Wanted: Contact
It was twenty to seven when Brian and Lilly left together Tej's Garage. The Garage had actually closed at six, nonetheless, at six o'clock, it was merely that the work on the cars ended. Afterwards, the crew still had to clean everything, to draw up the 'today's to do' plan for the upcoming day and, at times, they discussed topics like new deliveries, new customers, if lifts had to be repaired...................such things took their time, but Brian respected that because the crew just wanted everything to work the way it was best for everybody: smooth, quick and at a high quality. So, Brian had had to wait for his younger sibling after she had finished spraying her last car for the day. It was now drying in her Quarters due to her not seeing the need to push it into the room containing the red lights.
Once they had reached the other side of the road they had to cross when coming from Tej's, Brian laid, without thinking, his right arm around his sister's waist like he was used to. It was a habit he had gotten accustomed to so many years ago that he could not remember the actual date.
When Lilly had been little, he had always taken her hand and now that she was older, he would just lay his arm around her shoulders or her waist, just to pull her a little closer and to......................protect her. He knew exactly that she was no longer a toddler, still, she was and she would always be his little girl, therefore, the man preferred her near him, where he could have an eye on her. Of course, walking next to each other, there was not that big a distance between them, yet, Brian had already experienced at many occasions how boys and men reacted towards his little sister, especially when she was walking down the street. They would hoot, use their old lame talk and annoy the hell out of his baby.
"I know why you're doing this",Lilly said somehow mockingly,"you've just put your arm around me to make people believe that you're my boyfriend, so that nobody's gonna dare talking to me. That ain't working, Brian, people just tend to think that we're siblings hence to us looking alike as they say. They must be blind, though."
"C'mon",he grinned, "why would I ever wanna try to ruin your chances for a possible date, hm? I got no reason to do so. I just don't want you to get cold, that's all."
"So, you're saying that you're pulling me close so that you can warm me?"She raised her left eyebrow suspiciously. "Yeah, right, O'Conner, just be careful with my new toy, I don't want it to be broken the day I got it."
Lilly was talking about the iPod Mini she had put into the pocket on the right side of her jeans. So far, this item had not given Brian a moment of peace. It was bothering him that the crew had gotten his little sister a present for her report whereas he had not. He had thought it would be okay with her that there was not a reward for everything, but, in retrospect, she had a great report even though the last months had been rather hard for her, therefore, Brian felt somehow angry with himself. He should have gotten something for her, he was her big brother, after all and he loved her. The problem was, if he got her a present now, it would just look extremely stupid. What was he supposed to do about it?
"You ain't, like, mad at the guys for having given it to me, right?"She looked at him. "Cause that would be no fair, I mean",the girl sucked in her cheeks, thinking about what she was going to say, "they don't know our ways that well, yet. They guessed we're doing all of that rewarding-shit, you know? They didn't do it to offend you, bro, they just..............dunno, they were just trying to be nice, I guess. Crash's getting his rims 'n tires paid by them, so they didn't want me to stand there empty-handed, I think. Please, don't be mad at them, 'kay?"
"I ain't mad at them",Brian answered honestly. They had already walked so far away from Tej's that they were merely another two hundred yards away from their apartment, "it's merely........",he shrugged, "the last time really was fucked up, alright? You know that, I know that, so let's not pretend anything different. Still, you manage to get that great grades and you take care of the household and you even work at Tej's. I..............I'm feeling bad for not giving you any credits for all of that, I mean, it's not, like, perfectly natural that you're doing all of this, so...................."
"But it's fine by me, bro",the blonde girl reassured him with a gentle smile. They had now reached the door leading into the apartment house and Brian opened it with his key. Walking inside the staircase, Lilly continued: "At school, well, I'm pretty much working for myself cause the better my grades are, the higher is the chance that a really good college will accept me. It would be unfair, if you had to do everything at home on your own, cause we're living there together, so we'll do the household together. I guess, I would feel like some parasite, or something like that, if I didn't do anything at all. And work? Well, I always loved working on cars and, c'mon, getting paid for working on cars? We're spending most of our time at Tej's anyways."
