The Beautiful People (13 page)

Dominic held me as I
cried. His gray shirt grew darker with tearstains the more I wept. He didn’t
say anything and just let me be. We sat on his sofa in the living room. The
only light filtering in came from the hallway where Dominic had dropped my
bags.

My breathing started to
calm down, no longer hitching in ragged breaths. I sat up and wiped my eyes.

            “What
happened?”

I sniffed back snot and
felt tears well up in my puffy eyes again. “Chelsea and I had a huge fight
because I received an acceptance letter to this art school in Chicago. I was
going to get my masters there. When I told her I decided not to go she flipped
out.”

            “And you
can’t go because of me?”

            “Well,
kinda.” I looked down at my hands resting on my lap.

Dominic was silent. I
glanced over and he had his head in his hands. “Dom, what’s wrong?”

            “I wish I
could take it back and never have let you see Grant in action. It was wrong of
me. You deserve so much more! Your brother was right. It was a selfish move on
my part.”

            “Dom, baby,
please don’t beat yourself up. What’s done is done. I firmly believe everything
happens for a reason.”

            “I’m sorry
Nat.”

            “I know you
are.” I kissed his cheek and he smiled at me.

            “So, I take
it you’re moving in?”

            “Um, I
guess so. Is that okay?”

            “Are you
kidding?” He moved suddenly and was leaning over me, his arms resting on the
back of the sofa by my head. “I would love to have you move in with me.”
Lowering himself down, his lips met mine and just like that I had a new place
to live.

Dominic jumped up and
held his hand out for me. “Come on, let’s get you unpacked!”

I took his hand and let
him pull me up off of the couch. He picked up my suitcases and I followed him
to the bedroom. Unzipping one of the bags, his eyes lit up. Reaching in, he
pulled out a lacy bra and raised his eyebrows. “I get to unpack this one!” He
said with a suggestive grin.

He looked so wicked I
couldn’t help but chuckle.

            “What is
this?” He yanked out my favorite bathrobe. It was originally red, but had faded
to a pinkish hue. I’d had it since high school and even though it was ratty
looking, refused to part with it. “Sexy!”

I snorted that time.
“Yeah right!” Snatching it out of his hands I hung it up on the brass hook
behind the bathroom door.

Dominic’s cell phone
rang, interrupting our banter.

            “Hello?” He
looked at me before stepping out of the room. I heard him tell someone to come
up.

            “Who was
that?”

            “Dante, he
needs to drop something off.”

            “Oh.” I
went back to unpacking.

Minutes later I heard
Dante and Dominic talking. I went out to say hi and stopped when I saw what was
on the dining room table.

            “Is that
cocaine?” I asked, referring to three large white bricks that were wrapped in
plastic.

            “Hey Natalie,
I didn’t know you were here.”

            “Natalie
lives here now. She’s just moving in.”

            “Really?
Huh.”

            “Is that
cocaine?”

            “Heroin,”
Dominic answered. Dante shot him a warning look. “Be cool Dante. She won’t tell
anyone, will you Nat?”

            “Uh, no…no
I won’t.” I couldn’t take my eyes off of the drugs. There was enough there to
put us away for a very long time.

            “Well, if
you trust her…”

            “I do.” Dom
emphasized this by coming over to stand next to me and wrapping his arm around
my waist. “I’ll bring the stuff to Crimson for delivery. We should be able to
turn a nice profit on this batch.”

            “Cool, I’ll
leave you to it.” He picked up an empty backpack and slung it over his
shoulder.  

After Dante left,
Dominic placed the blocks of heroin into his black gym bag that was on the
floor by the front door.

            “Dom, I
know you’re involved with distributing drugs, but not on this scale.”

            “Nat, I’m
sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, and I was going to tell you.”

            “Oh
really?” I stalked back to the bedroom and started stuffing my stuff back in my
bags.

            “What are
you doing?”

            “It was bad
enough learning that you were in the mafia, but then to find out you’re dealing
dope too? I’m leaving before some other secret sneaks up and bites me in the
ass.”

            “Are you
going to go back to your apartment?”

            “No.”

            “Where are
you going to go then?”

            “I can go
to Grant’s place.”

            “He’s just
as involved in this shit as I am, so what’s the difference between living there
versus here? Well, I know what the difference would be.” He came up behind me,
pulling my body to his. He moved my hair aside and started kissing my neck. I
flinched and tried to move away. He held me tight, his lips persistent on my
skin. My nerve endings began to respond despite my attempts at suppressing
them.

