GianCarlo Ch. 05

With nothing else to do she put on a dress. It sagged on her and she pouted. She searched Denise's room. She's always been two sizes smaller and two inches shorter than Delia, an odd thing for twins. She slid on a bandage dress and some pumps. She looked in the mirror and pouted. Her breast seemed like they sat lower and the booty she had once claimed to be too small was practically nonexistent.

That's when she heard voices on the porch. It must of been Denise but who was she talking to. She never brought boys around. She tried to walk silently to the door, a true feat in heels. By the time she made it the voices had quieted to whispers. Just as she crept close enough to look through the peep hole Denise swung the door open.

"Damn, Sexy! What's the occasion?" Denise exclaimed.

It was then, Delia remembered she was all dolled up. "I-I I just wanted to...feel pretty again."

Standing behind Denise was Stefan for some reason. She was even more mortified. Denise didn't make it better.

"Thank, Jesus!" Denise said giggling, "Dee'sback from the dead!"

"I-I...its just that...why is Stefan here?" She couldn't straighten her thoughts until it hit her. "Is something wrong with Gian?" She asked quickly.

Her heart sank, she couldn't bear any bad news but she couldn't stand not knowing.

"No, he's fine. He's still being a dick, though." Stefan said trying to quickly clear her worries.

Dee frowned a little.

"He's heart sick," Denise mended, "Don't worry he's trying to get you back!"

"Denise," Stefan said, not wanting Delia to know. What if he failed and the poor girl sat around forever waiting for him.

"What?" Dee asked, trying to squash the tiny flicker of hope that bloomed inside her. "How is he trying to do that?"

"He-" Stefan said before sighing. He didn't want to give her false hope but didn't want to hurt her either. "He's doing his best to...come up with a solution."

"Oh," Dee said her brow furrowing. She didn't believe him. "Well, I don't want to think about it anymore."

That surprised both Denise and Stefan.

"Well, Ms. Thang, since you're all dressed up, wanna go out?" Denise asked.

"Ms. Thang?" Delia asked, "Oh yeah, I forgot, Its nineteen ninety three."

Stefan laughed and Denise rolled her eyes, "Well, you wanna go somewhere?"

"It's three in the morning." Dee said.

"She's suffered a head injury, shouldn't she be taking it easy?" Stefan asked.

"Ugh, its been a month! We can go to Denny's and if she get dizzy we'll come back home." Denise reasoned.

"Okay, I haven't been out the house in a long time. I'm like a freaking shut in."

"I think we should let Delia get her rest." Stefan said

"Yes, anything you say, Papa." Denise said sarcastically before jiggling his keys, "C'mon, Dee, lets sneak out and take Papa's car." Delia laughed as she stepped outside following Nise to Stefan's car.

"Oh you think that's funny?" Stefan said with a grin, as Delia began to trail behind.

"A little," Denise giggled, side stepping a poke from Stefan.

"I'll show you funny," He said, Denise tried to run but Stefan quickly caught her around her waist and began ticklikng her.

Their little display left a pang of jealousy and sadness in Delia. She tried to not let it show, trying to smile along. She hopped in the back seat feeling like a third wheel. Maybe this was a bad idea.

The whole drive Delia found herself staring out the window, wondering where Gian was and what he was doing. She indulged in it a little, unable to help herself. Delia just wanted her friend back. She wanted to touch him again and if she was honest she wanted to kiss him again, even if it was only a good bye and farewell kiss.

***

During the whole meal Delia's mind constantly floated back to Gian. Denise made herself good company though talking endlessly and keeping both her and Stefan engaged. She even made her laugh. Even still, Delia wondered if she'd ever be truly happy again. When they'd finally gotten home, Delia went straight to bed, completely tired, and drained. She blamed it on the injury and left Stefan and Denise on the porch.

She smiled to herself. She liked the idea of the two dating, given, Stefan was older. Maybe that was what Nise needs anyway.

She quickly scrubbed her makeup off, showered, and slipped into her little Haitian girl dress. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror just before bed. Even under all that makeup and hair she was still the same, broken and hurting girl. She fell into bed silently, crying herself to sleep for another night.

***

Bang! Bang!

Delia shot up out of her sleep.

Bang! Bang!

She heard it again and the tendrils of sleep was quickly replaced by fear. This was the first time since she found out about the assassination attempt that she truly feared for her life.

Bang! Bang!

"Delia," she heard a deep voice wail at her window.

Her heart was racing and she was frozen. She wanted to see who was there but her need to survive told her to keep silent.

Bang!

"Please, Delia, I need you." The voice wailed again.

It was slurred but undeniably she knew that voice. Her heart sped up faster. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her

Bang!

"Please, say something!"

It was Gian, but what was he doing?

She jumped up quickly, sprinting to the window. Delia pulled the curtains back and she was able to make out his form in the darkness.

"Delia," He said softly pressing a cheek to the window.

Tears pricked her eyes. A flood of relief filled her and his slightly slurred voice was sweet to her.

"Gian," She said around the lump forming in her throat. Without hesitation she quickly ran to the back door, every second felt like an hour. She quietly unlocked it and slid it open. When she looked out Gian was in the middle of her backyard stumbling toward the door. Was he drunk?

"Come in, hurry!" She whispered as loudly as she could.

He made his way to the door and Delia pulled him in. The quick action made him stumble to the ground inside her house. Delia made quick business of closing and locking the door and pulling the curtains so no one could see inside. When she finally felt safe enough she joined him on the ground where he was struggling to hold himself upright.

"Gian," She whispered wrapping her arms around him.

A feeling she could never describe overwhelmed her as she held him. She never thought she'd be able to do that again. She took a minute to revel in his presence. His arms wrapped around her and she melted. Delia ran her hands up his back under his jacket. She held onto him trying to commit it all to memory, his spicy smell and the heat radiating from his body. She finally gathered the will power to pull away.

"What are you doing here?" She asked wiping the tears from her face.

"Do you hate me?" Was his response.

"No," she responded quickly, "I don't hate you, I can never hate you."

"I hate me," He said and it pulled at Delia's heart. "I need you."

His eyes glassed and a fat tear escaped. He reached out and caressed her face. Delia leaned into his palm.

"Gian," She said softly, "What did you do? Why-"

She was stopped when Gian looked as if he could no longer hold himself up. Delia grabbed a hold of his shoulders and slowly guided his head onto her lap. He laid there silent, the only sound was his breathing getting slower. Delia stroked his forehead and cheek as he squirmed until he was looking up at her. She almost cried then, in his eyes was the same look she saw in her own when she looked in the mirror, but there was something else. His eyes were blood shot and dilated. His brow was sweaty.

He was high, on something. This wasn't just alcohol.

"Oh, what are we going to do?" She asked, more to herself.

Gian reached up with a shaky hand and caressed her cheek again mumbling something. His eyes filled up with tears and they trailed down the side of his face. Delia wiped them away.

"Non posso vivere senza di te ... correre via, scappa via con me. Per favore ... per favore," He said a bit louder.

He was speaking Italian. Dee could only make out the small words like 'you', 'me', 'out' and 'life'. His tears flowed faster as he repeated 'per favore'. He was pleading with her but she didn't know what he wanted. Her heart was breaking all over. At that moment, if she understood what he was asking she'd done it, no questions asked. She sat back helpless, stroking his cheek.

"What are we gonna do?"