Note: Okay, here's my explanations for being so long on the updates...I went to Canada for a week and I thought I uploaded my explanation, but I hadn't so, my being senile is to blame for this. But yes...that's what happened. And the periods in chapter7, I wanted ellipses there, but something happened with my Word and it put it as a regular period...I dunno. I guess I have a special computer. Well...here's chapter 8...Bon Appetit!
I added more to this chapter. After I posted it...I wasn't please at where it ended, so I guess you could call it bonus material or something...well anyway here ya go!
Spider Man spent more and more time with his new acquaintance. Common ground was found and encounters become easier to tolerate. Spider Man felt like a teacher; Kristi felt like she had another class on her plate. It wasn't as easy as it sounded. As smart as she was, she still had trouble with the whole webbing out of the wrist. Other than that, everything was going smoothly.
It had been a full month since they met and Spider Man was now asking about her other powers.
It was one of the cooler nights they had experienced. Breathing hard from climbing one of his many walls of the night, Spider Man plopped down onto a building top. "Okay wait, what's with these extra powers?"
Kristi sat on the ground next to him and took in a deep breath. "Well, I'm not entirely sure. All I can guess is that the spider that had been mated with the Super Spider did this. I think the electricity came from when I was electrocuted, but I don't know how." She placed her hands behind her and leaned back on them to support herself. "It's a weird thing. It seems like these are provoked by emotions. The fiercer they are, the stronger they are. Every time I use them at leisure, I have to strain, but if I pull a Peter Pan and think happy thoughts, then it's easier and doesn't hurt."
He turned toward her inwardly. "It hurts?"
She shrugged her dark shoulders. "Only a little….. headache, feeling wiped out, nothing serious." She could feel a smile creeping on her face underneath the mask. "Are you worried about me?"
He blushed under the mask. He seemed to be turning blushing into an art form for some reason…shaking his head quickly, he faltered out a "No…" He stopped himself and turned his head slightly. "Well yes." To cover himself, he added, "But I was thinking that I would have a hard time figuring out how to get you home if something happened since I don't know where you live."
She rolled her eyes at his cover up. "Thanks for the concern, but make sure you keep it that way."
He nodded his red head toward her. "Same to you."
"Of course."
Spider Man began to pick at some of the webbing on his outfit. It was true; he didn't know where her home was. He knew nothing about her. In all cases, that was a good thing. At least no harm could come to someone who didn't know who he was or vice versa. Last thing he needed on his conscience was another Mary Jane incident because someone wanted to get to him. Not lifting his head from his boot, he said, "Look, I want you to promise me something."
His voice being vague was what caught Kristi's attention. She turned her head to him to give him her full attention. "Okay."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "If we should happen to figure out who we are, like if you found out who I was or vice versa, don't reveal yourself to me."
Kristi looked at him oddly. "Why?"
"Because it can put people in danger. If I found out who you were, I wouldn't tell anyway, but I wouldn't want you to be hurt because someone found you knew who I was."
"I think I would be able to take care of myself."
"But even then you could be exploited. I just don't want you being hurt because of me or used as bait."
"But they would probably just use me as bait anyway."
"True and then you'd be pretty powerful by yourself, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't over take you. On the bright side, it would throw whoever it was completely off. And when I did come to help you, we would be an unbeatable duo."
She chuckled lightly at that comment. "A duo huh?"
"It's like Batman and Batgirl."
She jumped up quickly and placed her hands on her hips. "First of all…I'm a WOMAN! In case you haven't noticed…."
He kept his head down as he mumbled, "Oh I have….." He knew that knowing that wasn't a problem…at all.
"And second of all, Batman is so played out. It went out the window when they got rid of Michael Keaton."
He looked up at her this time. She was truly a riot. Laughing, he said, "This is true."
Looking toward the sky, she asked nonchalantly, "So what should my name be?"
"The one you were born with."
She scoffed at him. "Lacking originality big time! Come on!"
He shook his head at her as he stood up. "No, you aren't helping me. Stop thinking it."
She stomped her foot down to the ground. She was getting the hang of this. The long nights…..the secretiveness…..she was practically doing what he was except not saving people. It was becoming a bore to her to come out with him night after night and do nothing but "practice" for something that she was most likely not going to use. "Why not? You said so yourself we'd be an unstoppable duo. Think about it." She began to circle him. "You'd fight crime in half the time! Think about how much sleep you'd be getting."
He smiled to himself. She did bring up a good point. "Nice proposal."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I know it is. Besides, who said I needed your permission anyway?" she asked defiantly. "I was thinking what's the use in having this, if not to use it? I've got a pretty good mind. There's nothing bad or diabolical floating around in there except when it comes to Hayden Christiansen or Shemar Moore, but other than that, why not do something good?"
Her voice was so enthusiastic about it…..she just didn't understand it completely. He shook his head slightly at her tone. "It's not easy."
"I know: loss of sleep, mastering lying-"
His mask locked on hers for a moment. "Be careful about the people in your life."
"Yeah." She walked around some more before she got an idea in her head. "Do you have a significant other like a girlfriend or something?"
His body stiffened a little bit. "No…..I gave up someone very special to me."
"Why?
"I couldn't take the chance of them getting hurt because of me."
"Oh…"
His head fell downward as he added, "Plus, she's not my type I've figured out. But what about you?"
"Me? Blah! Not I. I live a life of solitude and solo…" she stopped in mid sentence to think of something…. "Nicity! Yea, solonicity."
He smiled underneath his mask. Her mind worked constantly, never ceasing to amaze him. "Why? You've got a vibrant personality."
She chuckled out loud. "Not vibrant enough. I like him, but I don't think he's too keen of me."
His head fell to the side. "What do you mean?"
She covered her hands in her face, even though she had on a mask. "Oh God, don't make me say it…"
"Well there are a couple of ways to take that."
"Blah! I'm gonna get fourth grade on you." Sighing loudly, she placed a hand on her head. "I like like him… He doesn't like like me. He'd be great to kiss and hold I'd imagine, and I thought I had sent him a nice script, but he never signed up for the part. He just doesn't seem to want the role."
"Maybe it's better-"
Her eyes widened under the mask. "Better for who? For him or for me? It's BS if you say for me. I'll admit, I'm selfish." She turned around and looked to the stars again. "Better or not, that's what I'd like to have. I've never talked to him at all about this…" He laughed loudly at this. Her soap opera made his life not seem so stupid now. "Stop laughing about it! It's not funny."
He stifled his laughter down to a giggle. "Well then, how do you know-"
She held up a hand. "Believe me. I know. He's got me too high up the friendship ladder to pick me up and put me on another level."
