by Rosa Foxxe
Tyra nodded as she watched the street and palm trees fly by them. Vinnie was driving extra fast and aggressive. She guessed he was trying to blow off some steam or something.
“I'm sorry that all this happened, Vinnie,” Tyra said. “I was looking forward to having some fun out in the desert but I guess that won't be happening. I just want you to know that I feel badly about the whole thing, even though I know that I had nothing to do with it. I just wish things could have been a little bit smoother.”
Vinnie slowed the car down and started driving like a normal person.
“Things will be better tonight, I promise you! I have some very, very special plans tonight and I think you're going to like them a lot. You like the show you saw last time, correct? Well this time is going to be even better! I can promise you that! And then after we'll try to mingle, but maybe we'll be too tired. That's the thing about this town, after you get into a little spat with the police like we just did you have to act like nothing happened or everyone talks.”
Tyra didn't like how much Vinnie let appearances frame his actions. It seemed like almost everything he did was for appearances. She could understand that, to a point, but there was also a part of her that didn't really get it, not all the way, and she wondered if she wasn't for appearances. Nothing could bolster a man's appearance more than a stunning, curvy, busty black woman. She kept trying to think positively about the whole thing but Vinnie kept talking so negatively.
She tried to keep in mind that it was easy to judge him because it wasn't her casino under attack, and it wasn't her family the police kept bringing under attack. Even so, if it were her family and her property that was coming under scrutiny she imagined that she would still try to remain somewhat positive throughout the experience if someone she wanted to date was around. It just didn't make sense to be so negative all the time, unless Vinnie was just so negative all the time. And if he was, then she wasn't sure if she wanted to see him anymore.
“What's going through your mind, baby?” Vinnie asked.
“To be honest, Vinnie, I'm wondering if we are a good fit,” she said. “I like you, and we get along well, but what you are into and the attitude that it brings out of you aren't things that I'm very fond of so far. And please don't take this as me trying to be a bitch or anything like that. And I'm not saying that it's over. I'm just saying that things need to be more positive. And not just during this car ride but in the overall scheme of things. That would include not getting into shoot outs and not finding dead bodies and not hot rodding around the highway like we won't die if we crash.”
Vinnie nodded.
“Listen, I'm sorry and I understand completely. I'm going to be a lot more positive from here on out, I promise,” Vinnie said.
Tyra hoped that he was being honest in his promises. She knew that when a woman put her foot down, a man would say just about anything to make her happy again. And it wasn't that she wasn't happy overall, it was just that she was wary now. She really didn't mind the whole family in the mob thing, that wasn't such a big deal to her. She didn't know why she was so all right with it, but she just was.
The thing she wasn't all right with was having her good times wrecked by this nonsense, and then having to deal with Vinnie being all wound up about everything. Vinnie was a nice guy normally, but when he got heated it was very hard to get in a word in edgewise. She liked Vinnie when he was normal. She didn't even really mind when he went on and on about things.
It was just that when he went on and on about being enraged about the cops, or about dead bodies, or about anything like that, that was when she had a fairly big problem with it. Like right now he was acting fine but just a few minutes before he'd been doing one hundred miles an hour on the freeway, weaving in and out of lanes, doing dumb stuff like that without a second thought. That wasn't the Vinnie that she found attractive, not at all.
“Listen, Tyra,” Vinnie said carefully. “I realize that maybe I've been fucking up a little bit, but seriously, just give me a chance tonight!”
“All right,” Tyra said. Then again. “All right.”
Chapter 6
That night Vinnie's casino was filled with a certain kind of pomp that Tyra didn't know existed in America. Regular people dressed up in elaborate costumes with bright feathers from birds she'd never heard of and came to the casino to see a kind of comedy skit routine from a famous entertainer. Tyra had never heard of the entertainer before but that made sense, considering he was an up and coming talent from the west coast and there was no reason that anyone from the Midwest would have heard his name before—not yet, anyway.
Vinnie was in a much better mood and laughed and joked with his staff. Tyra liked this side of Vinnie much more, but she worried that if they continued seeing each other she would just see the old Vinnie, the friendly Vinnie, less and less and the new, angrier Vinnie more and more. Eventually the anger would drive her away and they would both end up hurt and confused. She wasn't sure she was willing to risk it, not yet, and she sensed that Vinnie knew that something was wrong, although he couldn't put his finger on what. If he would’ve asked she'd just have said that it was the stuff that he already knew about.
