| |
The number six is lovers,
and all that is implied,
soon you will be entered,
liquid by my side.
The number six is shallow,
a weakness gone awry,
it paints a toxic picture,
the darkness of you and I.
The number six, erotic.
And things I shall explore.
The number six is wanting.
And all I want is more.
[Chorus]
Fall on my knees for the number six,
the one that is the truth.
Sing to the skies for the number six,
the folly of my youth.
Open my heart to the number six,
the yielding of my bliss.
Come to me love, open your lips,
and fall into my kiss.
“Six,” written and composed by Dante Vega.
Dante, Damien, and Gia sat in the small cafe on the lower east side, finishing their lunches.
“How is it you’re so calm? You haven’t seen her for, what, two weeks? Three? And we have our Garden gig next week.”
Dante shoved the remaining turkey club sandwich in his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, and said, “I don’t know. After the attack, she was elated for a few days. Then she got really depressed. She said she needed space but assured me we’d see each other again. I told her the only way I’d let her go was if she called me daily and went to meetings and got help. We text and talk a lot. Plus, I figure, at this point, I owe her everything for allowing me to get out from under the...” His eyes darted toward Damien, cutting off his use of the word secret. “Out from under the shit I carried. So...” His shoulder rose and fell.
“Don’t listen to him,” Damien said. “Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy. It’s all I hear.”
“And you’re the voice of truth, aren’t you, kid?” Gia said, playfully slugging his arm. “And losing her at this point will not go well for the tour. You’ve been somewhat tolerable in practice this last couple of weeks. Nice song, by the way...that Six song.”
“Thanks.” Dante smiled. He probably knew more about the number six than he knew about any of his songs, combined. He’d researched numerology, the tarot, astrology, anything that claimed to reference knowledge of the hidden meaning of numbers.
“It’s pretty tender, though. You usually write raunchy pantie melters. This one will make the girls all go ‘aw’ and get all mushy.” She wrinkled up her nose. “We’ll have to leave them with something like Wet or your other new song, Steam.”
“It started as a sort of joke. I programmed it into Kennedy’s phone when we started dating, telling her I learned the number was about erotic exploration from your dabbling in the tarot.”
Gia nodded, finishing her Coke with a noisy slurp through her straw. “Figures you’d focus on one aspect.” She scoffed. “It’s also about sacrifice, caring, and protecting. Righting wrongs. It fits you to a T.” She smirked at him. “On the downside, it implies insecurity and small-mindedness.”
“And that’s where the flip side comes in. I didn’t put two and two together when I programmed Kennedy’s phone. Page Six, remember?”
“Oh, right! That makes total sense.”
“Yeah, after the whole drama-thon went down, Kennedy reminded me we’d made it onto page one. Progress had been made.” He let out a short, dry laugh before his face turned sober and his lip found its way between his teeth.
Gia dipped her remaining french fry in catsup, put it in her mouth and chewed. “So, care to tell me the truth, stud? About what’s really going on with you and Kennedy?”
“I’m scared shitless,” Dante said, wiping his mouth with his unbleached paper napkin. “She finally texted me, telling me she wanted to see me—to talk.” He blew out his breath. “I’ll be heading back to my house after I drop you two off. She’s coming over.”
Gia scoffed. “Again, my hat goes off to her. She’s not someone you can boss around.”
“When have I ever bossed a girl around?” Dante gave her a rigid stare.
“Everything will be okay, brother,” Damien said, He patted Dante’s arm. “You worry too much.”
“I hope you’re right, buddy.”
Gia, her hair a wild green, black and blond, nodded. “He’s right, you know.” The new diamond in her nostril piercing winked and glinted in the light. “That was some crazy shit that went down. I’d have needed months to recover.”
“Yeah. I’ve never been more freaked in my life. You should have seen her. Here this frigging tiger is going psycho, chewing on this guy’s leg and the other tiger is pacing and lunging, and she’s flinging gravel and rocks through the fence...” Dante shook his head. “Telling the dude outside the fence, she’s not his victim. And she’s inside the cage. And the fucking tiger kept trying to pull him through a two foot opening all while keeping the other cat away. It was the most god-awful, terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.” He shuddered. “If I weren’t so scared to lose Kennedy, I’d have been pissing my pants. And yet I may have lost her anyway.”
“Now, now.” Gia patted his arm. “Listen to your brother and stop worrying. So what happened to the prince?”
“Oh, the CIA got involved. After they chopped off his leg. There was no saving his limb after the tiger finished mangling it. It was a bloody mess.” Dante shook his head. “Anyway, his legal choices are limited. It’s either be shipped back to Africa to face tribal law or be tried here. I imagine it won’t go down well for him in either place. He’s in a shit-load of trouble.
“Besides him and Barnes laundering money, and his attempted murder charges, he’s deeply entrenched in a host of other crimes related to the diamond trade. The diamonds Kennedy stole from him and gave to his brother have never been found. But that’s nothing compared to some of the other things he’s done.”
He pursed his lips and shuddered. “Kennedy told me some of the atrocities Iniko’s committed. I think he should be buried in a diamond mine somewhere after his balls are chopped off and fed to him, and then he can meet his maker in hell. I think losing his leg is too mild a punishment.”
“That’s gross, D.” Gia wrinkled up her face.
“There’s no such place as hell, Dante,” Damien said.
“It’s a phrase, Dami.” He turned to his drummer. “He’s had entire mines of people buried, Gia. You’ve heard of blood diamonds, right?”
“Yeah. Gah,” Gia groaned. “That’s awful.”
“Conflict diamonds, converted diamonds, hot diamonds, or war diamonds are still a thriving trade in parts of the world, Gia,” Damien said.
