Don’t Let Go

30. Aurora

30

Aurora

I may have let Tyler win that game, but I’d never admit that to a soul. After school, Carmen was waiting for me by the car. I grabbed the keys and tossed them at her.

“I have somewhere to be. Can you pick up Lizzy and go straight home?”

She caught the keys and lit up like a child on Christmas morning. “Yes!”

I laughed. “You’re so dramatic.” Carmen walked around the car and reached for the driver’s door handle. I blocked her way. “I mean it. You need to pick Lizzy up and then go home. I don’t want you joyriding. Not even for food. We’re having tacos for dinner.”

Carmen cocked her hip to the side and folded her arms across her chest. “Oh? It doesn’t seem like you’ll be joining us.”

“Never mind what my plans are. I trust you to get yourself home.”

She looked to her left, waving to a couple of girls wearing long black dresses and sporting jumbo-sized white sunglasses. Her theater friends had questionable fashion taste.

“Yes. I will go straight home after getting Lizzy. Okay? Can I go now?” She clicked her tongue. Now I understood why Mamma threatened to slap me across the face when I clicked my tongue as a kid. It was annoying and rude.

I clutched my fists at my sides to keep from striking my sister and took a deep breath. “You can go, and don’t invite anyone over.” I looked at her friends, who were all getting into a silver car. “You need to watch Lizzy until Mamma gets home later tonight.”

“I know. I’ve watched our little sister before, remember? Geez.” She snapped her gum. “I will watch Lizzy, prepare dinner, do my homework, and redye my hair. Do I need to give you all that in a military timetable or are we through?”

My eye twitched. Don’t hit your sister. Don’t hit your sister. “Please don’t make a mess with your hair.”

“I won’t.” She opened the driver’s door. “Have fun on your… date.” She nodded behind me and sat behind the wheel.

She didn’t deserve a response. I wasn’t going to react to her words. This was a date because of losing the game, but it wasn’t a real date, was it?

I turned around as Carmen drove off and couldn’t help but smile as I spotted Tyler. He looked handsome in his tight blue jeans and black shirt. He wasn’t wearing that when we were playing basketball at lunch. His hair was messy, like he ran his hands through it, making all the strands stick up. From far away, I could see a slight five o’clock shadow on his jawline. What made me pause were his eyes. He stared at me so intensely I should’ve gone up in flames.

Ty gestured toward his Rolls-Royce, unlocking the vehicle. “You ready?”

“Yes. You know it’s a shame I didn’t kick your ass at that game. I would love to have taken this out for a spin,” I said, sliding into the passenger’s seat.

Ty laughed, but it sounded like it came from the back of his throat, as if the thought of me owning his car made him nervous.

I licked my lips and watched him go around the car. Once he took a seat, I wiggled my ass deeper into his leather seat and put on my seat belt. “I guess I’ll have to play harder next time.”

Ty swallowed while clicking his seat belt on and push-started the engine. “Just so you know, I’m never betting this car again. I can’t believe I agreed the first time.”

If only he knew that when I wanted something, I got it.

Ty turned the radio to a rock station and pulled out of the student parking lot. As we drove past the high school, I remained quiet and idled at the first red light.

“Where are we going for pizza?”

He inched forward toward the crosswalk, eager for the light to change. “My favorite place. It’s not too far from here.”

I bit my bottom lip and slowly let it slide out from my teeth. Patience was something I never had. “Does this place have a name?”

Tyler’s lips twitched. He fought laughter at my expense. “Of course, but you’d look it up and ruin your experience.”

He had a point. I would look the place up to see what the atmosphere was like, check the star ratings, maybe read some reviews, and see what was on the menu.

I brushed off invisible lint from my jeans. “Okay. I’ll allow the surprise.”

That won me a flash of that dazzling smile as he shook his head. “I’m glad to have your blessing.”

Tyler pulled into the parking lot of a shopping center for a grocery store with a nail salon and a hair-cutting place on either side of it. I wondered about his taste in food. I always thought Scottsdale people wanted the best of the best. They drank the sweetest wine from the most expensive bottles using crystal glasses with actual gold on the rim. I was a bit worried knowing rich people liked to eat monkey brains and bull balls and could only imagine what they’d do to an innocent pizza.

