Imagining Tigers
Chapter 15:
A.N.: So, here's the next chapter. Thanks for your reviews and follows and favorites!
On Friday, Maribel's brother Mario, my uncle, called me and asked me to meet him. I figured that it was about my father, Maribel most probably told her brother about it. The two siblings were always really close. The only arguments they had were about my father. My mother was always tolerant towards him but now, the large amount of money that he lost probably caused my uncle to react.
After work I made my way to my uncle's house. It wasn't a big house but it wasn't small either. His wife died from cancer when I was still just a kid and he had been living alone since then. I knocked on the door and waited for him to open. The last time I saw him was in Christmas, almost five months ago. But we talked on the phone often. Sometimes because Maribel was bugging him to call me because I was alone and other times because Maribel was bugging me to call him because he was alone. The door opened and my uncle appeared smiling at me. I smiled weakly back, noticing his aged facial features.
"You get more and more beautiful every time I see you." He told me with his charming smile and I smiled wider. I had definitely missed him. I immediately fell into his secure arms, hiding my face on his chest. He hugged me back tightly, like he knew I needed his support.
"But you can't be any more charming, even if you tried." I said pulling back from his embrace and he chuckled shaking his head.
"Come in." He said and stepped back to let me in. He turned to go in the kitchen and I followed him after closing the door. "Did you come here from work? Are you hungry? What do you want to drink?" He fired his questions, reminding me of my mother, and I chuckled while getting a sit on the table.
"I'm ok. Just talk to me." I said turning serious and he turned serious too before getting a sit opposite me on the table. He sighed.
"I'm not gonna underestimate your intelligence. You know why you're here." He told me and I nodded at him. My father and the half a million that he owed would be the topic of every conversation my family would be having for a long time. He nodded back and took a deep breath. "I have an idea but I want you to think about it first before denying it." He said and I side eyed him frowning. He knew me too well because we were very alike. He was a lawyer too but he retired four years ago. I probably wouldn't like it if he was making this kind of introduction.
"Ok." I said slowly.
"I think that you should sell your house in Lima and your parents should move in with me." He stated and my eyes widened. It seemed to me such a bad idea.
"Why would you think that this is a good idea?" I asked him and he sighed. But I didn't let him answer my question. "First of all, if papi's tempted to gamble in Lima, then New York would be like paradise to him." I said frowning. "And the house is small, I don't think we can get the four hundred thousand that we still want." I added. He probably knew about the hundred thousand that my mother had so I didn't bother to explain it to him.
"Santanita." He sighed and ran a hand through his short grey hair. "It's not just for the money. Antonio would be better here. We'll get him help. And we'll have a close eye on him. Both of us." He said pointedly. I leaned my elbows on the table and started tracing patterns on the wooden table with my finger. He was right, my father wouldn't be alone doing whatever he wanted, Maribel certainly couldn't control him. And my uncle could. But there was another problem.
"I don't think they would want to sell their house. Although papi doesn't really get to have a say." I said bitterly and Mario smiled weakly at me.
"The house is yours, Santanita." He said and I frowned questioningly at him. "They transferred the ownership to you a few months ago." He added. I was still frowning.
"Why?" I asked. He was still smiling weakly at me.
"First of all, Maribel didn't want anything to be on Antonio's name." He said and I nodded. That was understandable. He still managed to lose half a million though. My parents would be homeless if he had the house on his name. "Also, we get older." He told me while grabbing my hand that was still on the table and kissing it. I frowned at him to hide my sadness. I didn't want to think about my parents or my uncle dying. "So, what do you think?" He changed the subject and patted my hand before dropping it. Apparently I didn't hide my sad mood that well.
"I can't just throw them out. I have to talk to mami." I answered and he nodded.
"Yes. But I'm sure she'll agree. She's tired of this situation, Santanita." He told me and I nodded in understanding, remembering her tired face a few days before. But then I thought of something else.