            “If, I’m
going to stay here, and that’s a big if, you need to fess up. “ I knew as I was
saying these words, I was going to give in. “What else are you involved in?”

            “Do you
really want to know?”

I elbowed him in the
ribs.

            “Alright,
fine…besides the drugs, there are several illegal gambling houses in the city,
some in South Jersey.”

            “I knew
about the gambling houses. What about the firearms trafficking, I overheard
Joey D. saying something about guns and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t talking about
his biceps?”

Dom laughed and ran his
hands through his hair. “Yeah, I’m not too involved in it, only every once in a
while when an extra man is needed. You know the gun check at work and at Blue?”

            “Yes.”

            “Most of
those guns were our merchandise at some point.”

            “Jesus.”

            “I didn’t
tell you that because I hardly do it anymore.” He kissed my neck again. “Am I
forgiven?”

            “Maybe.” I
turned around in his arms to face him. “I’m too tired to argue anymore and need
to be ready for my review in a few hours. “

Dominic held my gaze
for a few seconds before releasing me. “I promise not to get you too involved.
If I know when a delivery is being made, I’ll let you know so you don’t have to
be here for it.”

            “Thank you,
but I’m trying to be open minded about this whole thing. This is going to be
what it’s like for me living with you, I might as well get used to it…just
don’t ask me to deal for you.”

            “I never
would have considered that!” He pulled me to him again. “You really are being
amazing about everything. I don’t deserve you.”

We went to bed a few
minutes later, but I couldn’t sleep. Worries about my review ordinarily would
have plagued me, but instead it was concern over my new living situation. Was
Dominic honest with me about what all he was involved in?

If I didn’t hurry I was
going to be late for my review. I broke out into a jog and darted between
traffic. Rushing through the front doors of the hall, I almost took Chelsea
out. She stepped back and avoided eye contact. I didn’t have time to stop and
talk to her. The slamming door echoed after me as I ran down the corridor.

The review went better
than I thought, much to my relief. Maybe I would graduate after all…at least I
would have that accomplishment to my name. There were several items at my old
apartment I had left behind in my haste. Knowing Chelsea would be on campus for
at least another hour, I took advantage.

 Opening the front
door, I was surprised to find Chelsea in the kitchen. She turned and looked at
me and then turned away without any acknowledgement.

            “I’m just
here to pick up some stuff,” I said to her back. She shrugged her shoulders in
response.

I hurried to my room
and shoved the rest of my things into two large shopping bags. Chelsea was
sitting on the futon when I walked out.

            “Well,
that’s it. I’m going to post my furniture for sale on campus. If you know of
anyone who needs –“

            “You’re not
going to apologize?”

            “Me
apologize?”

            “We’ve been
friends forever Natalie and you can just pick up and move on… you couldn’t even
talk to me on campus today.”

            “I was
running late. Besides, there’s nothing to talk about. I’ve made my decision and
have moved in with Dominic.”

            “Good,
happy for you. See you around.” Chelsea shut me out and tuned back to the
television.

Choking on a fresh
round of tears, I hurried down the stairs and out to the street. It hurt, like
a part of me was amputated, but it was impossible to make Chelsea understand
when I was unable to tell her the truth, so I let her think the worst. I was
willing to sacrifice our friendship if it meant keeping her safe.

When I got back to the
condo, Grant was there. He and Dom were sitting at the breakfast bar and
stopped whatever they were talking about when I walked in. One look at my
tearstained face had Dom running over. He pulled me into a crushing hug and I
wrapped my arms around him, breathing in his scent that had become so
comforting to me.

            “What’s
wrong, baby?” He whispered in my ear, dusting kisses along the top of my head.

            “Chelsea…it
hurts,” I said before burying my face in his chest again.

            “I know,
baby. I’m so sorry.” His hold loosened and I stepped back to look up at him.
Reaching up, he brushed an errant tear off my cheek and gave me a sad smile. He
grabbed my hand and we walked over to Grant.

            “I know
it’s hard, Nat,” he said. “Now you understand why I stopped hanging out with my
friends from high school.”

            “Oh.” I
paused to consider this information. “I wondered what happened.”

            “Yeah, it
gets easier over time.” He finished his beer and stood up, pulling me into a
hug. “I’m here for you, sis.”

