The gleaming sex of the Redlight District proved too much to ignore for Eddie. One day, two weeks later, he found himself getting eviction notices right and left at his old apartment in Saint Mark's. He finally packed up a few of his things, put them in two suitcases and went to get a studio apartment not far from Luigi's club.
That day, Eddie rented a moving van to get some of his furniture moved in. As he was busy loading his microwave into the van, he heard a female voice call out, "Hey! Eddie spaghetti!"
Puzzled, Eddie turned around. He saw a Hispanic-looking woman with dark hair and wearing a black coat walking up to the van. She was wearing a lot of make up, he noticed. Eddie looked at her. "Do I know you?"
"Nah," she said in a slight Spanish accent. "Maybe you don't remember me. I'm Meadow -- one of Mimi's friends?"
Eddie thought the woman looked familiar. "Oh. Hi there," he said politely. Then turned around.
"You movin' in?" she asked.
"No. Out."
"You lived her? Wow! So did I! I mean, I do. I do live here." She looked at the furniture. "Need any help?"
"No, thanks though," Eddie said.
There was a pause. Then the woman said, "Mimi called me last night. She said she ran into you two weeks ago."
Eddie suddenly was interested. He straightened and smiled. "Mimi mentioned me?" he asked. "What else did she say?"
"She said that you were really nice about the cab fare," she went on. "She said she didn't think there was a decent guy in this city until now."
Eddie scratched his head bashfully. "What did you say your name was?"
"Meadow." She grinned. "Mimi's a good friend of mine."
"Oh," Eddie said, sort of uncomfortable now. "Hey, you know where she works?"
"Eh, somewhere in Callahan Point," Meadow said, shrugging. She picked up one black, patent-leather Mary Jane and scratched her ankle with her toe. "Listen, it's good to run into you."
"Yeah," Eddie said, secretly glad she was leaving. "Nice meeting you Meadow."
Before he could turn back to his work, Meadow suddenly asked, "Hey, there's a really nice little coffee shop just a few blocks down," she explained. "Want to grab a cup of coffee? I could tell you a little bit more about Mimi if you want."
Eddie's first thought was, damn, she looks like trouble to me,. Then the thought about learning more about this girl was fascinating. So he replied, "That would be great."
Meadow grinned, showing off a gap in her front teeth. "Wanna take my car?"
"So, how long have you been workin' at Joey's?" Meadow asked, twirling a swizzle stick in her styrafome cup of coffee. She looked a lot different without her pleather jacket on. She was wearing a tight red blouse with a square-cut neck and spaghetti straps. The blouse showed a lot of cleavage, and Eddie found him self staring at the lucious mounds of her full breasts. She was also wearing a short black skirt that showed off her skinny legs.
"Not long," Eddie said, lifting his eyes to meet hers. He sipped his coffee. "Less than a month, probably."
"I've seen you there everytime we go into that shop," she said. "What do you do all day?"
He eyed the lacy top of a thigh-high stocking as she crossed her legs. "Fix cars," he said. "That's it. It's pretty boring."
Meadow nodded and smiled. When she did, Eddie noted that she was indeed wearing too much makeup. "Pay good, though?"
"Not bad," he replied. "So what do you do?"
Meadow blinked. "Hmm?"
"You know, for money? What do you do?"
She shrugged. "Some odd jobs here and there just to pay the rent. You know how it is. Robbing Peter to pay Paul." She examined the candy-red nail polish on her fingernails. "I'm trying to save enough cash to get the hell out of here. Move some place where the sun shines a bit more often."
Eddie glanced out the window. It was extremely foggy and overcast. "Yeah, I'll bet. Where do you want to go?"
"Vice City."
"Florida?"
"Yeah. Get an apartment right on the beach and watch the sun rise."
"Have family there?"
"Nah."
"Friends?"
"Nope. Just opportunity." She gulped a bit of her coffee. "Mimi and Alisha -- that's our other friend -- want to do the same. We've been talking about moving out of Liberty City since we were little. We've all been saving up."
"Mimi wants to go too?"
Meadow nodded. "Yeah, she can't stand it here. She says it's too dirty. She and Alisha want to go to college, but I just want to get out of--"
"College?" Eddie asked. "Why?"
"Mimi's like that. Smart and stuff." Meadow chuckled. "Always has her head in the clouds though."