"Why aren't we taking the legal route?" I asked him. "I know it's not my area, and it's not yours either, but I'm sure you know someone who could help." I said and he seemed to be thinking about it.
"We'll have to talk to Antonio. It depends on who he owes the money to. And it won't be very helpful if we spend even more money on lawyers." He answered and I nodded slowly. "But I still think that they should move here anyway." He added.
"So, I'm going to Lima tomorrow." I muttered to myself.
"No, you're not." Mario said quickly. I opened my mouth to protest but he interrupted me. "There's no reason for us to be seen with Antonio. We don't know who's after him." He told me and I swallowed thickly. I knew that my father was in danger, but it felt so much more real hearing it from my uncle. "I'll talk to him about where he owes money and how much we can avoid giving. All you have to do is talk with Maribel tonight and let her know about selling the house." He finished. I wanted to take care of those things myself but I figured my uncle would do a better job talking with my father. I was still angry at him to make a constructive conversation with him. So I nodded at my uncle and hoped that my mother wasn't in danger too.
…
As it turned out, my uncle was right. My mother was more than willing to sell the house and move to New York as soon as possible. She would contact with a realtor on Monday to estimate how much the house cost and then put it on sale.
My uncle called me on Sunday morning to tell me what happened with my father. Apparently the half a million he owed wasn't to only one place. He owed one hundred thousand to a casino, another two hundred thousand to licensed loan sharks and the other two hundred to unlicensed loan sharks. That meant that we could avoid the two hundred to the unlicensed loan sharks if my father ran away from Lima and wouldn't use his name to buy anything or open any accounts. That left us with a debt of three hundred thousand dollars and my father always looking over his shoulder. It was risky running away from loan sharks but everybody was willing to take the risk. I was the only hesitant about it.
I felt the start of a headache just by thinking about all of this. I was lying on my bed on Sunday, trying to figure all this out. Three hundred thousand wasn't half a million but it was still a lot. But we had the house and the one hundred from my mother. My phone ringing interrupted my thoughts and I sat up to grab it from my nightstand. When I saw Brittany's name on the screen, what happened on Tuesday came back to me in full force. I hadn't talked to her since then and I could feel my hands shaking from the nerves. I leaned back on the headboard and answered the phone.
"Hello?" I said shakily.
"I'm Ali!" A tiny voice chirped, effectively causing my nerves to vanish and a smile to take over my face.
"Ali who?" I wondered, pretending I didn't know who it was.
"Ali Piece, Tana!" Alice giggled, the 'r' not there, making her even more adorable.
"Oh hi Ali." I said with as much cheerfulness as I could muster.
"Hi!" She giggled again causing me to chuckle. "When are you coming?" She asked me then and I immediately pouted. I had missed the little blonde. Almost as much as I missed her mother.
"Soon Ali girl. I promised you a dance after all." I said softly.
"Soon!" She squealed and I nodded smiling weakly, although she couldn't see me. Brittany was right, little Alice was always cheerful. There was some shuffling before I heard Brittany's angelic voice over the phone, causing my heart to jump. "San?" She called and I swallowed nervously.
"Hey." I said shakily.
"How are you?" She asked me. I decided to be honest.
"Not that good." I answered back, my free hand rubbing up and down my thigh nervously. "How about you two?"
"We're ok. Ali missed you actually so we called to see how you were doing." She said. Something in the way she said it told me that it wasn't just Alice that missed me but I didn't comment on it. "What's wrong?" She asked then and I sighed. I could trust Brittany.
"It's my dad." I said. There was a brief silence.
"I-is he ok?" Brittany asked shakily and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Yeah he's fine. But he's a gambler and he owes a lot of money at the moment." I said bitterly. I heard her letting out a long breath.
"Can I help you?" She asked me. I immediately shook my head but she couldn't see me.
"I don't need your money, Britt." I said.
