Her second time on the motorcycle was way better than the first, there was less fear more thrill. As Gian swerved unto the residential roads Delia was comfortable enough to spread her arms out as they sped toward her house.
"That was fun!" Delia said as they walked toward her front door.
"I enjoyed myself too." Gian said shoving his hands in his pockets. He wasn't ready to leave her yet.
As they reached the door Delia spun toward him and whispered conspiratorially, "I'm not ready to go." Gian broke out in a smile, "What do you have in mind?"
"Well..." Dee said with that mischievous smile and a shrug, "Have you ever seen South Beach at night?"
Dee tiptoed into the house grabbed her sisters little green pouch and tiptoed back out. It was ten minutes before Gian and Dee were barreling down Collins Ave with the saltwater air whipping past them.
"We're here!" Gian said over the sound of air whipping past them, "What's next?"
"We chill out."
Gian parked his bike in a nearby parking lot and they set off onto the dark beach. Delia was the first to take off her shoes reveling in the cool sand contrasting against the warm damp air. "You are super tall," Dee said just making out Gian's form in the moonlight. She heard him chuckle.
"Well, it's the first time you've taken off those...stilts since I've met you."
"I love heels! Is that a crime?" Delia said chuckling along "It's just nice not to be the only skyscraper present."
Gian took off his shoes and walked along. They walked until they came across some abandoned beach chairs and Delia was the first also to plop down in one.
"Do you do this often...the beach at night?"
"Yeah, why not? It's much more peaceful now...and quiet"
They both sat back to listen to the sounds of the beach, and watch the moon sitting on the dark waters. The waves crashing onto the shore created white foam that was stark and eerie against the dark night.
"Reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe." Dee said
"No, that wasn't a totally random connection pulled out of midair." Gian said sarcastically and Delia chuckled.
Delia, remembering Denise's pouch, pulled it out of her pocket and went through it.
"What's that?" Gian asked kind of hoping it was food.
"'Happy' is the code word my sis uses." Delia said pulling out a small baggie of something and a glass pipe. "It's weed, and not very strong weed. My mom's boyfriend got it for their anniversary but my mom didn't want to smoke it with him." Gian felt his jaw drop in shock but then quickly recovered. Delia had a huge family, hippie mother, party girl sister and anxiety issues of course she'd smoke weed.
"Do you smoke that often?" Gian found himself asking. Of their own accord his fangs slid out, it had been at least five months since he had last fed from someone high or drunk.
"Not really, special occasions mostly, like my birthday or graduation, maybe Christmas with my cousins. I don't have the time to walk around high all the time."
Delia had fidgeted around enough with the pipe and had pulled out a lighter. Gian felt himself salivate. He couldn't bite Delia while she was high, he wanted to so badly though. The memory of consuming the spiked blood, the feel of it on his tongue the rush from the narcotics plus the adrenaline saturating it, it was almost overwhelming.
Gian switched his focus to the crashing white foam of the beach. "Why didn't your mom want to smoke it with her boyfriend? She's against it or something?"
"Ha-ha, my mom? Against weed? No, it's because her boyfriends a recovering drug addict. Apparently he was addicted to everything except meth. My guess is it's because meth wasn't that big in the eighties. He's fifteen years sober I believe, and my mom didn't want to be the one to rock the boat." Delia took another drag from the pipe before offering it to the dark form which was Gian. Gian declined, happy she couldn't see his fangs which he seemed to have lost control of.
"How do you feel about that? You know the whole drug addiction thing?"
Gian's voice was unreadable. To Delia it sounded as if he wanted to hear a certain answer, but she couldn't tell which answer he wanted...or maybe she was just high.
"There is no way to feel about it. I mean we all have our weaknesses and it's easy to just give into them. It's easy to succumb to defeat the harder our problems get. He wasn't infallible. I'm just glad he's found a healthier way to deal with it...other than drugs."
"And how is that?" Gian sounded more curious than he meant to lead on.
"My mama," Delia said with a little smile. "I don't know how he deals with her crazy ass but they are adorable together."
