As night fell, CJ looked around his apartment. Now that Lisa knew about his feelings for her, he was more than not relieved. It felt good to finally release his feelings for her. He was just about to contemplate what he would do for her when his cellphone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket to answer it.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Hey, Carl," he heard Lisa say over the phone.
"What's up, Lisa?" he replied. "How you doing?"
"Good," Lisa said. "I was just thinking, maybe you and I can go hang out at the Well Stacked Pizza place over at the pier. No need to wear anything nice or bring me flowers or none of that corny shit. Just dress casually and meet me at my place."
"Sure thing, Lees," CJ replied. "I'll be there."
So CJ hung up the phone and walked out of the door. He hopped inside the Washington parked outside, started the engine, and drove away. He took a glimpse at the pink around the nocturnal, purple sky. The colors were vivid and aesthetic. CJ was enjoying the scenery around the city, which was, as always, ignited with bright streetlights and car headlights. CJ drove Downtown and made his way to Lisa's house.
As he parked the car, he exited out and walked over to the door, knocking on it in the process.
"Come in!" he heard Lisa call from inside.
So CJ opened the door and walked down the hallway. He looked around to find Lisa.
"Yo Lisa!" CJ called. "Where you at?"
"In here!" Lisa called from upstairs.
As CJ made his way into the living room, he walked up the stairs and made his way down the hallway.
"Where you at, Lisa?!" he called once again.
"In here!" Lisa called from one of the rooms upstairs. CJ came to a bedroom, where Lisa was staring in her dresser mirror styling her hair. CJ was stunned when he saw her. He felt his heart pumping hard and rapidly.
"Whoa," CJ said silently. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks, Carl," Lisa said, her big brown eyes shining through the light inside the bedroom. "I wanted to dress casually for tonight. No point in trying to wear some prissy dress or any of that urbane bullshit. I'm also not down with any make-up."
"I'm with you on that." CJ agreed. "You already beautiful without the make-up anyway. So you ready?"
"Hell yeah," Lisa replied. "Let's go." She grabbed her black purse off the bed and strapped it over her left shoulder.
CJ and Lisa walked out of the bedroom, made their way downstairs, and headed out the front door. Then hopped inside CJ's vehicle and CJ started the engine.
"It sure is nice out here in San Fierro," Lisa said as CJ made his way onto the road.
"I know," CJ replied. "The weather out here is nice."
"Yeah," Lisa said. "I'm glad I decided to move out here. Now I don't need to stress out on my old job back in Pineland."
"So what was your job at Pineland anyway?" CJ asked her.
"I worked at a nail shop," Lisa answered. "I was enjoying my job at first, but then my boss kept making me work overtime, which put even more stress on me. I thought that since after I graduated from college, I would finally get a much more lucrative career. But alas, I stayed stuck in Los Santos and I was relegated to a hair salon shop. And right after I moved to Pineland last year, I get a job at a nail shop and still get stressed the fuck out."
"Sorry to hear that, girl," CJ told her. "I know you had to have been dealing with a lot."
"Yeah," Lisa replied. "But now I'm here, and it finally gave me an opportunity to do what I always had dreams of doing: art. I got to design the garage in Doherty and modify the vehicles. I owe it all to you, Carl. Thanks for keeping me from stressing. You and Sean both know how to lighten up a mood."
"Hey, that's the Johnson boys for ya, Lisa," CJ told her. "You grew up around all of us. You know how we do."
"Yeah, I guess I do," Lisa chuckled. "Hey Carl?"
"Yeah?" CJ answered.
"Is Lance still giving you a hard time?" Lisa asked.
"Oh, uh, naw," CJ responded. "Not at all."
"You sure, Carl?" Lisa asked. "Because Kendl has been telling me that along with Sean, Lance has been insulting you and always belittling you ever since you returned to Los Santos."
"Well, a little bit," CJ protested. "I'll admit, he's been giving me a hard time on my driving and calling me a busta and all, but most of what he was telling me was more of constructive criticism rather than hostility. I mean he and Sweet were both hurt deep down that I left to Liberty City five years ago."