He nodded his head knowingly. He craved having someone more than a friend to him. He was lonely, and he had the perfect person for the task, but with the mask, it seemed futile to even try. His voice took on a vague tone. "Oh."
She eyed him carefully. It was almost as though they were on the same brain wave…She made plenty of wishful "oh's" like that all the time, so she knew what was behind it. She sighed loudly. "But just the same…it's a nice thought. Selfish one…but a nice one."
He was getting confused about this. She kept mentioning selfishness. The entire time he was with her, it never hit him of her saying something selfish. "How is it selfish?"
She thought for a moment. In her head, it sounded and felt selfish. "I want him. Plain and simple. That to me is selfish."
"Wanting isn't selfish."
It was so hard for her to put her feelings into words. She often had trouble expressing herself for fear of the all knowing 'what the hell are you talking about' looks. Taking a deep breath, she attempted to anyway. At least there was a mask to cover up the incomprehensible look. Shivering slightly from the cold air, she said, "This is a special want…..a want that you find in a book or movie. Nothing really mushy, ya know? But I guess I want his affection, his feelings to be for me. He can't give them or doesn't want to, yet I want them anyway. It just feels like a self-want only. I forget that if something did happen, it wouldn't be just something for me…but something for him too. Since I have memory lapses about this, something in me says that's selfish." She sighed hopelessly and rethought what she had just said. Kristi looked toward Spider Man for a hint of understanding.
He patted a hand on her shoulder. "I see where you're coming from." He felt her relax under his touch. He figured it to be a relief to be able to tell someone something and have them understand it. He wasn't just saying he understood to make her feel better; he really did. He had an inkling of what she was feeling and she knew it. It was an unspoken, yet evident understanding and that's what made her feel better.
When he saw her shiver, he spoke up quickly. "Well, young learner, I'm going to cut this short. It's kinda chilly out here and I'm sure it's well past your bedtime, which will happen a lot, so I'll see you later."
She smiled at him, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it. "Thanks for looking out for me. Thanks for the talk."
"No problem. Sometimes talking soothes the soul."
"Well talking has soothed, massaged, and tucked my soul into a peaceful slumber. I hope you get what you wish for…"
"I didn't wish for anything."
"A wish can be a thought, dream, or action. It's not only spoken words. Implying is a strong word, and you've used it silently."
He scratched his head before adjusting his stance. "Are you a guru or something?"
She laughed loudly. "No, but I read a lot of Confucius. Later Mr. Spider Man."
"Goodbye." He stopped in mid sentence for a moment. Something came out whose origin was far too unknown for him. "Black Rose."
She stopped in mid-step. "What did you call me?"
His head was down and in a daze. "Black Rose."
She turned around to face him. He wasn't looking at her, but at the black building top. "How did you come up with that?"
His voice took on a vague tone that he had earlier. "Well…rose because it's a feminine, beautiful life form. Black makes it a rogue of its kind, with hidden splendor and mystery. Black also shows how you hide in the shadows protecting people," lifting his head, he added, "that is, if you were a crime fighter."
"If I were a crime fighter…"she echoed.
"You, yourself, are intriguing enough to draw people in…..like a rose does to an onlooker…like a spider does to its prey." Taking a deep breath, he finished with, "So…Black Rose."
A smile crept on her lips. "I like it."
He nodded his head slowly. "I'm glad."
"So I'll see you later partner?"
"Yeah." He turned to walk away when he remembered he was supposed to be leaving for the coast in two days. Turning around quickly, he added, "Oh wait! If you don't see me, don't hesitate in doing the whole saving thing. I taught you about the spider sense, so use it."
"Okay…g'night."
"G'night." She watched his red form swing off into the distance. She was now a crime fighter. What would her mother think if she knew? Kristi chuckled to herself at the mere thought of it. Her mother was understanding, but she would think that her daughter was certifiably crazy if she told her. The only thing that would pop in her head would be that her daughter had a Wonderwoman complex.
Still, despite what might happen, it was something she wanted to do. She was tired of just sitting back and watching things happen. For once, Kristi wanted to be a player in this game.
She went home with only her thoughts to keep her company. She was leaving for the coast in two days. Surely, Spider Man wouldn't miss her too much. He was used to this solo thing far more than she was.
Taking a deep sigh, she entered her bedroom and leaned against her door. Glimpsing at her form in her mirror as she took her mask off, she stopped her hand in mid air with the mask. Looking back at the mask, she said with sarcasm, "This is your life." Her whole life, it seemed that she wasn't seen. Acknowledgment was one of the few things she craved and now she was going to thrive in darkness and a mask. What a ball of irony the world is….
….
Kristi sat behind M.J. in Harry's 2001 black Eddie Bower Explorer with Peter on the seat with her. Her eyes appeared to be glued to her window as they widened at the passing Jersey shore scenery. She had never been there and the beauty was a shock to her system. Along the road, her eyes fell on the crystal water and white sand. There were luscious trees with dark green leaves attached to them. "Look at that coastline! You see how nice the water is?"
"I can't wait to go swimming," M.J. chirped in from the passenger's seat. "I've been itching to go for the longest time."
Harry made a sharp turn off of the paved road and onto a smaller, more hidden one. "After we get situated, we can hit the beaches."
M.J. nodded her head in agreement. "That's cool."
Harry turned toward her briefly and smiled. Her window was down and sea breeze filled the car. He eyed the strands of red hair that were escaping from her clip before turning his head back to the road. Clearing his mind and throat, he said quickly toward the back seats, "Is that aight with ya'll back there?"
Peter nodded his head. "That's fine with me."
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. "Cool with me."
Five minutes later, the Explorer pulled into the driveway of a wooden beach house. It was painted white with red outlining it. A large porch went around the entire house, with wooden chairs placed strategically around porch. Kristi's jaw dropped when she saw how beautiful the house was. "Harry, how did you get something like this?"
He handed Peter a bag. "I've got connections."
"This is really beautiful," M.J. commented as she pulled out her suitcase.
"On the last night here, me and Peter would always sleep out here. We'd get lots of junk food and just chill out here."
Kristi's eyes lit up as she pulled another bag out of the car. "I want to do that! I can only imagine that the sunsets and rises are gorgeous out here."
Peter pulled another bag out of the car. "They are. I never really appreciated them as much as I should have though."
M.J. walked slowly up the creaking wooden steps while holding a bag in each of her hands. Harry jogged next to her and took a bag from her. "Let me get that for you."
M.J. smiled at him. "Well thank you." She followed Harry up the stairs. When he opened the door, she was taken back. The wooden floor's scent floated to her nose on the sea breeze. There was a cream colored sofa with matching chairs. A coffee table sat in front of it on top of a cream colored rug. The sofa, coffee table, and chairs were facing a huge fireplace.
