Dom sat under the stars, being pissed at Madison. Why was it that all the hot chicks were such bitches? And why did he have to be so attracted to her. Damnit. He had a perfectly fine chick waiting for her chance, but he would never look at Kyra like that. She was one of the guys.
Of course, there had been Letty. Damn, Letty. Dom's first love. She had grown up with Dom, Mia, his best friend, Vince, Leon and Jesse. God, Jesse.
Remembering was a bitch. All that shit that had gone down two years ago with O'Connor. That asshole. Things were supposed to have been different. Jesse was supposed to be here with them, not dead. But he had lost his head and it had gotten him killed. And Letty. She had taken off. She had finally had enough of Dom's shit and had taken off with Vince and Leon after Los Angeles.
And then there was Madison. Damn, the girl was pulling him back there. To those days. There was something about her that reminded him of himself. That passion she had, then need to be in control. It was all so familiar to him.
He heard the screen door open and turned his head to see Christian emerge. He had two beers in his hands and offered one to Dom, who accepted.
"You thinkin' about her, huh?" Christian really didn't have to ask, he knew.
"Damn, is it that obvious?"
"No, I just know you really well, remember? We've known each other for years. I can tell what you're thinking."
Dom paused, then smiled to himself. Damn, the innocence that Christian had. He hoped the boy never lost it.
Kyra emerged from the house now, phone in hand. She handed it to Dom, who gave her an inquisitive look, to which she shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah," he answered. It was Mia.
Dom got out of the chair he was sitting in, walked down the stairs of the porch and over to his car.
"What's up?" Mia rarely called him anymore. She had gotten tired of his shit too. She was in college now, living her own life and enjoying every minute of it. He could tell, her voice was lighter.
"Dom, I need to talk to you. I don't know, I just have this feeling, you know? Like something bad is going to happen. It's been going on for two weeks."
Mia was convinced that she was having some sort of premonitions about Dom and was constantly worrying about him. No matter how hard he tried, he could never convince her that nothing was going to happen.
"Mia, I've told you many times before, everything's fine. Don't worry your pretty little head about me. Just keep your mind on school."
"But, Dom…" he wouldn't stand for it. She knew it was pointless to argue with him, so she gave it up.
"So, how are you?"
"Fine," he responded. She was making small talk. It was okay, he would let her. They never saw each other anymore. It was better that way, Dom told himself, that way Mia wouldn't be able to get hurt.
"You're not in the conversation mood. Christian there?" Mia had been asking about Christian a lot lately. Dom would have to talk to him about that and figure out what was going on between them.
"Yeah. You wanna talk to him?"
"Sure," her voice perked up and he knew something was going on. But right now he was too tired to fight with her about it. He would wait for another night, when he was drunk.
"Yo, Chris…come here…Mia wants to talk," Dom waited as Christian walked over to him and took the phone. He took a long swig of his beer and headed back to his chair on the porch and sat down.
Kyra joined him and sat in Christian's chair.
"How is she?"
Kyra and Mia had become good friends since after the shit had gone down two years ago.
"Aw, you know, the same shit she's been pulling for the past three months, the worrying for nothing, shit like that."
Kyra smiled. Dom wasn't drunk, nor was he likely to get drunk tonight, but he was still interesting to hold conversation with. She looked down the stairs at Dom's car where Christian was emerging from and began walking back to the porch.
"So, man, tell me, what's your secret?" Dom asked as Christian handed the phone back to Kyra who went inside to hook it back up.
"What are you talkin' about, Dom?"
"C'mon man, what's the deal with you and Mia?"
"It's nothing, Dom. Promise. She just wants companionship, that's all. It's not like I'm gonna fuck around with her or anything like that."
Dom smiled. Christian was a smart guy. He knew when not to mess with Dom and how not to screw with him.
"Aight, man, just checking. She seemed pretty excited to talk to you, that's all."
Kyra rejoined them and this time she had a beer in hand herself. Dom was surprised. Kyra rarely drank.
"Special occasion?" he joked. Kyra flipped him off. He smiled at her, knowing she was joking.
"You know, Dom," Christian began, jokingly. "One day Kyra's actually gonna do that and mean it."
There was a long pause and no one said a thing. Christian knew Dom wasn't pissed, but he was curious as to why the silence.
Dom's mind was elsewhere. He wondered what Madison was doing. Damn, he couldn't get the girl off of his mind. This was bad.