Chapter 18 – Busted
"Damn Letty, I know Miami's big and all but surely it's not so big as to take twelve hours to see." Brian said sarcastically from his seat at the kitchen table.
"No it's not Brian. We got dinner and saw a movie too." I answered and set my stuff down. I was trying hard not to respond in kind, with sarcasm.
I didn't want to have a big fight with Brian because he had a point or two about me getting attached to Rome. But I was also a big girl who was old enough to decide for herself what she wanted to risk, what was acceptable.
It was one of the things about Dom that drove me crazy after all, how he tried to run my life. I didn't want to think I was one of these women who ran from one control freak to another.
I knew that Brian was only looking after me the best way he knew how. I knew I was showing the world a pretty good, together girl, but Brian knew how often nightmares still woke me and how upset I still truly was.
It was getting better but it was far from ok.
"Letty..." Brian sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Wha?" I asked, a picture of a frustrated Vince in my mind while I said it. It was his 'what the hell do you want cause I don't want to talk to you' way of saying what.
"Dom called my phone while you were out. I don't think he knew who I was because he didn't go totally ballistic. But he asked after you and I just told him you were out and hung up but he seemed really mad when I told him. I don't know if you playing around like this with Rome is a good idea."
"Who says I'm playing around with Rome? I like him and he likes me. It's not like either of us are looking for a long term commitment. I know I want to go home to California at some point and you're the one who told me that Rome's the kind of guy who doesn't want to settle down."
"I know that Letty but...Dom was seriously pissed off. I just don't want to see you get hurt in the long run over a fling Lett."
"I'll phone him tomorrow and tell him something Bri. You don't have to worry about me. I've been taking care of myself for a long time." I sighed.
"Maybe that's part of your problem then Letty. You need someone to just take care of you instead of ordering you around and trying to be the boss. And Rome's that kind of guy."
"So maybe I'll fall for him and he'll fall for me. Would that be the end of the world?" I was just being factious and I think Brian knew it.
"No. But you'll still want to go home to California. And if you didn't then I'd still have to go because I've come to see you're right about me needing to face up to the team. To Mia. But if you go home with a new boyfriend in tow Dom'll pitch a fit that'll make any other time he was angry look like a hissy fit."
"Brian, it's gonna be fine. I don't see myself falling for Rome and I don't see Rome falling for me. He wants to show me a good time because I'm sad and he doesn't like it and I want to go home to my familia in California too much to want to live here forever. It'll all work out. You'll see. Now I haveta go to bed before I fall asleep where I stand." I started down the hall then paused and pivoted back to face Brian again.
"You'll tell Tej why I'm late and that I'll stay late to make up for it will you? I can't imagine me getting up at 9 for work."
"Sure, I'll tell him." Brian didn't look like our chat had helped him find any comfort from his worries.
I thought he had plans to get a new cell phone number anyway. I didn't want to worry that it was Dominic ever time the phone rang. I didn't mind talking to him anymore, but I didn't mind talking to him on my own terms. Same went for the rest of the guys.
Mia I worried about. She was so much more fragile then me and I almost figured she might need a way to call me if she really had to talk. I might have to have a chat with Brian about hooking me up with one of those cell phones that came from another state so that I could give Mia the number and tell her she could call if she had an emergency.
I climbed into my bed and I guess I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I dreamed about Dom. But not the kind of dreams that made me wake up screaming with Brian running to my side.
I dreamed about my senior prom. Dom took me. I was 18 and we'd been dating for 2 years.
I went with Dom, Mia went with this kid named Joseph and Vince took a girl named Cindy that hung around with us sometimes. She didn't have another date and Vince took pity on her for being the odd girl out.
He actually wore a tux and shaved all but his moustache off for the occasion. Not only that but he managed not to stare at Mia the whole evening. I said the whole evening. He did some staring, just not the whole evening.
I can't blame him for staring at Mia. She was beautiful that night. Her hair was doing that flowing, wavy thing it does so well and her dress was soft pink. It was strapless, almost backless and fell to the floor. It was fitted in the bodice and full in the skirt and looked perfect against her skin.
Cindy looked pretty good herself. She was fair skinned and a pale honey blond. Her hair was as long as Mia's but bone straight. She wore a black dress, halter style with a medium cut back. It was to the floor as well but it was fitted the whole way down. She was slender like Mia. She looked good on Vince's arm. Too bad he couldn't have seen that himself. There could be little Vince's running around right now if he had because she had it bad for him. So many of our girlfriends did have it bad for either Vince or Dom or a little of both. Not that I blame them. Dom's perfection and Vince isn't far behind. But I find it gross to think of Vince like that.