"So, you're not, like, disappointed in me or anything?"Brian asked from behind her due to them going up the stairs behind one another.
"Why would you think that I'm disappointed in you?"Lilly emphasized the word 'disappointed' as though she had never spoken it out before. "You've had a hard time, too, let's not think about the upcoming. I mean, last week, when we received that letter from the social workers? There'll be so much stress due to them, I hate it. They'll ask stupid questions, they'll annoy the hell out of us while we'll have to be all smiles. I'm so not looking forward to this."
"Yeah, but I don't think they'll find any problems",having stepped onto the floor their apartment was on, Brian heard Lilly's keys clattering when she unlocked the door and opened it. They were living in a rather little ten-floor apartment building having only two apartments on each floor. The other one on their floor was owned by some guy who had not been home very often within the time the siblings had been living there. Had not, because the last weekend, he had moved out. The apartment was now empty and could be sold again. Brian did not mind as long as the new neighbours would be like all of the other ones living in the house: quiet and leaving the O'Conners alone. When they had moved in, Brian had made sure that their living room had become insulated due to him loving to turn up the volume of the stereo or the TV very loud whenever something good was on. Therefore, he did not think that the neighbours were having any problems with them, except maybe for the times when he came home early in the mornign from the races, although he was trying to be very silent, then.
The social workers would not be much of a problem for him and Lilly, they were already used to the routine. Somebody would come and ask them questions, have a look into Lilly's school file, might even talk to some friends and that was it. Officially, so to speak on the paper, Brian was working as a mechanic at Tej's Garage, so they had a stable income. The only problem might appearing could be the fact that Brian did not have a girlfriend or a fianceé. When Lilly had been younger, they had always questioned him because they had liked to have a mother for the girl, yet, as he had received her custody rights, he had been together with Lisa, but now? He shrugged. Lilly was already sixteen, so he considered it unnecessary to worry about that. She was old enough now to do without a mother.
After having taken off his shoes, Brian strolled into the kitchen to get a Cola from the fridge. Then, he went into his sister's room without knocking.
The siblings had come up with a system for entering the other one's room a long time ago to avoid horribly embarrassing situations. Whenever a door was closed, knocking was appropriate, whenever a door was opened or merely leaning against its frame, one could knock, yet, they usually did not do that.
So, Brian just stepped into Lilly's room where she was about to throw her socks into her laundry container standing in the corner to the left of the little glass table she had.
Lilly's room was actually not stuffed with furniture, she preferred things simple and clear. When one stepped into her room, to the right, there would be two shelves at the wall on which she put items like books she was reading, pony-o's, some make-up she used only on very rare occasions and, of course, her deodorants. Brian had to admit, he really liked the scents of his younger sibling's deodorants. She had a thing for fruit, therefore, they always smelled of it. Right now, she had Raspberry Vanilla, Cherry Vanilla, Honey Melon, Orange Vanilla, Apple and Grapefruit standing on the upper shelf, whereas on the lower, she kept her books and some sort of small porcelain Buddha figure with the lines For good luck, rub my tummy encarved on its seat. In the corner right to the shelves, Lilly had some sort of changing room one could put up – Brian had forgotten what it was called. It consisted of black iron bars being curved in a fancy way over which a thick white linen fabric was stretched so that it was not see-through. The iron frame could also be turned into different directions. The man did not know, why Lilly was actually havign that thing in her room, but she had wanted it and it looked really good in her room. At the wall forming the other site of the corner, there was first a full-length mirror and then, Lilly's wardrobe. It was about seven feet high, five feet wide and painted with a white varnish. Next to the wardrobe was the window, then, Lilly's light green armchair, her little glass table, the laundry container in the corner and the wall after the container was empty, yet, some of it was hidden behind Lilly's bed which she had out up so, that the headboard was standing against the wall left to the door when one came in. Between the bed and the wall opposite to the door, there was about one and a half feet of space, due to Lilly sometimes liking to crouch down there to read. Next to the bed was a little white nightstand, matching the wardobe, and the desk, also matching the rest of the interior. That was it.
