by Ines Vieira
Candi’s dull eyes will haunt me. She looked like a girl who just gave up and accepted that this was the best reality she was worthy of. I have to find a way of seeing her again. There must be something I can do to help her out of this crummy deal she made with the devil. There must be.
“Hey, you okay?” Quaid asks me, as he gently spreads warmth back into my forearms and looks into my honey brown eyes trying to establish if there is still life in me.
“Jess, you spaced out there for a second. Do you need to go back to your mom’s shop, or do you want me to call your dad or something?” Cass queries me also with concern in her eyes. Crap, I guess I freaked both of them out with my silence. That’s what I get for never keeping my mouth shut for too long.
“No babe, I’m fine. Just needed a minute.” Cass nods fully understanding where I’m coming from and relaxes, seeing that I’m me again.
“I think I’m going to head back home, though. Do you mind? I know you still need to get some stuff for your mom at dad’s but one look at me and my dad will see that’s something’s up. Is that okay? I’ll pop by later at your house.”
“Sure Jess, no worries. But how will you get home, I’m your ride remember?”
“I’ll take you home.” I look up at Quaid and realize that he hasn’t looked away from me once since I zoned out.
“That’s okay. I’ll walk. The cool air will do me good.” I know I sound short with him, but I have no tolerance for Quaid’s need to be the knight in shining armor, right now.
“Jess, don’t be silly,” Cass starts to protest, but Quaid interrupts her reasoning with me.
“She’s not being silly, she’s being stubborn, but I didn’t ask you if you wanted a ride, Jessica. I told you that I was going to take you home.”
“Really? You told me?” I say crossing my arms over my chest, head held high staring him in the eye. The nerve of him!
“Did I stutter? Yes, I told you,” he affirms also mimicking me and crossing his arms over his much larger chest, and looking down at me so he can match my unwavering stare.
“Well, alrighty then! I leave you two to sort this out amongst yourselves. Text me when you get home, Jess. Love you.” And with a definite spring in her step, I see my best friend turn around towards dad’s store. But what pulled a nerve, was that before she left, Cass actually gave me one of her true honest to god famous smiles added on with a wink and a thumbs up. What the hell, was that about? I’ll get to the bottom of that soon enough, but first I have to deal with the Greek God before me.
“So, will you be walking over to my car or do I have to put you over my shoulder?”
“You wouldn’t dare! I’m not some damsel in distress that needs you to go all alpha on her, Quaid. I can take care of myself and can get home on my own.”
“No one would ever confuse you with a damsel, Jess, trust me. But regardless. I said I was going to take you home and come hell or high water that’s what I’m going to do,” he grunts out at me.
“Like hell you are! Go play Mother Teresa with someone else. I don’t need any saving, Quaid. If you haven’t noticed, I’m a grown ass woman!”
He lets out another grunt and looks up to the sky, probably asking for patience.
Oh, poor baby!
Guess I’m too much sand for his little wagon to carry. Figures. I turn around making my point crystal clear when suddenly I’m up in the air face to face with Quaid’s ass. If I wasn’t so outraged by this blatant disregard for my wishes, I would have found the time to appreciate the view more fully. But all I can see is red, as he crosses the street with me in tow like a sack of potatoes, while people passing by just laugh at the spectacle we’re making.
“Put me down, you big oaf!”
“A grown ass woman wouldn’t act like such a spoiled child the way you do.”
I continue to hit every body part I can find, and although I’m yelling at him, he doesn’t raise his voice once. He is as cool as cucumber and doesn’t even break a sweat.
“A grown ass woman would see that I was only trying to see her safely home instead of leaving her to walk alone and running the risk that her demented uncle is out there somewhere just waiting to pay her back for that lovely slap that she gave him, not 10 minutes ago.”
I can’t fault his reasoning, and I hate to admit that he’s making a valid point, but right now I’m just too pissed to agree with him.
“And a grown ass woman doesn’t see it as a weakness in accepting help when it’s offered freely.” And then to add insult to injury, Quaid “Golden Boy” Stevens smacks my ass cheek for all of High Street to see.
I bite my lip and pray that my parents are too busy inside their stores to have watched their 18-year-old daughter get spanked by Plymouth’s pride and joy as the result of her own tantrum. By the time we reach his car, I’m too embarrassed to face him. I’m not embarrassed that we gave everyone on the busiest street in Plymouth a show. Gossip that I’m sure will get back to my parents sooner or later.
No, that’s not what has me lowering my eyes, fixed on the dashboard while Quaid drives me home in complete silence. What I’m embarrassed by is that everything that Quaid said about being a grown woman was true and it took a man to remind me of it. Worse still, it took Quaid Stevens to show me that I was still falling short in that department and that stung more than the slap on my backside.
Chapter 8
Jess
“You left the salon this morning before your aunt was able to talk to you properly,” my mom says while taking a small bite out of her roasted potatoes.
“I didn’t know Aunt Laura needed to talk with me,” I mumble. My head isn’t on dinner. It's still on Candi. I can't shake her out of my head. The girl looked scared, and from the bruise on her wrist, her fear is warranted. I need to find a way to get to her somehow. I wasn’t able to help Isaac or my aunt Evelyn in any way, but I’ll be damned if I let Hector start fresh with Candi.