I was so nervous about going to the prom with Dominic. We hadn't made a big deal about the fact we were dating because of the age difference. It didn't matter to me but it seemed to bother Dom so I didn't want to force things. I knew he figured all my teachers would be looking at him like he was using me or abusing me in some way. Never mind that they still called Van when I got in trouble and they had to know that he didn't have any issues with it, even though he was practically raising me and Dominic was his own kid.
I didn't know what to wear. Mia took me dress shopping but everything she dressed me in was like her style. All the dresses she picked looked like bridesmaids dresses. I didn't want to wear anything that fancy. I really wanted to go to the prom but it didn't mean I was going to become the pretty, feminine, Barbie girl that I wasn't for the night either. I was desperately searching for a dress that was my style.
But the trouble was I didn't have a dress style. I had lots of style, just none when it came to dresses and the stuff that went with them.
I searched in store after store with Mia and I finally found what I wanted in a vintage clothing store. It was hot pink, go figure, with black satin ribbon trim. It was straight out of the 50's, had a crinoline and everything. It had a high waist with a black satin ribbon around it, just under my breasts and a varied hem also edged in the satin.
Mia and I both knew as soon as we saw it on me that it was the dress I had to wear. Come to think of it, it was rather like the dress I bought out with Rome.
It reminded me of hot South America nights. It wasn't a traditional prom gown. But Dom and I weren't a traditional couple either. I bought it and Mia helped me get ready on prom night. Cindy came over and we made a night of it.
We snuck some peach Schnapps into Mia's room and drank it while we got ready. Mia's date had hired a limo for the night so we didn't have to worry about drives. We did each other's make up and got dressed.
Well, ok, Cindy and Mia did each other's makeup then they did mine. I didn't have much of a clue about makeup. I still don't. I almost didn't know myself when they were done. To quote Mia, they hid most of my pimples with 'foundation' and took the shine off my skin with some powder. Then they painted my eyelids a gold color and highlighted my cheekbones with gold powder too.
Mia made me sit through half an hour of her 'shaping my eyebrows'. But I still keep them the way she did them to this day so I guess she did alright. I like the way she made them have a point almost like wings instead of curves.
She painted my lips pink to match my dress and then put some of her gold powder on my bare shoulders and into my 'cleavage' which was her word for my boobs. I didn't think anything as small as my boobs were at 18 deserved to have their own name.
By the time we headed down the stairs we looked rather good if I do say so myself. But I was more then slightly buzzed from drinking a third of a large bottle of the liquor that Cindy had provided as well.
Mia went first and her date's mouth dropped open and I could literally see old Coyote try not to deck him. Poor Vince. He wanted to be the one taking Mia. But he wasn't and he never will be.
But he seemed just as impressed with Cindy in her dress. It was hard not to be impressed with either of them in their prom gowns. They both looked so feminie and beautiful.
There I was in a dress and I still felt like the worlds biggest tom boy. I felt like a fraud. Like the whole world was going to know I didn't belong in that dress, they were all going to know I was pretending to be something I wasn't.
And then I kinda felt like Dom belonged with a girl who belonged in the dress, not a fraud like me.
But then Mia and Cindy got out of the way and Dom saw me for the first time in my dress with my eyebrows 'shaped' and my makeup done. And his eyes turned black and I could tell he didn't want to go anymore. He wanted to drag me back upstairs and show me he had much more fun things for us to do then go to some stupid dance.
It made me laugh. It was the first time I'd ever tasted my feminine powers over Dom outside of his room and it was heady stuff. He really wanted me no matter how I looked. He wanted me in my greasy undershirts and he wanted me in a fancy Spanish style dress.
He just wanted me.
That was then and this was now, but then he just wanted me.
We went to the prom and had a great night as a group. And Dom and I did get some strange looks but we were so much in our own little world of each other we hardly noticed. We, the girls, snuck more liquor into prom and were sneaking drinks out of it in the corner every chance we got.
Dom caught us and it must have looked like three deer caught in headlights. He looked mad at first then he took the bottle and took a drink. When he realized what it was he laughed so hard at us that tears rolled down his cheeks and he gave it back. He thought it was such a girly drink there was no harm in us drinking as much of it as we wanted.
How wrong he was. We all got smashed off it and we were all sick as dogs the next day. But we had fun the night of.
Well, Dom and I had more fun than anyone else because we went home to the same house and snuck into the same room. I wonder sometimes if Van knew how often I didn't stay in Mia's room anymore. If he knew he didn't care and if he cared he didn't know. I felt guilty some times about it but I was in love with Dom so I convinced myself it was ok. And Van was too smart not to have had some idea what was going on.
When I woke up from my dream it was 12pm and I figured I'd go up to the garage and start working. I didn't want Tej to think I was a total slacker.
