The Story of You and Me (15 page)

I hit the ground and rolled on the grass and sand onto my side. Police sirens blared in the near distance. People shouted. I felt weak. I felt like a victim. Once again, I felt like a stupid girl.

A young, pretty Latina woman snagged my hand and hissed, “You’re next to a picnic table. Get under it—now. Hurry! We’ll hide you.”
 

I crawled under the table. She and her friends threw their backpacks, purses, a dog carrier, a sand-filled blanket and rolled up paper trash bags from their day at the beach on top of me.
 

I laid on the sand and dirt under the table until I heard the cops cuff Oscar and take him away, in spite of his protests. I huddled there while I heard a Venice police officer tell the rest of Oscar’s gang to leave and instruct the crowd to disperse. Another officer told Alex and Nick and Javier that they had not yet found me
 
yet, but the bathrooms had been searched and were cleared.

The girl who helped me hide didn’t abandon me. She and her friends pretended it was just another day at the beach as they chatted about celebrity gossip, their own gossip, what movies they’d seen and who was hooking up with whom. At one point I pinched her ankle.
 

She bent down like she was tying her shoe.

“Can I leave?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Oscar’s gang, the Lowriders, always keep a lookout on the scene. Wait a bit longer.”

“Thank you. Would you tell my friends who are looking for me that I’m okay?”

She shook her head. “Boyfriends and friends always give it away. You gotta think like the bad guys right now.”

Alejandro, Nick and Javier paced back and forth looking for me. I felt like a shithead for not telling Alex where I was. But when I asked the girl again, she whispered a story to me. A story about a girl that Oscar’s gang had fucked up about five years ago. That girl’s name was Tatiana. And that girl was dead.

It had to be after eight p.m. It was getting dark outside. Alejandro, his friends and Javier were still searching for me. Pacing the boardwalk, checking storefronts, asking folks if they had seen the confrontation. I squeezed my savior’s leg. She bent down under the table and looked at me. “I think it’s okay for you to go.”
 

“I can’t even find the words to thank you for hiding me,” I said. “What’s your name?”

“You’re welcome,” she said. “My name’s Gabriella. I was Tatiana’s friend.”

Two more female faces popped under the picnic table. “Hey,” I said. “I’m Sophie. You are?”

One girl extended her hand toward me. “Rosie—Tatiana’s friend.” She shook my hand.

“I’m Naomi—Tatiana’s friend,” another girl said and handed me a bottle of water. I cracked it open, took a long slug and crawled out from under the table. We all hugged and I started crying. Then the rest of the girls followed suit. I was covered in mud, sand and was completely disgusting.
 

“Sophie?” Alejandro said.

I turned and saw him. He stood next to Nick and Nathan and Javier. Their jaws dropped.

“Sophie!” Alejandro raced toward me, grabbed me around the waist and pulled me tight into his chest. He kissed the top of my head. Placed his hands on either side of my face and tilted my head up as he bent his down. “Are you okay? Are you all right?”

“I’m okay,” I said. “These girls hid me. They protected me.”

Javier, Nathan, Nick, Tyler and Jackson joined us.
 

“Gabriella?” Javier asked.

She nodded. “We don’t forget Tatiana. Never again.”

Javier took her hand and squeezed. “
Gracias
, Gabriella.”

It was practically a love fest. Everyone exchanged phone numbers and emails. We all agreed to meet up at the Grill in an hour.

* * *

Alejandro drove me home, the top of his Jeep back on. “If anything had happened to you, I was going to take that banger out,” he said.

“Don’t say those kinds of things. I never want something bad happening to you because of me,” I said.
 

“Something bad just happened to you
because of me
,” Alex said. “I let you down. I shouldn’t have left you. I didn’t show up in time.”

It would have been easier to let him think that was the truth. But it would have been so wrong.
 
A shiver traveled down my spine and part of my heart cracked open.

“No, Alejandro. That had nothing to do with you. That happened because of me.”

“How can you even say that?” He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “That Oscar asshole’s the scum of the earth. A complete opportunist. Five years ago, Javier’s girlfriend got into drugs. Tatiana was experimenting. Someone in Oscar’s Lowriders gang sold her bad shit. She overdosed. He’s been a mess ever since. This whole thing tonight was completely my fault.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “Remember the first night I asked you to drive me? You asked me why my cuts had broken open, but I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Yeah?”

