Chapter 12: Take Sixty Nine
Moda's P.O.V.
After collecting the money from the "Crazy Old Lady", Tommy and I were driving down the Avenue. After about ten minutes, we were back in a part of Vice City that was actually familiar to me. Vercetti carefully drove the car through the gateway of what looked to be a film studio to avoid any more damage to the car.
He parked next to the door of a huge, open, film building and stepped outside. "Stay here." he said. Outside in front of the doorway, Vercetti met with a short, fat, balding man with a lot of facial hair wearing a dingy, powder-blue velour sweatsuit. I made a mental note to myself to not buy a powder-blue variation of my sweatsuit and watched them converse amongst themselves.
The balding man seemed to be telling a story to Tommy from the looks of his extravagant hand gestures. Tommy, either bored or irritated from the story shouted at the man with his hands in the air. The only thing I could make out from his voice and lip movements were "giant shark" but I may have been wrong.
After about fice more minutes of watching them, Tommy looked at me and motioned for me to get out the car. I did so and approached them, stretching my arms.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tommy's P.O.V.
Note to self, Haitain-Proof all of my business assets...
I invited the kid to meet the pompous asshole, Steven Scott. I had told her to stay in the car in case they were...um...filming inside. Luckily, they weren't. Moda walked up to us and offered her hand to Scott. I suppose she was going to introduce herself this time.
"Hello, I'm Moda." she spoke and smiled sweetly to the slimeball. The bangs of her silky black hair all in the way of her eyesight.
"We-heh-LO, 'Moda'. I'm Steve Scott." he replied, taking her hand and attempting to lay a kiss on it. She cringed and snatched her hand away as if he had a disease. Which wouldn't suprise me one bit...
"Who's she?" he asked me. My eyes bugged out as I quickly tried to think of an excuse.
"She...is...actually...um..." I said very slowly to buy myself some time because I didn't wanna blurt out 'oh, she's my daughter...' when she's really not.
"The star of my next film?" he said, hands clasped together. I elbowed him in the gut and he doubled over in pain.
"NO, she's not the star of your next film, asswipe! Now where's the money?" I said.
He wheezed and struggled to reach to hand me the stack of the seven-thousand dollars. I took the money and said "thank you". Moda and I got back into the Infernus.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Pole Position Club)
around 10:00pm
"Mr. Vercettieeeee...I'm sleepyyyy..." Moda whined, rubbing her oblong eyes.
"This is the last stop, kid. Now c'mon." I said, stepping out of the car and entering the club.
Inside the club, the lights were brighter, and the atmosphere was smokier. Mitch of course, stopped me as soon as I entered the club to tattle on Andy for "bullying" him. I mean, the bitch is JUST over five feet and he's almost seven. I guess it takes pussy to fight pussy...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Moda's P.O.V.
While Mr. Vercetti was talking to that Kenmore-shaped bouncer of his, I immediately made my way to the bar where Andy was mixing drinks.
"Hey Andy! Ya miss me!" I said cheerily.
"Oh heyyyyyyy gurrrrrrrrl! What's been good?" she asked and gave me a hug over the counter.
"Oh nothin, nothin. Mr. Vercetti's been...taking care of me." I nodded.
"Really? Boss man actually took you in?" she said while cleaning out a class.
"Yep! He fed me, bought me clothes, and showed me this big ol' mansion he got."
Andy nearly dropped the glass she was wiping.
"Are you serious! Boss man NEVER lets anyone in his mansion!"
"Really? You don't say but anyways, he's actually really nice." I grinned.
"Hmmph, you better milk that money train while it's in the station..." she mumbled under her breath. This struck a nerve.
"Ex-CUSE me?" I said in a polite tone but also a tone to let her know I didn't appreciate the comment. She never looked up from her menial task. Brushing off the comment, I spoke again. "Well, he even gave me a name." I smiled. She looked up as if to ask 'What is it?'
"He's calling me 'Moda'." I said.