She followed Harry to the upstairs portion to a white washed room with two full size beds in it. There was a large window that faced the ocean and a fireplace in a corner. "You and Kristi are gonna be staying is here. Is this okay?"
When M.J. looked back to Harry, his brown eyes where staring back at hers attentively craving for approval. Stuttering slightly, she said, "T-this is fine. It's beautiful."
He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'm glad you like it. I gotta go get settled, but I'll come back in here when I'm done."
"Okay." He smiled at her again before leaving quietly. M.J.'s eyes glanced around the room and then back to the door. Something in her softened but left her just as quickly as it came. From the looks of it, Peter was NOT getting jealous and now that Kristi was here, it was going to be even more of a distraction. She sighed heavily as she took out her sheets from her bag. She began to shake her head at herself. Maybe she was fooling herself. The feelings for Peter were dwindling with resentment and jealousy every time she saw him with Kristi. She had Harry, but he was no Peter Parker…
Kristi made her way up the steps to the room she was sharing with M.J. Peaking her head around the door, she saw M.J. throwing things down her bed in anger. "Hey M, what's up?" she asked as she closed the door behind her softly.
'Speak of the devil' M.J. thought ruefully. Plastering a smile on her face, she turned around quickly and faced Kristi. "Nothing you should worry yourself about, believe me."
Kristi nodded her head slowly. "Okay, I'll leave it alone." M.J. had been in a pissy mood. One could chock it up to PMS, but not even the dreaded "once a month monster" could do this. While unpacking her stuff, Kristi rethought her actions and what she had said that may have provoked M.J. She could come up with nothing logical.
Then her mind thought illogically…
M.J. still feels for Pete, but she's going with Harry. That part was far too evident to her, yet it seemed to be hidden to everyone else. Jealousy is what she's feeling? Kristi's eyebrows shot up in disagreement. She knew she wasn't one usually on the end where the jealousy was being thrown to, so this had to be wrong. But then again, she was thinking with the illogical side of her brain, so anything was possible.
Turning around slowly, she peered at M.J. on the sly. Her lips blew air up quickly to blow her bangs out of her face as she placed her comforter on her bed. The lines in her face…..how many times had Kristi seen those same lines on her own? Dozens of times it seemed. M.J. was jealous, that part was obvious now, but there was something else bothering her.
Kristi shrugged her shoulders at her detective nature and turned back around to her own bed. It wasn't her business to know what M.J. was feeling. If she was to know about it, M.J. would tell her. She didn't need to go around analyzing everything around her. She shook her head at herself and chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
Kristi's chuckle stopped abruptly when she heard M.J.'s voice. Turning around she said quickly, "Nothing. I was just thinking of something I did earlier today. I really am a goombah sometimes."
"A goombah?"
"Yeah, a goombah. You've never called anyone a goombah before?"
M.J. narrowed her eyes at her. "Not at all."
Kristi opened her mouth, but then closed it. "Never mind. I have a funkitated vocabulary."
"Funkitated?"
"Don't pay any attention to me. I'm suffering from a sugar deficiency at the moment." Digging around in her bag, she pulled out a big bag of Starburst. Before unwrapping a pink one, she said quickly, "Would you like one?"
"I don't have a sugar deficiency."
"Doesn't matter. Sugar or not, just something to gnaw on." Handing M.J. her pink one, she said, "Here. Eat it."
M.J. looked at her extended hand before taking the candy. Unwrapping it, she looked to Kristi. Giving her a small smile, she said, "Thanks."
"No prob." Kristi pulled out an orange one, unwrapped it and put it in her mouth. Before her mouth closed, she jumped off of her bed quickly. M.J. looked up at her quickly. "You gotta listen to this. Come on." Kristi pulled up her boom box from the ground and plugged it in. "I'm takin' you back to the oldies," she said in her best D.J. voice. She put in a CD and pressed a few buttons.
M.J. was puzzled. "What are you doing?"
"You look like you could use some blues music."
"Doesn't that make you depressed?"
"It can, but you gotta use the music the right way." Kristi let her hair down and grabbed a brush to mouth the words into. She exaggerated her hips to the trumpet as she pulled out her video camera and place it on the dresser with it's screen facing her. She adjusted it to get most of the room. Ella Fitzgerald's calming voice came in over the speakers as she began to mouth in her brush:
Don't know why
There's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Kristi pulled a laughing M.J. off of the bed. "C'mon!" Pulling a comb out of her suitcase, she thrust it in her face.
Life is bare
Looming misery everywhere
Stormy weather
Just can't get my poor self together
I'm weary all the time….the time
So weary all the time
"Don't act like you can't do this!" Kristi shouted to M.J. over the mellow music. M.J. let out a loud laugh as she joined in with Kristi as they stood in front of the full length mirror making exaggerated movements to the camera.
When he went away
Blues walked in and met me
If he stays away, old rockin' chairs get me
All I do is pray
The Lord above will let me
Walk in the sun once more
Can't go on
Everything I had is gone
Stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Keeps raining all the time
The two girls busted into fits of giggles. M.J. ran up to the camera and kissed the lense goofily. Kristi fell onto her bed laughing her head off. "I kn-knew you had it i-in y-you!" Kristi struggled to get out. "You are a r-regular d-diva!"
M.J. was still laughing as she turned the camera off. "I guess I didn't know I had it in me either."
The two soon heard snickering coming from the door. Kristi hopped off of her bed and pulled the door open. What she saw was a very entertained Harry and Peter. "Did you have fun ladies?" Peter asked while biting back his laugher.
Kristi smiled brightly at him. "OF course. I'd like to see you sing Ella Fitzgerald."
Harry held up his hands in protest. "That's okay. Us men will leave it to you performers."
Kristi stuck her tongue out at him. "Blah blah. So anyway, what can we help you fellas with?"
"An encore?"
M.J. rolled her eyes. "So funny Osborn."
"Seriously, we were coming to tell you we were ready to drive to the other beach, but since you were in here putting on a concert, you couldn't hear us."
"Well, we aren't ready, so give us five minutes."
Peter fought back his smile. "Okay."
Within fifteen minutes, the four found themselves on a beach not too far from the boardwalk. After finding a parking spot, they looked for somewhere to sit. M.J. was leading the pack and plopped down in a clear spot. Harry looked around their spot warily. He saw the appreciative glances M.J. was getting in her crimson bikini swimsuit. Entirely too cute is M.J., entirely too many guys. "I don't wanna sit here."
M.J. looked around, acting oblivious to the attention she was getting. Pouting, she asked quickly, "Why not?"
Harry knew M.J. would love it if she knew that he didn't want to sit there because there was too much testosterone around her and it not all being his. Thinking up something real quick, he said, "It's too crowded."
