Sorry for the wait. I've been kind of busy lately. Also, sorry for the lack of talent in this one, writer's block is kicking my ass. Thanks for the reviews.
Chapter 68-Bury the Blues
No POV
As soon as Dom gave the word, the boys got started on the beach house. They wanted to get it cleaned up before they began on the new one. Dom called Letty to let her know that he'd be a little late coming home. Of course she yelled, wanting to know where he was and why he was going to be late. They argued for a good twenty minutes before Dom got sick of it and hung up on her. He didn't need to be stressed while trying to fix up his late father's beach sanctuary.
Dom assigned them all jobs: Jesse was to clean up all the trash around the house first; Dom and Rome would fix the roof immediately; and Leon and Brian would move all the furniture and things out of the inside. Afterwards, they would figure out what needed to be done with it.
Dom used the Jetta to drive to the closest Home Depot, which was a few miles away. He purchase cleaning supplies, including a trash can and mop. He bought several puckets of paint to cover the grafitti and a nail gun. He found some roof tile that matched with the beach house perfectly.
"Alright Jess, let's get started," he said, pulling the trash can from the back of the Jetta.
Jesse grunted and began the clean up process. Leon helped him, considering the place looked like a trash dump itself. It took them almost a half hour to get the house cleaned up. Leon discovered what smelled so bad towards the back of the house...a dead dog.
"God, that's just fucking cruel," Leon mumbled as he grimaced at the sight. The dog looked as if he had been there for a few days.
"Put these on and get him out of here," Dom tossed Jesse and Leon cleaning gloves. They both looked at him with confused, bewildered looks.
"And take it where Dom?" Jesse asked with his brow quirked. Dom thought for a moment, he had no idea where to take a dead animal.
"Why don't we just bury it?" Brian asked, finding a few shovels in a small shed by the house.
Dom nodded and waved it off, as if to say he didn't care. He and Rome loaded some wood off the truck, dragging it near the house. Dom pulled the ladder from the shed and sat it against the house.
They started on fixing the roof while Jesse and Leon buried the dead pup deep in the sand. The boys worked hard until the sun started to set.
Dom and Rome got the roof finished, making it look brand new and improved. Brian and Leon had the mattresses and bedsprings out of the house and loaded onto the back of Dom's truck after they took all the wood down. Everything they received from the construction site would be locked up in the shed until tomorrow. They loaded the trashcans and other supplies and put them back on the trucks.
It was rolling up on seven p.m. and the boys knew they had to get back soon. They had been out since earlier that day and the women would have either of two reactions; they'd be pissed and distant, or they'd be worried and bitchy. Dom knew that with Letty, he could have both at any moment.
"Go see Vincent later," Dom said into the talkie as he drove the opposite way of the other boys. He had to get home soon.
"Alright Dom, see ya later dawg," Leon answered, driving home his truck.
The other boys dispersed after relieving their cars of the debris from the beach house.
Please, be sleeping or something, Dom thought as he quietly walked into his home. The lights were out in the front, but there was a dim light coming from the den. He slowly locked the door and tossed the keys on the coffee table. What am I doing? It's not like I was at the club! Dom thought as he walked coolly through the house. He walked straight to the kitchen and grabbed himself a cold beer. When he turned around, he jumped nearly ten feet in the air, his heart racing.
"What the hell are you trying to do, kill me?!" he yelled at Letty, holding his chest. For a pregnant woman, she was a light stepper.
"Where were you Dom? We were all supposed to go see Vince together and none of the guys were there. Why is that?" she asked calmly, sitting down at the table. Her feet were aching from pacing back and forth in the den.
"We got the shit for the new house and drove it to the beach. When we got there, the old place was trashed. We couldn't let the girls live in those kind of conditions," Dom gave in, sipping his beer.
"Did it look that bad?" Letty asked, her face wearing a grimace. The old beach house was her solstice, her place of serenity. She matured, became a woman in that small cabin home.
Dom nodded and gulped down the last of his beer. "It really did." He walked over and lifted Letty into the air, his arms under her knees and her arm slung around his neck. He carried her upstairs, making a detour to the twins' room.
"CJ, Bruno, let's go," he nodded them out the room to follow.
They all went back to Letty and Dom's bedrom and crawled into bed. Dom slipped off his tank and tossed it in the laundry basket in the bathroom. I'll shower in the morning, he said to himself.
"So how'd Uncle V do today?" Dom asked as he crawled in next to CJ.
"He did great! He can walk Daddy!" CJ yelled, excited. Vince always was her favorite uncle.
"That's great babe. Did they say when he's coming home?" his next question was directed to Letty.
