GianCarlo Ch. 02

"I'm so glad that, Delia finally brought home a boy, we were all starting to wonder if she was a lesbian."

"Aaaand that's where that conversation ends." Dee said pushing to her feet "Ma, we've got to go."

"Why are y'all going out on a week night anyway?" Dee's mom asked

"Well, Delia had an anxiety attack and I'm taking her out so she can unwind." Gian said and as soon as he mentioned the attack Delia's eyes widened and she squeezed his wrist.

"You had an anxiety attack?" Ms. Camden asked concern in her voice.

"No mama, Gian is just exaggerating. I thought I lost my wallet today and I over reacted. He keeps teasing me, calling it an anxiety attack. I guess I'm a drama queen." Dee chuckled and it sounded forced to Gian's ears but Ms. Camden believed it.

"Okay, you two, be careful... and Gian you hold onto her wallet. If she loses it she'll blame everyone on the fair grounds of stealing it before finding it in her purse."

Delia gave another embarrassed eye roll when Gian laughed at that. Delia gave her mom a hug and kiss before leaving the house.

"Your mom is so young." Gian said as soon as the door closed behind them.

"If you say so," Dee said shrugging "I mean she's almost fifty-three."

"Nuh-uh, she couldn't be more than forty two...at the most."

"My mom's a little bit of a hippie, she uses all natural stuff. Combine that with good genes and dark skin and you age slower, I guess. Black doesn't crack. You, on the other hand, is going to shatter like aged glass."

Dee laughed.

"You think so?" Gian said laughing along.

"Good googgly moogly! Did my mama see this?" Dee asked when they reached Gian's motorcycle. It wasn't one of the newer ones built for speed this one was a Harley low rider meant for cross country riding.

"I don't think so, I'm not sure if she'd approve of it." Gian said picking up a helmet and passing the other to Delia.

"Hell, yeah she'd approve. Do you know how bad she wants one of these?" Delia said swooping her mass of hair into a bun at her nape. She put on the helmet and laughed. "This feels silly"

"No, it's hot."

"Oh yeah," Dee said sarcastically "I'll be the centerfold of Safety girl Magazine."

"You look dangerous." Gian commented causing Dee to roll her eyes.

Gian hopped onto the bike and waited for Dee to get on behind him. His every nerve ending jumped when he felt her press close to him wrapping her arms around his chest tightly.

"You scared?" He asked

"A little...try not to kill me, I've got dreams." She said making him laugh.

Gian revved up the engine causing Delia to grip at his jacket. He laughed to himself as he rode out of the drive way and down the street in less than ten seconds. The air whipping past Delia was the only indicator that they were moving. She kept her eyes squeezed shut and her grip on Gian tight.

When Delia hazarded a look she and Gian were merging unto the freeway. It wasn't as scary as she originally thought. They were barreling down the freeway at, at least, eighty miles an hour and it felt like flying. She snuggled up to Gian the feel of his heartbeat so close to hers made the whole experience surreal.

"This is amazing!" Delia said as close to his ear as she could get. She felt him chuckle in response.

Delia's grip on him loosened more and more as she got used to being on his bike. A strange thought occurred to Gian, this was the closest he had been to anyone in a non-sexual manner, well excluding his mother. He felt Dee pull tighter to him as he made a turn on their exit. He decided that if ever he was this close to anyone again, it would be purely because he enjoyed them and not to get something from them or vice versa.

"Oh! That was amazing!" Delia shouted after getting off the bike. Gian had parked in the grassy clearing of the fair and simply watched Delia's reaction to the ride. She seemed so excited by something he'd come to view as the norm.

******

What the hell was he thinking! Stefan asked himself as he stealthily followed Gian and his girl toward the fair. It was dangerous to take the girl on the motorcycle. It was one thing to danger his life with that suicide machine on wheels but to bring her on there was another story. For one she was a human, one good fall could end her life much less the possibility of paralysis, permanent disfigurement, and a million other things that could go wrong.

Stefan shook himself out of it. He was starting to sound like the girl's father. He was mostly on a Reconnaissance mission. There was no real need to follow Gian anymore. He spent most of his time with the girl and when he wasn't around her Gian was either waiting to see her or jacking it to the thought of her and how many times did he need to watch that.

No, he was doing recon on the girl. For one, he had to stop calling her the girl. Her name was Delia Akemi Camden daughter of Ellis Denise Camden. She has a fraternal twin, Denise Aiko Camden who seemed to be more of a floating leaf than Giancarlo ever was. Then there was their older brother Derrick Sharon Camden who is a grown man with a family of his own, two ex-wives, a current wife and five children.

Stefan learned all this on the web, Facebook to be specific. The Camden people were numerous, tight knit, and proud of it. More so, The Camden's were a clan of women, boisterous, charismatic, and charming women. There were very few men.

Stefan knew this information was valuable in his recon goals. Just how Gian's "family"...or maybe dictatorship is an apt word, his dictatorship shaped him and his actions and mannerisms so has Delia's family. From watching her he could tell she was just as charismatic, in the ways she dealt with people and her charming warm smile was never too far. She was also very intuitive, an important skill when it comes to dealing with women. She also made very little complaint when it came to things she was afraid to do or just didn't want to do, come from spending her life in large groups such as the Camden women. Lastly, he found that she was very manipulative and could lie flawlessly. Since most people didn't realize that she was manipulating them she became a spoiled brat of her own doing.