“Well, she did. Apparently, one of her client’s daughter is also living in New York working at the DiStefano Hotel. She says her daughter was unable to take more than a couple of days off this Christmas break since they're understaffed. They’re looking for a couple of girls to do the weekend shifts, and your aunt told her that she thought maybe you’d be interested. Since it wouldn’t interfere with your classes, she wanted to know if she could pass your number along to her.
My mom mentioning the DiStefano name brings me to the present. DiStefano Hotel is situated right in the heart of Manhattan and is probably one of the most elite and well sought out hotels in the city. I once passed across the street from it and wasn’t surprised when I saw some A-list actors being ushered in. The hotel is almost a tourist attraction in itself. There is one in every major city from Paris to London and even Dubai. It's even more famous than our current president’s fleet of hotels.
“Wow! That would be amazing. Did Tia get any other information, like what I’d be doing or how much it pays?” Whatever it is must be better than tutoring my way through my college years. Right now, I’m tutoring Italian, Spanish and Portuguese to almost a dozen kids. What I’ve learned these past couple of months is that I’d make for a crappy teacher. I get easily frustrated, and I have no patience which sucks since I’m sure that at least half the kids I’m tutoring will probably drop my ass before the year ends.
“Well, I believe it's your basic maid service. You know cleaning the room when the guests leave or changing towels and bed linens, things like that I would assume.” Tony, Mickey, André and even Matty scoff and start to giggle like the infantile brats they are.
“Yeah, Tia, I don't think Jess will be giving my mom a call,” Tony smirks taking a big bite out of his steak.
“Why the hell not?” I ask outraged
“Let's just say that you're more of giving orders rather than taking them. I mean can you really see yourself cleaning up other people’s shit without having a meltdown? Or some uppity socialite asking you to clean dog pee off a carpet, or whatever
other nonsense rich people ask for. Come one, Jess. You’d go insane in the first week,” Mickey says, putting his own two cents into the conversation.
“Plus, you’d need to have some serious backbone and humility to do that sort of job.” Tony chides.
“Are you saying that I don’t have a backbone, jerk? Or that I’m not humble?” I screech. This sets the boys in another fit of laughter.
“Screw you, guys!” I exclaim now at a total loss of appetite. Jeez, the way these guys went on and on, it's like I’m some spoilt princess or something. I’m not like that, am I? No, I’m not! These guys were just being class ‘A’ douches like always.
“Language please,” my mom mutters ignoring my brother and cousins input.
“How much does this gig pay anyway?” Mickey asks our mother.
“Well since Jess doesn’t have any experience in the hotel industry she would get a trainee wage.”
“Trainee to take people's trash out. Damn, I didn’t know you needed a degree for that too!” Mickey goes on, and the boys continue to laugh. My mother continues to pay no notice to them and then looks over to me.
“Aunt Laura says the pay is forty dollars an hour to start you off.” Mickey almost chokes on his coke, while mom gives him a smirky look and continues. “The hotel will know you’re a college student, so they will only require you to do the desired weekend shift from 6 to 11, no overtime or requests to do any extra shifts. This way it won't interfere with school.” I don't even have to think about it. It's double what I’m earning now and its 10 hours a week. Right now I’m doing well over triple that amount with my tutoring. Money’s good, hours are great, what is there to think about?
“I’ll call Aunt Laura after dinner to tell her I’ll take it.” The boys continue to laugh it up.
“I give her a week,” Tony has the nerve to say.
“I give her an hour!” Mickey adds.
My father, who’s been silent the whole conversation, coughs into his napkin getting the boys’ attention.
“You boys have very little faith in our Jessica. May I remind you that my own father worked as a janitor when he came to this country until he passed, and even your Avó Irene cleaned her neighbors’ houses whenever she could just to add some much-needed income to our household. And they both went to work with a smile on their faces,” Dad says, and the boys take the hint.
“Anyway, there is no shame in honest work, whatever it may be, and I hope everyone at this table knows that we Silva’s pride ourselves in being hard working. There is no room for egos when you're doing something for a greater cause. My parents’ cause was to raise their family right, Jess’s cause is to sustain herself in New York while having enough time to dedicate to her studies. Our girl has always been an eye on the ball type, so if she wants to take this job, it's because she knows she’ll do it right and for the right reasons. Just as I hope you boys will do when opportunity knocks on your door, whatever that opportunity may be.” My cousins look onto their plates like if they have been scolded, even though my father never raised his voice during his whole rant. My big brother though still loves giving me a hard time
“You’re right dad, but still a pic of Jess in a maid’s uniform will be Instagram worthy. You think you can take a selfie for me, sis?” he roars, but then his girlfriend Penny looks at him like she’s going to shove her heels in his face if he says another word. He shrugs and kisses her forehead.
“Just teasing, babe,” he tells her. “Trust me if it was the other way around Jess would not be as forgiving.” She raises an eyebrow indicating that she doubts it.
“He’s right, Penny. If the shoe was on the other foot, I’d be there his very first day on the job, snap that picture and make it our family’s Christmas card,” I tell her.
