"And you're sure he was middle aged? Not just some random post-pubescent senior off his head on drugs?" Lorrie asks as we wander left off of Marguerite Avenue and begin our walk up the street towards the pool hall. We parked the Chevy five minutes away from Federico's, in a safe house, so that no one could trace his car, and therefore Lorrie, to his exact location. He seems unnervingly familiar with the whole process of being traced and how to eliminate their leads. The walk, despite the humidity and mellow atmosphere of downtown Phoenix, has given us the perfect opportunity to talk about The Guy in more detail. In the car, we were both a bag of nerves. Lorrie seemed on edge the whole drive, determined to get away from May's as quickly as he could. We didn't speak until we'd parked up at the safe house and checked that we hadn't been followed. It wasn't awkward though, as every few minutes he kept reaching over and squeezing my hand. A silent way of saying: It's all going to be okay.
"Yes, definitely, his hair was greying and he was too tall to be a teenager." I say, trying to picture his face in detail again. All of his features seem to just blend into one incomprehensible mess now.
"I'm tall." Lorrie says, giving me a cheeky nudge despite the situation.
"I'd know if it was you douchebag." I roll my eyes, expressing my point. This encourages him to chuckle. "Seriously though, he was looking straight at us with this kind of purpose. Like he wanted to see everything that we were doing. It wasn't normal."
"I think I may have an idea about who it is. It wouldn't surprise me given the circumstances." He says, thinking deeply. Taking his eyes off of the dry cacti and trampled sand that line the cracked sidewalk, he lets out a sigh and stretches his long arms above his head. "But how about we talk about all of that on Monday huh? Let's just enjoy the rest of our night together. I'll come get you before school if you want and we can talk about it on the way over? Saves your Mom the trip as well as satisfying your need to spend time with me." he winks arrogantly, making me scoff.
"I'll have you know that I satisfy my own needs, thank you very much." I reply, forcing myself not to smile.
"Uh huh, I bet. So is that a no then?" he raises a brow.
"Um... will you bring the bike?" I ask, giving him a sweet smile.
"That kind of defeats the point of talking about it all." He takes one of my hands in his, trying but failing to hide the amusement in his voice.
"Well come over early at like seven and we can talk about it over breakfast. Then we can forget about it all on the ride to school." I reply reasonably, liking the idea of Lorrie and me eating breakfast together like a normal couple. He raises both of his brows, smirking slightly.
"I'll bring the bike if we can have those cinnamon pancakes that your Mom used to make?" he asks.
A warm memory of Maddie and me as children comes to mind. The sweet smell of cinnamon filling our old kitchen. Mom was wearing a floral dress and making plate loads of pancakes for Valentine's Day. They were in the shapes of hearts with little berries around the sides. I haven't had those pancakes in a very long time, but maybe change is good?
"Deal." I say, smiling as we stop outside of a single-story red building.
The red paint is peeling on the outside, revealing chipped yellow bricks underneath. It has three dingy windows and a large golden sign with FEDERICO'S POOL HALL etched across it. Over-grown, yellowing grass and cigarette butts line the perimeter of the building. Weird sounding insect noises buzz and tick from the ominous vegetation. The whole building looks like an under-the-radar drug den or something. A perfect place to kill somebody. How comforting when you're about to meet a group of trained mercenaries. Despite the doubtful feeling I get from my first impression of Federico's, I don't feel nervous and I definitely don't feel scared. Not whilst I'm standing hand in hand with Lorrie.
"It's not the most attractive of places from the outside, but that's kind of the point. It's designed to keep normal people, such as yourself, away." He chuckles, leading me inside.
......
The interior of Federico's blew me off of my feet. Figuratively. Once entering, we walked through an empty, small bar-like room with two lousy pool tables and a bar. The walls are just white, no pictures or anything. It was grubby and dingy, like the outside, with an awful lingering smell of puke. Lorrie gave the bar lady; a tall, caramel skinned, middle aged lady with short black hair; a nod on entering. Italian. She returned the nod and let her dark eyes run along me curiously. She let a small smile escape her stoic expression, encouraging me to smile back. Lorrie led me by the hand straight through the bar, into the back, and under a purple velvet curtain. This is where the magic happened.