The night was in full swing though, and this took Tyra's mind off of her woes for a little bit. She had fun with Vinnie as they waltzed around the casino he owned with smiles on their faces, greeting everyone who wanted to talk to them and chatting with strangers like they were close friends. Then they got to their seats and the show started. Right when the comedian walked on stage, one of Vinnie's staff came and whispered in his ear. Vinnie said he'd be right back. Something about how he said it let her know that something was wrong. She didn't know what, not yet, but figured she would know eventually. So she sat and watched the show, silently counting the minutes that Vinnie was gone. When she got to thirty she got up to go find him.
The first place Tyra looked was the room, but no one was there. Just when she was about to leave the room and run around the casino looking for him she stopped herself. What was she doing? She either needed to go back to the show or sit in the room and wait. There was a television and she had her phone so it wasn't like she wouldn't be entertained.
But at the same time, on the macro level, she wondered what she was doing. For the very first time, despite everything that had happened so far that day, she started to question what she was doing with Vinnie. Maybe he just didn't have time for her? It was hard to tell if he was forcing his schedule to make time when he was around her or if it was one of those things that wasn't a big deal.
Now that he'd just dipped out on their date that night she was more rattled than she'd been when she'd gotten arrested. And it wasn't like he'd just gotten back to the booth to see the rest of the show and was wondering where she went. If he had he would have texted her to find out where she was and what was going on.
But he hadn't because he wasn't back yet. Because there were things in his life way more important than her. That was the real reason that things weren't going well. Vinnie had priorities that were way out of whack with everyone else's because Vinnie's life was way out of whack with everyone else's. He was a mobster, and he had mobster things on the brain. If he was a regular guy there was no way he'd have left Tyra alone by herself during the middle of a date. And she'd just told him a few hours earlier how important it was that things go well for the remainder of her stay. It wasn't like he didn't know that she was on shaky ground with the entire thing. It was a lot more like he knew, but it had gotten pushed to the back of his mind somehow. Something had come up. And something would most likely always come up. Tyra was starting to get the feeling if she stuck around until she was important to him that she would be waiting forever.
But maybe she was just being hard on him. After all, she had no idea how much time or effort it took to run the casino. She didn't want to be one of those people who judged other people without knowing what was going on. She remembered one time when one of her girlfriends had remarked how a doctor d
idn't spend enough time with his kids, and how the doctor's wife had told her girlfriend to shut the fuck up because her husband was busy working ninety hours a week to save peoples' lives.
Tyra slipped into bed. She tried to keep her eyes open. She didn't want to have any more crazy dreams. But she drifted off.
Tyra was back in her childhood walking home from the small school she'd gone to for so many years. The neighborhood wasn't a good one, and she had to watch out for stray dogs that became aggressive if they sensed you were afraid or alone. Tyra was alone, though, and sometimes very much afraid. She'd always had a hard time making friends in school, but she wasn't sure why.
She tried to be nice to everyone that she met but there were always so many issues with everything and everyone. Everyone had their own problems and battles to fight back home. Some kids’ parents drank way too much and never got anything done. Some kids’ parents, like her parents, were just poor and worked way too much. This left Tyra alone a lot, even though she rather enjoyed the company of other people. When she finally got home she knocked on her door. But the knocking was real, and she woke up.
“We've got to go!”
It was Vinnie. He was near panic. Tyra didn't know what was going on but if it was something that was upsetting Vinnie then she figured it was a safe bet that it would upset her as well. She hated when things went wrong but things had already gone wrong and there was nothing anyone could do about it. All either of them could do now was roll with the punches. Tyra got out of bed, still dressed for the night, and looked at Vinnie with wide eyes.
“Should I change into something a little more low key?”
“Quickly!”
They gathered their things, or whatever they thought they would need, and headed to Vinnie's car.
“So here's the deal,” he said. “The cops are being huge assholes. They plan on coming here tonight to make arrests. And then, on the way to the station, the car I'm in is going to get hit from five different sides by people with automatic weapons. And no, I'm not making this up or joking around. I know it sounds like something that is completely made up, but I swear to you this is for real. Now, this is what we are going to do. Instead of getting caught up in some dumb shit we'll just head to a dive motel on the strip where no one will have any idea who we are, pay with cash, then hang out and watch bad television while we drink wine and talk. I think that sounds like a decent evening, don't you?”
“But what about your casino? I thought it was important that you be there?”
“It is important that I be there! But not as important as us getting out of there. So I'll have my people say that me and you took off to enjoy the moonlight in the desert and everyone will think that me and you are off gallivanting around. We can only hope that the boys in blue hear about it and run around the desert all night like chickens with their heads pulled off. God damn police.
I wouldn't hate them so much if they weren't so easily bought. I heard today that they are only getting bribed something like six digits! Can you believe that? I'll bet you some of those overweight, doughnut eating sons of bitches are selling their honor for less than sixty grand a year. Can you believe that? How does anyone sell their honor so cheaply? I guess that's what you get from local law enforcement in Vegas, though.”