"Pretty name...Spanish for 'fashion'. Nice!" she smiled, and looked back down. "Listen, I have something to tell you..." she leaned it and whispered to me.
"Huh?" I asked.
"You see that stripper over there?" she pointed at a very tall dancer on a table wearing black and navy blue with long, wispy blonde hair.
"What about her?" I asked. Andy paused, looked around and just said. "Never mind!" I rolled my eyes and took a seat at the bar.
"You want something to drink?" she asked.
"YES...gimme a Bacardi Hurri---" I said and looked over at Mr. Vercetti who was staring right back at me with a 'Don't you dare' kinda face. "I-I mean, a Sprite."
"Okay." she said and gave me a cold, frosty glass containing the delicious, clear, lemon-lime beverage. I took a sip and looked at Mr. Vercett again who was sitting in a booth, surrounded by about three dancers. One of them being the girl that Andy pointed at.
"Come play with us daddy..." said one black-but-light-skinned dancer wearing pink lingerie and pink thigh-high boots. She had her arms wrapped around Tommy's chest and was playing with the neckline of his beater.
"I learned some new moves daddy..." cooed another dancer a little on the heavy side who was wearing black and had pig-tails in her auburn hair. She satarm-in-arm with Tommy.
Blondie, disgusted, stood in front of them with her arms on her hips. "Beat it, you two!" she said. They quickly scrambled from the booth and resumed their 'work'. 'She must be the stereotypical hot shot in every work environment.' I thought. She took Tommy's hand and helped him from the booth.
"Hiya Tommieeee..." she said coyly batting her false eyelashes.
"Yeah, uh, hey Ferrari..." he said brushing off her greeting. "Ya got the money?" he asked with his hand out.
"You know it, daddy." she purred. She suggestively reached into the bosom of her corset and handed Tommy a stack of money. "Four-thousand dollars, just like every other day." she said, playfully waving the money in front of his face. He gently snatched it (A/N: yes, that IS possible to 'gently' snatch something) from her hands and turned the other way.
Ferrari, obviously wanting to keep him around a bit longer, grabbed his arm and pointed at me. 'Uh-oh...' I thought, her cold, blue eyes locking with mine. She forcibly locked her arm with his and strutted towards my direction. They approached me and Andy at the bar. She shuffled further down to the other end, leaving me in an awkward posistion.
"Oh my God..." she said, eyes wide open revealing many, small, red cracks in her eyeballs. "She...is...so...CUTE!" she said, releasing Tommy's arm and attempting to pinch my chubby face. I slowly pulled away from the sight of her long, fake fingernails. That shit hurts!
"Is this your little girlfriend?" she asked, emphasizing the word 'girlfriend'.
Tommy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No." me muttered but she didn't pay any attention.
"She looks so...youthful! Look at her skin! What kind of foundation do you use, hmmmm?" she asked, all IN my face!
I...don't use foundation." I declared. She looked at me and blinked a few times.
"Reeeeeally? But your skin is SO smooth...and look at your eyes! They're SO big and beautiful! What color ARE your eyes, hon? I can't see the color in your irises with the lights being so fuzzy and all..." I blinked my "big beautiful eyes" at her, quizically.
"That's mainly because HAVE no color. My eyes are black, and I have no idea why." I said with a 'bitch, quit questioning me' look and tone.
"Hmm. Would you mind standing up?" she asked, locking arms with Vercetti again. I sighed and stood up, thinking this would be her last set of questions. I stood with my arms to my sides. I was about an inch and a half shorter than her because she had on some huge, clunky, stripper-heels.
"Wow, you're tall! And SO thin! Do you model, young lady?" she asked like I was a three-year-old.
"Nooooooo...I don't." I replied, playing her game. I spun around in a graceful twist because I had a feeling she'd ask me to, eventually.
"Hmmm, well we know YOU'RE black!" she giggled. I cringed and faked a smile at the insensitivity of her joke. I rolled my eyes and sat back down on the stool. She turned her face to Tommy, grinning like a dead cat.