"Damn Letty, I know Miami's big and all but surely it's not so big as to take twelve hours to see." Brian said sarcastically from his seat at the kitchen table.
"No it's not Brian. We got dinner and saw a movie too." I answered and set my stuff down. I was trying hard not to respond in kind, with sarcasm.
I didn't want to have a big fight with Brian because he had a point or two about me getting attached to Rome. But I was also a big girl who was old enough to decide for herself what she wanted to risk, what was acceptable.
It was one of the things about Dom that drove me crazy after all, how he tried to run my life. I didn't want to think I was one of these women who ran from one control freak to another.
I knew that Brian was only looking after me the best way he knew how. I knew I was showing the world a pretty good, together girl, but Brian knew how often nightmares still woke me and how upset I still truly was.
It was getting better but it was far from ok.
"Letty..." Brian sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Wha?" I asked, a picture of a frustrated Vince in my mind while I said it. It was his 'what the hell do you want cause I don't want to talk to you' way of saying what.
"Dom called my phone while you were out. I don't think he knew who I was because he didn't go totally ballistic. But he asked after you and I just told him you were out and hung up but he seemed really mad when I told him. I don't know if you playing around like this with Rome is a good idea."
"Who says I'm playing around with Rome? I like him and he likes me. It's not like either of us are looking for a long term commitment. I know I want to go home to California at some point and you're the one who told me that Rome's the kind of guy who doesn't want to settle down."
"I know that Letty but...Dom was seriously pissed off. I just don't want to see you get hurt in the long run over a fling Lett."
"I'll phone him tomorrow and tell him something Bri. You don't have to worry about me. I've been taking care of myself for a long time." I sighed.
"Maybe that's part of your problem then Letty. You need someone to just take care of you instead of ordering you around and trying to be the boss. And Rome's that kind of guy."
"So maybe I'll fall for him and he'll fall for me. Would that be the end of the world?" I was just being factious and I think Brian knew it.
"No. But you'll still want to go home to California. And if you didn't then I'd still have to go because I've come to see you're right about me needing to face up to the team. To Mia. But if you go home with a new boyfriend in tow Dom'll pitch a fit that'll make any other time he was angry look like a hissy fit."
"Brian, it's gonna be fine. I don't see myself falling for Rome and I don't see Rome falling for me. He wants to show me a good time because I'm sad and he doesn't like it and I want to go home to my familia in California too much to want to live here forever. It'll all work out. You'll see. Now I haveta go to bed before I fall asleep where I stand." I started down the hall then paused and pivoted back to face Brian again.
"You'll tell Tej why I'm late and that I'll stay late to make up for it will you? I can't imagine me getting up at 9 for work."
"Sure, I'll tell him." Brian didn't look like our chat had helped him find any comfort from his worries.
I thought he had plans to get a new cell phone number anyway. I didn't want to worry that it was Dominic ever time the phone rang. I didn't mind talking to him anymore, but I didn't mind talking to him on my own terms. Same went for the rest of the guys.
Mia I worried about. She was so much more fragile then me and I almost figured she might need a way to call me if she really had to talk. I might have to have a chat with Brian about hooking me up with one of those cell phones that came from another state so that I could give Mia the number and tell her she could call if she had an emergency.
I climbed into my bed and I guess I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I dreamed about Dom. But not the kind of dreams that made me wake up screaming with Brian running to my side.
I dreamed about my senior prom. Dom took me. I was 18 and we'd been dating for 2 years.
I went with Dom, Mia went with this kid named Joseph and Vince took a girl named Cindy that hung around with us sometimes. She didn't have another date and Vince took pity on her for being the odd girl out.
He actually wore a tux and shaved all but his moustache off for the occasion. Not only that but he managed not to stare at Mia the whole evening. I said the whole evening. He did some staring, just not the whole evening.
I can't blame him for staring at Mia. She was beautiful that night. Her hair was doing that flowing, wavy thing it does so well and her dress was soft pink. It was strapless, almost backless and fell to the floor. It was fitted in the bodice and full in the skirt and looked perfect against her skin.
Cindy looked pretty good herself. She was fair skinned and a pale honey blond. Her hair was as long as Mia's but bone straight. She wore a black dress, halter style with a medium cut back. It was to the floor as well but it was fitted the whole way down. She was slender like Mia. She looked good on Vince's arm. Too bad he couldn't have seen that himself. There could be little Vince's running around right now if he had because she had it bad for him. So many of our girlfriends did have it bad for either Vince or Dom or a little of both. Not that I blame them. Dom's perfection and Vince isn't far behind. But I find it gross to think of Vince like that.
