Chapter 3
21st May 1999
"Come on! Please Anita just come to the barbeque? Mia's expecting you and Ricky. she's made special food just for Ricky." Leon leaned in the doorway watching Anita and glaring with disgust at the water forced into his hand, by the fretting mother. He was a strong and healthy twenty-two year old. He didn't need to drink water.
"No! Leon. have you been listening to nothing I've been saying? We aren't dating. We aren't a couple anymore. we broke up remember. with the whole. good. fine thing?" Not to mention the crash, bang broken ribs thing. "The whole ignoring what I think and feel thing?" Anita added
"Anita." Leon sighed, "I wasn't ignoring you, I just don't think it's fair for you to pass judgement on something you haven't even seen. I've been doing it for years, I think I know a little more about it then you." Leon tried to explain.
"No! No pulling mommy's hair." Anita firmly told Ricky as she changed his clothes, and received an injured pout from the delicate two-year-old mouth. "Leon. I know enough about cars to know they cause accidents. And not just with Mike! If I remember correctly it's your car that's about to fall apart outside. Your throwing back a handful of aspirins twice as often as you should, and your still defending it to me?" Anita asked in disbelief as she pulled Ricky's 'Laker's' jersey over his head.
"Anita." Leon started to speak reason and cut himself off. He'd been trying to make her see reason for the last three days. This may have been the first time Leon wished that Anita would act more like Letty or Mia. they let their men race without this kind of hassle. He had only told her about it in the first place because he wanted to take her. Show her off. show off for her. make a little money to take her somewhere nice, like she deserved, and she didn't understand any of that.
"Leeno! Leeno!" Ricky called stretching up his chubby arms pleadingly for Leon who was the much more appealing of the two. With the not dressing him and the piggyback rides. Leon was Ricky's favourite.
Anita dropped Ricky's protesting body onto the dressing table as she fought to put his mini skate shoe's on. Leon wandered close enough to take the other skate shoe and try and force it on Ricky's other flailing leg much to the disgust of Ricky. He was a big two year old, and he did not need to wear shoes!
"I'm just afraid." Anita admitted keeping her eye's firmly on Ricky. Her beautiful, safe, un-judgemental Ricky. "I don't want. I don't." She didn't want him to think that she was going to smile and tell him it was all right to do whatever he wanted because she was so desperate for any man who would take on a single mother and her child that she was going to be docile and never argue. Because she was none of those things, well besides a mother. "I don't want you hurt or. or. dead." Anita bit her lip hard, "I don't want to lose you."
So instead she'd prefer to push him away and say that it was her idea the whole time, instead of taking a chance and risk for a second living without the safety bars that would mean she could get hurt again. She couldn't do that anymore she had to look after Ricky, she couldn't afford to have men in and out of her life she needed someone stable, and secure for her son. She didn't need forever, but she needed to know it wouldn't just end tomorrow.
Shoe abandoned at Anita's soft, reluctant statement, Leon turned and tugged her resistant body in to mould to his like only she did, like he only wanted her to. "I know you've had a hard time with other guys, but I'm not just going to suddenly realize you've got a kid, a devil child," he smirked down at the overly angelic little boy with his devious child like mind, "and run away. I know shit's been hard but I haven't left yet have I?" Leon kissed to top of her head.
Ricky squealed in a pitch only registered by dogs and stood up, one shoe on, one shoe off. "Bad Leeno. Mommy, bad Leeno!" Ricky growled with a terribly stern glare as he smacked Leon's arm for saying the bad word and then merrily tried to jump off the table while the adults were busy.
With a little cry of panic from Anita, Leon dove for the falling child, grabbing him in his arms only to tumble over and have Ricky land with a thud on his still sore ribs. "Ohhh Sh...ugar." Leon winced breathlessly.
Anita grabbed Ricky making sure he was alright before sitting him back on the table, putting his other shoe on quickly, ignoring his protests, then putting him on the ground beside Leon, bending Anita questioned softly, "Did Mia want us to bring anything? We should probably take my car." She conceded only because she needed more time to think.
~~~Flashback~~~
13th February 1999
Anita sat in the car in silence the entire way home. Not the awkward uncomfortable silence that had made their journey to Chianti's the most nerve wracking experience of her life. Well... one of.
