Straight Mobbing

Spooky-Promises

Stassie took off.

I was talking about our game plan with the guys and she took off. Ran out of the house and got into the Jeep before I could stop her. If I knew Stassie at all she was gonna find him herself, she has no patiences and waits for no man.

If she wanted Igor dead, then I promise you when she comes back here, he will be.

Martina roared like a beast when I started her for the first time in almost a week. Sad Eyes got in the passenger seat and we took off for the grocery store. Murder made everyone hungry and leaving a fully stocked fridge with a crew like mine meant we were cleared out.

Sad Eyes grabbed everything for Stassie to make him Russian food, I researched some Irish dishes I thought Stassie might like to eat. We checked out with two full carts. The cashier kept eyeing Sad Eyes and Sad Eyes was completely ignorant to the hyna's advances. She got too forward for my liking and I puffed out my chest and starred her down.

            Relationships around my crew needed to start lasting without a side hoe. Hector broke it off with his when he saw Stassie beat the shit out of Mikey. And when she ripped her brothers off a couple chulas, that was more than a few times. She had befriended a couple of the homies rucas it made it easier on me to hang out with her around. 

No one had to lie, or cover up something, everything was straight forward. 

For the first time in my life, my relationship with a chica was healthy, twisted and fucked up a little but healthy. No fighting over little things, just over big life changing matters. We weren't at each others throats every second, we started to learn how to talk to each other about subjects rather than yell our opinions at each other. She didn't make me want to kick her out and tell her to leave my hood, she made me want to make my hood a better place for the people that live here.

I realized after thinking about our relationship that Stassie was changing me into a better man. Not just for her but everyone. I was less likely to jump on someone for something now, than I was hell even two months ago. I fought for the things that I thought were important. I let her handle things on her own instead of doing them for her. Stassie took care of my little brother, I wouldn't even let our mother take care of him. 

Letting go of responsibilities was hard for me but I only let Stassie handle them when I couldn't.

We got back to the house and everyone was in their spots when we left. The Jeep was still missing but I didn't panic. If she needed help, Stass knew all she had to do was call. Sad Eyes helped put away the groceries and plopped down on my couch.

"What're we gonna do if she doesn't show up?" He asked.

"Normal prodecure. Call Mama P, Evie, Cesar. Then if nothing, Cuchillos and then we search for that son of a bitch." I didn't need to turn around to look at him to know he nodded at my statement.

I pulled the ingredients out to make Shepard's Pie. Stassie was gonna need something other than vengeance for dinner. And after all that military food so didn't I. It should be a crime to serve soldiers that crap. Aggi swore when she was first at bootcamp the eggs would stick to the plate and after eating them, I believed her. 

"Do you need help?" Sad Eyes offered. I nodded and grabbed him a knife.

"Peel and cut the potatoes." 

I grabbed the beef and started cutting cubes of the meat. 

            Together, all the ingredients were prepared in a timely fashion. When the pan was hot I threw in the meat and spices. I boiled the potatoes and waited for them to cook fully before mashing them. Sad Eyes grabbed a dish big enough to fit everything in and he preheated the oven. The beef was down and I scooped into the dish and Sad Eyes took care of the mash potatoes.

I grabbed each of us a beer and lit a cigarette.

"Thanks compa. I hope she'll appreciate this." I cracked the cap and threw it in the trash just as the front door opened.

"She's here." Sacco called.

Sad Eyes and I looked at each other. I don't know why but I stayed in the kitchen as he ran out front to greet her.

Moments had passed and Stass still hadn't come into the house.

The backdoor opened and Stassie slid inside holding something behind her back.

"Hello." I chimed.

"Hey-o."

"Whatcha got?" Stassie pushed the door shut again and removed whatever she was hiding.

"It's a vacation pamphlet." She pushed it towards me. "My father is trying to get us out of here once again. This time to a better place."

I looked down at the paper and it was a trifold of Big Sur.

"Igor escaped the Russian guards and has been on the run since this morning. He came here looking to find us. He isn't happy about us getting married."

"But we're not getting married." 

Stassie sat down at the table. "Try explaining that to a homicidal assassin. He still wouldn't want us together. He'll do everything and anything to get me back."

"And would you go with him?" I asked. Stassie looked at me as if I shot her.

"No, why would you ask that?"

"Because you could. How would I know that you're not lying to me? We've only known each other a couple of months." Stassie's confusion was taken over by something else.

"And you should know me by now. If I wanted to leave, all I had to do was walk out the front door and never come back. I've left of my own devises before but I came back."

"I know, princesa. Just making sure that he was a thing of the past."

"Igor better be. The things he put me through, I would love to get him back for."

"What would you do to him?"

"Torture him, spit in his face, call him every derogatory word in the book. He treated me like crap and manipulated me for too many years. And I thought that, that was love."

"Give me your hand." Stassie looked at me. Cautious, unsure about what I was about to do.

"Three squeezes. I learned somewhere it was a way of grounding someone. But this means something else now." I squeezed her hand and she held my face.

"Thank you." She smiled at me. 

I grabbed her hand before she pulled away and ran my finger over her ring. Her breath caught and I knew what I was doing. I couldn't possibly tell her how I felt but I could show her.

I slid off her ring and flipped it around.

"I made you a promise, remember?" Stass grabbed my face and smashed her lips into mine.

"We're so fucked up." She whispered into my mouth.

"Yup." I chuckled and pulled her into my lap not breaking our connection.

The timer on my phone rang I quickly shut it off.