"What do you need then?" She asked and I took a deep breath, bringing my free hand to rub on my forehead.
"I need you to tell me what's going on." I answered. There was another silence, in which I stayed still, waiting for her reply. I could practically hear my heartbeats.
"I don't think we should have that conversation over the phone." She finally said and I dropped my hand sighing.
"When am I gonna see you then?" I asked her.
"Sooner than you think, San." She said softly, confusing me. But I didn't ask what she meant. I figured I would always get cryptic replies from the blonde. "Anyway." She said then. "Is it a lot?" She asked. "The money." She added and I sighed.
"Yeah, it is." I said and ran a hand through my hair.
"Why can't I help then?" She asked. I got up from the bed and started pacing in front of my bed.
"Because." I said and she huffed. "I don't want you to give me your money, Britt." I added.
"Money is nothing when it comes to family, San." She answered and I could hear the sadness in her voice. She was obviously speaking from her own experience. "Besides, helping you with your dad would be a nice way to say thanks for everything you've done for me." She said and I frowned.
"I only did my job." I said back. "And you already paid the firm for it." I added and she sighed again.
"I'm not talking just for the trial. I'm talking for other things as well." She said. I wondered what 'things' she was talking about. But as if she sensed that I was going to ask her she spoke up again. "Just tell me how much."
"It's too much, Britt. Just let it go." I said, still pacing around my bedroom.
"Ok." She said and I thought that she accepted. "You'll tell me when I'll see you again." She added making me sigh. I wondered if that was how she felt when I was pressuring her to let me help her keep her daughter. The roles were definitely reversed.
…
It was Monday night and I was at Sugar's party. The music was low in the background and I honestly didn't know how I found myself in a group of lawyers that consisted of Quinn, Blaine, Tina, Mercedes and me talking about work. Tina was a co-worker of mine and Mercedes was a co-worker of Quinn and Blaine.
"Ok. A law that shouldn't exist. Go!" Mercedes said and pointed to Tina.
"Adultery being illegal." Tina said immediately. I took a sip from the glass of wine that I was holding and tuned them out as they started arguing about everything immoral being illegal and the separation of the state and the church.
I briefly wondered if Brittany would come at Sugar's birthday party but I doubted it. I had been coming to this party for five years and I had never seen her. I was sure if I had seen her beautiful face before, I would certainly remember her.
"Ok ok, my turn." Blaine said loudly and I turned to find him looking back at me. "A law that shouldn't exist is that of unmarried women automatically getting the custody of the child after their birth." He said, almost glaring at me and I did my best to not roll my eyes. I couldn't believe that he was still bitter about it.
"The court treats both the mother and the father equally, Blaine." I said pointedly. Maybe he was right, it was unfair for the father generally. But Blaine was talking about Sam and Brittany, and in that case unfair would be if Sam got custody since he abandoned both the mother and the child for almost four years. He was about to reply when Sugar's voice was heard in the room.
"Yooo everybody!" She exclaimed in the microphone, and I turned to see her fist bumping the air. I could imagine her father shaking his head irritated. She was loud enough to stop the conversation I was having with Blaine. I turned to Quinn to see her pointing towards Mercedes, silently telling me that they would go somewhere quieter and I nodded.
I watched as the two of them disappeared somewhere in Sugar's house and then I went to the table where the drinks were while Sugar kept talking. She was flirting with the deejay while everybody was listening to her. She was probably already slightly drunk. I snorted a laugh at her forwardness while pouring another glass of wine.
"She's quite something, isn't she?" Someone whispered in my ear. I knew that voice and that scent and that warmth radiating from a perfect body. The familiar shivers that were sending down my spine confirmed that I wasn't imagining it. I put my glass on the table and slowly turned around to be met with alluring blue eyes looking back at me. Brittany was standing really close to me, wearing a short strapless black dress having her purple flower tattoo on her chest and her tiger tattoo on her thigh exposed. She looked so hot and sexy. Her hair held high in a ponytail exposing her cleavage and her short dress showing off her endless legs were causing me to have a hard time not remembering all those dreams I had about her wearing nothing. I looked back at her eyes to see that she was looking at my outfit too. I was wearing a similar dress to hers, only it was purple.