The room beyond the curtain was completely different to the one behind it. Where the entrance bar was plain and dingy, this one is vibrant and fashionable. This huge, rectangular-shaped room, contains rows and rows of white pool tables, most of them holding duffel bags over-flowing with gear. The newly waxed, wooden floor gleams against the overhead, suspended light shades. Plush tiger-skins and Zebra-skins hang from the left hand wall, partially covering up neon light signs and pictures of different retro vehicles, most of them being bikes. Different coloured wall lights illuminate some of the pictures in different colours, making the whole wall look very aesthetic, very contemporary. The right wall is lined with hundreds of state signs and car registration plates from different states, giving off a very rustic look. Some heavily-used darts boards hang from the signs, a few of them have sharp looking knives wedged into them. Expensive-looking red leather booths line the right hand wall but all of them are empty. A small mini bar, at the back of the room, is illuminated by large blue neon lights and rows and rows of liquor bottles. Two boys are sat up at the furthest pool table, facing the bar and the other three are stood behind the bar, playing around with shot glasses. The hall looks too expensive and new to belong to the bar through in the other room. It's too modern, too fashionable, to be inside of the beaten up exterior of the place.
Lorrie squeezes my hand gently, pulling me out of my daze. I look away from the interior of the room and meet his eyes, he looks a little nervous with worry lines etched into his face. Of course he's worried, this is his equivalent to me meeting his family. As if sensing our presence, all five boys immediately stop talking and turn around so that they're all facing us. A few of them shift uncomfortably for a second, as if they don't see a lot of girls. Lorrie doesn't move, he seems more anxious than I am, so I tug his hand, leading him towards them all.
One of them jumps off of the pool table in a swift, graceful leap, coming around to the front as we approach. Be confident. Be bold. Wearing a tight long-sleeved thermal top and a pair of grey sweats, I can see that this guy obviously goes to the gym. A lot. He has short, cropped black hair, army style, and pretty brown eyes, crowned with long lashes. He kind of reminds me of Tom Cruise, but Italian obviously. As we meet him, I let go of Lorrie's hand. Time to be a big girl Gen, don't let them push you about. Even though he is not as tall as Lorrie, I don't think any of them are, he is definitely equally as intimidating with his big muscles and athletic build-
A huge white grin breaks free across his face as he regards me with his friendly eyes. Oh. I wasn't expecting that. As I stare at him, my mind can't get over how lovely he is. Nowhere near as beautiful or sharp as Lorrie, but still ridiculously attractive. Out of nowhere, he grabs hold of me and pulls me against his chest in a strong hug. All of the air is knocked out of me with his force, causing me to laugh unexpectedly. He releases me and claps Lorrie on the shoulder in a brotherly gesture. His blue eyes are filled with kindness and humour, as if he's loving every second of this experience.
"Lorrie, you didn't say she looked like this." His voice is light and bouncy, like bubbles. He uses his hands to gesture me, dropping his jaw in fake-awe. I feel colour rise to my cheeks. Lorrie leans back against the pool table behind us, giving me a warm, encouraging smile. His previous nervousness is gone, replaced by pride. He looks like a king, leaning on his throne, confident in his audience. There's something so lovely about seeing him at ease and comfortable in this place, it makes it feel homely.
"Easy Essie, touch her again and I might have to add five laps on to tomorrow's schedule." Lorrie's confident voice travels to the back of the room, full of coolness and a little bit of humour.
"Esidore." I think out loud, realising that this is the joker of the group. His grin widens, making his blue eyes sparkle cheekily.
"The one and only." He says, moving over so that the other boys can fit into the space between the pool tables. "It's nice to finally meet you Gen. We've been hearing all about the hard times you've been giving our Lorrie over here. A thousand times over, thank you. Someone needs to." He gives Lorrie a mischievous wink. Lorrie just scoffs, pulling lightly on my arm so that I move back, allowing room for everyone to fit into our little gathering.
Standing by Lorrie's side, I suddenly feel very small compared to all of these very attractive, towering boys. Despite this, I refuse to let my confidence sway, I want to show them that I can handle all of this. Relaxing into Lorrie's broad side, I feel him secretly tracing comforting circles on my back with his finger, out of sight of the other boys. The contact with him eases off the feeling of being small. I'm with Lorrie, everything's okay.
