Seven Days: A young black woman makes a deal with a mob boss.

by Diana Hoffman

  "I think you are quickly forgetting the rules here. Again," he said, as he walked her backwards until she bumped into the wall. "You will not disrespect me. If I ask you a question, you answer. And not in a smart-ass way either. Do you understand?"

  "Yes," she pouted.

  "Good. Now where were you going?"

  "To the movie theater."

  "What were you going to see?"

  "I'm not sure. I was going to see what was playing when I got there."

  "I'll drive you," Nic said, releasing her arm and grabbing a set of keys from the cabinet.

  "Oh, that's okay. I'll take the bus."

  Ignoring her comment, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the loft.

  The car ride over was excruciatingly quiet. She couldn't believe he was driving her. Damn, how many cars did he have? Raymond had dropped them both off last night, which meant he had to have a car here. And she had never seen this one before. It was a Silver SUV. She wasn't sure what kind, but the inside was immaculate and had that new car smell. Had he ever even driven this car before? She scoffed, probably not. Fucking rich people.

  When they arrived at the theater, he got out and opened her door again, surprising her. They walked in silence to the ticket counter. "What movie did you want to see?" he asked.

  "Um, it doesn't matter," Victoria admitted, feeling strange. Was he going to stay?

  He scanned the titles on the overhead screen, and picked an action film. She almost died when he said two tickets. She couldn't imagine him sitting in a dingy theater like this. His taste just seemed too expensive to waste time on something this trivial. An opera house or museum maybe...but a cheap, dirty theater with mindless films, she wouldn't have expected. Just didn't seem his style.

  He placed a hand on the small of her back and led her inside. When they reached the concession stand, he asked her if she wanted anything.

  "Um, just popcorn and a drink. C--Coke. Thank you," she stammered out. It was too early in the morning for popcorn, but she needed something to keep her attention off him once inside the dark theater. After he paid the kid behind the counter, he led her to their screen. There was only a handful of people there, so they sat down in the middle row. Victoria was so nervous for some reason. She glanced at him, and he looked so normal. Like this was a...date...or something. He turned to her, and she immediately faced the screen again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him reaching over toward her. God, was he going to stick his hands down her pants? That would be embarrassing, considering she was started to get wet. She tensed her legs only to have him reach into her popcorn and grab a handful and pop it into his mouth. She could have smacked herself. What kind of floozy was she turning into?

  When the movie started, she tried her best not to look over at him. Thank goodness it was so dark, so she could sneak a peek here and there. He placed his arm behind her seat and her stomach fluttered. Ah! It's not like he was a crush or something. He was a cold, calculating ruthless mob boss. Not some prom king, All-American boy that you would bring home to mom and dad. No matter how fine he was.

  During the movie, he never laughed or got excited. He only stared at the screen, so she couldn't tell if he liked it or not.

  But halfway through the movie, sleep started hitting her pretty hard. She tried to force her eyelids to stay open, but they started to get heavier and heavier. Before she knew it, she was out.

  Nic looked over at Victoria, watching her battle with sleep. It finally won, and she leaned her head up against his arm. God, she was so beautiful. Amber hated stuff like this. If it wasn't clubbing or expensive lavish parties, she would rather not go. He had tried to take her to see a film months ago, and she turned her nose up at him. But here he was with Victoria, actually enjoying himself. The movie wasn't that good, but it didn't matter. Just sitting this close to her, smelling her scent, with her hair tickling his arm, made him relax. He realized how stressed out his work made him. He was sure his men were wondering what the hell was happening. He was always available. He never turned off his cell phone. But at least for a couple of hours, he was off the grid. They would have to do without him. He stared at the top of her head, wishing he could lean his against her.

  When Victoria woke up, the screen was dark, and she was leaning her head on someone's shoulder. Nic's shoulder. She immediately jumped back, and realized she had drooled on his sleeve. He was looking at her. She scanned the theater, and everyone was gone, and the lights had come up.

  "I'm sorry," she said, wiping her mouth. How embarrassing. Why had he not woke her up?

  "No worries," he said, as he got up and waited for her to grab her handbag and trash.

  Neither one said a word as they walked out of the theater. When they got in the SUV, Nic asked, "Want something to eat?"

  "Sure," Victoria answered. She hadn't really eaten any of the popcorn and had skipped breakfast.

  "Burgers?"

  Victoria laughed for a second, until she realized he was being serious. "Um, yes. Sorry, I didn't think you ate things like that."

  "I don't all the time, but I like them every now and then."

  They got the meal to go, and when they reached his loft, he was getting out placemats when he noticed a burgundy box in the corner of his living room. He walked over to it, and picked it up.

  "What's this?" he asked, turning to her. He smiled at her, when he noticed her mouth was full and she was mid chew of what apparently was a pretty large bite.

  "Its Scrabble," she mumbled unintelligibly out of her full mouth.

  "I know it's Scrabble. How did it get here?"