"Britt?" I called her name and she made eye contact again.
"You're so beautiful, Santana." She whispered softly and I blushed slightly.
"You are too, Britt." I whispered back. If we weren't so close we wouldn't be able to hear ourselves over the loud music that was now playing. "Gorgeous." I added and Brittany blushed slightly too. "What are you doing here though?" I asked her then and she rolled her eyes at me.
"You've been asking me that since we met, you know." She said chuckling. I chuckled too.
"I've never seen you at Sugar's birthday party before." I said pointedly and she shrugged.
"I've never came before. It's full of boring lawyers talking about boring legal shit." She said looking around and I snorted.
"That's so stereotypical. Not all lawyers are boring and talk about 'boring legal shit'." I defended. She arched an eyebrow at me.
"All lawyers I've ever met are just like that." She said looking directly at me and I frowned.
"I'm not boring." I protested.
"No." She shook her head and stepped even closer to me. "You're kinda special." She said quietly. I swallowed nervously at her proximity.
"S-so." I stuttered. "Why did you come here if it's a boring party?" I asked her.
"Cause you'd be here." She shrugged and looked away from me.
"Britt." I sighed. I wouldn't play around anymore. She knew how I felt about her. "You have to tell me." I told her.
"What?" She asked making eye contact again.
"If you're gonna fight for me." I said and she sighed. She stepped even more close to me and looked at me through her eyelashes. My heart was beating so fast I feared it might stop.
"No." She breathed against my lips, biting her pierced bottom lip. Her breath was causing goosebumps to rise all over my body. But then my brain processed what she said and my face fell.
"No?" I asked and she shook her head, looking at my lips.
"I'm gonna fight with you." She said and looked up at my eyes again. "If you want to?" She added quietly, suddenly looking unsure.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah, I thought about what you said and I…" She trailed off while playing with her hands nervously between us and swallowed nervously. "I like you too." She finally shrugged. She didn't give me a speech but that was more than enough for me. Our faces where still just a few inches from each other's and I suddenly had the urge to kiss her. "So, are you in?" She asked me. I immediately nodded my head and she smiled softly at me, putting her hands on my waist and sliding them on my back so she was hugging me. I could feel my heart wanting to get out of my chest. "Can I kiss you?" She whispered. I swallowed thickly and put my hands on her toned arms, feeling her soft skin and her muscles tensing from my touch. I still wasn't used to the buzzing that our skin to skin contact was causing me and I didn't think I would ever get over it.
"Here?" I asked her and looked around. Others were busy dancing, others were chatting and others were just drinking by themselves. I looked back at her just in time to see her shrugging like she didn't care about others seeing us.
"Hey." A voice interrupted before Brittany could say anything. I pulled back from her arms and we both turned to see Quinn looking between us. I didn't think anyone would notice the question that Quinn's hazel eyes held but I definitely did.
"Hey, Q." I said ignoring my blushing and looked at Brittany who was looking at Quinn with an expressionless face before looking at my blonde best friend again. Quinn knew about the trial and that Brittany had been a prostitute so I didn't know how they would interact. "Do I introduce you two?" I wondered.
"I don't think that's necessary." Quinn answered, looking at Brittany with the same look that Brittany was fixing her with. They were staring at each other like they were challenging each other silently and I feared they wouldn't get along.
"Hello, Quinn." Brittany finally said with a small smile. Quinn smiled back, easing the tension that was starting to surround us and making me silently sigh in relief.
"How are you?" Quinn asked. "You haven't taken over our class for a while. I think that I'm the only one from the group who doesn't have a problem with Mike." She chuckled and Brittany surprised me by chuckling too.