She scoffed at him. "It's not that crowded right here."
He opened his mouth quickly to say something, but shut it. It was pointless to argue when he wasn't going to tell her the real reason anyway. Shrugging his shoulders he dropped the beach bag. "Okay M.J. whatever you'd like. I'm gonna go help Pete bring out the other stuff."
Smiling triumphantly, she said, "Okay." M.J. placed her long, white beach towel onto the sand. Turning to Kristina, she said quickly, "Hey, do you have any sun screen?"
"I already put some on and left it in the car."
"Oh…"
"Well…I need to get some other stuff anyway. I can just pick that up too."
She smiled. "Okay. Thanks Kris!" She watched Kristi's form walk off. She really had no reason to be upset with her. She was, after all, a friend. She hadn't done something to her intentionally, so she had no real reason for to be upset with Kristi. An old thought lingered in the back of her head: Someone forcing themselves onto someone she had claimed. What was she saying? Peter wasn't hers yet, she felt compelled to claim him anyway.
A tall man with sandy blond hair and shifty green eyes hidden behind sunglasses walked toward M.J. With a grin plastered on his face, his floral printed trunks made their way to M.J.
His shadow was what brought M.J. out of her thoughts. M.J. glanced his way but turned her head away nonchalantly. Plopping down on the sand, he said, "Well hello cinnamon goodness."
Flipping her red hair over her shoulder, she flashed her teeth at him. "Well hello."
Making himself comfortable, he scooted toward M.J. "Where are you from?"
She smiled flirtatiously at him. "New York."
He lowered his head and flashed his eyes at her. "Really? I would have most certainly thought heaven."
She laughed lightly at his flirting. "Looks like I've got a sweet talker right here."
Licking his bottom lip, he added seductively, "Only to you sweet thang."
Harry dropped his two bags by M.J.'s hand. Glancing at the guy, he said in an annoyed voice, "Hey M.J."
The guy's eyebrows shot up. "M.J.? What does that mean?"
"Mary Jane," she answered with a smile.
"Oh such a nice name for such a nice lookin' girl."
Harry had already sat down next to her thinking that maybe the guy would catch the hint. He must have been about as sharp as the sand they sat on. Slipping his arm around M.J.'s shoulder, he said with a large smirk, "A nice looking TAKEN girl."
He held his tan palms up in defense when he saw the anger rising in Harry's eyes. "Easy buddy! We were just talking and I was just giving her a compliment."
He nodded his head sharply. "Uh-huh…."
Taking off his sunglasses, the guy peered back at Harry. "Right…" Standing up, he knocked some sand off of his shorts. "Well maybe I'll check you later sweet Jane."
M.J. waved toward him. "Bye…" When he was out of sight, she turned sharply to Harry. "That was uncalled for."
"I don't need every beach bum gawking at my girlfriend."
"I see girls checking you out all the time. Do I jump on them because their eyes fall your way? No, I certainly do not."
"But I don't give them the time of day. One woman man is what I am…I'm not into the fling thing."
"Trust Harry…trust. We were just talking."
"Looked like flirting to me."
"Everyone flirts! And besides…as you so nicely stated, I am already spoken for and I know this, so don't worry about me and wondering eyes. I'll handle it myself."
"Right…"
Kristi came walking back to M.J. with the bottle in her hands. "Here ya go. You can just keep it."
"Thanks again Kris."
Harry saw M.J. attempting to put it on herself. She was mad at him. He didn't think he overreacted, but who knows? Taking the bottle from her, he squirted some of the white liquid onto his palms and began to massage it into her shoulders. "At least let me help with this."
Harry's hands massaged deeply into her shoulders. Sighing, she said, "You go right ahead."
Kristi was about to put her stuff down when she saw Harry giving M.J. the "eye". She knew what that meant... Rolling her eyes, she moved away some to give them some privacy, but she didn't really see how that would help very much. After all, they were on a public beach.
She moved a couple of feet away from them, giving them just enough breathing room. Placing her towel down, she proceeded to take off her shorts and shirt. Her bathing suit was a one piece. The upper body part had one three-inch strap, which was over her right shoulder. The strap tightly wrapped its way twice around her upper body. The loose parts sewn together, and once around the rest of her body, leaving her torso and parts of her back bare. It stopped winding behind her above her lower back. Riding somewhat low, the dark emerald material formed a bottom part.
When she looked down at the bathing suit, she shook her head. She wondered how her mother could have bought her something like that… She sat down on her floral printed beach towel. She was just about to lay down on it, when a shadow fell over her. Her head rose slowly and peered at the person who was staring down at her. "Um…hello there."
It was the same guy who was by M.J. "Well, well…we move on from cinnamon to brown sugar." Her eyebrow rose to this. "I always was a fan of the sweeter things in life." She gave him a small smile. "What is your name?"
"Kristina."
"Kristina…" He sat down next to her. "Such a lovely name."
Sitting up, she said quickly, "My parents are to thank for that."
His eyebrows rose in false astonishment. "And witty too!" Looking her over quickly, he said in almost a whisper, "You are a live one."
Clearing her throat, she attempted to change subjects. "And what might your name be?"
He held his hand for her to shake. "Matthew, but my people call me Matt. You, can call me whatever you'd like."
She shook his hand with a chuckle. "I'll stick with what your 'people' call you."
"That's fine by me. Tell me Kristina, where are you from?"
"I'm from New York."
"You from New York? I would have never thought it. I think of you as a southern belle."
"Well I lived in Louisiana practically my entire life."
He turned around once, and then turned back to Kristi. "Well Miss Magnolias, are you a beach person?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Um not really. They are beautiful to sit on, but the sand gets everywhere. And as for the water…..water is water as long as it's not dirty."
"I guess in Louisiana, you wouldn't be used to beach water like this or a beach period."
She didn't know whether to take that as an insult or not. Letting it go, she added on, "Well…actually, sometimes in the summer, my family would go to Cali or the Brazilian coast to visit relatives. There was always blue, blue water and hidden waterfalls. From the looks of it, it looks a little like this, but its much more exotic."
He turned around again as though he were looking for someone. "I guess you can't get anymore exotic than marshes and alligators, huh Miss Magnolias?" he said nudging her in her sides.
She sighed heavily. This guy was so…ignorant to her. Not just by what he said but the way he said things. Full of sarcasm, she said, "Oh sure…we do alligator wrestlin' in the nearest bayous and make big shindigs about it."
Trying to act like he knew what he was talking about he chirped in, "Like crayfish boilings?"
Her jaw dropped. No she did not just hear CRAYfish BOILINGS? "Crawfish boil?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah. I heard about those."