They'd talked. about everything. she'd found out so much about him that she hadn't even considered. Her heart had gone guiltily out to him when he had told her about his mother leaving him. It hurt her physically. She wished she could make it up to him. But she couldn't even tell him that she'd done it to Ricky. Denial much Anita?
His music, hip hop kind of stuff, was playing softly from the stereo in his car, and she darted a quick look at him. smiling shyly and looking out the window as she caught him looking back at her.
He wasn't the kind of man she had allowed herself to stereotype him as. He wasn't your normal mechanic. Although. she didn't really know that many mechanics to compare him too. In fact. he was kinda the ONLY mechanic she knew.
She'd of course had other mechanics but they had always shared a mutual demeaning disregard for each other. They had patronized her, spoke down to her when it came to cars, and she had smiled just as condescendingly considering that the only thing in life they could possibly have to be proud of was knowing their way around a car engine. considering it was impossible to think a mechanic could be intelligent in anyway shape or form. Come on. if they knew anything else why would they be a mechanic for heaven's sake?
At least that's what she'd thought until she'd met Leon. No he wasn't university educated. or had even finished high school. But neither had she. He was up to date with car makes, models and parts. But he was also into music. played guitar, sometimes, or so he said, when he was really drunk he'd do karaoke, he spent about a year as a tattoo artist and designed all his own tattoos, and he was a walking encyclopaedia of Martial Art's Movies.
Not what you would call conventional, intellectual pastimes, but she thought they were really creative and made him sound even more sensitive. She hadn't expected to think that about him. She just hadn't seen past the grease monkey thing. She felt kinda bad about it. She just hoped he hadn't picked up on it.
Finally they pulled up at her house and Anita turned another somewhat demure smile on Leon, adjusting the straps of her dress nervously. "Thanks for dinner Leon. it was great. I had a great time." Surprise, Surprise.
Leon smiled out his windscreen and nodded his head slightly, "yeah me too." He said darting a grin at her not at all nervous was Leon nope. He didn't fear yet another rejection from the red head.
The amount of times that woman had rejected his advances in one way or another was enough to do serious damage to a ego any less solid then Leon's. Lucky he wasn't effected by it. Over and over and over again. He was just being respectful. Not leaning over to kiss her. It was just respect. S'all.
Anita looked at the flash of her television from inside and smiled at her lap. "Delia's still up." Sometimes Delia crashed on the couch and went home in the morning. "I better go. Umm." 'I'll ring you?' 'Will you ring me?' 'We'll see each other around?'
Anita climbed out of the car, leaning down into the window of the car. "Did you wanna come in for." Not coffee. Coffee didn't mean coffee at the end of dates. Coffee wasn't Coffee. "A cup of tea. or. a drink?" Anita asked before she could realize.
"Yeah. yeah thanks." Leon smiled at her a little wider. more then a little surprised to receive the offer. He was sure she was just gonna walk away, and reject him yet again.
"Okay I'll go put the kettle on. I'll see Delia home too. she just lives a coupla houses down." Anita said with a smile walking with a slight waggle of her hips up to her house. She'd invited him in for coffee. Maybe she should get a medal or something.
Ten minutes later, Delia paid and sent off home, Anita watching her until she got into her yard, Anita wandered back up the stairs to see Leon making then both a cup of coffee.
"Sit I'll bring them over." Leon offered, almost making Anita step back in surprise. That sounded like. consideration. an emotion she had just automatically assumed he would be incapable of feeling, until tonight.
She sat on the sofa, kicking off her shoes, and resting back against the sofa. Her ankles were throbbing it had been so long since she'd worn silly girly shoes with no purpose other then to squish her feet but make her calves look fantastic. She was much too sensible for that.
When Leon brought the coffee over he settle both the cups on the small table and looked down on the red head. Her hair and head thrown over the arm of the sofa, she was snoring noticeably, her ankles crossed, looking like she'd passed out after getting wasted.
Yet he felt this un-explainable feeling in his stomach. He wasn't used to it. Had never felt it before. But the closest he could equate it too was the time, a guy had tried his drunken luck with Mia and had been shot down.
Then bruised ego rallying the drunken oaf, he'd made a few comments that Leon couldn't let pass, and before he knew it. the guy was on the floor whimpering and bleeding. it had just been the instinctive. urge. or. need to protect Mia. it was like that looking at Anita.
