Page 44 of Tony

“Well… I dunno. I got what I came for, I guess. Well. Except for the actual reason I came here. Which was to check up on something for my brother.”

It’s really unfortunate that Alonzo sent me up here to get answers, because Vann is actually the guy I was gonna talk to. He’s the one with the local info I need. But that’s a complicated story and I’m not going to involve Soshee in this shit. That’s how things with Rosalinda got all messed up.

“But after that?” I shrug. “No reason to stick around.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’m not here to woo her, Sosh. I just needed to get her off my mind so I could get back to my life and put the whole thing behind me.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. But… I’ll see you tomorrow though? Probably? I’ll stay the weekend, I guess. I’m paid up until Monday. Maybe I’ll go be a tourist for the rest of my trip. See Colorado.”

“Sounds fun. And yeah, come in for breakfast at Ameci’s tomorrow. I’m working the breakfast shift and the bakery is the hot spot around here on the weekends. You must try more of our baked goods.”

“I hear they’re better than getting a blowjob in the alley.”

She smirks at me. Then giggles.

I point to her again. “Poison Ivy. There are worse things to be.”

“Point.”

“Good night, Soshee.”

“Good night, Tony.”

She walks me to the door and I take one last glance at her as I make my way towards the stairwell. She waves, then closes the door and disappears.

It was a nice night. It really was. She’s a nice girl. And easy to talk to. And pretty. Very pretty. If I was in the market for a girlfriend, I might try to take her mind off Vann. But I’m not. I’m going home in a couple days and then I will put Rosalinda and Fort Collins, Colorado behind me.

But when I get to my door, I pause.

Rosalinda and Vann.

They live at the same house. Well, technically, she lives above the garage. But still. He has such… access to her. Access I do not have.

He’s there right now. And so is she. They could be doing anything. Fine, so they didn’t leave together. That doesn’t mean anything. Soshee was right. Belinda probably went out the back. And she’s probably home right now. And did I detect a little slump in Vann’s walk as he got in his truck?

He fucked Soshee earlier today. He has to know she lives up here. Her apartment lights were on. One glance up and he would’ve seen us.

But he didn’t look up. He was looking down, in fact.

He has no interest in Soshee Ameci. Which means he’s very much stuck on Belinda Baker.

Don’t do it, Tony. Don’t even think about it. Just stick your key in the lock, open the door to your rental, and go to sleep.

Put her out of your mind.

You got what you came for. It’s over.

But there is still that little nagging feeling that it’s not.

And the next thing I know I’m hopping down the stairs to the ground floor and pushing my way through the back door of the theater that leads to the alley.

It’s a fifteen-minute walk down Mountain Avenue to the ramshackle Vaughn family mansion. It’s nearly four AM, but when I get there, there are several lights on inside.

When I creep up to the side window and look inside, I see Vonn and Vinn sitting at a small table, eating sandwiches.