I'm back! Sorry for the hiatus. I was a little worn out the past two weeks with my projects and eveything. But it's Christmas break so I have plenty time to get some more chapters up. Maybe number 50 wasn't as exciting as I thought because I didn't get many reviews on it. That's okay though. I'm gonna keep 'em coming for those of you who are still reading. Please read and review!

--Kita

Chapter 51-Keepin' Tabs

No POV

The pool gang rounded up and headed for home at about 4:30 p.m. With the rising heat, even being outside in a pool wasn't enough. Brian suggested they go home and sit in the AC with no arguments in return. When they made it home, Vince was the first to notice an empty driveway. Jesse wasn't even parked before he bolted out the car.

"Where he goin'?" Tony asked Jesse.

Jesse laughed as he pulled into the driveway. "Coyote's hungry." He joked, pulling his keys out the ignition.

Vince jumped all four steps to the house and burst through the front door. He found the house dead quite, except for Dominic snoring slightly on the couch.

"YO DOM!" He yelled, kicking the edge of the couch where Dom's head was laying. He grunted deep and sat up.

"What Vincent." He said dead calm.

"Please tell me you know where Sasha is." Vince said, mentally praying Dom would say upstairs. He paced the floor quickly, running his hands through his shaggy hair. Dom stopped to think for a minute. He knew if anything happened to Sasha, Vince would lose his mind.

"I .. I don't know Vince. She said she was going to the store. That .. that was about a half an hour ago though." He stuttered, not wanting to admit that he had no idea where Sasha was.

The rest of the team, who came filing in after Vince, re-entered the room from getting dressed.

"Where's Sasha at?" Tony asked, tracking down the stairs. Nobody said anything, they just looked away. "Guys?" He asked, noticing the looks on everyone's faces. "Where the fuck is my sister?!"

Sasha's POV

From the store, I somehow found my way to PetSmart to do a little shopping. With Bam on my arm, I slipped into the pet store, feeling the warm, much-needed breeze greet me first. An attendant approached me as I made my way to the dog section.

"Can I help you ma'am?" A woman asked just as I placed two large bags of dog food in the basket. I figured I might as well shop for Cupcake too.

"Um no I'm fine, thanks." I said, pushing my cart down the aisle. I found two food and water bowls for the pups. I got Bam a black one and Cupcake a blue one. I hated the color but Di loved it.

After placing the bowls in the basket, I was dragged over to some toys by Bam. He bit into a red play bone. I went to reach for the bone, but his grip grew stronger. I knew that was the beginning. This was going to be an all-out shopping spree.

Vince's POV

"Tony we don't know. Dom said she left a half an hour ago for the store. I'll call her." I said, pulling my phone from my pocket. I walked out to the lenae and sat on the steps. I dialed Sasha's cell and waited.

Riiing.

Silence.

Riiiing.

Nothing.

Riiiiiing.

No answer. I let the phone ring twice more before I hung up. I gave it about thirty seconds, then I called again.

Still nothing.

I took a deep breath as my heart began to panic. I knew Sasha was very well capable of taking care of herself, but she was in no condition to be out and about. Now I know I have to keep a close eye on her at all times. I prepared myself before walking into the house of an angry brother. I know how heated the Rodriguez's can get. It was never pretty.

"Well? Did you find her?" Tony asked immediately as I entered the house again.

"No she didn't answer." I replied, running my hands through my hair again. I flopped down on the couch as I began to panic.

"I'll call Letty." Mia said, walking to the phone on the kitchen wall. She dialed the numbers and put the phone to her ear.

"Hey Let, it's Mia. Has Sasha stopped by? ... She hasn't? ... No Letty calm down ... We don't know where she is ... Letty shut the hell up and listen!" Mia yelled into the phone, catching everyone off guard. When we all looked at her, she rolled her eyes. "You're sister isn't here. It doesn't mean someone kidnapped her Stupid ... Look I'll call you if we find her." Before Mia hung up, you could still hear Letty's wrath. "No Sasha there." She said, taking a seat on Brian's lap on the recliner.

