I went back and edited a few of the chapters if you guys got some crazy notifications. Realized I needed to add in some new information!
Sorry it's been so long since the last update, I'm getting serious senioritis, haha. I kind of cranked this one out during a period of laziness, so the next one should have much more action. Sorry it's so short.
Chapter 6
Dad was in bed for a few days, red-faced and healthy, but still resting. I wasn't even going out much, except for Brody's morning runs. Sal's men have been bringing food over so we don't have to go out and get it.
Uncle Sal strode inside, taking me by the shoulders. "Hafta talk some business with your father Laurel. Go get your nails done with Bella or something."
And that is how I came to be sitting next to Isabella in a leather chair, a foreign woman putting shiny lacquer on my nails. Choosing a red so deep it bordered black, I figured a dark color would let me keep at least some of my dignity.
Iz was speaking to me, and I vaguely nodded my head after each sentence, hoping she wouldn't notice that I hadn't been listening to everything.
When the flashing television above honed in on Commissioner Gordon's face with a small picture of the Joker in the upper right-hand corner, I shushed Isabella.
"The search continues, but the Joker is still nowhere to be found. Elusive as ever, the convict escaped just this morning. More than half the station is empty, officers working together to find the criminal."
Isabella was looking right at me. "We need to switch up your appearance dear. Now that he's out."
Like that would do any good. Brody was a dead giveaway. Yet, I humored her.
She used Sal's credit card to dye my hair to a jet black. Chopping most of it off, I was left with a way head of shoulder length locks, the color dimmed drastically. She bought me a loose black dress that fit like a smock, even though dresses weren't my thing. But since they were the opposite of what I normally wore, I agreed to the purchase. I refused to wear any restricting fabrics and insisted I keep wearing my lace-up boots. An extra purchase of various forms of fishnets sealed the deal. To Isabella's horror, I tore holes in them to make them more comfortable.
"Different, Laurel," grunted my father as I twirled and grinned. Surprising myself, I realized I enjoyed the day out with Izzy.
Sal pointed to my new ensemble. "Good idea."
"Izzy's idea," I smirked.
He patted her shoulder and met her gaze. "Grazie Bella."
She smiled and looked down. It amazed me that although Uncle Sal was shady and Bella knew it, it didn't bother her in the least. "He didn't choose any pf the other women to marry," she once told me. "He chose me."
Once they left, I nuked dad some sesame noodles and started to clean out and load some of the extra guns in the cramped den. Hiding them under the cushions, I plopped down next to the dogs on the dirty floor and sighed. We needed quick and easy access to every weapon in the house.
Especially now.