right, let's go give this to the boss." He looks at Lola, and she holds his gaze with steel behind her eyes as he says,
"This isn't over." She hears Boone's sigh of relief as the thugs turn and leave.
"That's our cue to leave too," Carlitos says. Joanna pulls away from him long enough to talk to Lola.
"Cachino has said things that make me think a big operation is in the works," she says. "Something about getting even with Mr. House. For what its worth, I think you can use that against the Omertas." Lola nods, putting the information aside for later. Carlitos holds out his hand, and she takes it.
"Thanks, friend. I hope to see you again someday, far away from this place.
She watches as Joanna, Carlitos and the others fade into the distance. She hopes that freedom treats them well.
"You did the right thing," Boone says, startling her out of her reverie. "Even though it wasn't easy."
"Yeah," Cass says. "I just hope doing the right thing is worth the shitstorm you're gonna have to weather with the Omertas."