Before Eddie could reply, he glanced at his watch. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "I'm late for work!"
"Well, wait!" Meadow said, standing with him. "You need a ride there?"
"Nah, I'll catch a cab."
"Sure?"
"Positive." He threw his jacket back on. "Thanks for coffee, kid. I appreciate it."
Suddenly, Meadow grabbed his hand and pressed something into his palm. "Here," she said, closing his fingers around it, "just in case you want a free ride home next time."
Then she quickly picked up her coat and walked out of the cafe.
Eddie left the cafe too, a few minutes later and found himself in a Cabbie, waiting to be taken to work. He looked at what Meadow had given him. On a tiny piece of paper the size of half a business card were seven digits; her pager number.
555-7304
Eddie entered Joey Leone's garage, where Scott was standing at the old Esperanto. He looked a bit perturbed, and he narrowed his eyes at Eddie as he walked in. "You're late," he remarked. "Where were you?"
"Breakfast," Eddie said proudly.
Scott's face broke into a smile. "Dude, you were with a woman, weren't you?" He laughed. "Damn! Who's the lucky girl?"
"No one special," Eddie said. "I just went with her for the coffee." He added, "I'm more interested in her friend."
At lunch, Eddie took a cab over to Luigi Goterelli's night club. He liked the idea of making a few bucks here and there by doing some guy's dirty work, just as long as the money was good. He earned points not only with Joey Leone, but also with Luigi. Keeping up a good rep with the locals meant good business, and in a little while, he'd have enough saved to get his own car.
As he knocked on the back door, he noticed a baseball bat leaning by the stairs. A second later, the door opened, and standing there was Luigi's tall bodyguard. He scratched his head and said, "Uh, Luigi wanted me to give you this." He handed Eddie a sheet of paper and then wordlessly closed the door.
Surprised, Eddie looked at the letter. It read:
Some pusher out at the Docks has been introducing my girls to that new street drug SPANK. I don't want my girls near that shit! Take the bat and teach that scum bucket a lesson! Then, take his car to the Pay-N-Spray here in Red Light, and drop the car off in the alley in Portland View.
Eddie looked up and smiled. Finally, a real job!
Eddie arrived at Portland Harbor, which wasn't too far from Joey Leone's garage. He told the cab driver to take a hike, and got out to wait. He walked down the large, nearly-empty parking lot, past the gigantic fuctioning cranes and right up to the frighter ships docked right near them. As he turned a corner, her heard female voices laughing and talking near a stack of boxes. Eddie looked and saw a unkempt man holding out small bags of white powder to the ladies.
"This is good stuff, eh?" the pusher said. "Try some honey. You'll like."
One of the hookers, one that was wearing a Sex Club 7 emblem on her jacket. She handed the pusher a wad of money and took the bag from him.
Eddie placed the bat behind his back and began walking up the the small group. "Hey!" he called out. "Save some of that stuff for me!"
The pusher whirled around, startled. "What the hell...? Who are you?"
Eddie shrugged. "Just a customer," he said. "Don't be stingy now. That's good stuff, just like you said."
The pusher looked confused. "Uh...look man, I don't know--"
One of the girls pointed a finger at Eddie. "That's the guy that's been doin' stuff for Luigi!" she remarked. "He's not gonna be happy we're here!"
As the pusher turned around to confront him, he was greeted by a sharp blow to the face.
The hooker's screamed as Eddie began pummeling the pusher with his ball bat. Eddie beat the guy over and over again, until he was on the ground and blood spattered and spread everywhere. He beat him until they guy was silent and lay dead. His lifeless hand lay over a bag of SPANK. Eddie picked up the blood-coated bag and turned to the frightened hookers. "Get back to work," he said. "If Luigi finds out--" he pointed to the dead pusher. "--there will be a lot worse to come for you."
The girls whimpered and scampered off, leaving Eddie alone with the dead man. When they were gone, Eddie knelt down and removed the guys wallet. He slipped hundreds of dollars worth of money into his own wallet, and then turned to the pusher's maroon Idaho.
Lucky for Eddie, the keys were still in the ignition and the doors were unlocked. All Eddie had to do was climb into the car, start it up, and then drive off. He drove the car carefully through the streets of Chinatown, then pulled into Red Light with no sign of the cops anywhere. He was careful not to draw attention to himself as he pulled into the Pay-N-Spray to get the car painted.
