The Damage is Done

Ch. 6: Birthday Girl

It has been a few weeks now since I've been living with Blaze and going to his deals with him. So far they have all been similar to the first one. A few people would meet us somewhere remote, sometimes it was Peter and his friends, sometimes it was someone new, and we would switch duffel bags and then that was it. I've watched plenty of gangster movies before like Goodfellas where everyone at every single encounter ends up shooting at each other. Nothing like that has happened so far, luckily. Blaze keeps telling me I'm crazy and that shit like that doesn't happen in real life, but I keep reminding him that Goodfellas is based on a true story. He doesn't seem worried.

Now, it's the morning of my eighteenth birthday. I feel no different. Nothing has changed except for the fact that I could move out of Blaze's place if I wanted to, but the thing is, I was enjoying myself. Even if Blaze was turning me into a drug dealer for a notoriously lethal gang. I mean, it's not like I can just get a job at the mall like every other eighteen year old girl with my track record. Being convicted of a double homicide is a bit difficult to glaze over in an interview. McDonald's maybe? I do like burgers.

I was just getting out of bed when I heard a knock on the door. "Yeah?" I responded.

"Happy birthday!" Blaze busted through the door and tossed a handful of confetti at me. The little rainbow pieces floated down around my head and settled all through my hair.

I sighed in annoyance, but I couldn't be too mad because it was Blaze. "Thanks," I laughed at him and got out of bed to shake out my hair. "I'm going to shower," I told him.

"Okay, Cinder-Ell-a, see what I did there?" he flashed his perfect white teeth at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"It was a bit of a reach," I said, referring to his attempt at a nickname.

"Whatever," he dismissed. "Make sure you get nice and clean in that shower. Oh, and shave! We're going out tonight and guys don't like hairy legs," he informed me before thinking about what he just said. "Or, wait, don't shave. I don't feel like fighting off guys tonight."

I scoffed at him and turned to go to the bathroom. "I don't give a shit what guys think about my legs. Nobody is going to see them tonight anyways."

~*~

I shaved.

I guess he got to me. I mean, it is my eighteenth birthday, so I am legally allowed to bang whoever consents tonight - let's not get rapey - and I think I'd like to. Most people my age have already had sex, and definitely at least kissed someone. I've done neither considering where I've been for the past five years. I think my best bet would be to find some hot guy tonight wherever we go and just get it over with. And a club, which I'm pretty positive is where Blaze is taking me, is a good place to find a one night stand that doesn't need to know anything about my life. It's the perfect plan. It's the first step toward becoming a real human again after being in jail and then jumping directly into a gang lifestyle.

I didn't exactly have a dress or anything like that to wear, but I wouldn't want to anyways. I just wore skinny jeans and a lower cut V-neck than usual. I blow dried my hair with Blaze's hair dryer and considered myself ready for the day. I may have tried to put some makeup on if I actually owned any, but all I had to my name was the clothes that the boys stole for me on my first night.

By now it was already almost two o'clock, because Blaze didn't even wake me until noon, and I wondered what they rest of the day would hold for me. I walked out into the living room and was immediately shouted at from all directions.

"Surprise!"

Jared, Joshua, Dominic, and Blaze all stood in the living room. Dom was quietly sitting on the couch lighting the candles on the birthday cake they had on the coffee table, but the rest of the boys were positioned around the room with kazoos.

"Fuck!" I jumped back at the sudden noise and they laughed at me. "What are you guys doing?"

Jared came up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "We're here to celebrate! Our little Elliot, finally a woman," he jokes and then looks down at my blushing cheeks. "Or if not, I can handle that tonight," he winks at me and I pray for the Earth to swallow me whole.

"Stop, dude, nobody is fucking Elliot tonight!" Blaze shouts at the blonde with his arm still holding me. "How many times do I have to stop you guys from talking about that shit in front of me?"

Joshua laughs from his seat on the couch. "She's hot, man, we're probably never going to stop offering," he says and his twin makes a sound of agreement. I look at Dom still sitting on the couch for help, but he doesn't seem interested in our conversation.

"I don't need the mental image of the two of you and El, who's practically my little sister," Blaze responds with a disgusted look that makes it clear that the image came to mind.

"Oh gross," Jared agrees. "I would never have a threesome with my brother. Two girls, one guy. That's the only way," he states and his brother nods in agreement.

"Yeah," Joshua says. "Just Elliot and me. Jared is definitely not invited."

Blaze leans down and takes his shoe off, chucking it at Joshua's head.

~*~

The rest of the afternoon continued in a similar fashion: the twins making dumb jokes, Blaze trying to control them, and Dom quietly watching his friends and only cracking a smile when Blaze ended up smashing Jared's face into my birthday cake. I could now see that it was dark outside through the window in the living room and the guys were all getting ready to go.

"Elly, get ready, we're going to the club soon," Blaze tells me while massaging some sort of hair styling cream through the front of his hair. I look down at my outfit, jeans and a V-neck, and shrug.

"I am ready," I say confidently. He looks at me again, about to say something else, then decides better of it and goes back to his hair. Once he's finally satisfied he leads the way out the front door and we all follow.

"Dom," he says and motions for the quiet man behind me. Dom brushes past me and the hairs on my arm stand up at the contact. I have a feeling he's been ignoring me but I'm not sure why. I just know he hasn't said anything to me since he got here hours ago. Blaze hands Dom the keys to my car, probably because it's the biggest with the most room for the five of us to sit comfortably.

I'm half a second way from questioning why Dom is driving my car when Joshua walks up behind me. "He doesn't drink," he says quietly. I nod at his explanation and climb into the back of my own car, settling myself into the middle seat - the bitch seat - because I'm the smallest. Jared and Joshua get in on either side of me and Blaze sits in the passenger seat, much like we were situated the very first night I spent with them.

Blaze turns around in his seat to face me as Dom pulls out of the driveway and heads towards the city. "Alright, Elliot, you ready to get absolutely shit-faced?"

This is going to be a long night.