Leon shook it off with a little difficulty. There was a reason for it. It was because she was a mother. That just, it had made everything between them different. When they had first met. he'd been looking for a one-night stand, and then when she had rejected him, it had been the thrill of the chase. Then when he found out she was a mother. things had just changed.
He respected her. She hadn't really done anything to deserve it. He just did. She was a mother, and he respected that. She was all her son had in his life and he respected that bond.
His mother had left him when he was fifteen, and although it wasn't his place to worry about it, he was determined not to have Ricky have to go through that because of him.
And that was why those feelings of protection still floated around. Because he knew that her son was her number one priority. She worked two jobs for her son. She didn't date, because of her son. And she was crashed out on the sofa after a date, exhausted, because of her son.
Picking her up, with a little grunt. he carried her towards her bedroom, pushing the door open, not even bothering to look around the room he had up until this point never seen. He laid her on the bed, pulling her shoes off, hesitating wondering whether to take her earring out.
He stepped back hands held high in innocence, as Anita sat up her eye's squeezed shut hoping to hold the sleep, as she lift her arms above her head.
Leon simply stared at the red head bemused. Un-sure.
Anita opened one eye blearily, and mumbled, "A little help?"
Leon slowly walked over to bend down, his hands grabbing her dress at the waist and tugging it up, even though she sat on it. Managing with a little difficulty to get it off, leaving Anita shivering in her tiny black underwear.
"Lie down." Leon offered pushing her back towards the pillow.
Both of Anita's eye's opened and she stared into his eyes almost melting into the bed and the pillow. "Lie down with me.?" She asked softly.
"You're tired." Leon muttered, playing the gentleman reluctantly.
Anita sat up on her elbows. She reassured him with a firm. soft, "No. I'm not." She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer. or maybe she was pulling herself closer, neither really seemed to care.
"Stay the night, Leon. Stay with me tonight." Anita whispered against his lips. It was impulsive, irresponsible. and seemed like the perfect way to end the night.
Leon hesitated, until she pressed her lips against his. soft and willing. begging him with her hands to stay with her. With that he relented. allowing himself the pleasure of sinking down into the bed on top of her.
21st May 1999
"Come on! Please Anita just come to the barbeque? Mia's expecting you and Ricky. she's made special food just for Ricky." Leon leaned in the doorway watching Anita and glaring with disgust at the water forced into his hand, by the fretting mother. He was a strong and healthy twenty-two year old. He didn't need to drink water.
"No! Leon. have you been listening to nothing I've been saying? We aren't dating. We aren't a couple anymore. we broke up remember. with the whole. good. fine thing?" Not to mention the crash, bang broken ribs thing. "The whole ignoring what I think and feel thing?" Anita added
"Anita." Leon sighed, "I wasn't ignoring you, I just don't think it's fair for you to pass judgement on something you haven't even seen. I've been doing it for years, I think I know a little more about it then you." Leon tried to explain.
"No! No pulling mommy's hair." Anita firmly told Ricky as she changed his clothes, and received an injured pout from the delicate two-year-old mouth. "Leon. I know enough about cars to know they cause accidents. And not just with Mike! If I remember correctly it's your car that's about to fall apart outside. Your throwing back a handful of aspirins twice as often as you should, and your still defending it to me?" Anita asked in disbelief as she pulled Ricky's 'Laker's' jersey over his head.
"Anita." Leon started to speak reason and cut himself off. He'd been trying to make her see reason for the last three days. This may have been the first time Leon wished that Anita would act more like Letty or Mia. they let their men race without this kind of hassle. He had only told her about it in the first place because he wanted to take her. Show her off. show off for her. make a little money to take her somewhere nice, like she deserved, and she didn't understand any of that.
"Leeno! Leeno!" Ricky called stretching up his chubby arms pleadingly for Leon who was the much more appealing of the two. With the not dressing him and the piggyback rides. Leon was Ricky's favourite.
Anita dropped Ricky's protesting body onto the dressing table as she fought to put his mini skate shoe's on. Leon wandered close enough to take the other skate shoe and try and force it on Ricky's other flailing leg much to the disgust of Ricky. He was a big two year old, and he did not need to wear shoes!
