THE ROAD IS LONG
Hellooooo! Long time no see! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated but I've been having a rough time with university…I've actually failed part of my course and so I have to work on it over the summer (when I'm supposed to be graduating but can't because I…well failed!) and hand it in for a September deadline and graduate then. I've been pretty down about it as you could probably guess and I know it's my own fault. I've been really quite angry and upset with myself! I passed the animation part of it, it was just a written section for a measly 20 of the overall marks that let me down and I am seriously kicking myself in the ass for it. Oh well, guess it can't be helped now. Just gotta pull my socks up and get into gear over the summer…while trying to find full time work… Argh! Well, this chapter is only short and a just an attempt to get me back into the swing of writing. I know it's really bad but there we have it. It's just a warm up chapter really. Okay, Happy Reading! Gem xxx Chapter 23: Offending the Car Gods. Following dinner the house had erupted into a mass of chaotic bodies, scrambling around and out of each other's way as they went about their business. Yells and hollers filled the sun-bleached wooden house and thundering footsteps sounded in a continuous stream up and down the stairs. Frankie rolled her eyes from where she stood, hands submerged in a rapidly cooling sink full of soapy water, scrubbing at the many dishes that had been left for her to clear up. It was her night to do them after all, as her father had so annoyingly pointed out, and even the excuse of having an essay due in for the very next day could not get her out of the mundane task. Donni rushed through the kitchen, depositing her clothes, dirty from mucking out the horses, in the wash basket beside her niece, and at the same moment attempting to straighten out her short black, 80's style 'rah-rah skirt' that was a favourite of the customers in the bar, or so Frankie had heard from her rather disgruntled father. The skirt had certainly grabbed the attention of both Leon and Vince it seemed, and Frankie stifled a giggle as Tino stalked past the two men as they stood by the open back door, conversing quietly while shooting glances at Donni as she dashed back and forth like a woman possessed. She really had to laugh at her father's overprotective antics. After all Donni was 27, coming up for 28 actually. A fully grown woman in her own rights. She had lived her life on her own since she had turned eighteen, on her way to travelling the length and breadth of the country before Tino had contacted her with the news that his wife, Frankie's mother, had eloped with the teenage postman from down the road. Donni had dropped everything to be there for her brother and niece, putting her 21 year old dreams of seeing the world on hold and moving back down to San Felipe, back into the house that she had grown up in. "Frankie! Have you seen my black sandals?" Donni called from where she crouched underneath he stairs, digging through the seemingly endless piles of shoes that they owned, breaking Frankie from her remembrance. "By the front door, where you kicked them on Friday night, announcing that you were never wearing them again because they were agonising." Frankie called over her shoulder and Donni gave a snort, muttering about her niece being a smart ass as she moved away to retrieve them. Sometimes, Frankie felt like the only adult in her house, having to look out for her father and aunt. More often than not she was the one that knew the whereabouts of Donni's favourite pair of shoes, or her dad's truck keys which he had dropped into his work boot the night before with the intention of keeping them safe and then forgetting where he had put them. Most of the time she gained a wicked enjoyment from watching the two adults run around the house as if their heads had been lopped off their bodies, desperately searching for the artefacts that they had misplaced until she called smugly where they could be found. She sighed and glanced over her shoulder at the other's in the room. Leon had hobbled to the sofa where Jesse was staring devoutly at the television screen, engrossed in an old episode of the "A Team" and Vince had taken it upon himself to trim his beard with a pair of Donni's old nail scissors in the middle of the room, glancing at his reflection in the windows of the backdoor whilst waiting for Donni to finish readying herself. "Yo, Donni?" he called absentmindedly, twisting his head back and forth to admire his handiwork. "Get the lead out! I thought you were supposed to open up a nine?" Donni cursed at him in a mixture of Spanish, Italian and English from where she knelt beneath the stairs, fumbling around for her bag. "I am!" she snarled, straightening and brushing down her skirt again and moving towards where he stood smoothing down his more respectable looking beard with a finger and thumb. His dark blue gaze flickered to her face as she delved into her bag and retrieved her car keys, beaming and holding them up in triumph. "Alright! Ready. Let's go." she paused briefly, glancing around the room and a dark looked passed over her lightly made-up face. "Great! Just flaming great!" she growled under her breath, twisting her wrist to glance at her watch. "Where the hell is Letty!" Frankie bit back a snort of amusement that caused her aunt to swing her incensed glare in her direction and the young girl swallowed her smile, pointing to the stairs with a soapy hand. "Uncle Dom and Letty disappeared up stairs about half an hour ago." she mumbled, attempting to keep the laughter out of her voice and Donni's frown deepened as she spun back to Vince, arms raised in exasperation. "Wonderful! Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic!" she seethed to Vince. "Twice in one bleeding day! You'd think they were pissing rabbit's the way they go at it!" she stormed towards the stairs and Vince's amused watch turned to concern. "Erm, Don?" he called and she paused waiting for him to continue. Vince rubbed at his neck, wincing in slight discomfort. "Y'see…when Dom an' Lett…ah, yeah…they like to…y'know…not be disturbed. Ain't pretty if you do." he warned sheepishly and Donni glanced up the stairs to the room of the pair in question, her face twisted into a dubious grimace. "Y'know what, Vince?