However, a pizza joint on the outskirts of Scottsdale in a shopping center was nowhere near my radar.

“We’re here. This place is the best, I promise. I would always have my birthday dinners here as a kid. This place means a lot to me.” Tyler cut the engine and got out of the car.

I sat for a heartbeat, wondering how many times he was dropped on his head as a baby.

Tyler stood in front of the car’s hood and waved for me to follow. “Are you going to live in there or what?”

I took off my seat belt and got out of the car. “I don’t see a pizza place around here.”

He pointed to the corner of the shopping center to a place called Luigi’s Pizza Bistro. “Come on. I hope you’re hungry.”

On the outside, the bistro didn’t look like much. All it had was the name on the front in fading colors and the typical pizza graphics and contact info on the restaurant’s heavily tinted windows.

The inside was a completely different story. The laminate floor was a deep blood red with sparkles, almost like a herd of unicorns was murdered there. The walls were maroon with posters of rock stars and concerts, mainly from the 1960s and 1970s. There was a jukebox near the hostess station with a neon lava lamp trim around its frame.

The hostess smiled warmly at us and grabbed two menus. “Hello, Tyler. I haven’t seen you in a while. I’m so sorry about your father. He will be missed around here.”

Ty gave her a polite smile. “Thank you, Lily.”

She nodded and looked at me with a grin. “Welcome in. Your first time?”

I nodded sheepishly. “Yes. How can you tell?”

Lily laughed. “Your reaction to the floor.”

Tyler nudged me with his shoulder. “Be cool, Rory.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. It looks like it would be slippery. Is that the idea?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but a lot of people think that especially when it’s raining.” Lily grabbed two bundles of silverware wrapped in a red cloth napkin before walking backward into the restaurant. “Would you like to sit in your regular booth?”

Tyler seemed shocked by the question. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“Any booth is fine,” I answered, patting Ty on the back.

He shook his head, finally coming back to earth.

Lily sat us at a booth next to a pink guitar signed by Glen Frey of the Eagles. “I’ll let you look over the menu. Do you know what you’d like to drink?”

“We can start with water. Thank you,” I said, taking a seat across from Ty.

He fingered the edge of the menu and glanced around the restaurant as if he was about to defuse a bomb. I reached over the table to touch his hand. “Are you okay?”

He pressed his lips together before forcing a grin when Lily returned to drop off our waters. Lily smiled and left again.

I brushed Tyler’s knuckles with my fingertips.

He blinked, staring into my eyes. “Yeah. I didn’t think it would hurt this much, but it does. I hadn’t been here since my mom died.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. He brought me to his favorite restaurant, one he hasn’t stepped foot in for over a year since his mamma passed. What did that mean?

He opened his menu and blinked a few times before studying the contents. “Looks about the same. I always got the meat lover’s pizza. They use the best cheese and the freshest meat. You have to try it.”

I tilted my head a little and smiled. “Okay. I’m sold. I’ll get what you get. I want the full experience of this place.”

He grinned, but something pulled his attention away from me. I looked at the corner booth next to a poster of The Rolling Stones.

“Is that your booth?” I asked softly.

Ty gave me a brief nod. “Yes. It’s weird sitting here and seeing it empty.”

I stood up. “Let’s switch places. I’m feeling a draft.” I didn’t want him to fall into a pit of sorrow while we were trying to live in the present. A haunting reminder wasn’t something he needed right now.

“Okay.” He got up and sunk back down where I was seated.

Lily returned. “You ready?”

“Yeah. We’ll both have a personal meat lover’s pan pizza. Can you bring us a couple of Cokes?”

“Of course. No problem,” she said, touching Tyler on the arm in a friendly gesture before disappearing into the kitchen.

I took a sip of my water. It tasted like iced pool water. “How long has this place been around?”

Ty straightened his shirt and looked around. “Not sure. I just know my dad used to work here as a teenager.”

Ty went on to tell me about his papà graduating high school with honors and going into law school, where he met his mamma. Their love was one for the ages. I could tell by all the photos the media liked to post everywhere. They were their own version of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. I sat back as Ty told me some stories about his childhood. How he built a treehouse with his papà. How he loved to bake pies with his mamma.

