Thanks for the reviews.
Chapter 50-The Small Box
When Vince arrived back at the house, Sasha was sitting on the porch, patiently waiting with Ricky by her side. Sasha was dressed differently from earlier. She now wore a red beater and white sweats and her brunette hair was in a messy bun. Vince popped the trunk and removed the suitcase and the box. Sasha ran over to help him, but he pushed her away. He gave Ricky a deep glare, although she wore a sympathetic look on her face.
"I got it. There's a small box in the passenger seat, get that," he said, walking into the house. "Jayden! Chrys! Come down here please," Vince strained to yell.
Chrystal bounded down the stairs, her usually happy-go-fuck-yourself personality into play. She was a happy girl, but she had a few screws loose. Jayden walked down the stairs behind her friend, her eyes rimmed with red. Vince took the suitcase and the large box to the lounge, the group following him. He placed both on the table. He kept the medium box close by; he wanted to look at it himself.
"Whatcha got Uncle V?" Chrys asked, already being adopted to the family. Vince looked at her, then at Jayden.
"Jay, I'm sorry about earlier. I had no idea. The ringer on the phone was off and I-I just didn't know okay. I'm sorry you had to go through that alone," Vince said, his words choking as they came out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to snap. I just didn't think it'd happen so soon," she said, being engulfed into Vince's welcoming arms as she began to cry. Sasha put her arms on Vince's shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. Ricky and Chrys sat back quietly, watching the family grieve together.
"Look, I got some things from your house. Keep whatever you want, the rest we'll bury in the backyard. Deal?" Vince asked Jay, pulling her back from his chest. He wiped her tears away gently with his thumb as she nodded.
"Vince, let me talk to you for a second," Ricky said, tapping him on the shoulder. Sasha looked at her confused as to why she would want to talk to Vince at all, much less alone. They still didn't like each other, and two seconds alone could mean death for either. "Naw Sash, everything is chill. I just wanna talk," Ricky said, reading the look on her face.
Vince followed Ricky out onto the front porch. As she sat down, Vince stood menacingly, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Ricky took a deep breath.
"Okay, I know we don't see eye to eye. Hell, you might even hate me," Vince let out a snort, but continued listening, "But you have to understand, I'm not trying to break you and Sasha up. You two have one helluva bond and I could never break that up. She's crazy about you Vince. And yeah, maybe there was an attraction between us before, but Sasha has become a close friend of mine and Chrystal. Chrys adores her V. I'm not trying to hurt you or your family. I just want one to belong to. I've never had one before and the way your Team comes together and looks out for each other, it's – it's incredible. I just want somewhere to belong man," Ricky admitted, standing from the porch.
V could see the honesty in Ricky's baby blue eyes. He understood where she was coming from. At one point in his life, he was looking for somewhere to belong also. He admired Ricky's confidence, for she didn't blink or move while standing under Vince's microscopic glare. Vince finally reacted, holding his hand out to her.
"Let's call it a truce," he said, smirking a bit. Ricky finally let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and smiled, shaking Vince's hand.
"Truce. And I'm really sorry about your sister. It's a very sad thing," Ricky said, placing her hand momentarily on his shoulder.
"Thanks. Let's go," he said, allowing her to toss her arm around his shoulder. They walked back into the house, smiling at something Vince had said.
Sasha looked at Chrystal and Jayden, both only shrugged in response. Sasha walked over to Vince and playfully placed her hand on his forehead.
"Hmm, you don't seem to be ill. What'd you do to him?" she asked Ricky, quirking a brow.
"Nothing," Ricky replied laughingly, "Figured it was just time to grow up."
"Let's see what's in these boxes already Uncle V. I'm ready to lie down," Jayden replied, running her hands threw her hair.
Vince nodded and walked over to the suitcase and opened it first. Jayden looked in it, seeing all her mother's clothes.
"My god. She hasn't worn any of this in years," Jayden said, pulling out a red, satin nightgown. Vince sat back on the couch, sighing deeply. One fucking day, he thought.
"You did a good thing, ya know, bringing her stuff here," Sasha said, wrapping her arms around Vince's neck from behind, watching Jayden indulge in the things that once belonged to her mother.
"You think so?" he asked, taking a beer from Ricky's hand. She had taken it upon herself to retrieve them.