She made a silent groan. If her mother heard this…she would probably be the first to feed him to an alligator. Before she could open her mouth to counter, Peter had walked by and interrupted her. "Kris…we are gonna go play some football. Are you game? We need some players."
A way out! "Sure." Not wanting to seem rude, she asked, "Uh Matt, would you like t-"
He was off of the sand before she was. "Sure thing sweet thing." He held out a hand for her and pulled her off of the ground. Murmuring a thank you, she followed Peter.
There were eight people playing all together. Harry had managed to pull in a few more people to make real teams. It was Kristi, her friend Matt, another guy and M.J. The other team consisted of Peter, Harry, and two other girls who volunteered to play.
The game started out friendly. Everyone was horsing around and playing around, just having fun. There was one instance where Kristi had the ball and was about to run with it. Harry was about to charge her. Right when she was about to fake him out, out of nowhere, Matt came and swooped her up. Before she knew it, she was being carried to the end zone. "Matt! What the hell are you doing! Put me down!"
"We have to score the winning touchdown!"
"Matt…put me down!" Just as he was nearing the line, Matt tripped over his feet and fell forward. Kristi was tossed into the air and shut her eyes anticipating the hard contact. Instead, she was caught, her legs dangling over the person's knee. When she looked up, she saw it was Peter. At first she was relieved, but then realized that he was on the other team. "Peter," she warned, "Let me go."
Harry shouted toward him, "Peter, get the ball and go!"
Kristi tightened her grip around the ball. "Don't even try to get the ball."
"I can't just snatch it from her!"
"Then pick her up and run!"
"Don't you DARE!" Was what Kristi yelled as Peter quickly picked her up, securing her against his chest so she couldn't get rid of the ball, and ran. Kristi was screaming the whole way. "THIS CANNOT BE LEGAL!" she shouted against his shoulder. Peter ran across the line, declaring his team the winning team. When he looked down at Kristi, she was breathing hard and not too happy.
His head tilted to the side. "Aww c'mon, don't be a sore loser."
Blowing some hair out of her face angrily, she said full of sarcasm, "I'm not a sore loser. It's just that no one told me when the rules changed into 'Kristina is now the football…pick her up and run!'" Shaking her head quickly she said quickly, "No…no one informed me."
Full of sarcasm he, he added, "I'm sorry you weren't informed."
She shook her head at him. "No you aren't…you find this incredibly funny."
Smiling down at her he said, "Well you do too."
"Shut up!" she said with a laugh. "Now…are you going to place me down or spike me down?"
His eyebrow went up mischievously. "Don't tempt me…"
She shook her head at him. "Evil boy…"
"It's all love."
She rolled her dark eyes at him. "Yeah I bet it is."
He placed her down on the sand and flexed his arms. "Dang girl...what have you been eating?"
She dropped her jaw. "That is so wrong. I can't believe you!"
He gave her a quick hug with a laugh on his lips. "I'm sorry! I know, it's my fault. I was just joking."
"Yeah, I know." Breathing slowly, she dropped her shoulders.
Matt, by now, had already been making his way over toward her. Giving Peter a funny look, he asked quickly, "Hey Kris, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I'm gonna go back to my towel, get something to drink and lay down. I'm pooped."
"Well, I need to be going anyway. I have some people to meet up with. Are you coming out here tomorrow?"
"Most likely."
"Good…" Matt turned around quickly to face a seething blonde. Smirking at her, he turned around and gave Kristi a hug. He hugged her a bit too long. He then released her and walked off toward the upset blonde.
Peter watched as Matt waltzed toward the unhappy blonde. "What's up with you and him?"
"Who? Matt? Nothing. Just someone who started passing lines my way."
The two of them heard Matt arguing with the blonde he left with. "See, I can have fun with people of the opposite sex just like you."
"If you wanted to make me jealous, you succeeded, okay! Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Good..."
Kristi eyed the back of him while shaking her head. "Well, at least I know why he was passing lines my way."
Peter looked at her with a strange expression on his face. "You sound disappointed."
"Oh no, not disappointed, just had a revelation." So...not only was this guy not interested in her, but he used her to make his girlfriend jealous. Just wonderful...
"What was the revelation?"
"That one should never jump to conclusions about oneself or else you're looking for disappointment." She glimpsed at Harry and M.J. who were still horsing around with the ball. "Well, I'm going to my towel and read some or rest my eyes."
He nodded his head slowly toward her. "Okay...do you want something to drink?"
"I have some water in my bag. Thanks anyway."
"No problem." He watched her form walk away in silence. He couldn't quite understand why she was disheartened about someone as ignorant as that Matt guy. He knew that she knew how stupid he was, she had to have known. If she felt bad about the fact that he had wanted her to make his girlfriend jealous, then he would have been more than happy to fill the void.
That mask...
That was thing that stopped his mind from wondering too much along the lines of having a girlfriend or someone. If he didn't think about it or even stumble on it, he was safe and they were safe.
No matter how much he tried not to think about, even he couldn't deny the fact that he was lonely. His blue eyes fell on M.J. and Harry. They appeared to be happy. He saw them running around, smiling at each other.
His eyes lowered to look at the white sand. He wanted that. He wanted happiness. It wouldn't happen to him though...it wasn't meant to happen to him. With a small sigh, he looked back up. He squinted his blue eyes into the sun as he watched M.J. He could have sworn she had been looking at him...
M.J. saw the nostalgic look in Peter's eyes and smiled inwardly to Harry. He was jealous! At least it looked like it. Something in her nagged at her senses, but she ignored it. Maybe things where changing toward her favor.
But was it really it? Was it what she had hoped it was? Was he jealous? She could only hope so...M.J. attempted to shut her mind down from thinking it for fear of jinxing it. She had jumped to conclusions before and left her with nothing. She wouldn't make that same mistake again. She knew all too well what a misread glance could lead to since she had already been down this path. She could only hope that she was right this time.
Something shivered up her spine when she thought about this. The shiver left her dirty and feeling wrong for only a split second. Then her mind wandered to Harry. Harry! Why? That was a mystery to her, but she didn't care to solve it. Pushing it out of her head, she gave Harry a quick peck, slowly glimpsing over his shoulder to see if Peter was watching. When Peter turned away, she pulled her lips away.
Licking her bottom lip, something felt funny, but she chose to ignore it again. Her mind wandered on what the next five days would bring her. Things, from her view, certainly looked promising...
Harry, Kristi, Peter, and M.J. ended up spending the rest of their day on the beach. M.J. was with Harry most of the time; cuddling and playing. She often kept an eye on Peter. He went by Kristi the rest of the day and talked with her. She wasn't sure what they were talking about, but it was obviously something they both enjoyed since they appeared to laugh every other two minutes. All she could do was turn the rest of her attention back to Harry. She devised a simple plot: Get Kristi thinking about someone else. The perfect candidate was Matt.