The attendent, oblivious to what just took place, walked up to him. "What color, sir?"
Eddie shrugged. "Uh...blue, I guess."
"Candy?"
"Huh?"
"Candy? You know, candy paint? Want that done to it?"
Eddie shook his head. "Naw, just paint it. And hurry up, I got places to be."
The attended snorted. "Don't we all?"
Half-an-hour later, Eddie was back on the road, driving a newly painted Idaho over to Portland View. He glanced at the note in his hand and followed the directions to a tee to an abandoned lot in an alley way. He parked the car, left the keys in the ignition, and closed the door. Whistling a tune, he casually walked out of the alley and onto the sidewalk to hail a cab.
Eddie returned to the garage, but not in a cab. After pocketing the pusher's money, he decided to go to a used car dealership on the other side of town and picked out a used but well-conditioned orange Kuruma. It was fairly inexpensive and it drove pretty well, so Eddie plunked down some cash and bought the car for himself.
He smirked at Scott when he pulled up. "Pretty nice, huh?" he said. "I bought it ten minutes ago."
Scott laughed. "It looks like crap," he remarked. When Eddie frowned at him, Scott held up his hands in submission. "Let me put some ground effects on it, or a turbo-charger under the hood. It needs some sort of work.
"Nah, I just need something to get me around town," Eddie replied. "Where's Joey?"
"He's inside, but look man--" Scott patted the hood of the Kuruma as Eddie exited the car. "--you're going to need something to make you go fast if you're going to keep working for the Mob, ok?"
Before Eddie could reply, he heard someone calling his name. It was Joey, standing in the garage and yelling over the sound of loud machinery. In his hand, he held a check.
"Hey kid!" he called, running up to him. "You've got some mail!"
When he approached, he handed Eddie a check. It was from Luigi Goterelli and it was for $2000.
"Weeg said you did good today," he said. "He's proud, so I'm proud." Leone patted him on the back. "Good job, kid. Keep up the good work. Oh, and next Friday night, Weeg is having a big party at his club. You should come. Bring a date."
Eddie smiled. "Thanks. Maybe I will."
"Nah, no 'maybe'," Leone said. "Do it." With a chuckle, Leone walked away.
After he was gone, Scott started laughing. "'Do it'," he mocked. "Man, Joey's got you by the balls."
"It's good money," Eddie explained. "Where else am I gonna make money this hot?"
"Well, you could get a regular job," he said. "One where...aw, man!"
Startled, Eddie looked around. "What? What? What's wrong?"
Scott sighed loudly. "Eh, it's nothin'. Here, give me a minute. I've got company."
Eddie suddenly saw what Scott was refering too. In a blue Manana were two very familiar girls: one black, one white. Then he saw the trademark red coat and knew at once who it was.
He watched from the sidelines as Mimi closed the passenger seat and walked up to Scott. She tried to hug him, but Scott pushed her away.
"What's the deal?" Mimi asked, frowning.
"I'm sick of you coming up here all the time while I'm workin'," he said. "Don't you got stuff to do? Clean the house? Work?"
Mimi frowned. "Don't be a jerk, Scott. I just wanted to see if you wanted to come to dinner with Alisha and me. That's all."
"No," Scott said. "I don't. Get out of here and let me get back to work. You know what that is, right? Where you go to make money?"
Mimi was taken aback, as was Eddie. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Mimi demanded, as Eddie walked up. "Why do you have to talk down to me all the...oh..." She looked over at Eddie as he came up.
Scott saw, and tried to smile. "Oh, Eddie. This is Mimi. She's my--"
"Yeah, I know her," Eddie replied. "We met before."
"You have? When?"
Mimi sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "A while ago," she muttered.
Eddie nodded at her. "Is everything ok here?"
"Everything's fine," Scott said, gritting his teeth. "We're having an argument."
"I heard," Eddie said. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk to her like that. That's not the way a gentlemen talks to a lady."
Mimi raised her eyebrow, as did Scott, but for a different reason. "Hey man," Scott said. "Maybe you should stay out of this. This is between me and her."
"I don't think so," Eddie said, raising his voice. "Maybe you should apologize to Mimi for talking like that to her."