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I don't give a shit!" Vince cringed as the raven haired woman continued her thunderous way up the stairs and shuffled to the front door where he could escape the brunt of Dom and Letty's fury at having their…recreation interfered with. The hammering on the bedroom door resounded through the entire house as did Donni's hollers that if Letty didn't extract her ass from the seditious arms of her baby cousin that very instant, she would fire that ass faster than Letty could say 'Job Seeker's Allowance'. Needless to say the younger girl flew from the bedroom, dragging her fingers through her tussled hair and straightening her scarlet vest top and denim skirt, muttering and scowling at Donni's reproachful face. "Resistance, Letty, it's all about resisting temptation!" Donni announced with a smug grin, flitting back down the stairs and to where Vince was covering up his laughter with his scarred hand. "And timing." "Whatever, let's just go already." Letty snapped, folding her arms across her chest as she reached the bottom of the stairs, shooting a withering glare at Vince who immediately fell silent. "Hang on, kiddo." Tino called, glancing up from where he had been watching the TV along with Leon and Jesse. He stood and jogged to the base of the stairs, bellowing up to Dom who had not resurfaced after Letty had disappeared. "Hey, Dom. Fancy a drink at the expense of my sister's business?" he glanced back and countered Donni's fuming stare with a wink and a roguish grin that made her roll her eyes and swing the front door open. "Sure thing, Ti." Dom called in reply and Donni shook her head, motioning for Vince and Letty to follow her out to the front of the house. "My brother is such an asshole." she growled under her breath as she continued to stalk towards where her car was parked, completely unaware that both of her new employees had stopped mid-stride to gape at her car. She fumbled to fit the key in the door and unlocked it with a great thunking noise. "Oh, hell no, girl!" Vince cried shaking his head in horror and Donni looked at him curiously. "What?" she demanded, looking about her for what he was talking about. "What's the matter?" Vince clicked his tongue in admonishment while all Letty was able to do was stare at the grotesque little brown car in disgust. "I know you ain't driving a Chevy Citation!" he chuckled in disbelief. Donni looked completely lost, glancing back and forth between Vince, Letty and her small, rusty vehicle. "Erm…yeah, I am." she replied, confused. "What's the deal? It's just a car." Vince looked genuinely appalled and turned to Letty for confirmation of what he had just heard. "J-j-j…jus-ss…just a-a-a-" he stammered and Letty nodded her head at him, patting him on the shoulder consolingly. "I know, V. I know man.!" she replied. "Donni, chica. We gotta get you a better car!" Donni shrugged in nonchalance, turning her back to them and continuing to open the driver's side door. "Whatever. It gets me from a to z." "It'll get you killed is what it'll do!" Vince snorted in revulsion. "Besides. It's a Citation for Christ's sake! Do you have no taste in cars woman?" Donni turned and rested her back against the dinted side of the car, one arm draped across the top of the open door and the other across the bowing roof. She shrugged again, her features betraying that she genuinely couldn't have cared less about whether she was driving a Ferrari or a trash can on wheels and Vince staggered backwards, mouth gaping, placing a hand over his heart as if he'd been shot. "Not everyone lives for a bit of metal on wheels, Vince." Donni said suddenly. "There's more to life than oil and exhausts." "That's blasphemy, girl!" Vince warned, pointing a finger accusingly at her. "I ain't getting' in no Citation. Shit, I'd crawl there on my hands and knees before I sit in that pile of crap!" he stalked forwards, grabbing Donni by her wrist and dragging her away from the dingy vehicle, slamming the door shut with a foot. "We're taking my car!" he announced and Donni glanced desperately at Letty for help. "Sorry, Donni." Letty sighed, raising her hands in helplessness. "You offended the car gods…and you disturbed me when I was getting it on." she gave a wicked smirk and cocked her head to the side in triumph. "You deserve what punishment you get." Donni muttered under her breath as Vince continued to drag her towards his Honda Civic where Tino and a fully clothed Dom stood waiting patiently. "I'm taking Donni in my car!" Vince announced as they two men glanced up from their conversation. "She needs to be taught about the wonders of the automobile!" Dom chuckled and Tino raised his eyebrows at Vince's irritated glare. "You showed him the Citation, didn't you?" Dom grinned and Donni scowled, tugging her arm from Vince's grip, crossing her arms and tossing her ebony hair back. "It's my car!" she growled. "It gets me from home to work and back again in one piece. It isn't a frigging fashion parade! I don't even like cars! If I could walk to work then I would, except Tino has a cow every time I even think about it." "Too right!" her brother injected, staunchly. "I'm not having my sister wandering the streets at four o'clock in the morning! Who knows what type of psycho's are out and about at that time of the morning!" Donni sighed and shook her head. "Can we just go, please? I'm already late for opening and I'm sick and tired of talking about shitting cars!" -00000- Well there you have it. Sorry it's so bad but I just need to get back into the grove of writing after such a long stint away from the keyboard. Hope it's not too bad and if you have any hints, tips or ideas how to make it better then please tell me.
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