Suddenly, the furthest boy to the left steps forwards, offering me his hand. This one is leaner than the other boys, yet still very well-built compared to normal seventeen year old boys. I bet he has the body of a swimmer. He's tall, of course, with curly black hair on the top of his head and short, faded sides. He has intricate brown eyes, flecked with green. His facial features are quite sharp, with a sculpted nose and high cheekbones. He kind of looks like Lorrie except the mop on top of his head is curly rather than silky and he doesn't share Lorrie's sharp jaw or vibrant green eyes. He's like a softer, more approachable, version of Lorrie. He also has a dusting of freckles across his nose and cheeks. The way that his warm brown eyes stay level with mine, indicates that he is not like the other boys. He doesn't check my glittery dress out or my chest, he regards my face with an assessed level of politeness.
"I'm Gianni, it's nice to meet you Gen, please call me Gia. You look lovely tonight, very elegant." He says as I shake his soft hand. Ah, so this is the intelligent one. He strikes me as being very gentlemanly, very polite.
"Thank you, I don't know if I quite meet the high standards of Federico's but a girl can only hope." I reply, feeling Lorrie chuckle at my sarcasm. Esidore scoffs, clapping his hands over his heart in fake-heartbreak. The amusement is evident behind his blue eyes. Gianni cracks a pretty grin and turns his head to the other boys, encouraging them to introduce themselves.
The next one to step forwards has light brown hair, contrasting to all of the others, that curls down to the bottom of his caramel-skinned neck and around his ears. His face seems more circular than the other boys', making him look less sharp yet perfectly artistic. Man, I want to draw him so badly. He has naturally dark, bushy eyebrows that frame his striking blue eyes. They remind me of the ocean, so many different shades of blue in two tiny circles. They're beautiful. He is also tall and muscular, like Esidore, but lacks the army essence to him. His fuller lips turn up at the corners, offering a shy smile.
"Hey, I'm Caesar, I don't have a cool nickname so you'll just have to go with the weird name, I'm afraid." His voice is like honey, reminding me of Teddy. Vaguely recalling mine and Lorrie's history conversation, I remember that Caesar is the quieter, completely loyal one.
"I prefer to call him salad." Esidore chips in, earning an elbow in the stomach from Gianni. Caesar rolls his pretty blue eyes in Esidore's direction.
"And we prefer to call you a pain in the ass." Caesar replies sweetly, causing the rest of the boys to chuckle. Esidore pouts, looking attacked.
Lorrie clears his throat, raising an eyebrow in amusement. The boys get back to business.
The next one to come and greet me is a little shorter than the rest yet equally as built. He has dark brown, almost black, hair like me, which is cut short along the sides. The top is combed back to the back of his head although short, loose waves crown the sides of his face, like dark curtains. Along the sides of his head, he has a sharp zig-zag created by a razor. He looks very intimidating with his grey eyes and sharp jaw bone, very pointed. Unlike the others, his eyes aren't warm or friendly. Yet they aren't cold or unfriendly. They're just simply curious. As he evaluates my face, I can see the cogs working inside of his head. He's probably wondering why on earth Lorrie chose me compared to the other girl's in our group. Don't let them get to you. I evenly stare at him back, holding his gaze confidently. Be confident. Be bold.
"I'm Pierro. If you're going to stick around, you can call me Ro." He says steadily, still holding my gaze. I feel Lorrie stiffen beside me. However, I refuse to back down, I must be confident in myself if I am to handle all of this. I need to get past this base. I hold my hand out towards him, taking control of the situation and wait for him to react. He seems impressed slightly, if not a little embarrassed that I'm over-powering him in front of his team.
"I'm Genevieve, you can call me Gen." I reply, praying that my voice sounds equally as steady. "If you stick around." I smile sweetly, despite my sarcastic tone. This seems to break down his guard. Giving in, he steps forwards and shakes my hand, chuckling slightly as he does so.
"I can see that you've met your match here Lorrie." Pierro says, smiling fondly at Lorrie.
"You should see her when she gets angry." He replies, his voice fuelled with pride that makes my heart jump. I've done him proud. "We'd all be laid out on the floor, in tears."
"Apart from me," Esidor chips in, "I'd help her kick all of your asses." He grins at my amused expression. Lorrie scoffs, raising an arrogant brow.
"No offence, but I don't think I need anyone's help to drop you all." I say, earning a chorus of laughs and scoffs across the six of them.