"Forget this," Mimi interrupted. "We'll go alone."
As she turned to walk off, the tall black girl leaned her head out of the window. "Mimi? You ok?" She turned to look at the men. "What you say to her?"
Eddie gave Scott a dirty look. "Asshole," he cursed at him. "Go apologize to her."
Scott gave him a Look. "Hell no. I didn't do anything."
Eddie looked and saw Mimi storming off across the street. Her friend was walking after her, trying to comfort her. Eddie felt compelled to help her, and went after her. Scott stayed behind, fuming. Then, he whirled around and stormed back into the garage.
"Mimi!" Eddie called, jogging across the street. Cars honked at him, but he ignored them. "Mimi!"
Her friend was sitting by her on the curb, with an arm around her. She looked up at him angerly. "Mimi don't want to see you, boy," she informed him curtly.
Mimi looked up. Her face was streaked with tears, and her mascara was running under her eyes. "No, it's ok Alisha," she said. "He's not going to bother me."
Eddie smiled and knelt down in front of her. "You ok?" he asked, fishing into his jacket pocket for something. "Does he usually talk to you like this?"
"Don't worry about it," Mimi said, sniffing. "He's not that bad."
Eddie frowned and handed her a Kleenex. Mimi took it and wiped her eyes. "Look, Mimi," he said, "I don't think he should be talking to you like that. It's not something something a guy should say to a girl."
Mimi shook her head. "Like I said, he's not that bad. Just mean sometimes." She examined the black on her Kleenex. "Oh god, I look like a raccoon, don't I?"
Alisha reached into her purse and handed Mimi a makeup compact. Mimi opened it and gasped at her reflextion. "I look stupid," she moaned. "I got to get to a bathroom."
"Mimi," Eddie stopped her, grabbing her wrist as she tried to stand up. "Wait a second, ok?" When she looked at him strangely, he continued. "If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn't dare push you or talk mean to you. I just thought I should let you know."
Mimi's eyes widened. "What did you say?"
"Look, I hear him say nasty things about you all the time, and that's not the way a guy treats his girl, ok?"
There was a pause as both Alisha and Mimi stared at him; their mouths open in surprise. Then, they both burst out laughing.
Eddie flushed red and stood up. Was it something I said? he thought, embarrassed. He felt awkward as Mimi laughed so hard that fresh tears crept down her cheeks.
"What..?" Eddie dared to ask.
Mimi tried to stop laughing. "Scott," she said finally. "Isn't my boyfriend."
"What??"
"He's my brother!!" She collapsed into more laughter.
Eddie felt a feverish blush overcome him. "Oh..." he said, glancing back to the garage. He saw Scott, staring at them, while he leaned into the hood of another car. "He's your...brother? But..."
"But what?" Mimi asked, her giggles easing. "What's the matter?"
"Why do you come up to see him all the time?"
She smiled. "I don't have a car," she explained. "I come to borrow his car."
"Oh." Eddie felt terrible for yelling at Scott now. He tried to turn around and leave, but Mimi grabbed his arm and pulled him around.
"Hey," she said sweetly. "It's ok. It's no big deal." She bit her lower lip, like she had a secret to tell. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Eddie scratched his head. "It's ok," he replied.
"Here," Mimi removed something from her purse and took his hand. "Because I feel so bad, let me give you something."
He looked and saw her clicking a pen, and then felt the tip of the pen crossing his hand. "There," she said, closing his fingers into a fist. "That should help."
With a bit of a smile, she and Alisha hurried across the street to her car. As they did, Eddie opened up his hand and looked down. On his palm, Mimi had written her name and her phone number.
Mimosa Riley: 555-9321
He smiled and looked up. "Hey--!"
Mimi turned and raised her eyebrows.
"So...since Scott's not coming, do you need an extra person for dinner?"
Mimi giggled as Alisha pulled on her arm. "That's ok," she said, shaking her head. "We'll go alone."
Eddie watched them get back into the car, pull out, and then drive past them down the road. As the car passed, Mimi gave him a big smile and a wave.
Eddie looked down at his hand, and then removed the piece of paper he had tucked into his pocket. He stared at Meadow's phone number, which was resting atop Mimi's phone number. He laughed.
"Two in one day," he muttered. "That's a record."