  Victoria waited a second to swallow before she answered. "I bought it the other day. It's one of my favorite games."

  "You any good?" he said, grabbing his burger, fries and drink, and bringing it to the small coffee table.

  "The best," Victoria said with confidence.

  "Well, set it up."

  Victoria figured he couldn't be for real. She couldn't imagine him playing Scrabble. Or any board game for that matter. He seemed too serious and mature for that. This whole day had been strange.

  As they sat on the floor, eating their burgers and fries, Victoria was really enjoying this. Strange or not, she hadn't really had any fun, other than Antonio's party, since she first got to Nic's place. Actually, she had to go back further than that. She thought of her mom and dad. It was miserable there, too. She placed another word down on the board. Sodden--meaning saturated or wet. Like her pussy. Then she turned the board toward him.

  Nic took a big bite of his burger, wiped his hands and surveyed her word. "That's not a word," he said, as he turned the board back to her.

  "Yes it is," Victoria insisted, staring at her word again and munching on her fries.

  "No, it's not."

  "Yes, it is."

  Nic stared at her. Something playful behind his eyes. "Are you willing to bet on that? Dictionary is right beside you."

  Victoria scanned her word one more time. Shit, it might not be one. Fuck, he was really good at this game. She was already losing by over a hundred points.

  "Okay, I give. It's not a word," she pouted, removing the letters from the board.

  Nic laughed at her pout. "It would have been if you had one more 'd'. But spelled like that, it's not a word." He was about to place some letters down, when his phone started vibrating. He had planned on ignoring it, but he looked at the screen. It was Jimmy.

  "Yes?" he said, when he answered. "What? Okay, no, I'll be there." He surveyed the board one more time, before quickly placing 4 more letters down. He turned the board toward her, and had just spelled a word that earned him 48 points.

  'Damn him,' Victoria thought. But before she could hand him the bag to replace his letters, he took another bite, scooped up his food, placed it in the trash and walked out. Victoria sat looking at the door. She sighed and looked down at the board one more time. She already missed him. She had to stop this before she actually fell in love with the asshole. That's s
omething she couldn't allow herself to do. Ever. She didn't really know him, and he didn't really know her. And she needed to keep it that way. Yes, starting tomorrow, she would behave differently.

  In the car on the way back to his house, Nic thought about his day with Victoria. He realized he was overstepping boundaries. He never should have spent the night. He rarely ever slept in the same bed as a woman he'd just had sex with. Usually he'd politely, or not so politely, kick them out or just stop by their place and leave when the actual act was done. Amber, being his wife, shared a bed with him until they couldn't stand to be around each other. Then she took another bedroom in the house, but that was before she had moved out over six months ago. Nic had every intention of leaving after fucking Victoria, but when he returned from the bathroom, he went to gather his clothes from the bedroom and heard her snoring.

  He had walked over to her side of the bed and stared down at her. His eyes slowly roamed over her naked body. Her smooth back which dented in at her small waist and then rose with the round curves of her perfect ass. His eyes traveled down her silky legs to cute tiny feet. She shifted in her sleep to her side and he stared at the tiny butterfly tattoo on her pelvic bone. He wondered when she had gotten it. She didn't seem like the type of person who had any tattoos. He wanted to put his mouth to the small colorful ink and kiss it. Since he couldn't kiss what he really wanted. He looked back at her face and at her soft lips which were slightly parted.

  Nic had sighed and dropped his clothing back on the floor. He had gently crawled back into the bed and had fallen asleep staring at the back of her head.

  He had hated to leave her without any explanation during their game, but in his line of 'work' the less she knew, the better for her. A two-timing snitch who had placed one of his men in jail, had finally been caught. The bastard had been playing all sides. Selling lies to Nic's rivals about him, and vice versa and then selling all of them to crooked cops. Well, this time, he crossed the wrong people.

  When Nic arrived at his house, he was greeted at the door. "How long has he been here?" Nic said, removing his jacket and walking briskly through the house.

  "A few hours. We couldn't reach you," Jimmy said, as he followed in line behind Nic.

  Nic quietly cursed himself. That's one thing he couldn't tolerate. Letting business matters slip. Shit, he should have turned his damn phone on. Victoria was fucking with his mind. He needed to get his shit together.

  "What's his name?" Nic asked.

  "Mark Hinson. Apparently us and the Koreans aren't the first people he backstabbed."

  Nic rolled up his sleeves, "But we'll be the last," he stated before he entered his basement.

  After their Scrabble game, Victoria had sat up all night trying to figure out her new approach to Nic. She couldn't keep up this same routine with him. She couldn't keep letting him add days because she couldn't control her temper. That's exactly what he wanted. To keep her here for his own sick reasons. But...did she want to be there? No! Of course not! What was she thinking? Of course not... And she couldn't let things like their 'date' distract her. It wasn't real, and it didn't mean anything.