            “I know.”
This made me realize that somewhere along the way I started to lean on Dom for
help and called him instead of Grant. I returned his hug with a little more
fierceness.

By some miracle I was
able to graduate college. A feat my brother wasn’t able to accomplish since his
job got in the way. My mom couldn’t have been more proud. Grant had always been
the responsible one and perfection in her eyes. When he dropped out of college
to work at Crimson full time, his halo became tarnished. Now I was finally
living up to my mom’s high expectations.

We had a huge
graduation bash at Crimson, the private room was ours for the night and Uncle Marco
spared no expense, giving Miranda free rein.

“My
goodness Natalie, this is something else!” My mom gushed as she took in the raw
bar and top shelf liquor that was being served.

“I
know, Miranda really outdid herself.”  I left her chatting with one of our
neighbors from York. Dom was leaning against the bar talking to his parents.  He
stood up and smiled at me as I approached. He held his hand out and I quickly
placed mine is his.

“Having
fun?” he asked.

“Yes!
This is amazing!”

“You’re
mom having fun too?”

“I
think so. I don’t know if she quite knows what to make of it all. She probably
feels bad she didn’t throw the party for me. I know she can’t afford anything
lavish like this.”

“Your
family is our family, Nat. Throwing you this party is the least we could do.” Rico,
Dominic’s dad, said before giving me a hug.

 Dominic’s mom stood to
the side watching me in silence.

“Well,
if she thinks that this is lavish, wait ‘til she gets a load of this,” he said,
pulling a small black box out from his pocket. My heart stopped beating. I
really hoped this wasn’t his way of proposing. I was nowhere near ready for
that level of commitment.

I took the box with
shaking hands and popped the lid open. A solitaire diamond pendant sparkled at
me. “Oh my God, Dominic! It’s gorgeous!” I flung myself at him and practically
knocked him over. “Thank you…oh my God!” I stared down at the giant, glittering
diamond. He laughed at my enthusiastic response.

Several of my
girlfriends hurried over to see what the excitement was about. They probably
had the same idea I had when they saw the jewelry box in my hand.

            “Wow!”
Sara, a friend from high school gushed.

            “Beautiful!”
Jillian, my friend from college agreed.

They all waited for
Dominic to fasten it around my neck. I had to hold my hair up so he could clasp
it securely. I had never owned a lot of jewelry until Dominic started spoiling
me and it was slightly daunting wearing such a valuable piece – it had to be at
least two carats.

I looked up from the
gem and glanced around the room for my mom. When I found her, she had a
disapproving look on her face. I had expected as much. Happy moments involving
couples irritated her. I just thought that when it came to her own daughter,
she might make an exception. I refused to let her issues ruin my night. I
looked around at my friends from high school and from college that had showed
up to celebrate. Chelsea’s absence was noticeable. I missed her, but we had
never been able reconcile.

Grant walked out with
our mom and I after the party had ended. He handed a valet ticket to one of the
drivers. I thought this was odd because he didn’t use the valet to park his
car. A bright red BMW convertible came to a stop in front of us. The valet hopped
out and tossed the keys. It took me a few seconds to realize they were sailing
through the air at me. I caught them and gave him a puzzled look. My mom looked
just as confused.

“Congratulations
Nat,” Grant said with a big grin.

“Wait,
what? Are you serious?” I wrapped my arms around Grant and squeezed him tight.
He laughed at my reaction.

“Do
you like it?” he asked.

            “Do I like
it? Is the Pope Catholic?”

            “Grant, how
could you afford this?” our mom interjected. She looked at the shiny
convertible in awe. I glanced nervously at Grant waiting for him to answer.

            “I’ve been
saving up. Nat deserves it.”

            “I didn’t
say she didn’t, but Grant this is so much.”

            “Mom, I
only have one sister. This is a big occasion.”

Mom eyed us both
suspiciously. She looked at the two carat diamond sparkling against my throat
and the diamonds sparkling on my wrist, then at the car. She inspected Grant’s
Armani suit and the Tag Hauer watch on his wrist. She raised her eyebrow like
she was trying to piece something together. Instead she shook her head and
pulled us into a family hug. She had had some wine and was a little tipsy. I
was hammered.

            “Uh, Grant?
I don’t think any of us are in any condition to drive.” I slurred and looked sideways
at my pretty car. It would suck to crash it on the first night.