Sasha's POV

I was still in the midst of shopping when I remembed I left my cell phone on the charger in the car. I asked the attendant from earlier, who was a snobby, Barbie look-a-like, to watch Bam-Bam while I ran to the car to get it. She clearly didn't want too but when I left quickly, she didn't have much of a choice. I tried to walk as fast, but as carefully as I could to the Porsche. My side was aching with pain but I ignored it. I pressed the button to open the door and slipped halfway in. I picked up Razor (which had a black and white camo cover) and flipped it open.

Two missed calls.

"Damnit." I cursed low to myself. I knew it was Vince calling to annoy me, which is why I didn't call him back. I closed the phone and stuck it in my shorts pocket as I closed the door. I glided back to the store slowly and took Bam's leash from the attendant, who was looking at Bam in disgust. "Problem?" I asked her.

"This dog is a disgusting thing. He's drooling all over the place." She said, cleaning her hand with sanitizer.

"You're kidding me right? You work in a fuckin' pet store. The majority of animals that come in here drool." I replied, putting Bam in the front of the basket.

"Whatever. You done here? I wanna go on break now." She said, playing with her gum. I was two seconds away from knocking this skank out before Bam started barking. I knew it was time to go home. He was missing his sister.

I placed everything on the counter (and I had plenty) and pulled out my wallet. It took the Barbie about seven minutes to ring everything up. Usually it'd take about 30 seconds, but not in this case.

"Your total is $163.75. Will that be cash or credit? We don't do layaway here." She said with a smartass smirk on her face. One of my fist clenched at my side. If it wasn't for Bam here, I'd beat her ass and not care about going to jail over it. I smiled back and pulled $200 from my wallet. I slammed it down on the counter as I placed my bags in my buggy.

"Keep the change. You could use it to put some Silicon on layaway maybe? I mean from the looks of it, you sure don't have the money to do otherwise." I replied smiling, looking her up and down. She rolled her eyes as I left PetSmart.

xxx

Dom's POV

"Everybody just chill out. She'll be here." I said, trying to calm down the group of raging people in my living room. Vince was on the couch stressing out. He ran his hands through his hair about 40 times. Tony was sitting on the steps of the upstairs, not speaking a word. Mia was pacing a hole in the floor, mumbling with panic. Jesse was giving Diana a massage on the floor, as she just lay silently, picking at her eyebrow ring (which she got on her 20th birthday). Brian was still in the recliner, staring at the floor.

Everything, minus Mia, was silent when we heard the roar of an engine near the house. Sasha. Everyone jumped up, making their way to the door. I flung the door open as Sasha pulled into the driveway. She stepped out slowly, Bam jumping out over her. Everyone just stood, watching her. She looked paler then normal. She shut the door behind her as she attempted to walk towards the house. She collapse on the yard, moaning in pain. I, along with everyone else, ran to her aide.

"SASHA!!' I yelled, running down to her. This seemed all too familiar. I held her limp body in my arms, patting her face to get her to wake up. My eyes watered as the the memory of the day of the hijackings played over and over in my head. He body laid still for about a minute. Seconds later, her eyes fluttered open, a grin playing across her lips.

"I didn't mean to scare you pussy. I'm just tired as hell. Quit crying and get me off the grass buddy." She said, as a single tear fell down my face. I smiled as I picked her up.

"I should drop you." I growled jokingly, handing her to Vince. She stuck her tongue out at me like a five year old.

"Hey Bri and Jess, get the bags out the trunk for me please. I warn you now, it's a LOT of stuff." She said over Vince's shoulder. I laughed and continued to walk with them. "Nuh uh where you goin'? Go get those bags Mister." She said to me, pointing to the car. I smiled and sighed as I made my way over to the car.

Sasha's POV

Vince sat me down on the couch. I'm glad I was finally laying down 'cus my stomach was gonna be the death of me. I slipped off my shirt, leaving me in my white beater.

"Where were you at Sasha? You weren't supposed to leave the house!" Vince yelled. I should've seen this coming.