“I had an appointment with a healer in Venice that day. I got lost. I ran into Oscar. He tried to, you know, take advantage of the situation and me—”

“Did he touch you? Did he hurt you?”

“He threw me against a fence, but no…I didn’t want him to touch me that way. I’ve never… Not that that matters. So I fought. And I got lucky and broke his nose. And then I went a little overboard and called him Pintdick in front of his friends. He didn’t forget. He’s still pissed off at me.”

“He’s the one that broke your cuts open?”

“Yes,” I said.

“I’m going to hurt him.”

“You’re not going to hurt him,” I said. “Because if you hurt him, you’ll go to jail. And if you go to jail, I’d have to find another Driver. And I’d really miss you. So promise me that you’re not going to hurt him. Promise me that you and I are okay?”

Alejandro didn’t say a word but ground his teeth while his jaw muscles popped. He was silent for the rest of the ten-minute drive until he pulled up to the curb in front of my place and threw on the parking brake so hard I whiplashed in my seat.

“I promise I won’t hurt him, Bonita, but only if you swear to me you won’t head back to that neighborhood on your own. I freaking love Venice. I’ve always wished we lived there instead of Bel-Air. But Oscar and his friends are in a gang. That’s their turf, their stomping grounds and you’re big-time on their radar. So if you need to go back there—take me or one my friends. Just promise you don’t go there alone. Not forever. Just for right now. Yes?”

“Yes,” I said.
 

“Good,” he said. “By the way? No matter what happens—you and I will always be okay. Burn that into your memory,” he said. “Like a mental tattoo.”

I smiled at him.
 

He smiled back. “Hurry up. Everyone’s expecting us at the Grill in a half hour.”
 

“Let’s just go there, now,” I said. “Not to repeat, but I’m kind of tired after today.”

“I hate to tell you…”

“What?” I asked.

 
“You smell a little like dog poop, McDonalds and Coppertone rolled together.”

“Oh, my God!” I leaped out the passenger door and ran toward my apartment. “Back in fifteen minutes.”

He cut the engine and walked toward me. “I want to see Napoleon.”

“Okay. Come on in.” I opened the door. “Just don’t let him out. Can you even stand how bad I smell?”

“I can stand that you are alive and have a couple of fresh bruises.” Alejandro scooped Napoleon up in his arms and held him in his arms like a baby. “He’s growing on me, Bonita.”

I scratched Napoleon’s chin. He grabbed my finger with his front paws, leaned in and smelled it. “He’s probably smelling the Mickey D’s. Feed him while I shower?”

“Sure.” Alex crooned baby sounds as he walked with Napoleon into my kitchen. I stared at Alejandro’s beautiful face. Glanced at his hands and spotted some blood on his knuckles. He’d thrown a few punches for me. His T-shirt was ripped in a few places. He was my Driver. He was my bodyguard.
 

He was growing on me too.

* * *

The Grill was busy with old faces and new faces. Alejandro and the Drivers had commandeered a bunch of tables and pushed them together along the back wall. Cheyenne dropped off trays of drinks and appetizers. People passed the food around the table. I sat across from Alejandro and chatted with Gabriella and her friends.

Tyler stood up and held up his Corona overhead. “A toast,” he said.
 

“A toast,” everyone echoed back.

“I, for one, am sick of the bad guys always winning. Today, the bad guys didn’t win thanks to Javier, Gabriella, Rosie, Naomi and all the people who helped shut down the asshole Lowriders today.”

“Cheers.” Nick clinked his Pellegrino bottle to Tyler’s beer. “And to Sophie, who can scream and hide with the best of them.” I nodded at Nick as another round of toasts and cheers circled our long table.
 

“And to my favorite Driver,” I said and held up my beer bottle. “Here’s to Alejandro, the best Ralph, ever.”

“Why’s she calling you Ralph?” Nick asked.

He shrugged. “I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Nathan squinted at us. “A mystery. I like mysteries.”

“Me too,” Alex said. “This is a mystery with a benefit. When I figure out the Ralph thing, I win something.”

“Ooh,” Gabriella said. “Like a GWP.”

“What’s a GWP?” Javier asked.
 

“Gift with Purchase,” Gabriella said. “They have them all the time at makeup counters.”