“Right. I forgot you watched the movie.” Dante looked at his brother.
“Yes. It was one of Leonard DiCaprio’s finest films. And I saw a documentary on it on the BBC channel. While it’s been lessened, it hasn’t been eliminated.”
“Let’s hope some good comes out of Iniko going down.”
“Speaking of people going down, how’s your mom doing?” Gia shoved aside her plate.
“Mom’s fine,” Damien said. “Right, Dant?”
“Right, Dami. Hey, would you mind ordering a piece of pie for me to take home? They’re in that display case at the counter.” He pointed toward the front of the cafe. “Get something for yourself, too.” He fished a few dollars out of his pocket and handed them to his brother.
“Okay, Dant.” He slid out of the booth.
“Damien’s not doing well with the family break up,” Dante said quietly. “He’s stressing. His world works best when it follows predictable patterns. But he doesn’t know the truth, nor will he ever.”
Gia’s face pulled into one of disgust. “I should hope not. Your dad’s a sick prick. When you told me the whole story...” Her words fell away in a shiver.
“Right. I’m working with Damien’s group home staff, to help him with coping strategies. But to answer your question, Ma’s doing great. I’m proud of her. My dad’s the one who’s broken. He’s begging her to relent, but she won’t stand for it. She said she’s done.”
“Hey, Dant,” Damien shouted.
Dante put his fingers to his lips and made a shushing sound.
Damien hustled to his side.
“Sorry, brother. ‘Always walk up to the person to get their attention. Don’t shout across the room,’” Damien said, repeating Ben’s instructions.
“Exactly. What did you want?”
“She wants to know if you want it a la mode.” Damien pointed to the cashier.
“No, buddy. The ice cream would melt before I got it home. Just a piece of the pie, in a to-go box. Apple, if they have it.”
“Got it.” Damien nodded, racing away.
“You’re so good to him,” Gia said.
“He’s my bro. I love him to the bone.”
“I had a sister like that. She was my world.”
“I know. Your sister Shauna.” Dante cocked his head and studied her for a second. “That’s a shame she died.”
Gia reddened and looked away. “Anyway...”
“Anyway, Dad’s a wreck, but he deserves it. He’ll probably bury his sorrows between some young thing’s legs.”
“So what’s going to happen to the tiger sanctuary, then?”
Dante bit his lip, trying to suppress a smile.
“No,” Gia exclaimed. “Don’t tell me you’re buying an animal sanctuary.”
“Shhh,” Dante soothed. “Not so loud. It’s not a done deal yet, but yeah. I’m buying it for her to do what she wants with it.”
“Have you thought about how that will go down if things don’t work out?”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s meant to be hers. I’m adamant about that. The girl is passionate about animal welfare. What the hell else am I to do with my money? Buy more cars?”
“You’re good that way, Dante. You have a good head on your shoulders.”
“It’s my rebellion toward my father. To not become the scumbag he is.”
Gia laughed. “Great job, then. Oh—one last question.”
“I really have to go.” He waved his brother over, then scowled. “Is he flirting over there? My brother is flirting?”
“He’s a good looking guy. Why are you surprised?”
“He doesn’t do social interactions all that well. You’ve heard him. He’s a font of facts, always correcting people if they’re wrong.”
“So maybe she’s the same way.” Gia swished her hand in the air. “Anyway, whatever happened to that ginormous story about your father you said we’d see plastered all over the media?”
“Hell if I know. Maybe the Marquise is waiting for the perfect moment. I don’t care.”
“Seriously? You don’t care?”
“Don’t get me wrong. Sure, it will be a scandal. Sure, it will rock the boat. But we’re all prepared for the fallout.”
Gia shrugged. “Hmmm. Brave words, D. Let’s hope it rolls that way.”
“Let’s.” As he scooted from the booth, he cringed. “Shit. Speak of the fucking devil herself.”
Marquise pushed open the door, removed her over-sized sunglasses and actually bristled when she spied Dante, surprising him. A bruised glower colored her elegant, porcelain features.
Gia looked at where his gaze focused and sneered. “Want me to run interference?”
“Nah. Maybe you could take Dami outside to wait for me for a sec. I’ll see what she wants. Get it over with. Hell, after what I’ve been through nothing she says to me will scare me.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Gia let out a low whistle. “Damien. Over here. Let’s go.”
The supermodel looked wary as she eyed Dante. Her eyes scanned the room as if looking for an escape. Her usual haughty countenance was gone, replaced with an ice cold fear frost.
“Where’s your typical arrogance?” Dante said, approaching her. “No taunts? Threats?”
“I don’t want any trouble, Dante.” Her eyes kept the room.
Perplexed, Dante said, “What’s got you so edgy?”
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Honestly? Get real. You seem to follow me like a hungry dog, seeking bones of attention and publicity.”
“Not this time.” Her chiseled features grew stony. “Look. Your mother called me. She warned me what would happen to my career if I ever let your family secrets out. She’s got clout in the industry.”
“Wow,” Dante said.
“Don’t look so gleeful.” A more familiar imperious glare resumed on her face. “It’s no longer fun.” Her hand swished through the air, accompanied by the jangle of gold, bejeweled bracelets lining her wrist. “I only liked to mess with you. I could give a fuck about your father.”
Dante stared at her for a long moment. He thought about all the misery and fear she’d caused him. Could it be this simple? Poof and she’s tamed by my mother? Revealing the secret took away her power? No longer a threat to me? Without saying a word to her, he turned on his heel and headed for the door, far more interested in his future with Kennedy, than his past with the sorry creature known as the Marquise de Manhattan.