That only left one thing, how can he use this info to get his desired outcome.

******

"You scream like a girl!" Dee said as she doubled over laughing. She found out that Gian didn't like roller coasters. Heights he had no problem with it was the flipping and twirling around in contraptions that were older than him that freaked him out. Gian had resolved himself to getting on every ride that Dee wanted to get on. She was scared of his bike and got on anyway the least he could do was return the favor.

"There is nothing wrong with screaming like a girl." Gian said chuckling despite himself.

"You're' totally right." Delia said catching her breath "You screamed like a bitch...but it's alright because Delia is here. She won't let the big bad roller coaster get you."

Delia was having more fun than she anticipated. It was hilarious watching Gian try to steel himself for the ride to only have the facade crumble as soon as they hit the first drop. She was grateful, nonetheless, that he even came on. She hated doing things alone.

"How do you feel about the Ferris wheel?"

"That's cool...hopefully"

Dee laughed "Okay, and since it's not the two-seater Ferris wheel but the pod one we could get some Fair eateries and enjoy them on the ride."

"How long is the ride?"

"Usually only five minutes but since it's never a line you just get on and when times up you just tell the operator to take it around again."

Gian had gotten a funnel cake and Delia got a shish kabob and gotten on the Ferris wheel.

"You know, when you showed up with the Harley and the leather jacket I thought you were a bad ass." Delia said "But you eat funnel cakes...with the powdered sugar, and scream on rides.

"There's nothing wrong with funnel cakes. Real men eat funnel cakes." Gian protested, amused with Delia.

"No, real men eat meat, steak and the like, not sugary powdery funnel cakes." Dee said around a bite of the beef on her shish kabob.

"Does this make you a real man?" causing them both to laugh.

"A little," She answered

"So....why didn't you want your mom to know about the anxiety attack?" Gian asked

"I just...didn't want her to worry." Delia said looking over the whole fair. From that height everything looked like a little city you'd see in a snow globe, minus the snow of course.

"Worry about you? Isn't that what moms do?"

"Yeah, of course, but...my mom for some odd reason thinks she's a horrible mother. It doesn't take much for her to feel like she's fucked up our lives in some way and if she knew about the attacks I think it'll break her heart."

They sat quietly for a moment contemplating what was said. Gian stared at Delia who was lost in thought.

"Why would she feel like that?"

Dee laughed softly to herself. "It's a long story, besides were at the top" Dee smiled mischievously, a smile that mirrored her mother's.

"What are you going to do?" Gian asked and before he finished Delia was rocking back and forth causing the little pod to move with her but only slightly.

"You are either an extreme thrill seeker or a little psychotic." Gian said as Delia began to pick up momentum and the pod rocked more.

"I think I'm both." She laughed causing Gian to laugh along "We used to do this all the time when we were kids. It was always me, Denise and my two cousins who were the same age as us, Quinn and Eva. When we'd go to the fair and get on the Ferris wheel together Quinn, Denise, and I would rock the pod singing 'Rock the Boat' at the top of our lungs while Eva would scream for us to stop."

"You must have a huge family." Gian said

"Yep, so big you can get lost in it." Delia chuckled "What about your family?"

"It was just me." Gian said

"Just you? Did you have both parents?"

"Yeah, but I only really saw my mother. When I was little I didn't really do anything like this. I mostly read...like a little nerd."

"Gian "Badass" Carlo a nerd? That's laughable."

"My mom and I would sometimes go to the movies some nights, but mostly reading and classes like painting and violin."

"You had classes after school? They were after school programs?"

"Not really, my father had tutors who'd come and--"

"Wait," Dee said as she stopped rocking "Don't' tell me you're like one of those rich kids with the parents who want them to build actual skills other than growing up, working your ass off, then dying."

Gian's gaze fell to his funnel cake then back to Delia "Kind of,"

"Shut Up!" Dee said laughing before returning to rocking the pod. "Explains why you grew up in Fort Lauderdale and not Miami." She said teasing him.

"Oh look who's talking, you told me you went to private school for most of your life" Gian said before taking the last bite of his funnel cake. Dee smiled at him more amused than anything and Gian was struck again by how beautiful he found her.

"How come you don't have a boyfriend?" Gian asked. Dee looked at him confused by the sudden change of topic, and then saddened as she thought of the answer.

"I dunno," she said "I don't ...really have interests in the whole bf/gf thing"

She was lying and Gian wondered why she'd feel she needed to lie. "I don't believe you." Gian said softly

"You don't have to." Dee said her amused smile returning "If I wanted a boyfriend I'd have one right now, but here I am...single...the way I like it." She spoke with a bravado that Gian saw straight through.

"Well, I'm here." Gian said "What does that make this?"

"This is a single girl and her maybe single friend sharing a good time." She said bluntly then smiled

"You are single, aren't you?"

"Dee if I had a girl you would never have to guess whether I was single or not"

"Well, than why don't you have a girlfriend?" Dee asked and watched as Gian's eyes twinkled with something she couldn't explain.

"I'm waiting for the right one to see things my way." Dee felt her stomach drop into her hips. Was he talking about her or, worse yet, another skinnier, lighter, shorter, prettier girl?

"Who is the right one?" Dee asked never the one to beat around the bush.

"She is a person, but more so an idea." Gian said

She was still left in the dark but something told her that Gian did that on purpose.