Chapter 15
Dominic
The minute that she got the call, she started screaming. Chopper called her around four thirty that afternoon and asked if she could step in for Novocain to take a race. Although she wanted to make him grovel when he told her that she was his last resort, she was too appreciative to do that.
My ass was dead wrong, but I had been working on this master plan for weeks.
Everyone knew Charly was good as hell, but Chopper had an issue with her temper.
I’d approached the rest of the team one by one and asked them if they would turn this particular race down for one reason or another.
There was a lot on the line in terms of money and street cred, and I knew that Chopper didn’t want our team to miss the opportunity.
He and Butter, the other team captain, had beef; therefore, they wouldn’t be racing against each other.
Their issue stemmed from a woman and had nothing to do with racing cars.
But he desperately wanted to race our team, and he upped the pot to four grand just to race a member of our team.
So when everyone turned down the offer to step in for Novocain, Chopper called me and asked if I thought Charly might want to race.
I’d told him that morning that I didn’t know; he would have to call her and ask.
Butter’s team was notorious for cheating, and we rarely raced against them.
But they really wanted to race someone on our team, because we were the ones to beat.
She texted me before I got home from work with the good news.
I had beelined home to help her prepare for the race and make sure that her car was ready.
We went over a few things before we headed out to the meet-up spot.
My nerves were on edge, not because I didn’t think Charly could pull it off; I knew that she could. It was because I didn’t want her to get in her head and screw this opportunity up for herself. And I definitely didn’t want her getting pissed about people talking shit and ending up in a fight.
“Look at your big ass. You all geeked and shit to watch her,” my cousin, Avriella, teased.
“I’m just happy that she’s getting her shot. She’s wanted this for a long time, and Chopper’s mean ass wouldn’t give it to her.”
“Why didn’t she just get with another team or race independently?”
“She wanted to race with the best and to have the protection of a team.”
“Or, she wanted to be close to her boo thang,” Avriella remarked slyly, nudging me in the side.
“Girl, get outta here with that shit,” I replied, chuckling.
“All I’m saying is that no matter what anyone else says, everyone knows that she and Ramon were never meant to be. When he first started telling the family that she was his girl, we all knew that it was a load of crap. We knew that he did that to get at you.”
“Yeah, but why?”
“Your brother’s always been jealous of you.
He looked up to Joaquin, but you’re the baby of the family.
All attention has always been on you, not to mention constantly getting in trouble kept attention coming your way.
He resented that for a while, because your parents were stressed about you.
That’s what my mom and dad said anyway. But Dom, everything came effortlessly your way: grades, friends, and girls. It all came easy to you.”
“Ramon’s smart as hell. He’s always had all A’s.”
“Yeah, but he had to study to make it happen. You didn’t. It’s like you just know things, and you seem to take them all for granted. I know that you don’t. But you didn’t want to go to some Ivy League college or HBCU. Hell, you didn’t want to go to college at all after you graduated.”
“Waste of money and time. It had nothing to do with what I was doing and where I was going.”
“All I’m saying is that Charly was at a weak point in her life. You weren’t there. Her dad had started a serious relationship, and her mom had passed. Ramon took advantage of it. I overheard your mom telling him that one time.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. So don’t be afraid to bring her around as your woman. It doesn’t matter that she was with him first. The family won’t judge you or her. In fact, everyone’s saying it’s about time. For what it’s worth, she’s a good look for you. I think she’s your soulmate.”
I smiled as my cousin clapped my shoulder. “Thanks, li’l bit.”
“You’re welcome. Just remember that when Thanksgiving rolls around. I don’t want you MIA because you’re not trying to spoil the day.”
“I hear you,” I replied with a chuckle, thinking about Joaquin’s warning.
I watched as my cousin walked away to stand with some guy she’d been dating. He looped his arm around her shoulder and dropped a kiss on her lips. That was what I wanted, to be openly affectionate with Charly without having to hide it.
My attention turned back to where she had just finished doing a burnout. I walked up to her car while JP took a few last-minute bets on his phone with some of the bystanders.
“Hey, you good?” I asked, resting my arm on the top of her car and smiling down at her through her open window.