"Vince don't do this. I went shopping for the dogs okay?" I said, twisting the cap off my Pepsi. I took the top off my medication pills and took out two. I tossed them in my mouth and drank a gulp of the soda.

"Why didn't you tell Dom? Why didn't you tell me?! Something could've happened to you." He screamed again.

"One, neither of you are my father so I don't need you keeping tabs on me. Two, I went to the fuckin' store to buy me a pop. I didn't know I was goin' shopping for the dogs, I just somehow made it there. Get off my back, geez." I replied, my anger rising. Ha, I was finally back to my normal self. I thought I was going soft for awhile there.

"I'm not gonna get off your back Sasha. You just got out of the hospital for fuck's sake. You don't need to be out shopping. You could have told one of us to do it!" Vince yelled. The rest of the group began to enter during the middle of our fight.

"I'm not helpless ok? I'm not fuckin' crippled. I have two legs and two arms like everyone else. Vete a la mierda punta." I yelled. I was known to curse in Spanish when I was heated. I stood and slowly made my way upstairs to my room.

No POV

"I hate when she does that." Vince said, stomping to the kitchen.

"What'd she say?" Jesse asked, looking confused.

"Fuck you bitch." Tony piped up, walking up the stairs to Sasha's room. He took a deep breath before he knocked softly on the door. He pushed it open and found his sister sitting up on their bed. "You okay?" He asked, leaning against the door.

"What the fuck do you think Tony?" She growled at him.

"Yo what the fuck Sasha? I'm trying to be a caring brother and make sure you're okay but if you wanna be a bitch-" Tony started, angry at his sister's reply. He went to walk out the room but was stopped.

"Wait Tone. Don't leave. I'm sorry. I just wish they wouldn't act like I can't take care of myself. I'm a grown woman." She said, tossing the empty Pepsi bottle next to her. He shut the door behind him and sat on the bed.

"I know but they're just looking out for you, ya know. At least they care enough to worry about you. You don't have to be so stubborn all the time." He said, poking her in the thigh. "Fatty."

Sasha laughed and smacked him playfully in his head. "I'm not a fatty." She said pouting. She poked her bottom lip out and folded her arms across her chest. They continued to play fight until the door opened.

"Knock knock." Diana pushed the door open.

"C'mon in Di." Sasha said, smacking Tony with her pillow one last time.

"You seem like you're in a better mood." Diana said, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah. Ant is a punk ass bitch though." She replied, smiling at him.

"I bet. But thanks for buying that stuff for Cupcake. I'll pay you back sometime soon." Diana said.

"Don't worry 'bout it girl. Plus, I know you're never gonna pay me back anyways." Sasha said, tossing the pillow at Diana. She caught it and threw it back.

"Whatever. Come downstairs. Stop actin' like you're mad at Vince when you know you're not." Diana said, walking from the room.

Sasha and Tony got up and left the room with Diana.

xxx

Vince's POV

I sat in the recliner, Corona in hand, as Sasha, Di, and Tony came down the stairs. I was still pissed off but from the looks of it, she wasn't. I watched Sasha glide past me into the kitchen. Her hips swayed rhythmically. She looked at me briefly and smirked. Whatever.

"You gonna talk to her?" Dom asked from the recliner across from me.

"Nope." I replied, sipping my drink.

"Brave man." He replied, smiling.

Sasha re-entered the room, her dog in hand. She sat on the couch, looking from me and Dominic, who had the biggest grin on his face.

"So you mad at me Vinnie?" She asked, looking up from Bam. I just ignored her and continued to stare at Dom. I got up and walked out on the porch. I looked in the window and listened in. "Is he serious?" She asked Dominic.

"Go get him." Dom said, nodding to me. I moved from the window just as she came outside. She wrapped her arms around my waist.

"I'm sorry Vince. I just hate how you guys treat me now. I know I should take it easy and I promise to do that if you promise to stop babying me. Deal?" She asked.

I turned around and faced her. I bent down and kissed her passiontely. A kiss that I'd longed for all day. I didn't mean to baby her. I just wanted to take care of her is all.

"Deal." I smiled and we entered the house.