"Yep, she'll fit in just fine." Gianni states. "Ro, go and get the girl a drink." The group seems to relax into a comfortable, laddish atmosphere. Pierro jogs up the alley, between the pool tables, towards the bar. Esidore gracefully lifts himself up onto the pool table top and leans back, propping himself up on his elbows. Caesar casually drags a couple of bar stools from around the other side of the table, giving one to me and using the other for himself to sit on opposite me.
The final boy, with a tall, athletic build, decides that it's time for him to meet me. He looks like the oldest with his very large arms and long legs. This must be Valentino. The real Scary Guy. The one with the short temper. As he approaches from the other side of the pool table, my skin prickles a little with nerves. Be confident. Be b-
"Ciao Genevieve." He leans forwards politely and takes my hand, shaking it lightly in his, as if I could break. His random delicacy surprises me, making me momentarily lost for words. "I'm Valentino, everyone calls me Val. It's nice to have a lady around us." He says, gazing up at Lorrie, who still has an inch on him. "It will make a nice change from all of this testosterone."
That makes me laugh, causing him to flick his eyes to mine. He has soft brown eyes, with little flecks of amber in them. Like Lorrie, his dark brows are shaped, making his face look more angular than the others, along with his high cheekbones and dark, neatly-cut stubble along his jaw. He has long, shoulder-length, ebony hair that brings out the white in his teeth, pulled into a small pony tail at the back of his head. His pink, plump lips form a small smile, warming his eyes. Okay, so he's not as scary as I thought he was going to be, even if he is very angular and tall.
"It's nice to meet you Val, Lorrie has told me many great things about you. Best gun man around, I hear." I muse, making Lorrie chuckle behind me. This seems to please Valentino immensely, creating a huge grin across his face.
"You know it chick." He says, giving me one last hand shake before heading over to the bar where Pierro is still fiddling around looking for a drink. I bet they have no idea what ordinary girls drink.
"Thanks for that Bumblebee." Lorrie nudges me. I swivel around on my stool so that I'm facing him. He looks ridiculously attractive, still wearing the sweater that he was wearing earlier, and looking completely at ease with everything. "He's not going to drop that for weeks."
"No problem, only helping you make friends." I reply sweetly.
"It's about time he got one." Esidore says, sitting up on the pool table and winking at Lorrie. "He scares most of them off with this brooding, sexy act of his."
"At least I can pull off the act of being sexy." Lorrie replies straight away.
"He's got you there Essie, I don't think you could pull off being sexy if it killed you." Caesar breezily chips in, smirking at Esidore's outrageous expression.
"Well now we have a willing female to try this theory out on. I can so prove you wrong." Esidore says, glaring at the two of them and hoisting himself off the table.
"Oh this is gonna be good." Gianni chuckles, lounging back against the pool table and observing, obviously waiting for Lorrie to kick off. Before he has chance to, I stand up.
"Unwilling female." I correct, making Lorrie snigger behind me. "Doesn't count Essie."
I give him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and decide to go and help the two boys at the bar, who are looking very confused. Lorrie lets me but I can feel his eyes on me the whole time, steadily watching me to make sure that I can cope with all of this. Who can blame him after my stunt at May's? I reach the bar and the two boys behind it come to a halt, looking a little sheepish.
"Okay so don't think we're lame," Pierro starts out, "but we don't exactly know what girls drink..."
"Care to give us a hint?" Valentino raises a brow and gestures to the rows of liquor bottles with his hands.
"Hmm, do you have any beer?" I ask, analysing the shelves. "Bud?"
Both of them seem to consider me for a moment, in a new light, before racing to action. Boys.
"Didn't take you for the type of girl to go for a beer." Valentino says, leaning forwards on the bar. I lift myself up onto one of the metal bar stools and accept the beer that Pierro hands me.
"Is that because I'm short, wearing a stupid sparkly dress and have high heels, that really hurt actually, on my feet?" I ask, twisting the cap off. I can still feel Lorrie watching me, even though I'm not facing him. Valentino snorts, shaking his head.
"I've seen girls, wearing shorter dresses and higher heels than you, choke out a guy the size of Essie." He replies, a small smile playing at his lips. "I was getting at the fact that you seem too elegant to be drinking beer."
"Huh, thank you." I say, matching his smile. "I think."