"Can I help you?"Lilly raised her eyebrows, wondering why her brother was looking around her room.
"Oh, no, sorry, I was just.....",he grinned as a sign of embarrassment, before sitting down on her bed."
"Coming in here to occupy my bed?"The girl offered playfully while plopping down next to him.
"Nah",Brian closed the opened bottle in his hands and put it on the floor, "c'mere",he reached out with his arms, pulling his little sister's head gently onto his lap. After she had found a comfortable position to rest in while he was stroking through her long golden hair, he continued:"You know that, if you should ever want or need anything, you can tell me, right?"
"Brian",she groaned, "why are you still thinking about that shit? Why's it bothering you so much? I don't get it. I'm good, okay? And I know that you'd get me anything I wanted. Well, anything that's not endangering my health, but apart from that........",she turned around so that she could look him in the eye, "stop worrying, please, it ain't worth thinking so much 'bout it."
"Okay, then",the man resignated, "no more brooding",he grinned at her.
"That's good",the girl smiled, "as for the part of me wanting something, you know",Lilly tried very hard to put on her sweetest and most innocent face, "tonight, there's this party, so could you, please, bend my curfew just a little?"
"How little?"Brian regarded her seriously.
"By, like, two hours, maybe?"Big blue puppy eyes were underlining the question.
"Lilly",the blonde sighed out, "you know the rules. Within the week, so when there's school the next day, you have to be home at midnight. On Fridays and weekends one o'clock, except for the racing, then, you can stay as long as I do. So, three o'clock for a party?"
"Oh, please",she stuck out her lower lip, "it's, like, the last chance to see everybody before they all go on vacation. Some visit relatives, some go to camps and others just do some traveling. C'mon, Brian, you're the one always complaining that I shall spend more time around people my age."
"But I thought you were coming with me to the races",also stucking out his lower lip, Brian reflected on the time having passed since the 'Verone-incidence'. So far, Lilly had not wanted to celebrate their victory, she had not come to the races and he could not recall on having seen her driving at all. By now, he began to feel a little upset because of this.
"I can go with you to the races some other time. Please",whining usually worked with Brian, therefore, Lilly tended to use it as her final weapon.
The young man chewed on his lower lip. Neither did he want to ruin his younger sister's social life, nor did he want her pouting at the races, if he took her there.
"Under one condition",he told her firmly with a raised index-finger, "I'm the one driving you there and I'm the one picking you up at exactly three o'clock. If you are nowhere to be seen at that time, I'll be coming in and getting you, alright?"
"That's no fair!"Lilly exclaimed, sitting up on the bed. "C'mon, has there ever been a time when anybody picked you up from a party? I'm sixteen, Brian, I don't need a babysitter."
"Either like this or not at all, your choice",he picked up his bottle of Cola before standing up from the bed, "so?"
Lilly let herself fall flat onto the covers, mumbling an Evil blondie into the soft fabric.
"What was that?"Brian asked teasingly.
"I gotta be there at nine",the girl had turned her head around to face him, her eyes telling him clearly how unfair she considered the fact that he was using his authority against her, right now.
"Good, Rome and me wanted to go eat something before the fun begins, so nine's okay",he replied with an all too friendly grin when a pillow came flying into his direction, however, he caught it in time and returned it. "Be nice, I'm the one making the rules, here",he grinned, obviously enjoying the situation.
"Just close the door from the outside, will you?"Lilly glared at him while the man left her room, closing the door the way she had asked him to.
"He can be such a bastard",she muttered into the pillow she had put underneath her head, then, she looked at the clock on the nightstand to see how much time she had left before she would have to get ready for the party.