"Yes, Mr. Palmeriti, I do think so. Look at her, she loves it. The cops would have just tossed those away or probably shipped it to a salvation army store. You did good Dad," Sasha said, kissing the top of Vince's ear.
"Where's Dez?" Vince asked, not looking away from Jayden, who was now holding up the sparkling high heels.
"With Letty and Lily. She said when you're ready, come over to the house. I guess she called a meeting for later. I'm gonna go get changed," Sasha said, kissing Vince on the cheek. He nodded and looked at the box that sat next to him. He was still contemplating if he wanted to look through it or not.
Before he could give it much more thought, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," he said, standing from the couch. Stopping at the lounger doorway, he turned around. "Don't touch that box -- Chrystal!" he emphasized her name, knowing she was a nosey one. She rolled her eyes and nodded. The knocking continued.
When Vince pulled the door open, he was a little anxious at his guests. Cops.
"Problem?" he asked, rudely.
"Nice to see you too, Vince," the officer replied, smirking at Vince. They had a couple run-ins back in the day, and Vince personally hated the cop. It seemed like every time Vince had trouble obeying the law, Officer Bryant Lent was there to arrest him. Not to mention the fact that Bryant and Vince attended the same high school and were arch rivals then also.
"Officer Bryant, what can I do for you?" he asked sarcastically.
"I'm sure you've heard by now about your sister, I'm sorry for your loss. We just came to get some information on her," the officer sobered up his hatred for Vince. Vince looked at him, and his partner, who looked like he was twelve, and moved to let them enter.
"I mean, I knew you had a thing for guys, but don't you think he's a little young?" Vince asked sarcastically, nodding to the nervous wreck of a partner.
"He's a trainee. You jealous you're not my type Palmeriti?" the cop retaliated, smirking at Vince once more.
"Whatever. Let's do this so you can get out of my sight," Vince said, sitting down on the living room couch, the officers following suit. Officer Bryant sat his clipboard on the table and flipped to the first page of questions.
"Okay. So, how long has your sister been doing drugs?" was his first question.
"Why is that relevant to the moment, officer?" Vince snapped.
"Because the AIDS/HIV virus can be spread many ways Palmeriti. Not just through sex," Bryant replied.
"I don't know. Probably since she was about twenty. Look, I just found my sister a few days ago so excuse me if I don't know her every activity," V said, trying to hold back his refreshing emotions.
"What do you mean, found her? Where was she?"
"She's my stepsister. Our parents ran away together and died in a plane crash when we were little. Her grandfather took care of us until he couldn't anymore. He got old. Sent me to live with my grandmother and I never heard of her again. Her daughter, Jayden, my wife found her at our store and told her about me. Next question," Vince tried to explain as simply as possible.
"Right. Okay, how long has she been sick?" Officer Bryant asked, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of acting civil towards Vince.
"I dunno. I think she said about three years," Vince answered, dropping his head into his hands. He could feel a migraine making its way to his head.
xxx
Letty's POV
Most of the Team had arrived at the house when I told them about Vince's sister passing away. Dominic felt guilty that he wasn't with Vince right now, trying to comfort him. I knew Vince would like us there with him, but I also knew that when things like this happened, people wanted their space to think. Leon couldn't make it because of his firefighter duties, but he sent his deepest regards to V. Roman also couldn't show up because he had to take Jeremiah to his allergy-specialist.
I was left to keep order in a house full of kids and emotional women; who does Dom think I am, Wonder Woman? Dom was slouched in the couch, his mind obviously elsewhere. Brian and Jesse were standing by the kitchen door, ranting about the disease our long-lost 'sister' died from. The children were upstairs, probably trying to figure out who Aunt Victoria was. Mia, Diana and Senia were in the kitchen crying, attempting to comfort each other. Lily was silently crying to herself in the recliner across from me.
That just shows how deep our family is. Half of the Team never knew about Victoria, yet, they're all upset about her passing. I loved that about this group of people. No matter how rough and rugged we were on the outside, we were all big softies on the inside.
"Alright guys, enough! Calm down for two seconds please. Ladies, come in here," I said, taking a seat on Dom's recliner. Everyone filled in the room, silencing when entered. Mia's face was pale and moist. Senia looked as if she stopped crying just before she was called into the room.
"Look guys, this is a really sad situation that happened. I can't believe Vicky's really gone. Vince talked about her more than he did that damn car of his," I joked, failing at trying to shine light on the situation.
Sensing my nervousness, Brian spoke up.