"So then, I'm guessing Lorrie has told you everything?" he says after a moment. The smile falters slightly as he waits for my reply. I take a swig of the beer and consider him.
"Yeh, he's told me. Not all of it yet, but the important stuff. The basics." I reply.
"Okay that's good. At least you know what you're getting yourself into."
"I can handle myself, don't worry about that. Plus, now I've got seven Italians serving at my feet." I give him a smirk and he scoffs.
"Well, I hope you enjoy it." He replies, his brown eyes shining with amusement. "Because you'll be getting a lot of it now."
......
An hour later, I'm playing pool with Lorrie, Esidore and Gianni. Lorrie and I are playing the pair of them, winning by a long shot, much to Esidore's dismay. It's now twelve, so Sunday morning, when I get a call from Mom. Passing the pool stick to a questioning Lorrie and mouthing Mom, I take my call over to one of the abandoned leather booth, sliding myself over into the corner.
"Hey Mom." I answer. "Are you okay?"
"Hello darling. Yes I'm fine, we've just had a very drunk May on the phone trying to tell us that she doesn't know where you are. She sounded very distressed. She scared us, where are you? Still at the party?" she gushes down the phone. Thanks drunk May.
"Oh it's okay, don't worry Mom. The party was very crazy, a little overwhelming if I'm honest. There were way too many people there, way too much drinking and stupid stuff. I didn't like all of the loud music and the bodies everywhere and neither did Lorrie. He offered to take me home to meet some of his family instead, to take my mind off of all of it." Kind of true. "I hope that was okay of me to do so, I'm having a lovely time, they're all really nice." I reply, taking off my heels and placing them on the table in front of me. Lorrie quietly approaches me and mouths can I sit? I nod and he slips into the booth beside me. He takes one of my long, dark curls and twists it around his finger, listening quietly. I pull my legs up to my chest, wedging myself between the table and the back of the leather seat.
"Yes, oh that's fine sweetheart. I'm so proud of you for being so responsible all of the time Genie, you're such a fine young lady. I hope you made a good impression with his family, first impressions are always very important." Lorrie gives me a cheeky wink from beside me. I nudge him in the side with my free elbow. "Are you planning on staying over there for the night? Or would you feel more comfortable with me coming to pick you up? I don't mind either way, you're old enough to make your own decisions now." She says tenderly. As soon as she's said it, Lorrie swivels in his seat to face me with an eager grin. He points at his chest and nods, willing me to choose him. I roll my eyes at him, only making him more insistent.
"Do you mind if I get back to you about that Mom? I'll need to go ask his family if that's okay. If it's not, I'm sure Lorrie will be happy to bring me home. Can I give you a text back in a few minutes?"
She agrees, going off to make herself a cup of tea and leaving me to reason with a very smug Lorrie.
"I can't just come home with you, what will your Dad think? What will these lot think? Isn't it a bit soon for that?" I ask, overcome with questions. "You'll get bored of me."
He laughs, shaking his head at me and taking my hand in his.
"You don't have to if you don't want to Bumblebee, I'm more than happy to take you home if that's what you prefer. But trust me, my Papa would love to meet you and you've already enticed these idiots. If you feel like it's too soon then I understand, just say the word. But don't you dare say that I'll get bored of you, I think it's impossible for you to bore me, everything you say and do only surprises me more. Si mi stupisci. You amaze me." He stops and takes a breath, looking at me with his deep green eyes. They're so full of affection, it makes me want to kiss him. Badly. "It would be an honour to take you home to my Papa."
"Okay." I say, smiling as his face breaks out into a grin. "I'd love to meet your Dad too. But what about the morning?" I ask reasonably. "You have training with the boys."
He considers this for a moment, his brain frantically trying to find a way past it, a loop hole. After a few moment, he bites his lip and shakes his head.
"I can't get out of it, it's too late now. However, it's a Sunday so training is only from six until nine. Three hours. My Papa would be quite happy to keep you company, he can show you his bikes and make you his notorious blueberry muffins? I'll be back as soon as the clock hits nine?" he questions with a hopeful tone.
My body buzzes at the sound of this, almost responding without words. The look of hope on Lorrie's face makes my heart do a funny thing in my chest.
"Go on then." I give in, rolling my eyes. "How could I say no to that?"