CH 16

Mindy tossed her wallet in her purse as she slipped out the door. Her phone began to buzz before she could lock it. She answered it and tucked it between her ear and shoulder as she locked the door. "I'm on my way. Walking to the elevator as we speak."

"Mindy, we said seven. I have a show later." She picked up the pace as much as she could, teetering slightly on her five inch heels. She stopped in front of the elevator and impatiently tapped the call button. "You know I don't get up to New York very often."

The elevator doors finally opened and she quickly slipped inside. "Rishi, I get it, but I'm literally only running like ten minutes late. Just grab a table and I'll meet you there." She heard him let out an exaggerated sigh. "Besides, what kind of venue has a rap show on a Sunday night?"

"Look, I know I can't expect you to understand all nuances of how things go down with the rap scene these days, but it's not exactly what you would call a venue." Mindy frowned and punched the lobby button. "It's more like a ninja gig. Lil' Killa tweeted that his posse will be at a house party in Brooklyn. It'll be what you would call a great networking opportunity."

She frowned. "Brooklyn? That sounds awful." She made a little disgusted noise. "At least it's fall and they'll have a reason to wear knit caps and scarves."

Rishi laughed. "Ooh, Mindy, a hipster joke, how relevant. The place is in Bed-Stuy, relax."

The elevator finally came to a stop and Mindy stepped out into the lobby. "Bed-Stuy! You think that will make me relax? Are you crazy? You can't go to Bed-Stuy for a rap-battle-off-thing. You'll get shot or something!"

"Oh my god, sometimes I feel like you're my mother. Mindy, the only thing you know about the place is that Biggie lived there, and that's just because you watched Notorious. The place is crazy gentrified now, chill."

She stepped out to the street and hailed a cab, quickly hopping in and giving the cabbie directions to the restaurant they'd agreed to meet at. "Rishi, we'll talk about this at the restaurant. You are not going to Bed-Stuy late at night to hang out with some delinquent rappers and possibly die. I'll not have your tuition money wasted." She imagined she could hear him rolling his eyes. "And don't roll your eyes at me." She ended the call and crossed her arms in front of her.

She felt nauseated, her throat was going to close up. Damn Rishi, she'd thought they'd gotten past this. She was ok with this pursuit of a rap career when she thought he was putting his studies first. When she'd thought he wouldn't make stupid decisions. The thought of him going to Bed-Stuy late at night had her angrily tapping her foot on floor of the cab.

When Mindy got to the restaurant, Rishi was sitting in a booth, flirting with the waitress. His carefree posture grated on her nerves. She slipped into the seat across from him and smiled up at the young girl. She was obviously charmed by her ridiculous little brother. She grinned sweetly at Mindy. "Ma'am, your son already ordered for you. It'll be out in a minute."

Mindy's eyes widened as the waitress walked away and Rishi did everything he could not to laugh. "Oh, hell no!" Mindy called after the waitress. "I'm not even old enough to be his babysitter!" She turned back to Rishi. "Are you KIDDING me?!"

Rishi pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of Mindy's shocked expression. The laughter he had been holding in spilled out in an obnoxious laugh. "Your face. That's priceless." He set the phone down. "I totally paid her to say that."

Mindy shrugged her jacket off and flipped her hair back over her shoulders. "Of course you did…. Your mother… As if anyone…. ugh."

She picked up the glass of wine the waitress had set in front of her and looked at her brother over the rim. "Don't think you can distract me with wine. We're still talking about this little gangster party you think you're going to."

Rishi sighed and leaned back in the booth. "It's a house party. There will be legitimate rappers there. It's an opportunity. Only people in the know have even heard about it."

"I've never heard of this legit rapper Lil' Killa." She took another gulp of her wine to stay the feeling of nausea closing in on her throat.

He gave her the look. The one he'd been able to use since he was a small child. His eyes became incredibly round and pleading. "Come on, sis. You know how serious I am about this. In this industry, knowing the right people can be the thing to push you over the top."

