Seven Days: A young black woman makes a deal with a mob boss. (8 page)

In the car on the way back to his house, Nic thought about his day with Victoria. He realized he was overstepping boundaries. He never should have spent the night. He rarely ever slept in the same bed as a woman he'd just had sex with. Usually he'd politely, or not so politely, kick them out or just stop by their place and leave when the actual act was done. Amber, being his wife, shared a bed with him until they couldn't stand to be around each other. Then she took another bedroom in the house, but that was before she had moved out over six months ago. Nic had every intention of leaving after fucking Victoria, but when he returned from the bathroom, he went to gather his clothes from the bedroom and heard her snoring.
He had walked over to her side of the bed and stared down at her. His eyes slowly roamed over her naked body. Her smooth back which dented in at her small waist and then rose with the round curves of her perfect ass. His eyes traveled down her silky legs to cute tiny feet. She shifted in her sleep to her side and he stared at the tiny butterfly tattoo on her pelvic bone. He wondered when she had gotten it. She didn't seem like the type of person who had any tattoos. He wanted to put his mouth to the small colorful ink and kiss it. Since he couldn't kiss what he really wanted. He looked back at her face and at her soft lips which were slightly parted.
Nic had sighed and dropped his clothing back on the floor. He had gently crawled back into the bed and had fallen asleep staring at the back of her head.
He had hated to leave her without any explanation during their game, but in his line of 'work' the less she knew, the better for her. A two-timing snitch who had placed one of his men in jail, had finally been caught. The bastard had been playing all sides. Selling lies to Nic's rivals about him, and vice versa and then selling all of them to crooked cops. Well, this time, he crossed the wrong people.
When Nic arrived at his house, he was greeted at the door. "How long has he been here?" Nic said, removing his jacket and walking briskly through the house.
"A few hours. We couldn't reach you," Jimmy said, as he followed in line behind Nic.
Nic quietly cursed himself. That's one thing he couldn't tolerate. Letting business matters slip. Shit, he should have turned his damn phone on. Victoria was fucking with his mind. He needed to get his shit together.
"What's his name?" Nic asked.
"Mark Hinson. Apparently us and the Koreans aren't the first people he backstabbed."
Nic rolled up his sleeves, "But we'll be the last," he stated before he entered his basement. 
 

After their Scrabble game, Victoria had sat up all night trying to figure out her new approach to Nic. She couldn't keep up this same routine with him. She couldn't keep letting him add days because she couldn't control her temper. That's exactly what he wanted. To keep her here for his own sick reasons. But...did she want to be there? No! Of course not! What was she thinking? Of course not... And she couldn't let things like their 'date' distract her. It wasn't real, and it didn't mean anything.
From here on out she would do all that he asked so that her time could pass quickly and they could go their separate ways. This seemed to be the only way. So what, he took her to the movies. Big deal. Who cared if he played Scrabble with her? None of those things erased this dreadful arrangement. She needed to get a grip. And she needed to figure out how she was going to pay this month's rent. Victoria went to sleep late, with many stressful things floating around in her mind.
The next morning, Victoria woke up, took a shower and threw on a hoodie and some sweatpants, then heard a soft knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and recognized the white blond hair immediately. Victoria smiled as she opened the door and Mina stepped in followed by Raymond with several large boxes and bags.
"Hey Mina," Victoria said, while hugging the tiny girl. "Hey! How was the party the other night?" Mina asked.
"It was alright. But your dress was a hit," Victoria said. Mina smiled from ear to ear. "Yes! I knew it would be. You looked amazing in it. Well, since you trust my taste...Nic sent me on a little shopping spree for you. I hope you like."
Victoria shook her head. Why was Nic doing this? She then turned her attention to the big guy. "Hi, Raymond. Come to sweep me off my feet and carry me away from big, bad Nic?" Victoria teased. She thought she saw a teeny, tiny smile in the corner of his mouth, but she couldn't be sure. He was such a teddy bear.
Mina walked toward the back of the condo and into the bedroom. Raymond followed behind, dragging several boxes. Victoria wondered if they had bought the entire store.
She watched in awe as Mina hung up and folded different articles of clothing. She hung dresses and skirts together, jeans in one section and lounging and work-out clothes in another. Mina placed different types of expensive shoes on the shoe rack. She smiled when she held up a brand new pair of black and white Converse. "This was not my pick, but he said you liked them," Mina said, laughing. 
Victoria stared down at her tattered, old Converse. She did like these damn shoes. They were comfortable. She looked back up and noticed Mina placing several undergarments and a few pair of bikinis inside the drawers. What the hell? How long did Nic think she was staying? She only had a few more days left. And why was he buying her all of this anyway?! She was supposed to be 'paying' money off...not adding to the debt.
