CHAPTER 5- Junior

We didn't talk for the rest of the day and when I woke the next day she wasn't in. she had left me a note saying she would be back about 12. It was 11pm. I sat on the decking just starring out at the ocean when I heard the front door close. I got up and entered the house again. Stacey was walking through the kitchen with shopping bags. I took a few off her cause she was struggling I put them on the side beside where she put hers.

"I figured with Letty, Leon and Mia coming I would need more food" she told me.

"yeah" I smiled.

"Mommy can I have a drink?" a young boy asked walking in to the kitchen carrying a model-racing car. He was small, with no hair (like me) wearing a pair of baggy jeans, little Adidas trainers and a little tank top.

"Er…your juices are in one of these bags" she said beginning to search the grocery bags. "Ah here" she said pulling out a cartoon of orange juice and piercing the hole with the straw and handing it to the young boy.

"and who might you be?" I asked kneeling down so I was closer to him.

"I'm Dominic Junior" he said proudly

"My names Dominic too" I said to him smiling.

"Junior go watch some TV so mommy can talk to Dominic please" she told him

"he has same name as me" he told his mom looking up at Stacey. Junior toddled off in to the next room and Stacey began to put the shopping away nervously.

"Dominic Junior?" I asked starring at the door where Junior had just exited the room. She didn't reply she just opened the fridge door and placed the milk in the door. "You gonna say something?"

She slammed the fridge door and spun around to look at me. "WHAT DO YOU want me to say Dom?" she lowered her voice starring at the door leading to the living room so Junior didn't hear her.

"When were you planning on telling me?" I asked her getting angry. She just starred at me. "So you weren't going to tell me?"

"Yeah can you imagine it? I call you up, hey Dom by the way I had your son two years ago. Would you like to come meet him? Oh and don't forget to bring the team and all your baggage with you!" she said angrily but not shouting. I didn't retaliate she was right. What kind of father would I have been? Racing and looking over my shoulder every five minutes? She continued to put the shopping away.

"Where was he yesterday?" I asked

"A friends" she told me.

I didn't know what to say. This made everything else even harder! Maybe if she had told me I wouldn't have gone back to racing, maybe I would have come to live in Mexico, made a life out here. Looked after my son been with the woman I love. What was the point of asking what if? Everything was screwed up now what could I do?

"Does he know about me?" I inquired "does he know I'm his father?"

"He's seen pictures, that's why he has no hair wanted to be like you, I've told him but I don't think he understands" she explained putting some Coronas in the fridge.

I was lost for words so I didn't say anything. Two years, I had missed two god damn years of my son's life. I never thought I'd have kids. When I knew I and Stacey were no more I had lost the desire for them.

I had always wanted kids preferably a boy so I could do up cars with him, teach him to drive, to race, about girls and all that shit but I never thought I'd have them unless I had a kid with Stacey. So when I left just over two years ago I never thought I'd have them. And now there he was sat on the couch watching Knight Rider. I chuckled watching him. He was so mesmerized by the talking car he'd make car noises whenever the car would begin to move.

"Junior you want a sandwich?" Stacey called in to him from the kitchen. He didn't answer her. "Junior" she repeated. He still didn't answer. "he watching Knight Rider?" she asked me.

"Yeah" I replied standing in the doorway leading to the living room watching him.

"he is obsessed with that show. He cries as soon as it's finished so I have to record them and play them over" she explained to me. I chuckled. "you want a sandwich?" she asked.

"yeah thanks" I said turning my attention to her.

it was weird seeing her do domestic things like cook; clean, shopping etc. when we were together she always had her head under a bonnet or washing her car ready for the next quarter mile. Although she did a lot of male things she always dressed up, heels, skirts or trousers, low cut tops, she was perfect.

"You got some aspirin?" I asked holding my shoulder.

"you really should go to the hospital" she told me

"it'll be fine I just need some aspirin" I explained. She told me where they were and I took two. They weren't going to make much difference. I knew I should go to the hospital get it checked out but if it was broken I wouldn't have been able to use it at all. "it's not broken" I told her

"it's dislocated" she diagnosed

"how do you know?" I asked

"Remember me telling you I had a fight with Tia Tran when you were inside?"

"yeah"

"I through a punch at her she moved threw my shoulder out, I dislocated it. looked just like yours does"

"how do I put it back?" I asked. She described how to do it. basically smack it really hard against a wall or something. I grunted loudly once she had forced it back in to place. Junior came in to the kitchen.

"your sandwich is done Junior" Stacey told him.

"are you ok?" he asked me as I winced in pain moving my shoulder round in a circular motion.

"I'm fine son" I replied. Stacey stopped half way over to Junior with his plate. She starred at me. I didn't mean to say it, it just came out. Junior took his plate off her and pulled out a chair at the table and began eating his sandwich swinging his legs underneath the table. "Sorry" I apologised.

After we had all eaten we went out to the beach.

Junior raced around on the sand running in to the ocean and running back towards us when the ocean would come closer to his feet. He was screaming and shouting at me and Stacey to go and play with him but we were talking so we told him we'd be there in a minute.

"I called Hector this morning" she began watching her son lovingly. "He said Vince is good should be out in the next couple of days"

"He coming here?" I asked worried

"Hector said he's gonna bring him down if there's no cops around"

"Unlikely" I sighed "the heats gonna be on for a while. Unless Spilner makes up some shit to take the heat off us"

"He gave you the keys he could still have it in him" she suggested "and love makes you do stupid things" I shot my head around to look at her. she looked at me and chuckled "He was in love with Mia and she was with him. I got that just from what you told me, and you know I'm right" she sat in her bikini top and cut off denim shorts watching Junior begin to dig up the sand.

"he like the ocean?" I asked

"yeah he loves it. he never gets bored of it he plays out here for hours" she told me smiling.

"I wish I had been around to see more of it" it was a slight dig at her I suppose.

"don't do this Dom." She said turning her attention to me. "don't put this guilt trip on me. I had to think what was best for him and me. I didn't just come to the decision not to tell you over night. I picked up the phone a hundred times to call you and I wrote you letters. But I realised you'd never change. If I told you I was pregnant you wouldn't have come here you wouldn't have given up the racing. It was best if you didn't know and came here on your own terms even if they weren't for the right reasons."

I sat watching my son play in ocean, my son, it sounded weird. We sat out there for a while just watching him mess around in the sand. I made a sand castle with him, which he decided to jump on once we had finished.