"Okay," Lisa said. "I was just wondering. And just to remind you, don't let anything my brother tell you get to you, okay?"
"I hear you, Lees," CJ replied as he drove through Esplanade North to Well Stacked Pizza. CJ parked the vehicle up front and he and Lisa exited the vehicle.
The two walked inside the pizza place and ordered a large pepperoni pizza. They took their food outside and to a table at the pier.
As they both sat at the table to enjoy their food, they took a look at the colors of the sky from the pier. It was purple with a touch of pink on the bottom. The colors reflected vividly above the ocean water.
"Check out the view of this pier," CJ said.
"It is beautiful," Lisa replied. "The sky has never looked any more vivid."
"And the best part – we don't even need to worry about no gangs or any of that shit," CJ added. "Because it's a great night, we're having a good feast, and this is a nice view." CJ took a stare at Lisa's face and saw the moonlight sparkle into her big brown eyes.
"Yep," Lisa replied. "It reminds me of when Sean took me to Santa Maria Beach to get on the Ferris wheel last year when we took a good look at the ocean from up top."
"For real?" CJ asked. "Sweet took you out last year?"
"It was platonic, Carl," Lisa told him. "It was right after Sean finally got the money to pay for your mother's transplant. He decided to spend more time with me to cure my stress."
"Ah, I see," CJ answered. "It also reminds me of all the good times when we hung out at the beach as children in the late 70s."
"Yeah," Lisa agreed. "I still can't forget that time where Big Smoke tried to jump off the pier into the water and made a humongous splash that sprayed even the people walking on the pier."
CJ laughed. "I still can't forget that moment," he chuckled. "Smoke even said that it was the burgers that did it for him."
"You think, that's funny?" Lisa asked. "You should see Smoke's dance at your mother's party at Glen Park last year."
She reached into her purse and pulled out her video camera. After turning it on, she showed CJ the video that showed Big Smoke dancing to Marvin Gaye's "Give It Up", with the time being 4:37 PM and the date being 11/03/1991. Everyone in the background were all cheering and laughing.
CJ started laughing wholeheartedly at Smoke's funny dancing, with Lisa joining in on the laughter. "Man, I wish I was there to see that," he said. "I know Smoke was dancing his fat ass off in this video!"
"I'm surprised he didn't lose any weight," Lisa replied, laughing as well. "You'd think he'd be slightly skinnier from all that dancing. He sure can move for a big guy."
"Shit, Smoke should be making money off of a dancing contest," CJ said. Then it all came back to him – how Smoke sold him and the rest of his family out for drugs, how he helped the Ballas set up the murder of Sweet, only to accidentally murder CJ's mother instead, how he started working for C.R.A.S.H. CJ then hung his head down sadly.
"It's just too bad Smoke had to sell us out like that," he muttered sadly. "I just don't understand. He was like family. Now he turned his back on me and the homies for some green. It really hit me deep."
"I understand what you mean," Lisa said calmly. "I know there are a bunch of friends who would sell them out for money, but of all the people I know, Big Smoke is the dead last person I would ever expect to betray us all like that. It really broke my heart when Lance told me that on the phone, because he was like a mentor for all of us."
"I know," CJ said. "I just don't understand why he would do that though."
"That's a question I will never get an answer out of until we find out ourselves," Lisa told him. "I just hope Sean can get out of jail soon. I really miss him."
"Me too, Lisa," CJ replied. "Me too."
Just then, a group of guys came around and circled the pair.
"Hey, you two," one of them snarled. "We having this table."
"Well too bad!" CJ shot back. "We were here first. So go get your own table."
"What did you say, chump?!" the guy asked ominously.
"Nigga, you don't scare me!" CJ replied, stepping in on the man's face. "You betta fuck off or else you gonna get stuffed with a knuckle sandwich."
The guy just shoved CJ hard against the railing, so hard that CJ almost toppled off the pier. This also prompted Lisa to hop off her seat and confront the guy.
"Hey, listen to what the fuck he told you, asshole!" she shouted at the guy. She balled her hand into a fist and swung it to the guy's face, breaking his nose in the process.
