CHAPTER 42

~ Rousing "Reminissions" ~

It is the next morning and Jenni sits at the kitchen stool ready to fall on her face. She has a massive headache, she's not tired because she's so tired, and her stomach is turned inside out because of the lack of sleep coming off of so much liquor the night before.

Most of the lack of sleep is because she and Sammi had to sleep with Deena. Jenni let Sammi off the hook though because one of them needed to get rest. So, Jenni stayed up with Deena and she means stayed up because Deena wouldn't sleep. She would drift off and then wake up screaming.

Jenni's head bobs up and down while she tries to hold it up on her hand when she hears the front door open to the house and then voices. She snaps up and gets down off the stool.

Jenni walking into the front room, "Thank God…What happened?"

Ronnie is the first one in the door. He starts to tell Jenni when Pauly comes through the door. Pauly looks tired and pissed. He mumbles to himself and then looks at Jenni.

"Where is she?"

Jenni responds off guard, "She's in our room. We didn't take her to the hospital, she seems okay…"

Jenni trails off because she doesn't know how much of that she believes but she didn't want to upset him any further. Nonetheless, Pauly nods and responds.

"I'm gonna take a shower and then I'll come back down."

Jenni nods and then when Pauly disappears upstairs, she turns to Ronnie and now Vinny who are in the house.

Jenni, "So what happened?"

Ron, "It was complete bullshit. They wouldn't let Pauly out until morning even though we had the bail money. They said they weren't releasing any one of them until they sobered up."

Jenni, "…but Pauly was not that drunk."

Ron, "Exactly."

Jenni, "So what was the bad news Mike was telling us about after he got off the phone with you?"

Vinny, "Well not only that but one of Unit's Cousins or something showed up and I guess he heard what happened and he wanted to press charges."

Jenni gets a little heated.

Jenni, "So never mind the fact that a girl was raped here, we're jus gonna over look that huh…? At any rate, he can't be the one to do it. Unit has to finalize that decision. Did he?"

Ron, "I don't think that side of the story got out. Unit didn't even know where he was still. Nothing is set in motion but if he decides, Pauly will have to go to court we know that."

Vinny, "We assume the Cousin got him out and probably took him to the hospital. (Smiling) Pauly fucked him up pretty good."

Ron, "Pretty good? (Laughing a little) His face looked like cauliflower."

Jenni, "Remind me not to get him mad…again."

Jenni refers to the time he exploded on her and Nicole back in Miami. She continues.

"Good for him. (Sighing) I can't believe any of this. Why did this have to happen right now, right when she got back…since it happened, but at all for that matter? She's been through enough."

Everyone agrees and then Ronnie sighs.

Ron, "Well, I'm exhausted. Where's Sam?"

Jenni, "I relieved her of our duties for the night. She's sleepin."

Ron nods, "I'm right behind her."

He walks off and then it is just Vinny and Jenni left together.

Vinny sits down, "I caught a few winks at the Station while Ron was pacing back and forth like he was in jail."

Jenni, "Well none of us slept, except Mike. He didn't have to deal with what we did. I didn't want to tell Pauly but Deena is really messed up."

Vinny, "How's her face? She looked bad outside of Karma."

Jenni, "It's not the physical that I'm talkin about. Yeah, she has a swelled cheek, her ankle is swollen, and she has bruises but…emotionally."

Vinny listens.

Jenni, "She was up the whole night, she wouldn't sleep, and when she would go to sleep she would wake up screaming to the top of her lungs. It was torture on me…(thinking) I just thank God Nicole is not around."

Vinny, "Oh shit that's right. Should we tell her?"

Jenni, "No. She will come right back and she doesn't need to with all of us here. She needs to focus on bringing Lorenzo into this world…as fucked up as it is."

Vinny, "When is she due?"

Jenni, "Not officially until next month but she is getting induced tomorrow. We can't tell her, so tell everyone else if she calls not to say anything."

Vinny, "Well I know she'll be pissed when she finds out."

Jenni, "She'll understand we were looking out for her. Now Dee's parents…"

Vinny, "Yeah, she'll neva be allowed out of the house again."

Jenni laughs a little, "They'll set her up on their own house arrest."

Vinny agrees and then they go see about breakfast. Soon enough, Pauly appears downstairs in a fresh tank and some sweat pants. Vinny looks up from the duck phone.

"Hey. We were about to order some grub for breakfast. You want your usual?"

Pauly, "Yeah. That sounds good."

Vinny nods and then Jenni comes up behind him. Pauly turns around.

He responds, "Is she sleepin?"

Jenni, "I doubt it. Just go see about her, she's been askin for you all night. It's been rough on both me and Sam."

Pauly swallows and then nods. He then makes his way to the girls' room.

He is hesitant because he doesn't know what to expect…he remembers the scene he ran into and it leaves his body cold. All night, he replayed everything in his head and all sorts of emotions have come up on him.

Pauly makes his way in and he sees Deena's form in her bed with the covers pulled up. He quietly goes over and sits down gently. He sighs and then touches her arm to turn her around or at least get her to wake up but she's not sleeping.

Deena jumps sky high and starts to fight. Pauly grips her and tries to control her.

"Deena, stop…it's me!"

She doesn't believe it until Pauly makes her look at him. He tries again.

"Deena, it's Pauly…Look at me, it's me. I'm here."

Deena whimpers, "Pauly…?"

He replies, "Yeah…it's Pauly. Can you see me?"

Pauly gets up slightly to turn her lamp on that is on the nightstand. He looks back at her and notices the gauze pad covering her neck and half of her face. Her lip is also cut. Pauly feels sick to his stomach.

Deena reaches up to feel his face to make sure this is real. Pauly helps her out and grabs her hand and places it on his face. Deena caresses his cheek and Pauly then kisses her hand. When he takes it away, he notices two of her once manicured nails are broken. She must have put up quite a fight.

Pauly wants to know the severity of things so he looks down.

"Do you mind if I take a look at you Dee'?"

Deena doesn't respond, so Pauly gently pulls the covers back all the while still holding her hand. Deena has her pajamas on but her arms are out because she's wearing a spaghetti strapped tank. Right away he sees the bruises on both her arms.

He then moves her shirt up some and notices the abrasions on her side where her tattoo is. They definitely may leave scars unfortunately. He touches her and then hears sniffling. He looks up and Deena is crying.

Pauly, "I'm sorry…"

Pauly pulls her shirt down and then he moves closer to her so he can hear her.

Pauly, "What?"

Deena breathes out, "…Hold me."

Pauly nods and swallows the lump in his throat. He then scoots down into Deena's bed and cuddles her gently. She then hisses like she's in pain. He looks for the source and he looks down where he kicked the cover off of her feet accidentally.

He then sees Deena's ankle wrapped up. He looks back up, while holding her.

"I'm sorry Dee'…I'm so sorry."

Pauly kisses her shoulder but he can feel anger boiling up inside him. He should have killed him for doing this to the Mother of his child.

His anger subsides momentarily just knowing that Deena is now resting peacefully. She is finally asleep.

A/N: (Sidebar= Like the title of this Chap? *All you A7X fans will get it* This was in my ear buds while typing this.) N-e-wayz, smh...Talk about consequences. I enjoyed this twist but the ride is not over yet...