"Hopefully by the end of the week. Check this...Vince said he kicked his physical therapy teacher in the nuts!" Letty laughed, Dom joining in.
They all snuggled under the covers, the twins in the middle and fell asleep.
Sasha's POV
I started my day at nine this morning. I usually wouldn't have woken up so early, but Desmond was smacking me in the face.
"What?" I asked him groggily, peeking one eye open. He smiled, looking fully awake. He always was bopping around early in the morning.
I took him and went downstairs to begin breakfast. From what I knew, Chrystal was sleeping upstairs with Jayden, and they could eat just as much as Vince.
Around 10:45, breakfast was finished and the girls were now awake. I cooked up a stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.
I left Jayden to feed Desmond while I went to a special room in the house. One people rarely were able to enter without permission. It was located on the second level of the house, down the hall next to the bathroom. I twisted the doorknob and took a deep breath, pushing the door open.
The smell of cologne and Corona attacked my nose as I entered the room. The atmosphere seemed to be all different in this particular space. It was calming and soothing. I sat down in a chair as I stared across the room; six beautiful guitars staring back at me. Amplifiers and guitar cases were sprawled around the room, complimenting the guitars' heavenly look.
Ah, Vince, I thought to myself. I understood what Vince was going through, even if he couldn't admit it. I saw the anger in his eyes after he and Leon played the video game. He had no idea how to be the person he was. I knew there was nothing more he'd love to do than play his guitars, but his trauma could possibly affect that. What if he doesn't know how to play anymore? My eyes watered and my heart ached at the thought of not hearing those smooth mellows he played, not hearing the acoustic guitar at night when he was putting Desmond to sleep.
I walked over to Vince's favorite guitar, a red and black Yamaha FG720S Acoustic guitar. This was the guitar he played the night we had our first big date. I looked over at his next favorite; a midnight blue Ilbanez AES10E Acoustic-Eletric guitar. He played that one at our wedding. I continued looking at the soulful instruments, my eyes stopping on my personal favorite - a black Ilbanez Iceman 400 Electric guitar. He loved to break that one out at the parties, the rock tunes pumping up the crowd.
I loaded his acoustic guitar in it's case and zipped it. I carried it out the room and sat it carefully next to the sofa.
"Where you taking that?" Jayden asked, shoveling pancakes into her mouth.
"To Vince. I figured he'd might want to see it," I answered, brushing my fingers over it slightly. I knew he'd want to see his guitars. They were his babies.
It was approaching one p.m. when we were finally ready to go visit Vince. The girls loaded into the Maxima after strapping Desmond securely into his carseat. I cautiously sat the guitar case on the floor in front of the passenger seat, allowing it to lean against it.
As we entered the hospital, myself carrying the guitar, we received smug looks from some of the nurses standing around. A part of me wanted to knock the fake smiles off their faces, but I decided against it.
As we passed the group of women, "I hope that's not for her husband. His crippled ass can't do shit for himself, let alone play the guitar."
The group of girls laughed. I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned on my heels and strutted over to them. They all had smug and arrogant looks plastered on their faces. Before I could even get the words out, someone spoke for me.
"Why don't you shut the fuck up before I shut you up?! Are you and your league loyal whores paid to stand around and look stupid?" Jayden spat vehemently, her eyebrow quirked in anger, a move she learned from myself and Letty.
The lead blond huffed and stomped away, her 'league' following angrily. I looked at Jayden and smiled.
"Your uncle would smack you and hi-five you at the same time for that," I reminded her as we continued for his room. She only shrugged and kept walking.
I pushed the door open, my heart melting at my first glance at him. He was sitting up, smiling brightly at Senia, who was writing something on a small pad. When she noticed us entering, she gave a polite smile and wave, handing Vince the pad back. I tried to hide the large guitar case behind my back so Vince couldn't see.
"Hey ladies, Desmond," Senia hugged us, ruffing Desmond's hair. "V, remember what I told you about those. Practice, practice, practice!" her voice sing-song-like. She smiled at us one last time then exited the room.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Dez screeched, his arms frailing in the air. Vince smiled and held his arms out, his eyes begging for his son.
"Whatcha got there Uncle V?" Chrys asked, looking over his shoulder at the pad.
"A list of things I need to learn how to do," he fought out. I knew he wasn't proud to admit he was incapable of accomplishing simple tasks, but I was glad he did.
"Let me see it," Chrys said, snatching the pad before he could object. "Brush teeth, kick Leon's ass in PS2, tie shoes, button shirts..." she rambled off.
"Yeah, well the list goes on," Vince mumbled, trying to take a peek behind my back. "Whatcha got there?"