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It was 8:24 p.m. when Lilly was completely ready for going to the party. At school, Lissa had advised her to dress up a little, so the blonde had even put on some make-up.
She wore white Adidas sneakers with black stripes on them, black low-rider jeans boot cut, a silver chain consisting of silver rings in three different sizes around her hips, her belly was revealed to a good six inches because of the top she had decided for being a little short, not too much, though. The top was red with thin white outlines, sleeveless and bearing her left shoulder due to it having merely one halter. It was actually cut like most of the girl's tank tops, only shorter and revealing her shoulder. Of course, due to it showing her shoulder, Lilly had to wear a bra without straps. She thought it would look stupid, if there was a strap over her naked skin and she feared that some of the guys, once they had drunk something, might pull at it.
The girl had plaited her hair and fixed it with two simple black pony-o's, one at the beginning of the plaited braid and the other at its ending. She had pulled out her bangs, though, and parted them so that they were now framing her face to each side.
As for the make-up, she had used some mascara, her eyeliner, bronzing powder for her cheekbones and her pearl lipgloss. Her fingernails were covered with a clear nail polish, only to make them shine a little in the light.
Brian can't say anything against it, she looked at her reflection, it's neither showing too much nor looking slutty. It's okay, I guess. Defintiely no outfit I would go to the clubs with, but for a highschool party? Hell, yeah, it's perfect.
The girl went over to her bed on which a bag was lying. It was a little smaller than her work bag which was even smaller than her school bag, still, it was not a purse. It was made out of white vynil with black piping, therefore, it matched her outfit. Within it, the girl had packed her cell phone, just in case something might happen, her new iPod Mini, her make-up, her keys and some money. It was a habit of hers that she always had about 150 dollars with her, no matter where she went.
Just in case, she always said to herself, if I need a taxi, or see something I really gotta have, or someone needs my help and so on. Like Sugar says 'Safe is safer'.
Lilly heard the telephone ringing and Brian answering it.
"Yeah, man, we'll be down in a minute."
Lilly guessed it was Roman having rang their door bell and then, used the intercom to tell them that it was him waiting for them downstairs.
Eventually, Brian knocked on her door.
"Are you ready in there? Rome's already downstairs",he told her.
"Yeah, I'm coming",the girl took the bag from the bed, then, left her room before standing in front of her older brother.
"Hello",Brian whistled by the sight of his younger sister, "I don't think I can let you out like that without my protection."
"Brian",the blonde sighed in annoyance, rolling her eyes. She knew that her brother was merely joking, yet, he could have thought of something better to say than that.
"I was just complimenting. You look very good",he grabbed her hands gently, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Only very good?"She raised one of her eyebrows in faked arrogance while the man chuckled.
"You're my baby sister, therefore, I can't say that you look hot",he grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "I can say that you're beautiful, though. Still, you're my baby sister, so you will always be beautiful to me. See my misery?"
"Poor baby",Lilly hugged him, carressing softly over Brian's short hair, who was leaning into the touch.
"Yeah, pity on me",the blonde piped, snuggling his face into his younger sibling's neck until they both cracked up laughing.
"We're insane", walking into the bathroom to check her looks one last time, the girl was pursued by her brother, embracing her from behind.
"And very good-looking",he stated, resting his head on her right shoulder while regarding their reflection in the mirror, "do you actually know that we got no photo showing us together?"
Lilly, having just laid her hands on top of his around her waist, frowned: "Why are you mentioning this, now?"
"Dunno, just",Brian shrugged, "I noticed it when I was roaming through some of the old stuff we've taken with us from L.A., some time ago. There are pictures of you and of me, but none of us."
"So, are you saying that you want one?"The girl raised the left side of her upper lip. "You know how much I hate those fake pictures, don't you?"
"Mmm",sighing, the blonde tried to copy his younger sister's puppy eyes as good as possible, "please, baby, for me……..for your big bro, yes? Please, please, please?"