I was so nervous about going to the prom with Dominic. We hadn't made a big deal about the fact we were dating because of the age difference. It didn't matter to me but it seemed to bother Dom so I didn't want to force things. I knew he figured all my teachers would be looking at him like he was using me or abusing me in some way. Never mind that they still called Van when I got in trouble and they had to know that he didn't have any issues with it, even though he was practically raising me and Dominic was his own kid.
I didn't know what to wear. Mia took me dress shopping but everything she dressed me in was like her style. All the dresses she picked looked like bridesmaids dresses. I didn't want to wear anything that fancy. I really wanted to go to the prom but it didn't mean I was going to become the pretty, feminine, Barbie girl that I wasn't for the night either. I was desperately searching for a dress that was my style.
But the trouble was I didn't have a dress style. I had lots of style, just none when it came to dresses and the stuff that went with them.
I searched in store after store with Mia and I finally found what I wanted in a vintage clothing store. It was hot pink, go figure, with black satin ribbon trim. It was straight out of the 50's, had a crinoline and everything. It had a high waist with a black satin ribbon around it, just under my breasts and a varied hem also edged in the satin.
Mia and I both knew as soon as we saw it on me that it was the dress I had to wear. Come to think of it, it was rather like the dress I bought out with Rome.
It reminded me of hot South America nights. It wasn't a traditional prom gown. But Dom and I weren't a traditional couple either. I bought it and Mia helped me get ready on prom night. Cindy came over and we made a night of it.
We snuck some peach Schnapps into Mia's room and drank it while we got ready. Mia's date had hired a limo for the night so we didn't have to worry about drives. We did each other's make up and got dressed.
Well, ok, Cindy and Mia did each other's makeup then they did mine. I didn't have much of a clue about makeup. I still don't. I almost didn't know myself when they were done. To quote Mia, they hid most of my pimples with 'foundation' and took the shine off my skin with some powder. Then they painted my eyelids a gold color and highlighted my cheekbones with gold powder too.
Mia made me sit through half an hour of her 'shaping my eyebrows'. But I still keep them the way she did them to this day so I guess she did alright. I like the way she made them have a point almost like wings instead of curves.
She painted my lips pink to match my dress and then put some of her gold powder on my bare shoulders and into my 'cleavage' which was her word for my boobs. I didn't think anything as small as my boobs were at 18 deserved to have their own name.
By the time we headed down the stairs we looked rather good if I do say so myself. But I was more then slightly buzzed from drinking a third of a large bottle of the liquor that Cindy had provided as well.
Mia went first and her date's mouth dropped open and I could literally see old Coyote try not to deck him. Poor Vince. He wanted to be the one taking Mia. But he wasn't and he never will be.
But he seemed just as impressed with Cindy in her dress. It was hard not to be impressed with either of them in their prom gowns. They both looked so feminie and beautiful.
There I was in a dress and I still felt like the worlds biggest tom boy. I felt like a fraud. Like the whole world was going to know I didn't belong in that dress, they were all going to know I was pretending to be something I wasn't.
And then I kinda felt like Dom belonged with a girl who belonged in the dress, not a fraud like me.
But then Mia and Cindy got out of the way and Dom saw me for the first time in my dress with my eyebrows 'shaped' and my makeup done. And his eyes turned black and I could tell he didn't want to go anymore. He wanted to drag me back upstairs and show me he had much more fun things for us to do then go to some stupid dance.
It made me laugh. It was the first time I'd ever tasted my feminine powers over Dom outside of his room and it was heady stuff. He really wanted me no matter how I looked. He wanted me in my greasy undershirts and he wanted me in a fancy Spanish style dress.
He just wanted me.
That was then and this was now, but then he just wanted me.
We went to the prom and had a great night as a group. And Dom and I did get some strange looks but we were so much in our own little world of each other we hardly noticed. We, the girls, snuck more liquor into prom and were sneaking drinks out of it in the corner every chance we got.
Dom caught us and it must have looked like three deer caught in headlights. He looked mad at first then he took the bottle and took a drink. When he realized what it was he laughed so hard at us that tears rolled down his cheeks and he gave it back. He thought it was such a girly drink there was no harm in us drinking as much of it as we wanted.
How wrong he was. We all got smashed off it and we were all sick as dogs the next day. But we had fun the night of.
Well, Dom and I had more fun than anyone else because we went home to the same house and snuck into the same room. I wonder sometimes if Van knew how often I didn't stay in Mia's room anymore. If he knew he didn't care and if he cared he didn't know. I felt guilty some times about it but I was in love with Dom so I convinced myself it was ok. And Van was too smart not to have had some idea what was going on.
When I woke up from my dream it was 12pm and I figured I'd go up to the garage and start working. I didn't want Tej to think I was a total slacker.