Tyra didn't know what to say. She was surprised that Vinnie wasn't angrier. His voice was calm and level and he wasn't zipping around the road like he was trying to get them both killed. That was a lot better than what had been happening earlier in the day when he'd been more than just a little bit pissed off at having to go down to the station. He didn't seem mad at all that he was leaving his casino behind to be run by the staff on a night that seemed like it was somewhat important.
“Aren't you upset that you can't be there tonight?” Tyra asked. “It kind of seemed like a big night.”
“Upset? Naw, I don't really give a fuck about any of that when stuff like this comes up. And besides, this is the last thing they'll expect. And what a chance for you and me to get away from it all, don't you think? No more having to walk around like we are king and queen of our own little castle and say hey to people we don't like or talk about things we don't care about. Now we can just kick back and do whatever we want! And the place we are going to is a real roach motel, so we'll get the down and dirty Vegas experience.
Maybe you aren't down for that, which will make things awkward, I guess. But if you are, you are going to love it. We don't have to do anything like go out if you don't want, but if we do we'll just dress like tourists and blend in with everyone and walk around and more or less fuck off. There are always drugs to buy and do, if you are into that. There are also shows to see and things to waste our time watching. The strip is a trip. Have you been there yet?”
“Not yet. I was wondering when you'd take me.”
“Well there is no time like the present! I mean, look at us, two attractive people now free of all obligation just heading down to the strip to kick back and relax. When was the last time anything like this presented itself? Never! And you know what the best part is, besides us getting to spend time together, is that the mother fuckers who think they are smarter than me, who think they can lay out blue print plans on me without my knowledge, they'll never ever even think that this is what we are doing.
You know why? Because all of those people think they are too good to go stay in a motel like we are about to do. All of them are fat and lazy and think they have it made so they don't have to do shit anymore but lounge around and be huge pieces of shit. Well, that's fine, but me and you are going to have fun and make the best of this situation.”
Vinnie suddenly fell silent. Tyra decided not to press him on why he was so worked up, but calm at the same time. She watched the lights get brighter around her as they made their way to the strip. When they got there Vinnie parked and they headed into a motel that looked filthy. Vinnie got them a room at a discount rate because he was Italian and the owner was as well and carried their things into a small room with tiny TV and stains on the ceiling. Vinnie then pulled a couple of bottles of wine out of the mini fridge, put one on ice, and opened the other.
“Here's to us!” he said as he raised his glass and met her's. “Here is to our ability to do what we have to survive. Here's to us not being too good to come down here and hang out and have a few drinks. Here's to us being us! And here's to the rest of the world fucking itself while we have a great time!”
Tyra laughed and drank with him. She liked this Vinnie, the one who threw the cares of the world to the wind. This Vinnie, even though he was a little wound up, wasn't bad at all. He didn't seem overly angry, even though he did tend to be a little long winded. Maybe it had just been the police station that had had him acting like he had been in the morning. She hoped that was the case.
“So what do you want to do tonight?” Vinnie asked. “Do you want to go out and hit the town or stay in? It's kind of up to you. I don't really have any preference considering I live here and this place is pretty much played out to me already. Not that tonight will be super boring though, especially since you're here to keep me company!”
The rest of the night sailed by. Tyra had never had so much fun. They went from club to club, looking for any and all fare of spectacles to entertain themselves. It was fun to watch the fire breathers and sword swallowers and other circus freaks that floated around the strip. Everywhere they turned there seemed to be someone offering them drugs. Vinnie wasn't into drugs, and didn't drink that heavily, but they still managed to get a little tipsy and ended the night by smoking some pot. When they stumbled back into bed they didn't fuck, but instead made sweet love.
“Oh, Vinnie,” Tyra said running her hands up and down his body. “Thanks for taking me out on the town tonight, baby. I really did have a great time. I know that it was probably pretty boring for you but for me it was all new and exciting.”
Vinnie looked like he had something on his mind and Tyra wanted to know what it was.
�
��What is it, baby?” she asked.
Vinnie sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands.
“I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow,” Vinnie said. “My cousins are coming out to crack heads.”
Tyra didn't know what to say. So she didn't say anything.
“I want you to come with me, Tyra.”
Tyra didn't know what to say. She’d never had a man ask her for any kind of commitment before, not like this anyway.
“I don't know,” she said. “I won't know until the airport.”
“What do mean?” Vinnie asked her.
“I mean I'm going to see you off regardless, but I might come with you.”
Vinnie nodded, then got up and crossed the room. Pulling her close by the hand he gently pressed his lips to hers.
Did she ever want this to end? Tyra didn't. But asking her to just run away with him was asking so much. But maybe she would.