"Yeah, I don't understand why people like me." She shrugged. I definitely understood why though. "It's not like I make small talk with them."
"You're a great teacher that's why." Quinn said smiling and Brittany smiled back. They were speaking few words but their eyes held so much more. It was like Brittany was willing to give Quinn a chance and Quinn was reassuring her that she was ok with Brittany and her past. "So anyway." My best friend said after a few seconds of the two of them communicating their friendliness with their eyes. She turned to me. "Just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving. Mike called." She shrugged and I nodded at her. But then her eyes widen and she quickly looked at Brittany. "I mean- " She started to say but the blue eyed blonde cut her off.
"I don't have a problem with you two dating." Brittany reassured her immediately and Quinn relaxed again. "It's not like you're a minor or you get assessed or anything." She shrugged and my friend nodded smiling relieved.
"Well, it was great seeing you." Quinn told Brittany. Brittany nodded back and Quinn sent me a look, letting me know that I would have to tell her everything later, before leaving. I turned to Brittany and bit my lip.
"Are you two ok?" I asked her and she shrugged.
"Yeah." She said. "Come with me?" She asked and held her hand open, silently asking for mine. I shakily took her soft and warm hand in mine feeling her warmth settling into me and she gripped my hand tighter. She turned around, effectively giving me a perfect view of her ass in that dress, causing my mouth to go dry. She led me through the crowd until we reached the balcony. It was silent outside, the music and voices from inside could be heard lowly in the background. Brittany dropped my hand causing me to pout and went to lean her elbows on the railing, staring at the view ahead of her. "So, tell me about your dad." She said not looking at me and my pout transformed to a skeptical frown. I went and leaned my hip on the railing, facing her, and crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"This is his last time. We're selling the house in Lima and my parents are moving here in New York to live with my uncle." I told her and she nodded. She wasn't making eye contact and she had a solemn look on her face. "He owes some of the money to loan sharks but he won't pay them because he's leaving Lima anyway. But I'm still scared that they'll find him, you know?" I said and she turned her head to me, her face softening.
"We'll get him protection." She told me and put a hand on my upper arm reassuringly. "And I know the right guy." She said taking her hand away from me and turning to look in front of her again.
"Like a bodyguard?" I asked her and she shrugged.
"Yeah." She said and I wondered how come she knew about those things. "So how much?" She asked turning to me and leaned her head on her hand.
"Three hundred thousand." I shrugged and looked down at my feet before looking up at her while she was nodding skeptically.
"That's a lot." She commented and I bit my lip nodding. "I can help though." She said pointedly and I immediately shook my head. But before I could say anything she spoke again. "I needed money once too, you know. I'm like a pro at finding them." She said it teasingly but my eyes widen. I stared at her and hoped that she didn't mean what I thought she meant. After a few seconds her eyes widen as well and stood up straight and turned to me. "Oh no, not like that. I'm never having sex for money again." She shook her head and looked away from me. "And that's a lot of money to earn like that." She said quietly and I nodded relieved.
"Well, tomorrow I'll know for sure how much we have and how much we still want." I told her and she nodded at me, stepping closer.
"Let me know, ok?" She asked quietly and I nodded.
"Where's little Ali?" I asked her and she smiled softly at the mention of her daughter.
"With my sister." She said and I nodded again. She grabbed my arms that were still crossed in front of my chest and uncrossed them. "Now can I finally kiss you?" She asked me and tugged me closer, bringing our bodies flushed against each other. I never liked being so touchy with people but I definitely had no problem with Brittany manipulating my body. So I nodded at her and she put my arms around her waist before bringing her arms around my neck. She leaned in and touched softly her lips against mine. I enjoyed the happiness that settled into me that I got to kiss that blue eyed, blonde haired angel standing in front of me and relished in the feeling she was causing me. That everything would be fine as long as she had me in her arms.
A.N.: Tell me your thoughts.