"Fuck!" the guy shouted in pain, holding his face in agony. "That bitch broke my nose!"
"Be happy that was your motherfucking nose and not the rest of your body, asshole!" Lisa snapped. "Trust me, I got a book of delicious recipes for a bunch of ass-kickings to dish out to you! Also, don't call me no motherfucking bitch!"
Lisa never took kindly to a lot of things that irritated her, but if there was one thing that really caused her to flip out, it was anyone who called her a bitch. Lisa absolutely despised it when anyone would call her a bitch and would react with such pique during that moment. So in retaliation, she gave the guy a hard punch in the right eye, which caused him to fall face down to the ground holding his face as he sobbed silently.
"Oh, so now you two want to tussle!" the other guy said as he and his partner put up their fists prepared to fight. "Let's have a 2-on-2 showdown!"
And it was on! CJ and Lisa each fought one of the two members each. As they all fought, the tables and chairs around the pier toppled over. The punches made hard smacking sounds as they landed in each part of another's body. The patrons around the pier stared in shock and began to run away in fear of getting caught into the conflict. CJ finally had enough of this and gave his opponent a few more punches before finally knocking him out cold with a punch in the jaw. Lisa also knocked out her opponent with two punches: one in the mouth and the other in the eye, which caused it to swell shut.
The two guys lay unconscious on the floor, and CJ and Lisa just stared down at them.
"You two assholes gonna pay for what you did to me!" the guy who got punched in the nose earlier said, standing on his feet. His nose was bleeding and bent sideways. His right eye was swollen shut with red and purple. His left eye was also saturated with tears. "I thing my nose is dislocated!" He ran away sobbing, still holding his face.
"Damn," CJ uttered. "That was some crazy shit."
"Well at least they didn't ruin the pizza," Lisa said as she returned to the table, which was miraculously not knocked over.
CJ just laughed and joined the dinner table with Lisa as they continued eating like nothing had happened.
After fifteen more minutes, it was getting late, and Lisa wanted CJ to drop her off at her house. CJ and Lisa entered the vehicle, and CJ started the engine and drove on the road.
"Hey, Lisa," CJ told Lisa. "I want to apologize for getting you into this fucked-up shit. This night didn't turn out how I expected."
"Are you kidding?" Lisa replied. "It was a fun night! Not only did we get to enjoy pizza at the pier, we also got to beat the ever-loving shit out of some assholes who tried to ruin our night together! It was an awesome night!"
"Ah, so you did have fun after all," CJ said, smiling in relief. "I'm glad to hear that. I had fun kicking those guys' asses myself. They gonna think twice before they try to fuck with us ever again."
"I know that," Lisa replied. "I guess I'm just gonna have to get used to all this shit. After all, I live in a world where petty assholes with no actual lives make a living out of carjacking other drivers, shooting innocent peds, robbing them for their money, and can't even drive to save their own fucking lives. Might as well rename this entire world "Grand Theft Auto.""
CJ laughed harder. "Hey," he said. "The whole world's fucked up anyway. We just have to fight to survive all this shit."
"Yep," Lisa said. "You do need some fighting lessons though. I seen you fighting that other guy and you were getting your ass handed to you."
"What?" CJ said. "Girl, I've been spending my time in the gym when I came back to Los Santos."
"Well you've pumped some muscle," Lisa told him, "but you need the skills to back it up."
"I've already learned some kung fu moves in the gym," CJ said. "Do I really need to learn new styles?"
"You do if you want to mix your fighting styles to defend yourself around the world," Lisa replied. "All I'm saying is that you need to improve your fighting skills, Carl. If you can use guns, you can fight with your hands."
"I guess you right, Lisa," CJ agreed reluctantly. "I'll drop by at your place some other time to take lessons from you."
As CJ dropped Lisa off at her house, Lisa stepped out of the vehicle and shut the door behind her. She stuck her head through the open window.
"Thanks for taking me out to the pier, Carl," she told him. "I'll see you later."
CJ watched amorously as he stared at Lisa walking back inside her house, taking a hard look at her big backside as she walked. He couldn't help himself. CJ shook the feeling off of him and drove back onto the road on his way back to his apartment.