They talked on and on about the idiosyncrasies of the people around them. Gian found out that Delia's mom wasn't the only 'crazy' person in her family. Gian's teeth finally receded when he saw Delia yawn and rub her eyes, she looked so young and something within him stirred. He didn't question it he was just happy he could hide his fangs. A strong since of foreboding befell him.
"I think I'm hungry," Delia said before giggling at some unheard joke. "No, I'm definitely hungry." She was silent for a while as she stared at Gian's dark form.
"Chicken Nuggets!" She said louder than she meant to. "I need chicken nuggets!"
Gian chuckled, "You're funny when you're high."
"Shut up and feed me," Delia said before doubling over with laughter. Gian couldn't help himself, he laughed at her giggly state.
After a few stumbles and gales of laughter Gian finally got Dee on the back of his bike and to the nearest McDonald. Gian, although amused by her state, was afraid she would fall off his bike so he tucked her hands beneath his arms. Dee found this to be an endless source of comedy and tried unsuccessfully to tickle him, not thinking once that maybe tickling the guy who has your life in their hands isn't such a good thing. They pulled up to a 24 hour McDonalds and Delia sang 'mickey d's' up until they entered the place. She sounded like an excited five year old.
Once inside, Gian quickly excused himself and made a bee line for the bathroom. He needed to get his head on straight. There were so many emotions swirling within him but more so a deep seeded paranoia sat in his belly. He was sure it was from simply being back in South Beach. He went to shake it off so he can further enjoy Dee's current behavior.
Delia, feeling a little stranded at the entrance, slowly looked around at the patrons of the restaurant. A drunken couple made out at the way back corner, it almost looked like light wrestling and it took everything in her power not to double over with laughter. She snickered covering her face.
Delia caught the attention of two fairly young guys at a booth near the ordering counter. One was a tall slender black guy maybe a few years older than herself, dressed in the Miami gangster's uniform, an Ed Hardy tee, dark washed and baggy jeans, and some ridiculously long chain. The other was Hispanic, given the fact it was south beach it was safe to assume he was Cuban. He was a bit shorter with hair slicked back into a low ponytail and he had two shaved lines in his eyebrows. Delia's eyes watered with held back laughter. Did guys still shave those two lines in their eyebrows? Who was still doing that?
She willed herself to sober up as she made her way to the menu. For some reason this felt like a mission in itself, her limbs felt a little too relax yet her mind was rolling at a million miles an hour as she noticed more and more things to laugh at. As she passed the table with the two guys, the Hispanic one grabbed Delia's hand as she passed pinning her with a lascivious grin. "No thank you," Delia said. She was sure she sounded like a doof but she wasn't sure what one was expected to do in a situation like that. She slid her hands from his and continued toward the counter. Once there, Delia could have sworn she stared at the menu forever until she found the chicken nuggets. She opened her mouth to order and heard.
"Yo, get my girl here some cheese burgers, like three of them, on me." The first thought in Delia's head was 'Omigosh I sound like that?'" the second thought was "Wait, I didn't want cheeseburgers" and the third thought was "This person behind me really need to give me three feet, I can't concentrate with a strangers breath on the back of my neck".
Delia turned around to tell the person behind her to back up when she ran straight into the black guy from the booth. Delia was a little slow with her reactions, thanks to the ganja, and before she could pull away the guy had his arms wrapped around her a hand on each butt cheek. His flea market cologne was burning her eyes and he was forcing his hips to her. She gently pushed him away but couldn't muster the strength to, all the while panic never occurred to her. Her main objective really was to order some chicken nuggets.
"James, get your hands off of other people children." One of the older employees behind the counter said.
"Ms. Rey she knows I'm playing with her."
"Hey, can I order some chicken nuggets" Delia said pushing against the guy to no avail. "Excuse me sir" She said pushing a little harder. He chuckled at her and from behind her she felt the shorter presence of his Hispanic companion. A chill ran her spine as she tried to push away again and his grip tightened, his hands sliding into her back pockets. "Ms. Rey? Can I order some chicken nuggets...ten piece. James lemme go I need to order." Delia said using the names she heard them say.
"Beg me" He said into her ear.