“I don’t get to a lot of makeup counters,” Javier said.

“Well, you should. You could be doing a whole side business with permanent makeup tattoos.”

“But, I’m an artist.”

“I’m an artist too, Javier,” Gabriella said. “Artists don’t come in one shape, size or variety. I’m a makeup artist.”

“What do you win?” Tyler asked.

“When I figure out the Ralph reference, I win our first kiss.” Alejandro winked at me.

“But if I figure out the Ralph thing before you do?” Tyler asked. “Wouldn’t that first kiss prize automatically transfer to me?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“No,” Alejandro said.

“It’s a one time offer intended solely for one guy. Alejandro. It’s not a Groupon. I’m not kissing the first thousand folks who purchase this deal.”

“Hmm. Do you want to kiss him, Sophie?” Rosie asked.

I blushed and suddenly was tongue-tied. “I… I… Um…”

“I’ll answer that,” Alejandro said. “Yes, she definitely wants to kiss me.”

“Let the girl speak for herself. How long has Alejandro been driving you around L.A.?” Naomi asked.

“Since the first night I landed in town. He took me to the E.R.,” I said. “But that was unofficial.”

“Why’d you ask him to drive you?” Naomi asked. “Couldn’t you just rent a car?”

No way I could answer that question honestly.

“I totally suck at navigating. I got lost about five times the first few days I was here. I took a bus from Westwood to Venice and got completely turned around.”

“You took a bus in L.A.?” Jackson asked. “For real? I’ve never taken a bus in L.A.”

“That’s because your father practically owns L.A.,” Nathan said.

“A bus. A driver.” Gabriella looked off into space and thought. A look grew on her face and she giggled.

I eyed her. She totally knew.

Alex gazed at her. “One clue, Gabriella. I beg you.”

She shrugged.
 

I smiled and nodded at her.
 

It was okay. Might as well get this over with.
 

“To the moon, Alice. Or should I say, Alex,” Gabriella said as Cheyenne walked up shouldering a huge tray of drinks and appetizers.

Everyone at our extended table shut up, stared at the ceiling or squinted at each other.
 

“Nachos. Veggie Nachos. Gluten-free Nachos. One Caesar wrap dressing on the side.” She deposited all the dishes on the rare free spots on our tables. “To the moon?” She held the empty tray above her head and pointed to Alejandro and me with her other hand. “They’re the freaking
Honeymooners
, man.”

Alejandro peered at me as a smile tore across his face. “Ralph Kramden! Bus driver played by Jackie Gleason. I finally got it, didn’t I, Bonita?”
 

He did finally get it. I nodded. And steeled myself for the impending shit storm.

“Well played,” Tyler said.

“Is it my imagination?” Nathan asked. “Or didn’t you just win a kiss?”

“I did win a kiss,” Alejandro said.

“A little congratulations for me and my girls over here,” Gabriella said as they divvied up a plate of veggie nachos. “I do believe we helped you figure this all out.”

“Dude, are you going to kiss her, or do I need to pinch hit for you?” Nick asked.
 

“You’ve always got my back, Alex,” Jackson said. “I’m your loyal friend and I’d be happy to sub for you tonight.”

My heart started pounding. All eyes in the Westwood Grill turned toward our table, turned onto us. Alejandro got up off his chair and walked toward me. Gazed at me with a look that could melt ice cream in the middle of a blizzard in January. My face flushed. The hotness spread down into my chest, my stomach into my groin. My knees felt a little weak. I knew I was blushing and had to remind my hand not to fan my face.

“For the love of God, Alex. Do it,” Freddie said from behind the bar. “Kiss her!”

“Freddie, you are a pervert,” Alejandro said. “I know this because you confessed you regularly watch little people porn.”

“You told me that was cool,” Freddie said.

“Nathan. Nick. Tyler. Shut this down, please?” I wrung my hands.

The guys nodded at each other.
 

“I don’t know.” Nathan covered a smile.
 

“Tough call,” Tyler added.

“Sophie!” Alejandro said. “Ignore these assholes, my fellow Drivers, as well as the jealous people and voyeurs. Have I promised you anything that I didn’t deliver?”

“No. But—”
 

“Look me square in my eyes,” he countered.

“Okay.” My voice quavered. He was my dark haired angel with the mesmerizing eyes.