Before she could answer, the waitress from earlier was back at their table, this time toting plates full of food. The smell of chicken-alfredo and garlic bread wafted over to Mindy. Normally she'd love it, but her stress barfs were making this a nightmare. The waitress set a plate down in front of Mindy, and she gagged. She felt a hand on her shoulder and the waitress leaned close to her. "Pregnancy nausea?"

Mindy was speechless, her mouth hanging open. The girl patted her on the shoulder and walked away from the table. She turned toward Rishi. "Are you kidding me, Rishi, what the hell?"

Mindy angrily picked up her fork and started twirling the pasta around it. She shoved a forkful into her mouth and tore off a piece of bread, using it to gesture at her brother. "You have got to find a new pastime. Ribbing me is starting to get old."

He raised his hands up in an assertion of innocence. "I swear, I did not tell her to say that." He watched her devour her food. A curious expression formed on his face. "Wait… you're not… are you?" This time his eyes were wide.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Not that it's any of your business, but I have to tell you that as a gynecologist, I'd be the last person to accidentally get pregnant. I'm not in a serious relationship, and I'm fully aware of how contraceptives work. So no, I am not pregnant." She was surprised at the slight hesitance before the word 'serious.'

He made a disgusted expression. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that for? You were the one who brought it up. With my love life, I'd be stupid not to be on birth control." She grabbed her glass of wine and, as if to make a point, drained it.

Rishi was still a little stunned from the barrage of words flung at him. Apparently he'd hit a sore spot. "Sorry, jeez." He focused on the food in front of him, and they ate in silence for a couple minutes. Finally he screwed up the courage to broach the subject of the party again. "Look, I know you're worried about me, really, but I'm an adult and I need to do this."

The words, spoken so matter-of-factly, pierced Mindy's armor a little. "Rishi, I love you, ok. If you need to go to this party thing, fine." She twirled some more pasta on her fork and took a bite. "But I'm going too."

"You're what?!" Mindy pulled the phone away from her ear. Danny was shouting. He had called her after she'd gotten back from dinner with Rishi to see if she had any plans for the night. She'd barely had time to relish the fuzzy warmth it provoked before this conversation had begun.

When the words stopped she tentatively brought it back again. "I said I'm going out to Bed-Stuy for a house-party-thing to keep an eye on my brother. What's the big deal?"

"Mindy, you can't go traipsing around Brooklyn at this time of night by yourself." He was still yelling, the volume of his voice only slightly lower than before. "I mean, there are muggers and rapists and deviants of all sorts just lying in wait, ready for some gynecologist with her head in the clouds to go skipping by."

"Ok, the picture you paint is a little absurd, Castellano. I don't really think muggers contemplate the professions of their victims all that much. And, Rishi tells me the area isn't as bad as it used to be. There are some nicer areas." She was surprised at the level of concern in his voice, but it really shouldn't have surprised her. This wasn't the first time he'd told her she was doing something ludicrous. "Besides, I won't be alone. I'll be with Rishi."

"Rishi? Rishi? Really Mindy? Your baby brother, that you don't even trust to go to a house party alone, is going to protect you from crazy people on the streets of New York at this hour?" She could hear shuffling in the background, and a door slamming. "Do you even have a car? Or were you planning on walking out to Bed-Stuy?"

She was intently listening to the noises in the background of her phone call and barely registered his question. "Um, Rishi has a friend who's going to drive us out. Danny, where are you?"

She could hear the sounds of the city in her ear now. A blaring car horn caught her noise, and she heard Danny yell out an expletive. "I'll be over to your place in fifteen minutes. If you insist on going out at this time of night, on a Sunday I might add, you're going to have to tote me along with you."

Mindy felt an impossibly wide smile spread across her face. She took a breath and restrained the pleasure in her voice. "Well, if you insist."