"I'm just afraid." Anita admitted keeping her eye's firmly on Ricky. Her beautiful, safe, un-judgemental Ricky. "I don't want. I don't." She didn't want him to think that she was going to smile and tell him it was all right to do whatever he wanted because she was so desperate for any man who would take on a single mother and her child that she was going to be docile and never argue. Because she was none of those things, well besides a mother. "I don't want you hurt or. or. dead." Anita bit her lip hard, "I don't want to lose you."
So instead she'd prefer to push him away and say that it was her idea the whole time, instead of taking a chance and risk for a second living without the safety bars that would mean she could get hurt again. She couldn't do that anymore she had to look after Ricky, she couldn't afford to have men in and out of her life she needed someone stable, and secure for her son. She didn't need forever, but she needed to know it wouldn't just end tomorrow.
Shoe abandoned at Anita's soft, reluctant statement, Leon turned and tugged her resistant body in to mould to his like only she did, like he only wanted her to. "I know you've had a hard time with other guys, but I'm not just going to suddenly realize you've got a kid, a devil child," he smirked down at the overly angelic little boy with his devious child like mind, "and run away. I know shit's been hard but I haven't left yet have I?" Leon kissed to top of her head.
Ricky squealed in a pitch only registered by dogs and stood up, one shoe on, one shoe off. "Bad Leeno. Mommy, bad Leeno!" Ricky growled with a terribly stern glare as he smacked Leon's arm for saying the bad word and then merrily tried to jump off the table while the adults were busy.
With a little cry of panic from Anita, Leon dove for the falling child, grabbing him in his arms only to tumble over and have Ricky land with a thud on his still sore ribs. "Ohhh Sh...ugar." Leon winced breathlessly.
Anita grabbed Ricky making sure he was alright before sitting him back on the table, putting his other shoe on quickly, ignoring his protests, then putting him on the ground beside Leon, bending Anita questioned softly, "Did Mia want us to bring anything? We should probably take my car." She conceded only because she needed more time to think.
~~~Flashback~~~
13th February 1999
Anita sat in the car in silence the entire way home. Not the awkward uncomfortable silence that had made their journey to Chianti's the most nerve wracking experience of her life. Well... one of.
They'd talked. about everything. she'd found out so much about him that she hadn't even considered. Her heart had gone guiltily out to him when he had told her about his mother leaving him. It hurt her physically. She wished she could make it up to him. But she couldn't even tell him that she'd done it to Ricky. Denial much Anita?
His music, hip hop kind of stuff, was playing softly from the stereo in his car, and she darted a quick look at him. smiling shyly and looking out the window as she caught him looking back at her.
He wasn't the kind of man she had allowed herself to stereotype him as. He wasn't your normal mechanic. Although. she didn't really know that many mechanics to compare him too. In fact. he was kinda the ONLY mechanic she knew.
She'd of course had other mechanics but they had always shared a mutual demeaning disregard for each other. They had patronized her, spoke down to her when it came to cars, and she had smiled just as condescendingly considering that the only thing in life they could possibly have to be proud of was knowing their way around a car engine. considering it was impossible to think a mechanic could be intelligent in anyway shape or form. Come on. if they knew anything else why would they be a mechanic for heaven's sake?
At least that's what she'd thought until she'd met Leon. No he wasn't university educated. or had even finished high school. But neither had she. He was up to date with car makes, models and parts. But he was also into music. played guitar, sometimes, or so he said, when he was really drunk he'd do karaoke, he spent about a year as a tattoo artist and designed all his own tattoos, and he was a walking encyclopaedia of Martial Art's Movies.
Not what you would call conventional, intellectual pastimes, but she thought they were really creative and made him sound even more sensitive. She hadn't expected to think that about him. She just hadn't seen past the grease monkey thing. She felt kinda bad about it. She just hoped he hadn't picked up on it.
Finally they pulled up at her house and Anita turned another somewhat demure smile on Leon, adjusting the straps of her dress nervously. "Thanks for dinner Leon. it was great. I had a great time." Surprise, Surprise.
Leon smiled out his windscreen and nodded his head slightly, "yeah me too." He said darting a grin at her not at all nervous was Leon nope. He didn't fear yet another rejection from the red head.
The amount of times that woman had rejected his advances in one way or another was enough to do serious damage to a ego any less solid then Leon's. Lucky he wasn't effected by it. Over and over and over again. He was just being respectful. Not leaning over to kiss her. It was just respect. S'all.