"I'll think about it, okay?"She pressed a kiss against his left temple before leaving the bathroom. "C'mon, now, I don't wanna be late."
"If you had your own car……………"
"Don't ya dare to even start like that Brian O'Conner",Lilly warned him from out of the hall, seeing her brother grin as he opened the door of their apartment for her.
"What?"He asked innocently, still grinning when his sister walked past him.
Well, he thought, at least, she said that she would think about it. That's a start.
Then, he closed the door from the outside, locking it once it was shut and followed Lilly down the stairs.
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"It's that house over there",Lilly pointed at one of the many mansions. In front of it, there were already several cars parking.
"Nice",Brian stated. He had been slightly irritated when his sister had told him that her friend was living in one of the more noble neighbourhoods of Miami, yet, all of those big and very impressive houses made him feel uncomfortable. The man knew exactly that he was able to afford such a home himself by his winnings, however, he preferred things on a way simpler basis. He had everything he needed and they were healthy, so why would he want such a house?
"You got the entire house on your own? Please, promise me not to be one of those damaging anything",he said once they had stopped in front of the gate leading to a drive leading to the main building.
"No, he lives in the pool house behind the main house where his parents spend most of their time. But don't worry, the pool house ain't endangered, either, because they got some private access to the beach or something like that, so, I guess we'll have the party at the beach",Lilly noticed another car coming down the road the side opposite to theirs. It stopped and she saw Vic and Lissa leaving it.
"So, three o'clock",Brian repeated, "and, believe me, I'm gonna be coming in to get you."
"I know, but I'll be out here, waiting for you, alright?"Lilly had already opened the door, about to step onto the sidewalk, when her brother held her back by grabbing her arm gently.
"You call, if anything's up, good?"
"Yeah, I will, don't worry",she smiled at him before getting out of the car and closing the door. She also waved at Roman having driven behind them the entire time. Lilly did not like him driving with his sprained arm, he knew that he should not move it, yet, he was even racing! Nonetheless, his arm was way better now than it had been last week, another week and it would be as good as new.
"Hey, girl",Melissa flashed her one of her thousand watts smile while the guy was using the intercom next to the gate to make Ramon open it for them.
"Hey, I dressed up",she told the older girl.
"I see",the brunette answered, taking in Lilly's outfit, "why do you never come like that to school? You look really gorgeous."
"Cause then, I'd have to get up so early",the blonde whined.
"C'mon",Vic called over to them once the gate opened, "Lilly looks great, let's go inside."
"Men",Melissa rolled her eyes. They all went inside.
Brian waited until he could no longer see his sister, then, he let his engine rev to show Roman that they could leave for the restaurant where they wanted to go before the races would start.
His friend still had to get to know the good places in Miami, so the blonde would show him around.
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"And it would not even cost you more time than it does now, I mean, look at it, our physic ed classes are our practise and you're already participating, so make it."
It was a little past half past one o'clock in the morning.
The party was great, everybody having been invited had come, nobody was so drunk that they began to cause any trouble and it was not cold on the beach, although this might be because of the big fireplace some of the guys had lit up two hours ago.
Lilly was sitting inbetween Shonna and Melissa, who were both trying to talk the girl into either joinging the cheerleaders or the volleyball team. Unfortunately, they had been doing this for over half an hour, now.
"I know that, Shon, I just don't know, if this is the right thing for me to do, ya understand? There's also work and I want some time left for a private life, too",the blonde tried to reason with the now former seniors of Miami Jefferson Highschool.
"C'mon, ya can have your privacy, every now and then, there's a match, but nothing else, so do it. Our team needs you, now that I'm gone."
"And it's good for your status at school",Melissa added, "school spirit, you know? There are so many people around MJ High knowing you, so be a good role model and show'em that you're all for working hard and working together. Either you join the cheerleaders or the volleys, your choice, but, c'mon, wearing a cool outfit, being close to handsome guys playing football, except maybe for my brother and his friends, wouldn't that be great?"