My heartstrings were pulled, knowing he’d never be able to reunite with his parents again. I couldn’t imagine how hard that would be, especially being the only child to bear that grief. I bit my tongue, knowing I held vital information on his parents’ deaths, but I couldn’t breathe a word of it.

“Do you want to get into politics?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

He briefly raised a shoulder and let it fall. “I’m not sure. I want to play basketball professionally, but as a backup, I wouldn’t mind getting my hands dirty with something in business.”

“That’s a fantastic major.” I pushed my water glass away from me to avoid taking another sip. “The only drag is always dressing up in Sunday’s best like every day you’re going into court.”

“True.” He motioned toward me. “What about you? Do you see anything else in your future other than being a nurse?”

Hopefully a world without the mafia controlling my life. I didn’t want anything to do with their drama or clean up any more of their messes.

“Right now, I’m only focused on my family and being a nurse. I’ve seen enough destruction for a lifetime. I’d like to bring goodness back to Phoenix. I can’t think beyond that, honestly.”

Lily returned, put our plates of food down, and gave us our sodas. “Careful. It’s hot. Can I get you anything else?”

“No. Thanks,” Ty replied.

My mouth watered at the smell. Steam curled into the air over the pizza.

I grabbed a slice of pizza, strings of cheese hung around the sides.

“To us,” Ty said, holding up his slice of pizza.

I laughed and hit his slice with mine. “To us.”

We dug in despite her warning. I’d have burns on the roof of my mouth, but my stomach was going to be full for days.

Ty licked away some cheese from the corner of his mouth. “Why not a doctor?”

I wrinkled my nose at the thought. “I don’t like doctors. They don’t get to know the patient. Especially in hospitals, they mainly cut them open, try to fix them, and then sew them shut. I want to know the person. I want them to know I care about their well-being.”

“Honest answer. I like it.”

We continued to talk about nothing and everything. From our favorite colors and animals to our thoughts on certain political issues.

If someone were to ask me last year if I’d enjoy being in a strange pizza place with the senator’s son, I’d think they were crazy. I guess not everyone in Scottsdale was a complete snob with their heads shoved up their asses.

As we left, my skin prickled like we were being watched. Being in the mafia, I knew when someone was under surveillance. Beyond the parking lot and across the street was a black van. It looked innocent enough, but I knew better. Someone was watching us.

“Anything wrong?” Tyler asked, holding the door open for me.

I got in. “No. Let’s go.”

We took off. I kept looking in the side mirror but never saw that black van again. I could’ve been wrong, but deep in my gut, I knew someone was keeping tabs on us. But I wasn’t sure why.

That night I called Chloe to dish about my impromptu date with Tyler.

“Girl, I knew he was going to win you over with those eyes and devilish good looks,” she sighed dreamily into the phone.

I laughed while lying across my bed. “I know. He’s trouble, but he’s so much better than Paolo. He doesn’t force me to do anything. I feel more like myself with Ty.”

“I’m glad. I truly am, but I’m worried. Paolo seems unhinged and something’s not right in the family . My mom heard them talking about a leak, something about the Mexican cartel getting their hands on our heroin. They want blood over this.”

I shuddered, remembering Vincenzo dragging me into an illegal car and drug trade. I knew something was wrong with that deal. Who’d think the rats cutting off the mob would be actual blood members of the mafia boss?

I chewed on my bottom lip. I couldn’t tell Chloe and put her neck on the line too.

“You know what’s weird? When we were leaving, I swear someone was watching us. I don’t think they followed us home, though.” I twirled a piece of hair around my fingers until it pulsed from blood loss. “Maybe I’m paranoid.”

Chloe paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know, girl. Be careful. I feel like something bad is about to go down. Watch your back.”

“I will. You be safe, too.”

“Always. See you later.”

“See you.” I hung up and dropped my phone onto my comforter.

I had to be on edge after everything. That van could’ve been doing numerous things besides spying on us.

The mafia was family, but they weren’t blood. To them, that didn’t matter, but to me it did. I wanted the people under this roof to be safe. We all had to be okay. There’s no way we could survive taking another hit.