            “I got it
covered. Joey will drop it off at the condo. The valet will handle it from there.”
I smiled at my brother. He always took care of things. Dominic walked out of
the club with his parents and Miranda. He whistled when he saw the car.

            “We might
have to take this to Atlantic City next time.” He bent down and kissed my
cheek. “Are you happy?”

            “Definitely!
This was all so…unexpected.”

            “You
deserve it. Well, enjoy the rest of your night. I’ll see you later.” He kissed
me goodbye before he and Miranda walked to the employee parking lot. My mom
didn’t like the fact that I had moved in with Dominic and he was making himself
scarce while she was in town.

My mom and I sat out on
the balcony at Dom’s condo, well our condo, and watched the traffic on the
bridge. She was quiet and contemplative.

            “Nat,
honey?”

            “Yeah Mom?”

            “What are
your plans now that you’ve graduated?” I was prepared for the question. It was
inevitable that she would ask.

            “Marco, the
owner of Crimson, offered me some commission work painting murals at the club,
in addition to waitressing.”

She turned in the deck
chair to look at me, her brown eyes were unreadable. “That doesn’t have
anything to do with your degree. What about working with special needs kids,
didn’t you want to use sculpture as a way for them to express themselves?”

            “Yeah,
but…”

            “But what?”

            “I like
working at Crimson. I never thought I’d say it, but it’s cool spending time
with Grant.”

            “Uh huh,
I’m sure it’s Grant you like spending your time with.”
Oh God, here we go, Relationship
101.
“Of course with a place like this and a gift like that,” she pointed
at my necklace, “who wouldn’t be swayed?”

            “Is that
what you think? I’m not for sale, Mom! God!” My eyes stung with tears as I
glared at her.

            “I didn’t
mean it like that! I’m sorry.” She reached over and grabbed my hand. “I was
commenting on my life. Your father was so smooth and seemed to have endless
funds for extravagance.” She looked at me and I could see the pain that still
haunted her eyes. My father had left her high and dry, drained the bank
accounts, trashed her credit and left all of us behind in a house that was in
foreclosure. To say she had trust issues with men was an understatement. “I
just want you to be careful. And don’t settle. And put yourself first. It may
sound selfish, but you need to come first.”

            I rolled my
eyes. “Are you done with the lecture Mom?”

            “Yes,” she
smiled tentatively and patted the back of my hand before withdrawing hers. I yawned
and stood up. She stood with me and we walked inside the condo together. We
hugged goodnight and she went into the guest room and I into the master bedroom.
I was tired, but knew sleep wouldn’t come so I drew a hot bubble bath in the
big tub. I moved stealthily through the condo to snag a bottle of red wine and
a glass out of the kitchen.

I shut the bedroom door
behind me and then the bathroom door. With the candles lit and a full glass of
wine in hand, I was ready to enjoy my bath. Soon I relaxed enough and began to
doze off in the tub. Sleep might come after all tonight. I dried off and
crawled into the king sized bed, which seemed enormous and empty without
Dominic. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The dream started out
nice. I was swimming in the ocean, the sun high above and reflecting bright
white off of the sand. I floated weightless in the water and bobbed with the
gentle lapping waves. Dominic and Grant were on the shore waving at me. I waved
back and dove under the surface. When I came up for air the atmosphere had
changed. Dark, stormy clouds boiled in the sky and the sea had become choppy.
Alarmed, I looked for Dom and Grant on the beach. They were gone. Something
bumped into my back and moved away then collided with me again. I spun around
and screamed. A body floating facedown in the sea moved with the surf. Panic
set in and I started to swim toward the shoreline. When I turned, a different
body, also facedown blocked my path. Then I noticed the water was blood red and
corpses floated on the top of the ocean, in every direction as far as I could
see. I opened my mouth to scream again and nothing happened, the air around me
was void of sound, muted.

I woke in a cold sweat
and with a pounding heart. I reflexively reached for Dom, but he was gone.
Disoriented, I briefly panicked, still caught between my nightmare and reality.
Finally, the surroundings of our bedroom became familiar and I remembered where
Dominic was. My head ached and I had cottonmouth, the beginning of a hangover beginning
to set in. I rolled over and stared at the closed bedroom door wanting the comfort
of my mom. On her good days she would make the nightmares disappear so I could
fall back asleep. This time I couldn’t tell her the source of my terrors. The
boogieman wasn’t in my closet and there wasn’t a monster under the bed, the
horrors in my dreams were real.