"Okay, I'm done," Mina said, brushing her hands against each other. "Everything in there should fit you perfectly, but if not, give me a call, and I'll fix it," she said, while handing Victoria her card. It just had her name and number on it. 
"Thanks, I don't know what to say. There's just so much," Victoria said, looking over the now full closet. She, her mother and father probably didn't have this much clothing combined.
"Well, women can never have enough clothes and accessories. Enjoy!" Mina said as she bounced out of the room.
After they left, Victoria went to examine the closet. She felt like she had her own little mini department store. But then her smile quickly vanished. She needed to realize that this didn't mean anything. Everything in this closet was for him, not her. So she could look somewhat decent beside him. So she could wear lingerie to get him off. It was just a game.
Victoria sighed as she looked over the dresses. She chose a dark blue soft cotton dress with long sleeves. She picked out a pair of boots to go with it, and quickly pulled her thick hair into a high ponytail. She added a little mascara and clear lip gloss. She would at least try to look somewhat decent for him since she would be turning over her new leaf today. Make Nic happy so she could get the hell out of there.
Victoria grabbed the cordless phone and dialed her parents' phone number. She chewed on her nail while waiting for someone to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hey mama. How are you?" Victoria asked.
"I'm fine, but where are you?"
"I—I can't really say. But I'm fine. Did Mr. Parker come by about the rent, yet?"
"Yeah. I held him off. We got to think of something. I only have half. Where are you again?"
"Mama, I can't tell you that right now. But I'm fine, trust me. And pretty soon, everything is going to be fine. And I'll try to figure out a way to get the other half. How's daddy?"
She heard her mother sigh. Victoria knew that sigh. That meant her father was being difficult.
"He's alright, I guess. Just depressed. And that's causing him to be mean. Just a mean, old man. He asking where you are though. I guess I'll just tell him that line you feeding me."
Victoria hated that her mother was having to deal with this alone. And here she was sitting up in some expensive condo pretending to live the high life. "Mama, I have to go. I'll, um, see about getting you some money really soon. Just...never mind. Love you, bye," she said as she quickly rushed off the phone.
Victoria had to do something. Her family had barely been getting by for years. Just when she thought there was no way, they always found one. She would find one this time too. She knew what she had to do. She really didn't want to, but she had to. She detested Mr. Parker, but she knew the only way out of this was to get an extension on their rent. She sighed as she grabbed her purse and walked out. Downstairs, Sam directed her to the closest bus. Nic usually didn't come by until later in the afternoon, so hopefully she would get back before he even realized she had gone anywhere.
Finally, after three bus changes and an hour later, she arrived at her neighborhood. She looked around at the broken down apartments and trash on the streets. It seemed like she hadn't been there in months...even though it had only been a couple weeks. She walked a few blocks south until she came to the rent office. She REALLY didn't want to deal with this man today. She couldn't stand him.
Victoria walked inside the tiny building and knocked on his office door. "What?!" she heard him yell through the door.
She opened it and walked inside. She saw Mr. Parker leaning over his desk counting money. She stared at the middle-aged, chubby, short bald man as he looked up at her.
"Well, my favorite girl. Do you have my money, Vicky?" Mr. Parker growled at her. "Or did you come to ask for an extension...yet again." 
"Mr. Parker, I know we are extremely late, but I had to leave town for a little while, so I don't have my half of the money. But if you could just extend our deadline by two weeks, I promise, I can figure something out by then. Or I can give you half now, and the other half in two weeks."
She noticed his eyes roam over her body. "Since when did you start dressing so nice?" he asked.
"Mr. Parker, did you hear what I said?" Victoria said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Mr. Parker shook his head. "You either pay me all of the money now...or you and your family are out on the street by tomorrow morning. You think you can play me. You come in here with fancy new clothes, but yet you can't pay the rent. Bullshit." He then slowly slid his eyes down her body again. She hated when he looked at her. His sleazy eyes had been wandering over her body even when she was a young girl who would come in with her mom to pay the rent.
But there was no way in hell she was going to get that money by today. Shit! "Mr. Parker, I don't have the money now. But I promise, I can get it in two weeks," Victoria said, almost pleading. It made her sick to have to do this. 
Mr. Parker leaned back in his chair. His eyes roamed over her body for the third time. "Well, judging by those clothes, looks like you've finally been putting your better assets to use. You know, we could always work out our alternative deal...I offered that to you a while back, remember?"