The four left the beach around six to clean themselves up for dinner. Harry had picked out a little Italian bistro called Luigi's Place. He had been there lots of times before in the past.
Kristi wore simple black pants with a one sleeve, gray, cotton top and strappy black sandals. Her thick hair was pulled back into a loose bun with a few strands hanging loosely around her face.
M.J. wore pink summery dress that fell just above her knees. Her tan sandals brought out the silvery toenail polish on her feet. M.J. stood in front of the bathroom mirror applying some lip gloss. Glimpsing toward Kristi, she asked quickly, "What exactly is going on with you and Matt?"
Kristi had clasped a silver dolphin necklace around her neck. Eyeing M.J. carefully, she asked quickly, "What are you talking about?"
"What's with you and Matt?"
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing at all." Leaving the bathroom, she asked, "Why?"
M.J. got closer to the mirror and eyed her lips. "Just curious."
Kristi eyed her carefully. This line of questioning seemed out of the ordinary. She saw what Matt had done, or maybe she was too busy being in a world of her own with Harry... Shaking her head, she added, "Curiosity is a murderer."
M.J. chuckled at that. Kristi sounded as though she were getting on the offensive. "I'm not a cat."
"But who says curiosity can't move onto bigger and better things? Why are you wondering about Matt anyway?"
"Just was. He seemed very interested in you." What better way to get rid of someone then to get them thinking about someone else? "Plus he seemed like a cutie. He had the whole surfer look going on. He kept giving you the eye." Why not lay it on real thick?
"Um no, what you saw was something called manipulation. He talked to me to get his girlfriend jealous."
"Are you sure she's his girlfriend?"
"It was pretty obvious."
M.J. cursed to herself. That bastard! Matt's idiocy was going to ruin this. Shaking her head, M.J. said solemnly, "Are you sure? He seemed really interested."
Kristi scoffed at the thought of him. "He's just that good of an actor."
Turning around toward the direction of the door, M.J. attempted to hide her disappointment with a, "Hmm...it's a shame, I thought that you would look cute together."
Kristi went to her bag to dig out something. "Thanks for attempting to play match maker, but he's not my type. Just from having a two minute convo with him I could see he was slow on the uptake and had the type of ego that even the most shallow would be repulsed by."
M.J. dug around in her bag that she brought in the bathroom. Pulling out some pale pink earrings, she asked, "All that in two minutes?"
"Tones are important. I'm all too familiar with spotting superiority tones being thrown."
"Don't you think you're being kinda harsh?"
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. "What's harsh about it? I read him like a book."
She read him like a book . . . indeed! M.J. rolled her eyes at hat comment. "Well not good enough if you didn't know he had a girlfriend."
"Well there was nothing to lead me to that conclusion."
"Well I still say he's cute. You don't find him at all attractive?"
"I am a California surfer lover . . . I'll admit that, but he just wasn't my stylo or type."
"You told me once before that you didn't have a type."
"Well...the thing is, I don't think I do, but everybody does, its just unknown to me at the moment. Even though it is unknown, I know for sure that he is definitely not it."
"I'm just saying you could give him a chance."
"Why? He's got a girlfriend and I don't like him. That would be a wasteful challenge." Grabbing her black purse off of her bed, she asked quickly, "Why are you so adamant about this anyway?"
"Well . . . I just wanna see you with someone."
Kristi stared at M.J. and then headed for the door. Full or sarcasm, she threw over her shoulder, "Oh really?"
"Yes." Kristi turned around and stared at her hard in the face. "Don't look at me like that. I really would like to see you happy for once with someone." And it was true, M.J. would like to see her happy with someone, just not Peter.
Kristi studied her face some to see if she was lying. From the looks of it, it looked and sounded as though she meant it, but the way she was pushing her, it sounded as though she were in a rush. If Kristi wasn't in a big rush to have a relationship with someone, why should other people be in a rush for her? She opened the door roughly and turned back to M.J. Sighing hard at the door, her body leaned against the frame and looked at M.J. "J...you know very good and well who I like. Why are you doing this?"
"Because nothing is going on between you two, and it sure doesn't look like anything is going to go on, so why don't you move on?"
Kristi eyed M.J.'s blue eyes for a moment. Everything she said was making sense, but something in the back of her head nagged at her mind senselessly. M.J. still felt something for Peter, so it would make sense for her to get Kristi away from Peter, but the thing that kept Kristi perplexed was why was she still with Harry?
M.J. eyed Kristi carefully. From the looks of it, she was thinking hard about what she had said. Hearing someone in the hallway, M.J. moved through the doorway pass Kristi.
Harry's head popped out from behind a door in the hallway. "Well are you ladies ready to go?" Harry was wearing a white polo shirt with slacks and sandals.
M.J. smiled at him. "Sure."
Harry waltzed by the two and held a hand out for both of them. "Okay then, let's roll.
Taking his extended hand, Kristi asked Harry, "Where is Pete?"
Harry began to lead them to the stairs. "He went ahead to the car."
When they reached the front door, Peter was leaning against the car looking at the crashing waves with his hand stuffed in his pockets. Hearing foot steps, he turned around slowly. He was wearing a brown button-up shirt with a white shirt underneath it. His pants were black and so were his sandals. Giving a small smile, he said "Well hello there. I didn't know Harry was deemed pimp of the trip."
"Now, now Peter. Don't get jealous now," Harry said while letting go of Kristi's hand at the door of the car.
"There's not much to be jealous of Peter," M.J. chimed in. Her face had a small smile to it when Peter looked back at her. Blushing a little, he turned his head from her and opened the door quickly for Kristi. M.J. turned around and waited for Harry to open the door. Oh yeah...there was still something there.
Somewhere inside of M.J.'s head was a little voice saying, "What the hell are you thinking!" The blushing was chocked up to shyness that he was renown for. Still...that fiery side of her head, the one that seemed to be lacking true reasoning, still had hope. But for some reason, was beginning to fade without her even knowing it...
Peter hopped in the car after Kristi and they took off. Everyone was quiet on the way there for five solid minutes, lost in their thoughts. Harry was thinking of ways to romance M.J. Peter was wondering about Matt and how Kristi felt about him. M.J. was thinking about what exactly it was that she wanted, was it Peter or was it that she didn't want anyone else with him? Kristi couldn't concentrate on one thought. So many crashed through her head, far too many for her to keep count of or recollection of all.
Shaking her head of her many thoughts, Kristi started singing the first song that came to mind: "Under the Bamboo Tree" from Meet Me in St. Louis. "Down in the Jungles lived a maid . . . Of royal blood through dusky shade…A marked impression once she made, upon a Zulu-"
Harry joined in. "From Matabooloo."