"Yeah, I mean, I didn't know her personally, but she seemed like a great girl from what I heard from Dom and Mia," he said, looking at me. I mouthed a thank-you to him.
"So what are we going to do? I mean, Jayden can't handle the funeral arrangements all alone. I mean, Vince'll probably be too bummed to do it alone," Jesse said, taking a drag off his cigarette.
"True. I mean, I'll help out. I can do whatever. I don't want them to go through this alone. I'll work on the getting the casket ready," Brian offered. I smiled at his sincerity.
"Let's wait until they get here to discuss everything. Dom, you alright?" I asked, his silence becoming a nuisance.
"Am I alright?" he asked incredulously.
"It was just a question," I replied, licking the corner of my mouth, something I did when I was nervously agitated.
xxx
Vince's POV
Finally, they were gone. The questioning about Vicky only made my heart break worse. I think I knew how bad Jayden was feeling. She had gone back up to her room to shower off her pain. Sasha, Ricky, and Chrys left a few minutes ago for Dom's house. I told her I'd wait behind for Ricky. I really wanted time with the box I left untouched for too long. I sat across from it in the lounge room; it on the table, me on the sofa. I stared at it, hoping some magic would make it open by itself. Giving up my hopes, I lifted the lid from the box.
I couldn't believe it. It looked like memorabilia from our childhood. There was a long, silver chain with a blue crystal on the end of it. I found the crystal at the ocean on one of our trips to Ft. Lauderdale when we were younger. It put the crystal on one of my old chains and gave it to her the morning I left Vegas. I never wanted her to forget me, and that was one of my methods.
I sat the necklace to the side as I continued rummaging through the box. There were a few envelopes inside, all with the Toretto address on them. I sat them to the side, deciding to look over those later. Other items in the box included pictures of myself and Vicky as children.
I smiled, contrary to the tears in my eyes. There was a photo of us playing football. She was in one of my old, torn blue jerseys and pink fuchsia shorts. There was dirt on her cheeks and a bright smile on her face. I had on a matching jersey and torn jeans, the dirt and smile identical, but nothing close to hers. I looked at another picture. The wedding.
It was the day her father married my mom. She was the flower girl, I was the ring bearer. In the picture, we were standing with our parents, who had matching cake icing on their faces. There was cake on my face too. You always were a coyote huh V?
I looked at the last photo in the box. It was the last picture we had taken together. It was the night before I left Nevada for California. Vicky and I were in the backyard staring up at the sky. We'd find the brightest stars and name them. She always named hers 'Vicky P', after herself. On this particular night, I can remember naming mine 'Texas', after the Lone star symbol. Sometimes today, I find myself staring up at the midnight stars, wondering what wacky names we would've came up with if we were still in touch.
I wiped the tears that covered the picture away as I heard footsteps down the stairs.
"Uncle V-" Jayden stopped short at seeing me at my weakest state., "Sorry Uncle V. I'll be out in the car," she said, starting to walk away.
"No, it's okay. Come here," she walked over slowly and sat next to me, "This was your mothers," I showed her the necklace.
"It's beautiful Uncle V. Where'd she get something like this?" she asked in complete awe of the jewel.
"I found the crystal for her when we went on vacation to Ft. Lauderdale. I drilled a hole in it and slipped it on one of my old necklaces. I gave it to her when she was nine years old. I can't believe she kept it after all this time," I said, holding the necklace up to get a good look at it. "Turn around," I said, unlatching the necklace.
"I can't take this. This was hers Uncle V," Jayden protested, slightly turning her body.
"Nonsense. I gave it to her so she wouldn't forget me. Now that I know she hasn't, I can pass it on. To you. Turn around," I ordered again, holding the necklace up. She turned away and moved her dark hair away from her neck. I snapped it on her, simplemindedly rubbing my finger on the silver. She turned back to me. "Beautiful necklace for a beautiful girl," I said, kissing her cheek. Her eyes were filled with tears.
"Oh c'mon. Let's not do anymore crying. It's killing our reps as predominant badasses," I joked, getting a small smile out of her in return. I placed everything back in the box, minus the letters, and sat the box under the sofa. "Let's go see the rest of our family."
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There ya go folks. I purchased a new keyboard yesterday, so i'll be able to update frequently. Notice it was only a day since I last updated ::cheers:: LOL! Well, read & review.
P.S. Race night next chapter!
-Kita