  From here on out she would do all that he asked so that her time could pass quickly and they could go their separate ways. This seemed to be the only way. So what, he took her to the movies. Big deal. Who cared if he played Scrabble with her? None of those things erased this dreadful arrangement. She needed to get a grip. And she needed to figure out how she was going to pay this month's rent. Victoria went to sleep late, with many stressful things floating around in her mind.

  The next morning, Victoria woke up, took a shower and threw on a hoodie and some sweatpants, then heard a soft knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and recognized the white blond hair immediately. Victoria smiled as she opened the door and Mina stepped in followed by Raymond with several large boxes and bags.

  "Hey Mina," Victoria said, while hugging the tiny girl. "Hey! How was the party the other night?" Mina asked.

  "It was alright. But your dress was a hit," Victoria said. Mina smiled from ear to ear. "Yes! I knew it would be. You looked amazing in it. Well, since you trust my taste...Nic sent me on a little shopping spree for you. I hope you like."

  Victoria shook her head. Why was Nic doing this? She then turned her attention to the big guy. "Hi, Raymond. Come to sweep me off my feet and carry me away from big, bad Nic?" Victoria teased. She thought she saw a teeny, tiny smile in the corner of his mouth, but she couldn't be sure. He was such a teddy bear.

  Mina walked toward the back of the condo and into the bedroom. Raymond followed behind, dragging several boxes. Victoria wondered if they had bought the entire store.

  She watched in awe as Mina hung up and folded different articles of clothing. She hung dresses and skirts together, jeans in one section and lounging and work-out clothes in another. Mina placed different types of expensive shoes on the shoe rack. She smiled when she held up a brand new pair of black and white Converse. "This was not my pick, but he said you liked them," Mina said, laughing.

  Victoria stared down at her tattered, old Converse. She did like these damn shoes. They were comfortable. She looked back up and noticed Mina placing several undergarments and a few pair of bikinis inside the drawers. What the hell? How long did Nic think she was staying? She only had a few more days left. And why was he buying her all of this anyway?! She was supposed to be 'paying' money off...not adding to the debt.

  "Okay, I'm done," Mina said, brushing her hands against each other. "Everything in there should fit you perfectly, but if not, give me a call, and I'll fix it," she said, while handing Victoria her card. It just had her name and number on it.

  "Thanks, I don't know what to say. There's just so much," Victoria said, looking over the now full closet. She, her mother and father probably didn't have this much clothing combined.

  "Well, women can never have enough clothes and accessories. Enjoy!" Mina said as she bounced out of the room.

  After they left, Victoria went to examine the closet. She felt like she had her own little mini department store. But then her smile quickly vanished. She needed to realize that this didn't mean anything. Everything in this closet was for him, not her. So she could look somewhat decent beside him. So she could wear lingerie to get him off. It was just a game.

  Victoria sighed as she looked over the dresses. She chose a dark blue soft cotton dress with long sleeves. She picked out a pair of boots to go with it, and quickly pulled her thick hair into a high ponytail. She added a little mascara and clear lip gloss. She would at least try to look somewhat decent for him since she would be turning over her new leaf today. Make Nic happy so she could get the hell out of there.

  Victoria grabbed the cordless phone and dialed her parents' phone number. She chewed on her nail while waiting for someone to answer.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey mama. How are you?" Victoria asked.

  "I'm fine, but where are you?"

  "I—I can't really say. But I'm fine. Did Mr. Parker come by about the rent, yet?"

  "Yeah. I held him off. We got to think of something. I only have half. Where are you again?"

  "Mama, I can't tell you that right now. But I'm fine, trust me. And pretty soon, everything is going to be fine. And I'll try to figure out a way to get the other half. How's daddy?"

  She heard her mother sigh. Victoria knew that sigh. That meant her father was being difficult.

  "He's alright, I guess. Just depressed. And that's causing him to be mean. Just a mean, old man. He asking where you are though. I guess I'll just tell him that line you feeding me."

  Victoria hated that her mother was having to deal with this alone. And here she was sitting up in some expensive condo pretending to live the high life. "Mama, I have to go. I'll, um, see about getting you some money really soon. Just...never mind. Love you, bye," she said as she quickly rushed off the phone.

  Victoria had to do something. Her family had barely been getting by for years. Just
when she thought there was no way, they always found one. She would find one this time too. She knew what she had to do. She really didn't want to, but she had to. She detested Mr. Parker, but she knew the only way out of this was to get an extension on their rent. She sighed as she grabbed her purse and walked out. Downstairs, Sam directed her to the closest bus. Nic usually didn't come by until later in the afternoon, so hopefully she would get back before he even realized she had gone anywhere.

  Finally, after three bus changes and an hour later, she arrived at her neighborhood. She looked around at the broken down apartments and trash on the streets. It seemed like she hadn't been there in months...even though it had only been a couple weeks. She walked a few blocks south until she came to the rent office. She REALLY didn't want to deal with this man today. She couldn't stand him.