. . I’ll take it your girl knows what she’s walked into, right?” Boss speaks to us, then shifts the conversation to Mammoth.
“No, didn’t feel the need.”
Boss chuckles, “Well, you might want to. We’re having a party tonight. Some of the local girls will be around, so.”
“They swing here.” Somehow, I don’t think he’s talking about swing sets from the playground.
“Oh.” I say, knowing exactly what he’s talking about.
“Do you two swing?” Boss asks. I see a sparkle flash in her eye as she awaits the answer.
“No,” I answer quickly.
She breaks out into a giggling fit, “Relax. I was just fuckin’ with you.”
“Momma!” A little girl yells, holding hands with a man. He has tattoos on his neck and they span down his arms. I notice the pistol tattoo he has the most. Even from ten feet away I can tell how detailed it is. He’s wearing a tank top . . . and much like the girl in the short shorts, I’m wondering if they don’t realize how cold it is.
“Sorry, she was gettin’ rather insistent on seein’ you, darlin’.” The man slurs, in a somewhat rustic accent.
“Hey, baby,” Boss squats down on the ground and holds her hands out, the little girl lets go of the man’s arm and runs straight over to her mother. Once she gets to her mom, Boss scoops her up into her arms, holding her on her hip. “This is Destiny,”
“Holy shit, she’s so big. What the fuck. How has it been this long?” Mammoth bellows, rather shocked.
“Time passes rather quickly. How’s Ace? I heard what happened.” Boss tells him.
“She’s alright, doin’ good. Hopin’ it stays that way.” Mammoth replies.
“I’ll keep good thoughts. You know we’re all rooting for her.” Boss says.
Mammoth nods, “Yeah. Gamble knows it too, we all do.”
“Is that her daddy?” I ask, talking about the guy who Destiny was just with.
Mammoth answers me before Boss has the chance to. “In her dreams.”
Boss rolls her eyes, “No, that’s Cowboy. He’s . . . a . . . fill in dad, so to speak.”
“Oh, sorry. I assumed. It just seemed like . . .” I start to stammer on, but Boss grabs my forearm and smiles.
“Relax, Riva. It’s fine. Whenever he’s in town and we go out people always think what you did. It’s not offensive. I . . . shit. Mammoth is right but keep that on the down low. You feel me?”
I nod, “Sure do.”
“Iris, can you show them up to their room?” Boss hollers, looking to a woman behind the bar. She has long, flowy, natural red hair. Kind of like mine actually.
“Sure can,” She replies in a thick southern accent.
Chapter Nineteen
“You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known— and even that is an understatement.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mammoth
Riva sits in the windowsill, sipping on a glass of white wine I got for her not long ago. I’m in the corner of the bedroom we’re sharing, on the recliner up against the wall. I sit here starin’ at her, watchin’ the way her hair falls so effortlessly. I’ve caught her smiling a couple of times as she looks out over the bit of Queens we can see from this high up.
She’s wearing some sort of pants that looks like jeans, but it clings to her ass like a second skin. A deep plum sweater is across her arms and she tucks her arms around herself every now and again when she gets a chill, like she’s doing right now. “You know, if you get off the windowsill, I’d bet you wouldn’t be so damn cold.” I suggest, poking fun at her just a bit.
She looks my way and rolls her eyes, “I’ll have you know I like my seat. The city is gorgeous. I mean, we can even see New York from here.”
“You say it like you’ve never been there.”
“That’s because I haven’t been.” She says.
No way. “You’re a flight attendant. How am I supposed to believe you’ve never been there?”
“Because I said so. I’ve trusted you thus far, so how about you don’t get all dicky on me now. My routes were from BWI to Tampa and back, I also went from BWI to a few other cities, including the one where we first met, and back of course. Now my routes are from Philadelphia International to JFK, and I think I’m doing a flight to Austin twice a week as well. I wasn’t supposed to see New York until next week