Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (17 page)

“You alright, man?” Brooks asked watching his partner have a silent fit.

“I don’t want to talk about it?” Nicola replied crossly.

“Well look, I’ll see you tonight at the Black Tie, if you’re still going?” Brooks said hitting him on the shoulder. It was best that he just leave him alone to think.

“Why wouldn’t I go tonight?” Nicola asked looking at his watch.

“Same thing I said,” Brooks shrugged. “See you later, man. Call me if you need to talk.”

*

The moon cast a beautiful glow on the snowy streets of East Memphis as Nicola drove to the Black Tie. He was completely tormented in his thoughts but hopeful that a night with Kit would take the edge off of a perfectly shitty birthday. Pulling into the Black Tie parking lot, he pulled up to the valet and popped out looking for Brook’s truck. He spotted it, sitting faithfully across the way and continued into the club for a release.

Only the best-built, sexiest women worked at the Black Tie. From what Nicola had heard, the club only had an opening call for new girls once a year. It was suppose to be the land of milk and honey for exotic dancers, where the bouncers actually did their jobs, the men were respectable and the money was damned good. For Nicola, it was just a place to get away and enjoy a good drink and the company of beautiful women, without the strain of being interested in a long-term relationship.

“Bring me a Jack and Coke,” Nicola said to the waitress as he sat back in a private booth across from Brooks. He had already had four shots of scotch and a shot of whiskey straight before he left his house, but he aimed to get so drunk that maybe he could forget about Ivy all together.

“What’s up, man?” Brooks asked sipping on a glass of Crown Royale.

“Not a damned thing,” Nicola said giving a leisurely smile. “Just came to see Kit and kick it.”

“I’m glad that you could make it.” Brooks cleared his voice. “Look, I know you said that you don’t to talk about it…”

“And I still don’t” Nicola said putting a single dollar bill in the g-sting of the girl dancing in front of Brooks.

“But the truth of the matter is that you have to face it at some point.” Brooks said watching the young blonde take off her top and plant her oversized well-tanned breasts in his face.

“What is there to face? I thought she was someone that she was not. She’s just a college girl looking to play with a grown man’s mind. And I personally just don’t have time for that type of shit. I’ve got a hard enough time dealing with grown women. I’m not trying to recruit from the junior league, too.” Nicola said taking his drink from the waitress. “Thank you,” he said giving the waitress a tip. “Keep me full, baby.”

“Ivy’s definitely a grown woman, Nicola. I mean, after all, she chose life despite of what it’s going to cost her.” Brooks became offended. “She’s just scared. Hell, can you blame her?”

“Scared. No. No. She’s not scared. She’s manipulative. You should have heard her that night, acting like she really understood me. Like she really wanted to be with me. Hell, she sounded like me trying to get in some woman’s pants. And my dumb ass was falling for it, too. I wouldn’t even tell you that we slept together; that is just how much I respected her. Then today, she just drop the bomb on me and acted like I didn’t mean shit to her.” Nicola gulped down his drink.

“Look, I was shocked when Trina finally broke the news today to me, too. And I admit that is a lot for a man to handle when he barely knows a woman, but you still have a responsibility regardless of how you feel about her.”

“After the what she said to me today, I don’t see how I owe here anything,” Nicola choked as he guzzled down a small shot of tequila.

“Not to her, to whomever is coming.” Brooks looked over at Nicola. “You better quit mixing all of that shit before you make yourself sick.”

“Wait. Who is coming? Brooks what the hell are you talking about?” Nicola asked taking another shot of tequila. “I don’t believe that we are on the same page here.”

“I don’t know. What the hell are
you
talking about?” Brooks asked curiously.

“Happy birthday, Nicola,” a well-built redhead said wrapping her nearly naked body around his back and hugging him warmly interrupting his train of thought and Brooks’.

Nicola turned around half-dazed and smiled. “Dana! Where have you been, girl?”

“Well, I went home to Columbia to visit family for a while. I just made it back last night.” She stood a towering six feet two inches without heels. Her long fiery hair nestled around her waist.

“Well, you still look stunning,” he said touching her thigh. He was no longer shocked by the boldness of the women at the Black Tie and hardly ever aroused to embarrassment.