I took a deep breath, then pulled the heavy case from behind my back. The way his eyes lit up when he saw his baby made my heart flutter. His usual blank expressioned face was replaced with a look of joy and endearment on his face.
"I figured you'd wanna see her," I said, carefully placing the guitar on his lap. He held Desmond sternly with one hand and pulled the guitar to him with his other. I helped him unlocked the case and stepped back.
"Hey girls, why don't you take Desmond and go look for Aunt Mia?" I said, hoping to get a moment with Vince to myself. They nodded and exited the room.
I pulled up a chair next to Vince, never taking my eyes off of him. He was rubbing the sides of his guitar with such love and grace. He ran his fingers softly against the strings, a beautiful ring filling the air. His eyes watered, but in a second, the tears were gone.
A small smile tugged at his lips, "I can play." He looked up at me with confidence.
"Well go ahead, lets hear something," I said, sitting up in my chair. He pulled the guitar to his chest and took a deep breath.
Within seconds, a soulful melody filled the room, and I was sure it sang out into the halls. Vince bopped his head along with the tune. Even with his eyes closed, I could still see the passion in playing on his face. I felt my body calm and my eyelids grow heavy but was soon interrupted.
"Um excuse me Mr. Palmeriti, we don't allow guitars on this level of the hospital. You may take it-" the blond bimbo from earlier spoke. I gave her a death glare, but she didn't look intimidated.
"Marie, get the hell out of here. I'm sure the boss man wouldn't like to know how you stripped your way through college, would he? Or that you throw yourself at every patient with a dick?" Vince spat, not looking up from the guitar.
"Ugh! You wouldn't!" she sneered at Vince, one hand on her hip.
"Wanna try me? OUT!" Vince growled, pointing to the door. She huffed one last time, then slammed the door shut behind her.
"You wanna tell me what the hell that was about?" I asked, curious to how he knew so much about 'Marie'.
"About a week after I started getting better, she was my assigned nurse. Except she was pretty sure that she could do a few 'things' that'll get me up and running, if you know what I mean," he mumbled, plucking the strings softly. I made a mental note to have a little chat with Marie later on.
"Well forget about her, keep playing," I said, fixing my hair behind my ears as I continued to listen.
No POV
"Vince, it's time," Dr. Colby said, his voice low and certain. He, along with most of the staff, knew Vince disliked physical therapy as much as the next patient. But Vince never complained or whined, which is why they admired him. He sucked it up and gave it 110 percent.
V gave the strings one last soulful pluck, then handed Chrys his guitar. She placed it carefully back in its case. Jayden sat Desmond in the bed, then helped Vince into the wheelchair while Sasha pulled Dr. Colby aside.
"You the Doc helping him walk again?" she asked, eyebrow quirked.
"Yes ma'am, I'm Dr. Colby," they shook hands,"Your boy is some fighter," Colby complimented, smiling brightly.
"Isn't that the truth. Listen Doc, you have to get him up and running again. Vince has so much riding for him. I mean, yeah, he's done some stupid things in his life, but he deserves-" Sasha began to rant.
"Ma'am, ma'am!" Colby placed both of his hands on her shoulders, calming her down, "Vince is making great progress. He seems like a really good guy. He'll be on his feet and running with the little tot in no time. Now Vince, we must get going," Colby said, walking over to the wheelchair.
"Be good you two," Vince pointed to the girls, "Tell Dominic I'm pissed at him," Vince yelled over his shoulder as the doctor.
As they were exiting the hospital, Sasha caught glance of Marie talking to her 'league of loyal whores'. Marie looked over, gave Sasha an evil glare, then flipped her hair. Sasha took that as disrespect and wanted to do something about it.
"You take this and go start the car, I'll be there in a second," she said to Jayden, handing her the guitar. Chrys and Jay both gave her skeptical looks, but did as they were told.
Sasha walked over to Marie and tapped her on her shoulder. As Marie was turning around, Sasha was swinging in with a right hook. Her fist connected with Marie's jaw, dropping her to the ground immediately. Her hand flew up to shield her cheek as she stared at Sasha with awe.
"Are you fucking stupid?! I should have you arrested for that!" Marie spat, struggling to get to her feet.
"If you don't stay away from my husband, they are gonna arrest me for something a lot more gruesome," Sasha threatened through gritted teeth. "Anyone next?" she growled at the other girls watching. They all scattered to different directions of the hospital, leaving their leader with a bruised ego.
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Finally, chapter 68. Sorry it took so long, things have been hectic around here lately. I know this wasn't very good, but like I said above, writers block is kicking my ass. I'll update as soon as possible. Review please.
-Kita