𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘚𝘐𝘕 / 𝘋𝘈𝘔𝘐𝘈𝘕𝘖 𝘋𝘈𝘝𝘐𝘋

IX

the neighbourhood — daddy issues

"I warned that I would come," Louis said, taking a long sip of whiskey from an already half-empty bottle, everyone had time to drink, except Dette, who imagined how she would drag a drunken David home, who was already crawling to his beloved with kisses and hugs.

He appeared as unexpectedly as he disappeared, Luis was excellent at helping Detta and Damiano with the move to Faro. He was a middle-aged Irishman with mesmerizing eyes and a pleasant smile that rarely meant anything good. For a long time, he was engaged in illegal affairs and perfectly hid from the police, giving large bribes and also accepting them. It cannot be said that he was an authority in the criminal world or was a member of the mafia, but rumors circulated around the city for a long time that it was better not to mess with him, which reached Bernadette. It was a huge shock for the girl when she found out that her boyfriend was working with Louis, but David flatly refused to talk about his source of income, evasively changed topics, avoided answering, and in the meantime, money appeared. So before their departure from Rome, Damiano constantly talked about some money that Louis should bring.

"Didn't expect so soon," Esposito replied, raising her green eyes to the man, receiving a grin in return. Their relationship with Louis could hardly be called ordinary, not even neutral. She didn't like him. At every conversation, they tried to hurt each other, but didn't cross the invisible border: Dette was still Damiano's girlfriend, and Louis was his best friend.

"I love surprises," Louis didn't stand aside, immediately translating the topic, "I haven't been here for a long time, the bar has changed a lot."

"My father did his best," Victoria nodded, her face no longer smiling because the intoxication had reached such a state that the girl was ready to puke.

"Apparently you too," he smiled, noticing how the girl leaned her head against the back of the sofa, closing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, "should I call her a taxi?"

"No, we live close," replied Malvina, pursing her lips as she looked at her girlfriend. Malvina was concerned about the behavior of Victoria, who had never drunk so hard and fast before, she was literally asleep twenty minutes later. Mal had long suspected that everything had deteriorated in their relationship, but she desperately didn't want to admit it, therefore, looking at the sleeping and peaceful blonde, the girl was calm, at least for this period of time everything was fine with them, but a child was waiting at home, whom the girls left for a cute old lady-neighbor.

"Great," he continued, glancing over at Ethan, whom he had seen for the first time, and immediately noticed his extra weight. Ethan really was overweight, which no one paid attention to, the guy always wore clothes that were several sizes larger than him, and constantly ate, which Dette noticed from the first day they met. The girl decided not to interfere.

"How long is here?" Dette asked to avoid another quarrel, while Damiano was still pulling his palms towards the girl, trying to hug her. The situation looked more and more like an unfunny joke.

"In Faro, my friend runs a race, invited me to participate," Louis replied relaxed, and the curly-haired woman felt how the guy stopped climbing up to her when he heard the word "race", "I thought to call you guys."

"What makes you think that we'll agree?" Bernadette began to get angry that the man-made her nervous, although she hardly had them after all that was happening. 

"Damiano participated in one before leaving," perhaps these words meant nothing for Luis, although Dette didn't fully realize this, the girl couldn't believe that the guy, after the news that William had crashed in a terrible accident, continued to participate in racing, and with a charlatan like Louis. Turning her head towards Dami, the girl raised her eyebrows inquiringly, expecting an answer, while the guy looked as if he had sobered up in a few moments, leaning his elbows on the table, "so I thought that he would want to ride this time."

"I didn't know about the race in Rome," compared to the quarrel with Thomas, this situation literally destroyed Dette, who felt insulted and humiliated, and the singer didn't even bother to raise his eyes, so much he was ashamed of her.

This was not to say that Damiano was obsessed with racing, but he tried not to miss a single race in the city, constantly modifying his car and winning more and more races. Bernadette saw Damiano among the participants of the race when, at the request of William, she decided to go with him as a spectator. It was indescribable emotions, a mixture of adrenaline and fear, but most of all the girl worried about her friend, who deftly coped with the steering wheel and drifted. As always, he came first, Dette still remembers how much she screamed back then, as a sign of William's victory. Damiano was also a spectator and periodically glanced at the curly one, noticing her stunning smile and joy in her eyes. This is how I remembered Esposito's races, the taste of victory and joy for a close friend, the connection with whom was much stronger than it seemed at first glance and didn't collapse after many problems they went through. And then William, who drove a car better than a bicycle, crashed in an accident. Louis realized that he had said too much, the situation again heated up between the guys, the man was the first to tell Damiano about William's death, and he was one of the few who knew how much Bernadette suffered, she was the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, her eyes were red for many months, she cried constantly.

"I think we should go," Ethan said, standing up and grabbing Thomas on his shoulder for support.

"Yes, it was nice to meet," Raggi replied, taking Malvina's hand, which was trying to wake Vic, "we have to meet again."

"What about tomorrow?" Louis asked, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Come to us," Esposito smiled defiantly, she was angry and torn, and sarcasm was clearly traced in the words, "We'll be glad to see you, right?" the girl turned towards Damiano, who smiled restrainedly and nodded, trying to take his beloved by the hand and explain everything.

"David," Louis called out, "stay awhile."

Bernadette rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. She left the institution, in which only the guys remained, while Malvina and Victoria had already gone home. The girl didn't know where to go, she just wanted not to think about the problems as if they didn't exist, but it is difficult to forget the act of the person with whom she ran away from her parental home, he literally betrayed her, knowing that she still cries at night and suffers from nightmares but couldn't help.

Damiano left the bar along with everyone else a few minutes later, they were all talking violently about something, exchanging opinions and emotions, the guy was carrying a large bag in his hands, which Bernadette immediately noticed, so she mentally tried to guess what was inside but correlating Louis and bag, I realized that most likely there was money, which Dami was constantly talking about, so he so gently squeezed it in his palms. Thomas closed the door to the bar when the guys were still talking, and Bernadette stood on the sidelines, thinking about her meaningless life, which was filled only with kisses with Damiano and gatherings with friends. Tears began to collect in her eyes and the girl had to raise her hand to her face, turning away from the guys and wiping them so that no one could notice her broken state. She closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh cool air. The sun was already beginning to rise and the girl wanted to return home as soon as possible so that she could go to her bed and not talk to Damiano until the next night.

"I wanted to tell you," Damiano said after he said goodbye to the rest of the guys and walked over to the girl standing to the side. This dawn in Faro didn't anticipate anything good at all, just another quarrel, which, most likely, they won't be able to avoid. Dette had suffered enough today, she only wanted to sleep in her soft bed and nothing else.

"But in all this time, you never mentioned the race," the girl replied wearily, slowly heading towards their house, Damialo walked to the left, throwing the bag over her shoulder.

"I didn't want to upset you," the guy tried to justify himself, stopping and lightly grabbing his curly hand, "we needed money, it's all a win," he pointed to the bag in his hands, which Louis had brought before. Dette sighed heavily, rolling her eyes, "I would never betray you love."

"I'm too tired to fight and sort things out with you," the girl took the guy by the hand, continuing on her way home, although she didn't fully understand that she hadn't forgiven him yet and the quarrel could start at any moment. Even tomorrow.