“Well, don’t forget to let me give you a private dance for your birthday before you leave,” she said holding his hand. “It’s on me.”

“Okay then,” he said watching her walk away.

“Looks like she had a boob job,” Brooks said sipping on his beer.

“Really, I didn’t notice.” Nicola sank back down in the seat. Damn Ivy, she was screwing up his concentration.

“Back to your nemeses.” Brooks set his bottle down.

“Oh, yeah. She said I was a release. A damn release.” Nicola repeated angrily. “Hell, I would have screwed her if she had told me the truth. She didn’t have to lie and give me this good girl fucking sad story.” Nicola’s vision became blurry. “What did you think that I was talking about?”

A crooked smile came across Brooks’ face as he began. It was wrong of him to enjoy what he was about to say, but he did. “I thought you were talking about the fact that Ivy is pregnant, and that the baby could be yours,” Brooks said as he watched Nicola’s eyes bulge and his throat tighten revealing the veins in his forehead.

“What!” Nicola roared in total shock.

“Thank you, honey.” Brooks rubbed the waitress’s thighs as she bought him his drink. Pulling a twenty-dollar bill out of his front pocket, he put it in the woman’s g-string beside Nicola’s dollar bill and pinched her side. “Stay close. There’s a lot more where that came from.”

“How do you know this?” Nicola tried to focus but still slurred his words.

“How do you think? Trina told me.”

“Well, I’m glad that someone’s keeping me in the loop,” Nicola said sarcastically. He pulled the cigar from his jacket pocket.

“Sorry man, I thought Ivy told you.” Brooks directed his full attention to his friend now that they were alone.

“Hell no, she didn’t
tell
me,” Nicola said feeling his heart in his throat. The room began to spin. He was going to be sick.

“I can see that.” Brooks watched Nicola for a moment in sheer amazement. Could his boy finally be falling in love after all these years of philandering?

“When did you find out?” Nicola lit his cigar and tried to calm down.

“Today while you two were up there chatting. I thought that was why you were so pissed off. Now, I’m curious. What did she say to you to make you that damned mad?”

“Weren’t you listening to one damned word coming out of my mouth

? She called me a release.” Nicola shrugged the entire conversation with Ivy off. Now, none of that mattered. “Damn. Why didn’t she tell me?” Nicola said feeling guilty for his previous remarks and more angered by what she was trying to conceal.

“I told you…she’s scared. Trina said that she plans to keep it and raise it on her own if she has to.” Brooks said giving Nicola a glass of water.

“She doesn’t have to,” Nicola said offended. “Not if it’s mine.” He added as a prerequisite. “I mean, she’ll have my support.”

“I know what you meant,” Brooks said sipping slowly on his drink. “Do you think that it’s yours?”

Nicola blew the cigar smoke out of his mouth and sank down into the chair. “It’s possible,” he said looking at the cigar. “It’s really possible.”

“So, the man who lives and dies by Trojan Magnum condoms didn’t use any?” Brooks probed curiously.

“We used them, but a few times we didn’t. I was too damned lazy to get up later than night. But that morning we used some.” Nicola sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Did you want to get her pregnant?” Brooks couldn’t believe that he had actually gotten the truth of Nicola after all this time.

“No.” Nicola said quickly. “No.” He repeated himself softly and sat up. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He looked over at Brooks. “You believe me?”

“Yeah, man. I believe that you used a condom a few times and a few times you didn’t use a condom. But your biological clock is ticking. Sometimes, our unconscious desires get caught up in our conscious decisions.”

“Get on with that shit,” Nicola said standing up. “The point is that I might be the father. It could be mine or her fiancé’s kid.”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Just prepare for the worse.” There was no advice that Brooks could think to give to his distressed partner. “One thing is for sure, you should talk with her about this truthfully.”

“You’re right,” Nicola said looking vainly at his watch. “As a matter of fact, I’m gonna go talk to her ass right now and find out what in the hell is going on.” He puffed on his cigar.

“I was actually thinking of you going to her tomorrow, when you’re sober.” Since Nicola wasn’t drinking the water, Brooks took it backed and sipped on it.

“The news that you have just laid on me has totally messed up my buzz, man. I’ll be just fine.” Throwing another twenty-dollar bill on the table, he shook his head. Nicola’s words slurred. “You know I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why all of sudden she was being so cold hearted. Now, it all makes since. She was going to ditch me, and run with my kid.”