She looked up at me with a serious expression. “I’ve never been better, Dom.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. Now get ready to prove Chopper wrong. Make him come begging you to join the team,” I stated.
She winked at me, and I leaned in and kissed her. I didn’t give a shit who was watching, who said what, or what folks thought. When I pulled back, I couldn’t help but smile at the twinkle in her eyes.
“Thanks, Dom. I needed that.”
“No, you didn’t. You’ve got everything you need inside of you. Charly, you’ve always been great, and you’ll continue to be.”
“It just feels good knowing that you believe in me.”
“Always have and always will. Now kick ass.” I patted the roof of her car and stepped back into the crowd.
A couple of minutes later, JP held his flashlight up, and I held my phone up and started recording. Freeway was at the finish line waiting to record the completion of the race. I did not doubt that my baby would bring home the win.
She was racing Jaheim “J-Dog” Callaway. He was notorious for cheating like the other members of his team.
He often tried to sabotage other racers, but I wasn’t worried about it.
I knew that my girl had this on lock. Her 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 426 Hemi was primed for this race.
I had done a lot of work on it before and after I was locked down.
She had finally sold the car her parents bought for her sixteenth birthday, a few years ago, and bought the Challenger.
A lot of people thought we were crazy to race our cars, her Challenger and my Plymouth, because they were muscle car classics, but we had specifically outfitted them for optimal performance.
They were the best high-performing cars of their time, and I continuously worked on both to make sure they remained that way.
The sound of her engine roaring sent chills down my spine as I allowed a smirk to grace my face. The minute that the flashlight went on, both cars took off.
“You nervous, Reaper?” Shine asked, patting my shoulder as he, Bear, Indomitable, and King walked up to me.
“No more than I am when I’m racing,” I lied.
“If you weren’t nervous, I’d say you were crazy as hell,” Indomitable stated.
“Why’s that? I don’t doubt her. She can win this race,” I countered.
“I know she can too. That’s why I put some skin in the game. I easily put four G’s in this one for her.”
“So why do you think I’d be crazy not to be nervous?”
Smirking, Indomitable replied, “If that were Sharon out there racing, I’d be going insane.”
“Yeah, your woman is out there racing one of the most unscrupulous niggas we know, and you ain’t on that road with her. You gotta be nervous,” Bear declared.
“My woman?”
“Listen, just because you finally kissed her tonight doesn’t mean that we haven’t always seen what’s been going on between y’all,” Shine professed.
I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. “Yeah. It is what it is.”
“You and your brother good?” King asked.
“We haven’t been good for a long time, man. I don’t know if we ever will be again,” I answered truthfully.
“Make it good, my nigga. I’m not saying that she ain’t worth it, because baby girl is all about you and always has been.
I’ve been telling Bear for a minute that there’s no way he and Myasia would ever be as cool as the two of you are without me knocking out some teeth,” King professed, talking about his woman and his brother.
Bear nodded. “Word. Always knew there was more to the story. As much as she loves being out here and how deeply involved in the racing scene as she is, it always seemed odd that he never wanted any part of this. Then, when we met him at the cookout at your place earlier this year, I could see why. I know they say opposites attract, but the two of them couldn’t be more different if they tried,” he declared.
“Yeah, well, that shit’s all in the past now,” I replied, determined to make it so.
“I’m so damn proud of you, baby. And so glad you shut all them haters down out there tonight.”
“Including Chopper?” she asked, stripping out of her clothes.
“Including Chopper. Although he’s not really hating on your skills. I was speaking to the team tonight, and I learned that he always suspected that something was going on between us.”
“Who? You and me?” When I nodded, she stated, “But there hasn’t been.”
“I know that, but he thought there was. He was determined that he didn’t want whatever drama that would fall out behind us to come onto this team. Then pair that with your quick temper, he knew that it was a disaster in the making.”
“Until tonight.”
“Until tonight,” I agreed, leading her to my bathroom where I had already run a bath for her. After she won the race, we stopped by Frost, the lounge named after its owner, Frost King, who also owned the club Charly worked at. Everyone had drinks before heading home.
“You did this for me, baby?”