Anita looked at the flash of her television from inside and smiled at her lap. "Delia's still up." Sometimes Delia crashed on the couch and went home in the morning. "I better go. Umm." 'I'll ring you?' 'Will you ring me?' 'We'll see each other around?'
Anita climbed out of the car, leaning down into the window of the car. "Did you wanna come in for." Not coffee. Coffee didn't mean coffee at the end of dates. Coffee wasn't Coffee. "A cup of tea. or. a drink?" Anita asked before she could realize.
"Yeah. yeah thanks." Leon smiled at her a little wider. more then a little surprised to receive the offer. He was sure she was just gonna walk away, and reject him yet again.
"Okay I'll go put the kettle on. I'll see Delia home too. she just lives a coupla houses down." Anita said with a smile walking with a slight waggle of her hips up to her house. She'd invited him in for coffee. Maybe she should get a medal or something.
Ten minutes later, Delia paid and sent off home, Anita watching her until she got into her yard, Anita wandered back up the stairs to see Leon making then both a cup of coffee.
"Sit I'll bring them over." Leon offered, almost making Anita step back in surprise. That sounded like. consideration. an emotion she had just automatically assumed he would be incapable of feeling, until tonight.
She sat on the sofa, kicking off her shoes, and resting back against the sofa. Her ankles were throbbing it had been so long since she'd worn silly girly shoes with no purpose other then to squish her feet but make her calves look fantastic. She was much too sensible for that.
When Leon brought the coffee over he settle both the cups on the small table and looked down on the red head. Her hair and head thrown over the arm of the sofa, she was snoring noticeably, her ankles crossed, looking like she'd passed out after getting wasted.
Yet he felt this un-explainable feeling in his stomach. He wasn't used to it. Had never felt it before. But the closest he could equate it too was the time, a guy had tried his drunken luck with Mia and had been shot down.
Then bruised ego rallying the drunken oaf, he'd made a few comments that Leon couldn't let pass, and before he knew it. the guy was on the floor whimpering and bleeding. it had just been the instinctive. urge. or. need to protect Mia. it was like that looking at Anita.
Leon shook it off with a little difficulty. There was a reason for it. It was because she was a mother. That just, it had made everything between them different. When they had first met. he'd been looking for a one-night stand, and then when she had rejected him, it had been the thrill of the chase. Then when he found out she was a mother. things had just changed.
He respected her. She hadn't really done anything to deserve it. He just did. She was a mother, and he respected that. She was all her son had in his life and he respected that bond.
His mother had left him when he was fifteen, and although it wasn't his place to worry about it, he was determined not to have Ricky have to go through that because of him.
And that was why those feelings of protection still floated around. Because he knew that her son was her number one priority. She worked two jobs for her son. She didn't date, because of her son. And she was crashed out on the sofa after a date, exhausted, because of her son.
Picking her up, with a little grunt. he carried her towards her bedroom, pushing the door open, not even bothering to look around the room he had up until this point never seen. He laid her on the bed, pulling her shoes off, hesitating wondering whether to take her earring out.
He stepped back hands held high in innocence, as Anita sat up her eye's squeezed shut hoping to hold the sleep, as she lift her arms above her head.
Leon simply stared at the red head bemused. Un-sure.
Anita opened one eye blearily, and mumbled, "A little help?"
Leon slowly walked over to bend down, his hands grabbing her dress at the waist and tugging it up, even though she sat on it. Managing with a little difficulty to get it off, leaving Anita shivering in her tiny black underwear.
"Lie down." Leon offered pushing her back towards the pillow.
Both of Anita's eye's opened and she stared into his eyes almost melting into the bed and the pillow. "Lie down with me.?" She asked softly.
"You're tired." Leon muttered, playing the gentleman reluctantly.
Anita sat up on her elbows. She reassured him with a firm. soft, "No. I'm not." She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer. or maybe she was pulling herself closer, neither really seemed to care.
"Stay the night, Leon. Stay with me tonight." Anita whispered against his lips. It was impulsive, irresponsible. and seemed like the perfect way to end the night.
Leon hesitated, until she pressed her lips against his. soft and willing. begging him with her hands to stay with her. With that he relented. allowing himself the pleasure of sinking down into the bed on top of her.