“See, told ya, babe,” Mickey says cutting his steak, not even surprised. The boys laugh, with my dad and mom joining in.
“Well, now that that’s settled, I heard there was a bit of commotion on High Street this morning?” Dad asks.
Crap!
I continue to eat my dinner feigning ignorance. Sooner or later this was bound to come up.
“Really what type of commotion?” my mother asks passing Tony his beloved tomato and mozzarella salad and offering him one of her kind smiles to ease his now still bashful mood.
“Apparently our daughter needed to be carried away on young Quaid’s shoulder to his car as she couldn’t use her own two feet to walk that far. It was all the customers at the store could talk about today.”
“Is that, right?” Tony grunts. Double Crap! Just what I needed. Tony to get all overprotective. I refuse to give into another bout of teasing and continue to move my food around the plate, hoping my family will move on from this topic.
“Something wrong with your feet, cuz? Did you feel sick or something?” Tony asks hoping there was something seriously wrong with me to have to be carried off by Quaid Stevens. When I don’t answer, he places his silverware on his plate and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Well, it seems whatever you had has affected your hearing as well. Or have you taken a vow of silence as penance by Father Kirkpatrick for making a fool of yourself, for the whole town to talk about?”
“Oh please, Tony! Don’t act all holier than thou bullshit on me. The stunts you pull with the choir girls in Father Kirkpatrick's church makes my little spanking look like child play.”
“Spanking?! Who said anything about spanking?! What the hell happened this morning!” Tony bursts out, and I can almost see the vein in his forehead pop out in anger.
“Children, language,” my mother says again calmly, hiding a grin that I see is right there begging to come out. My father though is less controlled and lets out a big deep laugh. I missed it so much. As a little girl, hearing my father’s laugh was a thing of beauty. I always knew that nothing in the world could ever be that bad as long as dad kept laughing his way around the house. I loved the sound, but right now him laughing at the dinner table while we’re surrounded by three of my cousins, my mom, my brother Mickey and his new girlfriend, Penny, is pissing me off. Hey, it could be worse, my sisters could have been here as well to tease the hell out of me, so I guess I have to be thankful for small mercies.
“Tony, take it easy. Again, let me remind you that we all know our Jess is a big girl and can take care of herself,” Dad starts to affirm even though it's kind of hard for anyone to take him seriously now when he’s almost crying from laughing so hard. Everyone is having a good old laugh at my expense, save for Tony who is scowling in front of me.
“God, I would have paid good money to see that. Jess, you’re losing your touch if he got the drop on you. Out of all my sisters, Jess here was the scrappiest of all of them. She looks small, yeah, but the girl has some speed on her, let me tell ya. She was always the last one I could grab when we played tag or hide and seek when we were kids,” Mickey explains to his girlfriend. He places a hand behind her chair and looks over at me mockingly.
“So, spill. What happened? Lose a dare or something?”
“No,” I grumble thinking that this is enough ammo for Mickey to tease me all Christmas break. He won't touch my new possible job with a stick now since dad stood up for my decision. But seeing as dad got a kick out of me being carried away like a bag of flour over Quaid’s shoulders, Mickey knows he can’t pass this up; the douche. He knows that the family will be focused on him this weekend with his girl and all, so he’s going to milk this story of me and Quaid for all he can, to misdirect attention off of him and onto yours truly. Little weasel. I would have done the same, mind you, but still...
Everyone is staring me down now, hoping to get some more embarrassing tidbits that they can use later, so I drop the bomb and immediately regret that I didn’t keep the mood upbeat.
“I ran into Hector and Quaid wouldn’t take no for an answer in driving me safely home.” Hector’s name is a total buzzkill since it does the trick for everyone sitting at the table to stop their teasing
and grow uneasy.
Yep, should have kept my mouth shut.
“You saw him?” my father’s tone is low, but since no one is even breathing, he could have whispered his question, and I would have still heard it half at the end of the table.
“Yeah. He was meeting up with Candi.” I chance a look at my mother, and I can already see her ‘I told you so’ look plastered on her face
“Did he say anything to you? Ask about Aunt Evelyn or Isaac?” Matty asks. I see the worried face he has on, and I hate that I was the one that put it there. Again me and my big mouth. I couldn’t just put on my big girl pants and let the roast continue, could I? Damn it. I nod instead of opening my mouth again. It only gets me in trouble anyway.
“What did he say?” Now it's Tony’s turn to get some answers. If he was angry that Quaid and I made a show of ourselves before, now he’s just plain old livid. Tony had seen first-hand what Hector was capable of, earlier this year. He never liked him. Even as a kid, Hector was always that one uncle he stayed away from. I’m just glad that neither Matty or André were present. They were just barely fourteen and fifteen respectively at the time, and that image of my aunt bleeding and spit on while cradled in Isaac’s arms would have been devastating for them to see. Especially since they have such a deep bond with their own mother. Yeah, no kid should see that crap, ever.
“Maybe we should discuss this later,” I say, pointing my head over to the boys so Tony can get a clue. But the imbecile doesn’t and slams his fist on the table.
“What did he say?” he asks again this time with all the force his voice can carry.