“No one’s sure whose
kid
that is. Remember that. Look, she’s just not thinking straight right now. Give her time. Don’t go over there screaming and shit this late at night. Go over there and sit down and talk to her. Try to make some sense out of this without getting arrested.” Brooks could see the menace in Nicola’s eyes.

“I’m not going to scream at her, but I am going to get to the bottom of this. If she is pregnant then it won’t be a secret for one more day.” The thought of him being a father crossed his mind for the first time. “Damn, man. Look at me. I’m not ready to be someone’s daddy.”

“You think that she’s ready to be someone’s mother? Hey, it’s your bed. You made it; you lay in it.”

The thought made Nicola calm down. “You’re right. Look, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Tell Kit that I had to go, and I’ll call her or something.”

“Damn, you’re still chasing ass after that news? I would keep it in my pants if I were you,” Brooks said laughing.

“Look, I’m not about to marry this girl just because she may be pregnant by me. I don’t even know her.” Nicola instantly got defensive.

“Alright. Whatever. I’m going to stay here and get a lap dance. You know, pay some girl’s college tuition.” Brooks said sipping on his drink. “You go and talk to your baby’s momma.”

“Don’t say that shit, man,” Nicola said waving his finger at Brooks. “Like you said, we don’t know if its mine or not.”

“
We
? I don’t need to know. Hell, I didn’t sleep with the girl. Take your drunk ass on.” Brooks laughed. “Oh and Nico…”

“Yeah,” Nicola said turning around.

“Happy Birthday,” Brooks said cracking up.

“Shut up,” Nicola said turning around with a half-crooked smile.

*

Speeding down the highway with his cigar hanging out of the side of his mouth and his vision slightly blurred, Nicola blasted his radio and tried to think of ways to say how he felt to Ivy. The thought of walking through the door and shaking her until she couldn’t see straight had crossed his mind several times, but of course it was the wrong thing to do.

Pulling into the dormitory parking, Nicola turned of his ignition switch and sat back in his seat. For the first time in nearly an hour, he actually breathed comfortably causing a small pain to shoot through his back. The compression of stress on his chest made him feel like he had just bench-pressed a mid-sized car and the aching pain of his newly acquired headache made him feel as though crushed glass was being rubbed into his temples.

Rubbing his forehead, Nicola closed his eyes and began to doze off. He just needed to relax for a moment. He already knew that there would be tears, anger, fear and possibly a little cursing involved in the confrontation. Watching small flakes of snow hit the hood of his truck, he grunted as he stepped out the oversized truck and hit the alarm. Mother nature seemed to be rushing him to get on with the business laid before him.

Nicola knocked on her front door and looked around the quiet bricked complexes for any sign of life, but all the windows were dark, all the doors closed and only security watched from across the street, monitoring his every movement. Opening the door slowly, Ivy looked at Nicola in surprise. Standing in her pajama’s she stepped aside and invited him.

“What are you doing here this late?” she asked closing the door.

“You’re a smart girl. What do you think?” Nicola asked taking off his jacket.

“I think that you’re probably gonna want to keep that on. You won’t be here long,” Ivy said moving her hair off her shoulder. She instantly sensed his bad mood.

“Why be Billy Bad Ass tonight?” Nicola asked sitting down on the couch. “I’m here because you’re pregnant.” His voice raised slightly in irritation.

“Lower your voice.” Her heart skipped a beat. “Who told you that?” This was not the way she had planned on him finding out. She closed the front door quietly trying to keep from waking anyone in the dormitory.

“A little birdie.” Nicola smiled sarcastically. “Anyway, who told me really isn’t the bigger issue here is it?” Planting his face in his hands, he looked down at the floor and yawned. “I’m tired, and I’m pissed. I’m not here to play games with you. So tell me, why did you not bother to tell me that you are nearly over a month pregnant?” He looked over at her standing with her hands crossed.

“Because I don’t know who the father of the child is, and I don’t want any unneeded confusion right now.” Ivy rolled her eyes as she sat down in the chair across from him. Although she was in the wrong, she couldn’t help but be defensive. After all, he had caught her off guard.