"Lissa, for the last time, only because I practised with you girls a little, does not mean I'm all into cheering, alright?"Lilly took another sip of her Desperados, a tequila-flavoured beer. She usually drank it when she was at Phoenix, she even preferred it to Corona or Budweiser....................not that Brian knew of this.
"So, you're saying that you're joining the volleys?"Shonna grinned at her, her dark eyes sparkling. "Girl, we can't just go to college with the knowledge that you ain't got no team."
"I'd have to wait till the try outs, anyways",the blonde protested, "so, why deciding things now?"
"Because",the other girls chorused firmly.
Lilly shook her head no. She sensed that her friends would just go on and on, coming up with other reasons fo her to join one of the teams, so, she reconsidered the situation. She was already participating within the volleyball team's practise as physical education, the only thing added to it would be the matches. As for the cheerleading, well, she had only tried because Alysson and some others had asked her to do so and it had indeed been fun. At first, Lilly had felt extremely stupid, however, after a while, she had just started to laugh about herself and then, it had been fun.
"So?"Melissa asked.
"So?"Shonna repeated.
"Okay, you guys win, I'ma join volley once there are try outs",Lilly sighed in resignation while her friends began to cheer.
"Ey!"Shonna shouted and stood up to get everybody's attention. "Lilly says that she'll join volleys!"
Everywhere else people whooped, some even clapped.
"I'm doomed",the blonde girl muttered with a playful smile parting her lips.
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Brian leant onto the hood of his Mitsubishi, counting the bills he had won so far this night. He had already had three races, nevertheless, he was still on the list for two more.
It must be the Evo, he thought, grinning because of the 43.000 dollars he was putting into the pocket of his black pants.
"Yo, punk",Roman called teasingly while walking up to him, "got nothing to do or why you ain't moving yar ass? That's the problem with ya white boys, too much time on yar hands, man."
"Somebody's hating cause he ain't got no races",the blonde man teased back in a sing sang voice, grinning.
"Oh, really, who is that poor guy, then?"He laughed raspily.
Brian looked at his watch. It was 2:17 a.m., so he would have to leave in about half an hour to pick up his baby from the party.
"Worryward",Roman shook his head, "she's sixteen, man, she can watch out for herself. Stop babying her, she hates that, I can tell."
"Do you remember the parties we had when we were sixteen?"The blonde asked him casually.
"Yeah",the other man shrugged.
"Do you also remember what we did with the girls at the parties?"
"Well",a wide grin tucked at the corners of his mouth, before his eyes widened in shock, "she wouldna do that, man, neva! This is our baby sis your talking about!"
"So, ya don't think that, back then, the girls weren't anybody's baby sisters?"Brian lifted his eyebrows skeptically.
"I'll be riding with ya when ya leave, bruh",Roman sounded very decisive, "back ya up, ya know?"
"Course",the blonde grinned, enjoying the sight of the fearless Roman Pearce being scared that something might happen to Lilly.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Whoa",Rico's eyes widened, "you mean, the guy that picked you up today, was your brother? As in you're related to Bullitt? As in Bullitt, King of the Streets?"
"C'mon",the girl rolled her blue eyes, "don't act like he's some kinda god. He's just my bro, alright? There's nothing like super powers going on, he just happens to win every now and then, 's all."
"Every now and then?!"The brunette sounded shocked. "Fuck, he's supposed to get'em all down, girl. And I missed my chance to ask'im for some tricks, shit!"
"There are no tricks to racing",Lilly cracked a smile, "ya just sit in your car and drive, that's it. Okay, ya gotta get used to the NOS first, but afterwards..........",she shrugged, "I could drive like that pretty soon after having done it for the first time."
