For Jionni, working at the car shop didn't feel like work. It was something he couldn't wait to do. From 7am-7pm, Jionni fixed and decorated cars with his great painting skills. While fixing another mans car, the tattoos that were complimented by his white undershirt caught the attention of the mans 21-year-old daughter.
"Hey, who's the name of the boy thats working on my dads car?" The girl asked, pointing at him.
"That's Jionni. Young and works harder than all of the other men here!" The boss bragged.
"How old is he?"
"Turned 23 a month ago."
The boss raised his eyebrows, interested in her interest.
"Did you want me to introduce you?"
"I'm too nervous!" The girl squealed.
"Jionni!"
Arms battered with oil and dirt, Jionni swiped his arm with a towel and approached the two. Mixed with black and asian, the girl was "thick" with back-length hair. Attractive, was an understatement.
"Hey, this lovely young lady wanted you to give her a tutorial on the place. Her names Joanne." The boss winked. "I'll get Gustaf to finish fixing the car."
"Aight, come on!" Jionni shrugged.
Walking with the girl, he placed the towel around his neck and took her to the front.
"Excuse all dis' dirt. I been workin' on too many damn cars today." He laughed.
"You're fine. Just shows that you're a hard worker."
"Preciate' it. Ah, over here, is da' front desk. Da' most boring part of da' job. Over there, is da' celebrity walls. Elvis n' all dem other 1950 superstars came to dis' place. My bosses father owned dis' place before him." Jionni smiled. "Let me take you towards da' back."
Following him, the girl couldn't take her eyes off of Jionni's tattoos.
"N' over here, we got all types of paint n' whatnot. You gotta car?"
"Yeah. It's an old Mazda though..." The girl groaned.
"Well shieeet, bring it in n' i'll hook it up fa' you."
Gazing at Jionni's bright white smile, Joanne was sparked with boldness.
"Let give you my number." She said.
Writing it down on a small sheet of paper, she folded it up and handed it to him.
"Cool, nice meetin' you." Jionni winked.
"Feel free to call for reasons outside of the car shop." Joanne flirted, trailing her finger around the chain Melissa had given him.
Taken back, Jionni looked down at his screensaver of he and Melissa in Bora Bora.
"I.....i'm engaged." Jionni sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."
"Oh my God. I am SO sorry." The girl said, covering her mouth. "I did not mean to disrespect your relationship."
"You good. You take care, aight?"
As Jionni grabbed his tools, his boss approached him.
"So?" The boss asked. "Did you get her number?"
"Nah. I ain't want it." Jionni sighed, organizing the items.
"Why not?"
The boss slouched his shoulders, gazing out of the garage.
"Jionni, I know how much you miss Melissa, but she's in a different country. She's been gone for three months." The Boss laughed. "You're 23 years old. Are you gonna stay single for the rest of your life?"
Jionni thought about his words, sliding under the car.
"I've gotta get back to work."
Though Jionni enjoyed his job and current life, his boss's words did wear on him. Showering and preparing dinner for himself, Jionni pulled out the girls number. Suddenly, the sound of a noisy bus came about. Waiting for the noise to stop before calling, Jionni turned his TV up in an attempt to drown out the noise. It didn't work. After 30 minutes, he approached the window when his doorbell rang.
It was Melissa. Her apartment was sold.
"Ayoooooo! Babygirl!" Jionni smiled, opening his door. "What you doin' here, Lissa?"
Looking behind her, Jionni saw a large Uhaul truck. Mouth agape, he had to register everything that was going on.
"Wait.....wait a fuckin' minute...I know you ain't doin' what I thank you doin'?"
"Oh my goodddd what am I doing?" Melissa gasped hysterically, clutching two suitcases in her hand.
Picking her up, Jionni spun her around and held her as tight as he could. This was a new happiness he'd felt. His "Lissa", was his. Kissing her repeatedly, he quickly grabbed her suitcases.
"Lissa Lissa Lissa lets get yo' shit in here as quick as we can!" Jionni said breathlessly, rolling them inside.
Coming across the paper of the random girls number, he quickly through it away and finished helping her move.
Eventually, her parents found out.
With most of her things still in storage, Melissa had planned this without telling Jionni. Only having her clothes and toiletries, she scrolled through teachers aids jobs, waiting at her parents house for them to come home. She wanted to tell them face-to-face. With Rosa staying for another month, she sat beside her granddaughter for another bonding moment.
"Me and Jionni are actually STAYING together. Wow. I'm still in shock, grandma. I can't believe that I did what I did. Oh my god." Melissa said, still having bits of butterflies. "Am I crazy? Please don't call me crazy."
Rosa smiled at her granddaughter, she sipped her tea and asked
"Do you remember when I asked you how far were you willing to go to prove how invested in this relationship you were?" Rosa asked.
"Yes?"
"This is what I was referring to. I did the same for my husband." Rosa winked. "You'll tell your children this story of their father someday."
Walking in from going out to dinner, Rodrigo and Maria immediately exchanged sinister glares with their daughter. Even though they hadn't seen each other in over three months, this decision was enough to ripple the joy in their reunion.
"I can't believe you did, what you just did." Rodrigo growled.
"Oh Rodrigo give it a rest." Rosa groaned.
"Have you thought about what job you're gonna take? What school you're gonna go to-"
"Transfers from my college out of the country and continue to work with children as I always have."
"You got shot at this boys house and you're willing to go back there three months later." Rodrigo said, approaching her. "I-I-I seriously wonder if you have a brain when it comes to this boy-"
"I'm not like Louis. I'm not gonna mold my life into what you think it should be." Melissa said. "Its my life. Get over it."
"What life are you possibly gonna have with a boy who works at a car shop?" Maria said.
"I was a teachers aide who worked as a waitress on the side. He makes more money than I do."
"We'll see how far a boy who sounds like a country bumpkin with tattoos covering his arms gets you in life. You'll wish you listened to me one day."
Melissa gazed blankly at both of her parents, showing little reaction.
"I feel that me and Jionni have gotten to a point where its time for me to make a decision." She said. "If you can't accept him, then we will no longer speak. This is not a threat."
Both of her parents were visibly shocked by Melissa's words. Standing strong, they too, didn't back down.
"We will NEVER support a boy that almost got you killed. Twice." Rodrigo stood. "Once with sleeping drugs and the second bullet, which belonged to him, because he was smuggling drugs for his damned cousin-"
"Then I guess this is goodbye." Melissa said immediately afterwards, cutting her parents off.
Slowly grabbing her purse, she headed out with a final statement.
"Do not ask to come to any future engagements, baby showers, or to see any of your grandkids that are birthed by me." Melissa said calmly, walking away. "The closest you'll get to laying eyes on our children, will be through Facebook."