Victoria felt sick. At that exact moment, she hated men. Did she have a fucking sign on her forehead that read, 'Weak and poor...will have sex for money?' Why did men think they could treat her this way? She wanted to stab Mr. Parker with the letter opener on his desk. She didn't understand this new violent streak in her, but she loathed that man right then.
"Are you going to give me the extension or not?" Victoria spat at him, trying her best to ignore his disgusting offer.
"Not. But if you give me a blow job, I might consider letting you have your two weeks," he said with a smirk.
"Fuck you," Victoria said, before she turned and stomped toward the exit. "I want that money today or you're out!" she heard him holler right before she slammed the door.
When Victoria arrived back at Nic's condo she broke down. She hated feeling this helpless. Money. Fucking money!! She wished she could shred it all and send everyone back to the dark ages. She laughed through her tears thinking about that. She walked into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. She tried to think really hard about how to get that money. She actually looked around Nic's condo and thought about selling something...but that would be dishonest and she couldn't do that. More tears seemed to come as everything looked useless. Not that crying helped, but crap, she couldn't stop the tears. She'd have to call her mom and dad and tell them to start packing. Mr. Parker didn't make idle threats. She had seen him kick people out before, including this little old Puerto Rican lady, who had gotten behind on payments. He didn't care. Victoria cried even harder thinking about Ms. Juarez sitting on her suitcase with nowhere to go. She had wanted to invite the lady into their apartment, but her father had said absolutely not. So, she watched from her window as hours passed until someone came to get the little old lady. Hopefully a family member.
Victoria closed her eyes as more tears squeezed from the corners and ran down the sides of her face and into her hair. She took a deep breath when she felt the bed sink down. She quickly opened her eyes to find Nic hovering over her with both his arms braced on either side of her head.
Nic saw the tears in her eyes and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
He watched as Victoria quickly tried to shield her face from him but that caused her to cry even harder. "Victoria, what's wrong? Did someone say or do something to you?" Nic asked, feeling the hairs rise on his arms. He was about to fuck someone up.
Victoria tried to speak, but it just came out in a loud, hoarse cry, "My family is go—going to be kicked out tomorrow morning. Be—because we can't pay the rent. God, I hate him!"
"Who?" Nic asked.
"No one. It's fine. I'll get over it," Victoria sniffed, trying to pull herself together. She rose up on the bed causing Nic to stand. She quickly wiped at her tears. Why did she tell him her problems? Like he would actually care. It was his fault this shit was happening anyway. He was no better than Mr. Parker.
"Who is your landlord?" Nic asked again.
"Mr. Parker. He's such an asshole. Good riddance that we'll be leaving his place anyway," Victoria tried to rationalize. She would have to call her mom in a bit and deliver the news.
Nic grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Grab your jacket."
Victoria obeyed, but then asked, "Where are we going?" 
"To pay Mr. Parker a little visit," Nic said, as they walked outside and got into his car. "What's the address?" Nic asked, while pulling out into the street.
"Nic, this is my family's problem. Not yours."
"That's not what I asked you. The address."
Victoria sighed and told him, but then added, "I wouldn't even bother, he's a total dick."
"Why were you crying?" Nic asked, ignoring her assessment of her landlord. 
Victoria didn't feel comfortable telling Nic these things. The less he was a part of her life, the better. But also...she knew that this was her day to turn over a new leaf and start playing this game Nic's way.
"Because I have jeopardized my family. They're getting kicked out because of me and my lack of being able to contribute. And because Mr. Parker said some mean and nasty things to me."
Nic squeezed the steering wheel. "What did he say?" 
Victoria told Nic, and he just nodded his head.
They arrived at Mr. Parker's building in less than twenty minutes due to Nic's impatient driving. When they got out, Nic told Victoria to wait outside the door.
Nic knocked. "What?!" Mr. Parker yelled. Nic opened the door, walked in, and locked it behind him. He turned to look at the tiny, little man.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Mr. Parker asked, speaking around his cigar.
"I'm Nic Andretti," Nic stated and stopped to stare at the man's reaction.
Mr. Parker looked up again and dropped the cigar from his mouth. He quickly picked it up and stubbed it out in an ash tray. "Mr. Andretti! I-I've heard so many things about you. I don't th-think we've ever had the pleasure of meeting," he stuttered through his shock.
Nic ignored him and placed down several hundred dollar bills. "Here's the money Victoria owes you. From now on, any money matters concerning her, you bring to me. Call this number. The person on the other end will know how to get in contact with me," Nic said as he slid a card across the messy desk. Then Nic leaned down and narrowed his eyes at the sweating man. "And if you ever harass or make another vulgar comment to her again, I'll bust your fucking knee caps and burn this shithole office down...with you in it?" 
Mr. Parker's eyes grew even wider, if that were possible.