Smiling, Kristi continued. "And every morning he would be-"
"Down underneath a bamboo tree."
Kristi's head began to sway to the beat. "Awaiting there his love to see."
"And then to her he'd sing-"
Harry stopped at a red light in an intersection. "To...her...he'd...sing..."
In unison, Kristi and Harry both began to sing. "If you lika me like I lika you and we lika both-tha same, I'd like to say . . . this very day, I'd lika change your name! Cause I lova you and lova you true and if you a lova me . . . One live as two, two live as one, under the bamboo tree!" The two of them busted out laughing. Harry started to drive again when the light turned green, still laughing from their duet. "Dude, I haven't heard that song in forever and a day!"
"I love that movie."
Peter and M.J. were completely lost. "What movie is that from?" Peter asked Kristi.
"Meet Me in St. Louis. It's got Judy Garland in it. You have heard of it, right?"
Peter nodded his head. "Yeah, but I've never seen it."
"Me neither."
"Oh it's great! That was my favorite song from when I was little. I used to sing it all the time. Drove my parents nuts!"
"My mom used to watch that movie with me," Harry said as he turned down a street.
Kristi turned in her seat to face Peter. "What movie songs do you like?"
"I liked Oliver and Company, you know that song that the dog sings."
M.J. turned around in her seat. "What song?"
Peter shook his head. "I'm not singing it if that's what you're trying to get me to do.'
Kristi scoffed at him. "C'mon, just talk out the lyrics then."
Taking a deep breath, he started, "WhyshouldIworrywhyshouldIcare-"
Kristi punched him softly in the arm. "Slow it down, chief."
"Why should I worry...why should I care-"
"Sing it baby!" Harry yelled from the front seat.
Peter smacked him on the shoulder. "Man, leave me alone."
Kristi's eyes lit up for a moment. "I know what song that is . . . the 'I got Street Savoir Faire' song."
Peter's head nodded. "Yeah, that's it. I love that movie."
M.J. jumped in with, "Oliver is so cute. When I first saw that movie, I fell in love with cats."
"I like the movie, but I didn't fall in love with cats." Shifting in her seat, she continued. "Their eyes are pretty, but they look possessed sometimes. I dunno. My old neighbor had a Calico cat with some pretty hazel eyes, but man, if you stared at them, they made you want some holy water and a prayer used to extract the devil or something."
Peter nodded his head again. "They do have freaky eyes."
"I think probably the coolest cats in the world are the ones from Lady and the Tramp."
M.J. turned to face Kristi. "Siamese cats?"
"Yeah . . . I liked how they sounded in the movie too."
Harry began to move his head to the beat of the song in his head. "We are Siamese if you please-"
Kristi snapped her fingers to it. "Bumbum, bum, bum!"
"We are Siamese if you don't please."
"Bumbum, bum, bum! Fa sho! Great stuff . . . I grew up on Disney if you hadn't figured it out yet."
Harry jumped in this time. "The best song in the world from Disney . . .do you know it?" he asked as he pulled the car into the parking lot.
Kristi asked, "Under the Sea?"
"Oh that's up there!" Finding a parking spot, he stopped the car. "But no. It's gotta be...Hakuna Matatta."
"Love me some Timon and Pumba," Kristi said with a smile.
Getting out of the car, Harry walked around to M.J.'s side. "Hakuna Matatta . . . what a wonderful phrase."
Peter opened his door and helped Kristi get out on his side. "Hakuna Matatta, ain't no passing phase."
When Kristi stepped out of the car, she threw her arms into the air melodramatically. "It means no worries, for the rest of your days."
Peter grabbed one of her arms gently and said with humor, "It's our problem free..."
She tossed an arm into the air again. "Philosophy!"
Their heads moved side by side and with sarcasm, they both said, "Hakuna Matatta."
Harry held M.J.'s arm, but she seemed resistant. Instead, he widened his eyes and looked at her with a singsong voice. "Hakuna Matatta."
Kristi and Peter said at the same time. "Ha-ku, ooh, ooh, ooh-na Matatta."
M.J. shrugged her shoulders in defeat and joined in with Harry. "Hakuna Ma-tatta."
Harry said, "Yeah..."
M.J. just smiled. "Matatta...ah, ah, ah AH..."
Harry started laughing again as he escorted M.J. to the door. "I think we should be on Broadway."
Peter shook his head with a chuckle. "I don't think Broadway is ready for us."
M.J. said with a giggle, "I don't think the general public's ears are ready for us."
"I think you have a point. I'll be the first to admit that I am tone deaf. Karaoke is what I am."
Peter turned to Kristi. "That means tone deaf?"
"Yeah . . . I think it's Japanese."
"Cool." Kristi's eyes looked up at the building. It was small and quaint looking with neon lights that said "Luigi's Place". The restaurant had red lanterns hung up along the borders of the roof. When they entered it, their noses were immediately met with the smell of pasta and their ears were hit with the soft murmuring of the people already seated in there and low rumblings of music being play by a man in a corner with a small guitar.
They walked up to a podium where a chunky woman with a big red dress on. Her voice full of an Italian accent, she spoke. "Welcome to Luigi's Place. I am your hostess, Maria. Now if you'll just follow me, I'll take you to a table." Turning around quickly, nearly leading to Harry bumping into her, she said, "Smoking or non?"
Taking a step back, he said, "Non."
"Table or booth?"
"Um . . . " He looked around the restaurant for a moment. "Booth is fine."
The older woman scuffled to a booth near the corner of the guitarist. The booth was a near a window that showed the beach. The seat had red leather on it, with few worn spots on it. Placing some menus onto the table, she said quickly, "A waitress will be out soon to take your drink orders."
"Thank you." Harry made room for M.J. to sit down. After Harry scooted next to her, Kristi sat down and then Peter. The table had a single red candle lit in the middle. The table was wooden, but had a plastic cloth on it with different designs on it. A minute or so after they were settled, a small girl of about seventeen came by. She had on a white dress with a large red scarf secured around her small waist. Her long, dark, ringlets, similar to Kristina's hair, were secured with a red scarf tied around her hair. With a cheery smile, she introduced herself, "Hello, I am Catalina and I will be your waitress for tonight. Is everyone ready to order their drinks?"
They all nodded their heads. "Um…" M.J. started, "I'll have a Diet Coke."
Glimpsing over his menu, Harry spoke first. "I'll have a Coke."
"I'll have a Dr. Pepper," Kristi replied.
"I'll have a Coke."
Chewing on her Winter fresh gum, Catalina said quickly, "Okay, I'll have your orders out here in a jif." With that, she shuffled off toward the back of the restaurant.