Sitting together in a group of fifteen people, the teenagers had begun to talk about their vacation, so Lilly had told them about her working at Tej's Garage which had led to the guys starting to compete with their knowledge about cars. Eventually, due to them all having heard Mike saying everywhere that he was now participating in the races, they had disussed that and, of course, everybody had seen Brian's car when he had picked her up from school the day before, so this had somehow become a topic in their discussion. Lilly still remembered how many questions they had asked her when mentioning for the first time that she was sprayer at Tej's Garage, however, she had not answered all of them, not knowing how much she could tell them without getting any problems with Tej. So, now, the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.
"Wait, wait, wait",Vic raised his eyebrows questioningly, "are ya telling us that you're racing, too? And your brother doesn't have a problem with that, I mean, you're always complaining that he's such a mother hen, so how does that fit together? And did you win anything, yet?"
"Course, I'm racing", Lilly could not understand why her friends would not believe her, "and my bro is cool about it as long as he's around. He doesn't allow me to race without his okay, though, and in a car that's not been checked before and, of course, I already won some!"
"How much?"Rico grinned excitedly, eager to receive as much details about the races and the drivers as possible.
"Dunno",cocking her head to the side, the blonde looked skywards while trying to remember and to add the numbers in mind. Finally, she puckered her lips: "I'd say about 200 G, but I ain't sure, might be a little more, I guess."
Everybody else stared at her, eyes widened in shock.
"What?"She asked innocently.
"200 G!"Rico exclaimed. "Damnit, girl, ya really must be heiress to your bro's throne! 200.000 dollars! How come ya don't have your own fucking car, then?! Or are ya hiding it anywhere? Fuck, man!"
Lilly merely shook her head, amused by her friend's outburst. Looking at her watch, she saw that it was already 2:52 a.m. and it would be most embarrassing, if Brian came here to get her, therefore, she got up from the loungers they were all sitting on.
"So, I gotta leave, my curfew's three o'clock. I'll be seeing all of you at Au Revoir, right?"
"What?!"Ramon was shocked. "Ya can't leave us now, ya gotta tell us some more, girl! C'mon, please."
"Let her leave, already",Shonna got up as well to hug Lilly, "by, baby, I'll see ya at Au Revoir, okay? Have a nice vacation."
"Thanks, Shonna."
After some more hugs and goodbyes, Lilly went back into the poolhouse where she had laid her bag. Strangely enough, somebody had followed her: Josh.
"Hey",he cracked a smile, "I's also leaving. Today, I got practise, ya know? So, maybe, I thought, we could leave together or something like that."
"Sounds good",Lilly returned the smile. She liked Josh, he was kind of cute.
Josh – Joshuar – was Vic's younger brother by two years, so that Josh and Lilly were in the same grade. He was about 6'3 tall, had slightly curly brown hair that was cut short in the back but a little longer in the front, brown eyes, tan skin, white teeth.................he was very Miami, how Lilly had begun to call the guys here some time ago.
They even had some classes together. Josh was a player in the basketball team and, at first, he had been rather shy around Lilly, yet, the others, especially Vic, had told her that he was always a little nervous or quiet around girls he liked. Somehow, the girl envied the brothers for having such good a relationship to each other; they were not competitive, they were indeed friends, treating each other equally, talking about everything. She and Brian would never have anything alike.
Walking next to Josh down the drive to the gate, she heard him clear his throat.
"I think it's great that you joined volleys",he finally said.
"Oh, well",the blonde shrugged, "Shonna and Lissa wouldn't stop it, but I still gotta wait till try outs next semester."
"Uhm, there's the home coming match on Tuesday",Josh bit his lower lip, "you coming?"
"Dunno, I was actually not planning on going there."
The last week of a school semester was home coming week at Miami Jefferson Highschool. All the alumnis would come and the old teams would play against the new ones. Lilly had been at the volleyball match.
"You really should",the boy blurted out, fearing his courage might leave him the next seconds, "it would be cool to have some people cheering for us."
"C'mon",she grinned, "there are gonna be lots of people cheering for you, don't worry."