“Yeah. When you were on the phone talking to TT, I came in and ran your bath.”
“You’re so sweet,” she replied, kissing me softly. I gripped her hips and pulled her closer to me.
“You’d better watch that shit, before you don’t get a bath tonight at all.”
“Mm, for what you’re suggesting, it might be worth it,” she murmured against my lips as she gripped my steel through the cotton of my jogging pants.
“I’ll take care of you, baby,” I promised as I smacked her on the ass.
She lowered into the bathtub and closed her eyes.
I put on her playlist as I moved back to the living room.
Despite the things that I had done wrong in my life, I wanted to prove to Charly that I could be a good man in case I ever screwed up in the future.
I knew she believed in me; she always had.
But I worried there might come a day when she would doubt if I was worth the trouble.
I spent time mixing a few cocktails before I returned to the bathroom. She was snoring softly, and I had half a mind not to disturb her, but her skin was growing wrinkly from the water. I grabbed a washcloth and soaped it up before I gently washed her body.
Charly’s eyes opened, and she smiled softly at me. But she let her eyes drift closed again as I continued washing her. When I finished, she stood and sighed softly.
“I was tired and needed that nap,” she disclosed with a stifled yawn.
I wrapped her in the bath sheet and lifted her from the bathtub.
“Now do you sex my body?”
Laughing, I kissed her neck. “No. Now your horny self is about to come and chill in the living room with me over drinks.”
“Mm. Sounds like I’m about to get you tipsy, sir, and then I can have my way with you.”
Shaking my head, I replied, “Whatever. Go to your room and throw on something comfortable and meet me in the living room.”
I smacked her ass as she walked by me, heading to her bedroom. I returned to the living room and poured our cocktails before I took a seat on the couch. Charly joined me in no time, wearing nothing but a daisy print T-shirt and a pair of thong panties.
“Oh, I thought I would be playing the role of bartender tonight,” she stated, grabbing her glass and plopping down on the opposite end of the couch from me.
She stretched her legs out the long way and rested them in my lap. I rubbed her ankles as I sipped from my glass. “Nah, I figured you might need a break from the everyday role you play.”
“Tell me what’s on your mind, Dom.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yes.”
“My family has been putting it out there that they know about us.”
She stiffened and sat up a little from reclining against the armrest. “And? What are they saying?”
“What I figured they would. We belong together. You and he were never supposed to be.”
“Who said it though?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does.”
“Joaquin and Avriella.”
“That’s not the same as your parents. That’s who I’m genuinely concerned about, and your grandmother.”
“I haven’t talked to them lately.”
“Right, because you know that they’re not going to like this one bit.”
“I don’t know that, Charly, and neither do you. All I know is they want us there for Thanksgiving.”
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not about to go there on Thanksgiving of all days. That’s tantamount to someone trying a new recipe on Thanksgiving. You don’t mess with the macaroni, turkey, or ham on Thanksgiving. You don’t introduce taboo relationships on Thanksgiving.”
“Taboo? Who the hell said we were taboo?”
“Hello? I’m your brother’s ex-girlfriend, and now I’m with you.” She waved her hands in front of my face as she stretched her neck forward and widened her eyes.
“The only shit that was taboo was you and him in the first place. This right here . . .” I pointed between us. “This is right. Our relationship is what it was meant to be. We’re going to my family’s house on Thanksgiving, Charly, and that’s the end of it.”
“Funny how you only see us as being right when it suits your needs.”
I sighed. “What’s the problem, Char?”
“I tried to get you to see a long time ago that we were meant to be, and then again right before you went away to jail.”
“And neither of those times was right. The first time, I thought I was having a baby. I didn’t want to drag you into that crap. The second time, I was on my way to prison. Why would I do that to you?”
She lowered her head, and I reached out to lift it again. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
“Hey, don’t cry.”
“I want this thing between us, Dom. I just don’t know if we’re strong enough together to handle the scrutiny that might come our way.”
I gathered her onto my lap and wiped her tears. Kissing her eyelids, nose, and then her lips, I replied softly. “Don’t worry about that. I’m strong enough for the both of us to handle whatever comes our way.”