Peter's eyes looked around the large room. There were lots of couples scattered throughout the establishment.. Along the walls were pictures of Italy and the Mediterranean. There were portraits of Italian men, woman, children, boats, and houses. "This is a nice place."
M.J. nodded her head in agreement. "I wonder if the places in Italy really look like this."
"From what I've heard, Italians are prideful people. They take pride in their ways of life," Harry piped in. "I went with dad once to Italy. They looked like this. Not with all the lighting like this, but similar to it."
Kristi rested her head on her hands, staring dreamily at the ornately decorated walls. "I would love to go to Italy. Naples is a city I've always wanted to visit."
Peter turned his head toward her. He smiled at her wistfulness. "I've always wanted to go to Italy too. I want to see if it is the country of Amour."
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. It probably has it, but I want to see if it's as appealing as people make it out to be."
"You know what movie I like," M.J. jumped in.
Kristi answered immediately. "The Godfather."
M.J. furrowed in her eyebrows in surprise. "How'd you know?"
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. "Figured it went with the moment. I love me some Michael Corleone. He's wonderful."
M.J. gave her a look of disgust. "He's a killer."
Kristi nodded her head, her voice taking a slight tsking tone. "He's a Godfather, what else would he be?"
Peter nodded his in agreement. "True."
"Plus, I don't like him cuz' he kills, I like him because he as a character is so intelligent. He's just great."
Catalina came back with a tray with four drinks. "Here is your Diet Coke," she said as she placed it front of M.J. "Here's your Coke." She placed the glass down in front of Harry. "Here's your Dr. Pepper and here's your Coke," she said as she placed the last two glasses down. Pulling out a pad and pen, she asked, "Now, are you ready to order?"
Harry started first. "Sure, I'll have the Chicken Parmesan."
"Chicken Alfredo."
Glimpsing over the prices, Peter asked Kristi quickly, "You wanna share a bowl of spaghetti? We can get a large and two plates."
"Um okay. That's fine with me."
"Okay, one large spaghetti. Would you like some bread while you wait?" They all nodded their head. "Okay, the bread should be out shortly."
When the waitress walked off, Peter leaned back against his seat. "So, you are a Michael Corleone fan."
"You know it. Him and his daddy Vito..." Kristi sighed dramatically, "just wonderful and I like Tom and Sonny."
"So you're into the whole mob scene huh?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Well . . . a little. It's just one of the many things I love about Italians."
M.J. jumped in. "Yeah, Italy has probably the cutest men in the world."
Harry choked on his drink. "Um . . . excuse me?"
M.J. laughed at his reddened expression. "You heard me! They do! They are perfect. Not only are they cute, but they love their mammas and have great accents."
Harry scoffed at her. "C'mon! When they hit 50, they get beer bellies and I'm sure you'd get tired of pasta all the time."
M.J. Shook head with defiance. "I love pasta and he could take SlimFast."
Harry began to drum his fingers against his drink glass. With a playful gleam in his eye, he asked, "Should I be getting jealous of all the countrymen? Do I have to beat them up?"
"Well I wouldn't recommend it since, you are in an Italian restaurant at the moment and they could easily be hearing you now and putting poison in your food."
Harry leaned back in his seat with a playful huff. "Well that's a nice little thought. You sure do know how to make a person feel secure Kris."
Kristi shot her hands up in innocence."I'm just saying! Don't diss the whole country while you're in one of their establishments. Just a thought."
Peter shook his head. "They wouldn't be serious anyway."
Kristi shrugged her shoulders again. "Well you never know when you'll run into an Italian radical..."
"M.J., leave me some of your food. According to Kristi over here, I've upset the Italy Gods. Should a make a peace offering with some olive oil?"
"Just apologize and I'm sure they'll take pity on you."
"Now you really are scaring me."
"They aren't all bad. Tony Cusimano was head of the Dixieland Mafia and-"
Harry choked on his drink again. "What! There is a DIXIEland Mafia?"
M.J. chuckled at this. "Let me guess, they hide behind the selling of cotton and their big business is Moonshine."
"Hey, you better watch it. But anyway Mr. Cusimano always donated to the states. He gave lots of money to charities and schools. He really was a good guy."
"I hear the past tense." Harry said mockingly.
"Well, he died of a heart attack, but his son Marco took over."
"Wait . . . this does sound familiar. I remember something about cops making a huge bust or something with Cusimano," Peter said.
Catalina came back to the table with six hot pieces of garlic bread with cheese melted on them. M.J. passed the plates around and Harry passed the bread basket around. When she left again, Kristi started up once more. "Marco was a bad apple."
Harry shook his finger at her. "Remember, no dissin' the mafia..."
"He is! It later came out that he started stuff with lots of people. There was a crime war of some sort that had been going on for years because of it."
Getting his piece of bread, Peter turned inwardly toward Kristi. "How did you know about this?"
"It came out in police reports and a lot of the people who worked with my dad were Italian. A lot of them would leave and not come back. The ones that would, well, they would tell him that something had happened. Or a couple of times, this one guy, named Antonio would always come to my dad for help. He would say that he had an argument with the wife or something. Like if he needed somewhere to sleep or a little bit of money, dad would help him."
Peter propped his hand under his chin. "He was getting involved?"
"No. He didn't know what was going on. No one ever told him anything and the war was kept under wraps most of the time. He just thought that Antonio was having bad days. He thought he was helping. One day, Antonio broke down and told him a little of what was going on. I was visiting my dad when he started babbling."
"I take it they were after him," M.J. said chewing slowly.
"He was scared out of his wits and saying that if something happened to him for my dad to tell his wife that he was sorry."
Harry shifted in his seat to take a piece of bread before talking. "Death wish maybe?"
"I don't know, but that was when my dad stopped helping him."
This was getting really interesting to Peter. Scooting closer, he asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know. My dad didn't want any part of it. He only then knew about the existence of a crime war, and he didn't want any part of it. Things died down a lot after that. Police were arresting people and the Mafia was thought to have been completely dissolved."
Harry raised a skeptical brow. "Was it?"
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. "Well I dunno. Does any mob ever actually completely dissolve?"
M.J. chewed on a piece of her bread. "Well, this was a nice dinner story."
"It's not a story. It's all true."
Peter nodded his head. "I remember a lot of it now. I remember someone in one of my classes did a report on it as a current event in high school." Ending the conversation there, they soon talked about other things: What they were going to do when school started again, what they were doing for the summer, things like that. Fifteen minutes later, Catalina came back out with their hot food. There wasn't much talk during dinner. They were all just enjoying their meal and the lulling music being played by the guitarist and the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore.
Note: Okay...here's the end of the chap. Chapter 9 should be up soon. Don't forget to review please!