"Yeah, but........."they had now walked past the gate which could be opened from the inside but not from the outside, "it'll be fun. You've never been at one of our games before. We start at six o'clock and afterwards, we'll go party somewhere, I guess. Everybody will be there but you."
"So, you're saying that you'd miss me?"Lilly cocked her head to the side and regarded him. He was just too cute when he was trying to gather all of his courage to ask her for a date. Then, Lilly spotted two cars standing on the other lane of the road: Brian and Roman.
"C'mon",she pulled at his highschool jacket, "I wanna show you something."
"Wha.......?"The boy merely followed her over the street to where a violet convertible was parking behind a yellow car. Obviously, the driver sitting in the yellow car was Lilly's older brother, the other driver was a black bald man to who the girl was pulling him.
"Hey, Rome",she greeted him with a smile.
"Hey, Kitten",he grinned while getting out of his car.
"Josh here",Lilly pointed at the boy, "is a fan of nice stereo systems. Ya know where to find one?"
"Hell, yeah",the man smiled, "open the trunk, already."
They went around the car and the blonde opened the trunk. Josh's eyes widened.
In there were five woofers, three little ones and two big ones, a twenty inch TV monitor and..............
"Is that a playstation?!"He could not believe it.
"Yeah, a PS 2 and he's got even an Xbox in there. The monitor is 22 inches, the woofers are ten iches and fifteen inches. There are also two amps which we hid underneath the frame for the boxes. The NOS bottles are also lying somewhere underneath, but I don't know where exactly. I didn't build them in, ya know? So, you like it?"
Lilly knew that Josh was a fan to the heart when it came down to stereo systems and the moment Roman switched on the music, they saw the woofers vibrating, blasting straight Hip Hop against them.
"This is sick!"Josh laughed out loud. "Could you also do that with my car?"
"You bring the money, we do the rest",she told him.
Then, the music died down.
"Time to go home",Roman called over his shoulder, "we don't want blondie pissed, so hurry."
"Okay",the girl closed the trunk, "thanks, Rome."
"No problem!"
"Yeah, thanks",Josh was still smiling all over his face, "so, you coming on Tuesday?"
"I gotta see, but, maybe, might be fun, I guess",she shrugged.
"Lotsa",he then began to walk over to where he had parked his car.
"C'mon",Roman got out of his Eclipse and back in on the passenger's seat, "you're driving."
"But I had two beer",the girl told him.
"So what? My arm is sprained and I had at least three drinks. Who do ya think is the better driver?"
"Okay, then",Lilly got onto the driver's seat, "but you're responsible, if anything should happen and if Brian's mad."
"Nah, I just wanned to safe you from the interrogation. Who was that? Since when do you know each other? You know that man worries about too much shit",he grinned at her while she started the engine.
"Just wave at him when we drive past him",the girl laughed.
"Oh, I will, be sure of that much, Kitten."
Lilly drove onto the street and past the Mitsubishi. Roman flashed Brian the most stupid loopsided smile the blonde driving the convertible had ever witnessed.
Brian sat back in his seat, feeling extremely dumbfounded.
He had told his sister that he would pick her up and now, she was driving Roman's Eclipse right in front of him. And then, who had been this guy she had shown the trunk of the convertible? He merely prayed that his baby had not drunk, otherwise, he would be angry with her. She knew exactly that she was not allowed to drive when she had drunk. Hell, she was not even allowed to drink alcohol when he was not around. This meant asking some questions once they would be home.
Or perhaps, he thought while following them, I should wait with that till later this day. We already argued yesterday and I don't want that to happen all too soon, again. I just wanna discuss this with her, not argue. We're both tired, I guess, so this would only lead to arguing, so no questions when we're home. I'll wait until the afternoon or the early evening when she's been home some time from work. In the evening, we can always talk best.
So, they drove home. Lilly and Roman in his Eclipse, Brian in his Evo.
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Please, review!! Thanks for reading!!