"Well, you've got yourself a nice catch, Tom-Tom! She's gorgeous, she's tall, she has nice hair...Of course, I would +fill out+ a little better and I..." she looked down at my feet ..."wouldn't have as hard as a time finding shoes,but good for youuuuu!" she said smiling at me. I immediately stood up and got in her face.
"Well these big feet have been known to kick a few asses in their time, sweetface!" I said, hands at my sides, and balling my right hand up into a fist. Also having a phony smile on my face.
"She ain't my girlfriend, Ferrari...Now let's go." he huffed. I walked behind him and looked back at Ferrari. I shot her a 'bye bitch' look and she gave me a 'you haven't seen the last of me, whore' look.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(outside the club)
"I'm glad we decided to leave because I was about to beat that bitch's ass!" I said, getting into the car.
"Calm down, kid. Get used to it..." he sighed.
"What's up between you two...she seems like she has a huge crush on you 'Tom-Tom'." I said.
"MORE than a crush..." he started the car.
"So...what happened? Ya'll get divorced? Is she just trying to impress you? Does she have your REAL baby?" I asked, curiously.
"We just...fucked, okay!" he seethed. "I mean...we just...had relations is all..."
"Yeah, y'all just fucked." I said.
"Hey, don't say the 'f' word, kid. But yeah, all she wanted was a backrub, let's just leave it at that." he said.
"Hmmmmm. Okay." I said and stared out the window. 'A hit-and-run, eh?' I thought.
(silence)
"Can I drive?" I asked.
"No." he said, eyes concentrated on the road.
(silence)
I turned on the radio to a station called "K-Chat" or something.
"Did you know that men ENJOY looking at pictures of naked women?" said a female in a concerned voice. Most likely a femenist. "It's called 'pornography'..." she ranted. Taking this chance to be an assholeI turned to Mr. Vercetti with a corny smile on my face.
"Do YOU enjoy looking at pornography, Mr. Vercetti?" I asked.
'SCREEEEEEECH!' went the car as it came to a complete halt in the middle of a very busy intersection. I hit my head on the dashboard again. Note to self: make it a habit to wear a seatbelt.
"Do you understand WHY I don't want you working there!" he yelled. I darted my eyes from left to right.
"Because...it's indecent?" I said meekly.
"BECAUSE..." he yelled again then lowered his voice "Not just that, it's just...you don't belong in a strip club, kid."
"So it's indecent." I said.
"Yes...but...you belong..." he took a deep breath as I widened my eyes waiting for an answer.
"Don't stop in the middle of traffic, asshole!" yelled an anonymous driver but we paid them no mind.
"Belong...where?" I whispered, getting impatient.
"Never mind." he snapped and drove off. There was silence for the rest of the ride home.
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
(at home)
about 10:30pm
Tommy's P.O.V.
Man, what an awkward ride. I need to keep that bitch Ferrari at bay. There's something about her that tells me I never should've hired her. I think she got through with that name 'Ferrari'. Get it? A girl with a car name working at the Pole Posistion club (A/N: which was one of Namco's very first arcade games if you still don't get the reference)? Clever.
I still need to find a way to let Moda know that I not only want to keep her, y'know, take her in from the streets, but I also want her to be my legal daughter. What was I gonna say "hey kid, even though I'm a convicted, psychotic killer, I want you to carry on my legacy and be my kid". If I said that, she'd probably PREFER to be in the streets. What the hell am I gonna do. My nerves are so fucking frazzled right now, I didn't even feel like collecting the money from the rest of my assets.
End chap 12
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Another rushed chapter I think. I had to throw in the "do YOU enjoy pornography" quote because I thought it was funny. And once again, I'd really like to thank my loyal readers who have read this far. I appreciate you! And have you noticed another connection with Ferrari's name? If you do, don't spill the beans and ruin it for the other readers!