by Carrie Asai
“No, thanks,” he said, and went back to his conversation.
I walked quickly away from the table, hoping that A. J. hadn’t seen. I glanced over at the bar and saw Nina watching me with a smug look on her face.Stupid Heaven, stupid! I thought.
Schnapps,schnapps, I repeated to myself as I searched for someone who looked nice.
“Hey, you!” Two girls were waving some cash in the air.
“Shot?” I asked, my heart pounding. You’d think I was making a drug deal or something!
“What kind do you have?”
“Lemon drops and purple hazes.”
“Ooh, I love lemon drops. Can we have three?”
I tried to maneuver the three shots off the tray and almost dropped the whole thing. “Whoops,” I said, laughing nervously. “That’ll be fifteen dollars,” I said after I finally managed to get the glasses safely onto the table. One girl handed me a twenty. I groped in my apron for change with one hand while the shots on my tray rattled precariously. I was still fishing for the bills after they’d downed their shots.
“Just keep the change,” the girl said, and slid their empties back on my tray.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling like a total idiot. Not the smoothest exchange, but I’d made five bucks in less than a minute! I vowed to practice my tray-balancing maneuvers when I got a chance.
The club began to fill, and I soon spotted Dubious, sitting at the same table he’d been at the night before. I decided to be bold. If I was ever going to make enough money to pay back Cheryland support myself, I’d have to start exploiting every possible angle. And as Cheryl said, Dubious would be good practice.
“Hey, Dubious!” I pasted a smile on my face.
“Hey—is it Heaven?”
I nodded.
“Wow—you work here?” Dubious looked so genuinely impressed that I had to feel proud of myself.
“As of tonight,” I said. “Would you like to buy some shots?”
“Sure, I’ll take one,” Dubious said, and handed me a ten. “But what are you going to do for me?” He smiled.
Okay,I thought.He’s flirting. “Ummm…stand here while you drink it?” I asked.
Dubious laughed. “If you give me a kiss, you can keep the change.” He stuck a finger in his mouth and gnawed at his nail. Wow. He was really unsmooth. But if it meant another five bucks…
“Okay,” I said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, “but don’t tell anyone.”
Dubious downed his shot with a grin. “Can you sit down and talk for a while?” he asked hopefully.
“Sorry, I can’t. But it looks like there are a lot of nice girls here tonight. You should do fine.”
Dubious nodded. “Okay. Bye, Heaven.”
“Bye.” I left Dubious’s table feeling slightly more confident. If I could just get to know some regulars, the job would be a lot easier.
“Hey, you! Give me four of those!” I turned around. A hulking man in sunglasses was looming over me. I gulped. This was not exactly what I had expected. I held out my tray, trying not to shake the glasses on it. How was it that I could beat up two muggers and I was scared to death of handing out a few drinks?
“Five each,” I said, trying to sound sassy.
He grabbed the glasses off my tray and passed them back to his friends.
“And how much for you?” he said, pinching my butt.
“Not for sale!” I yelled. His friends laughed. I wanted to smash my tray over his head, but I resisted.
Mr. Sunglasses laughed, too. “I’m just kidding, honey, just kidding.” He turned to his friends. “She’s a fighter!”
“That’s right,” I said, finding my confidence again. “Better watch out!”
“Another round from the fighter!” he said, and they gulped down the last of the shots. He dropped a fifty on the tray.
“That’s for being so cute,” he said, and turned away.
Cheryl would be proud of me.I’d been firm but playful.Too bad there’s no one to share my triumph with, I thought as I headed back to the bar for a refill.Just think about the money, I said to myself,at twenty bucks a tray, you’ll be back on your feet in no time….
5
By two in the morning Vibe was jam-packed. People seemed to be loving DJ Slavo’s grooves, and I bopped from group to group with my tray, which I’d refilled countless times. The wad of cash in my apron pocket was getting huge, and I’d become a lot smoother in my routine. Most of the guys were jerks who didn’t seem to really want a shot so much as an easy flirting target. And I’d learned they weren’t all such big tippers—they wanted you to work for it. But if I could just put up with a little groping, I’d learned, the rewards were pretty good.Rent, rent, I repeated when a customer hassled me to the limits of my patience. I tried not to think about what Hiro would say if he saw me. In fact, I tried not to think about Hiro at all.
I got rid of the last few shots on my tray and headed back to the bar.
That’s when it happened.
The laugh. I froze, every fiber in my body brought immediately to attention. I spun around, searching the crowd. Had I really heard that laugh? It could only belong to one person—Teddy Yukemura. Back in the day, Ohiko and I called him “The Hyena.” Could it be that he was at Vibe?
There. A head of yellowy, dyed hair. A leather jacket. On the other side of the club. I hadn’t heard a word from him since the day he’d called and told me the location Karen’s kidnappers had picked for the exchange—information that had allowed Hiro and me to prepare—and probably saved my life. When I’d tried to call Teddy’s cell phone after we got Karen back, it had been disconnected. He’d vanished into thin air.
“Hey!” I slammed my tray of empties down on the closest table, ignoring the protests of the people who sat there, and pushed my way across the dance floor, trying desperately to keep the yellow head (Teddy’s head?) in view, which was hard in the dim light of the club. I realized how desperately I wanted that yellow head to be his—I’d worried since the exchange that the Yukemuras had done something horrible to him—and all because he’d helped me.
It was weird—a few months ago I’d hated him more than anyone else in the world. But I’d learned that Teddy wasn’t exactly the terrible guy I’d thought—like me, he was just a pawn in the dangerous game our families were playing. He’d made mistakes, of course, and hadn’t been strong enough to stand up to his father, but was I any better? My family was tainted, too, and my brother had likely died for refusing to become a yakuza member.
Something that was outside our control had stolen our lives from us—and even if Hiro couldn’t understand that, Teddy would.
I wanted it to be him so badly.
“Teddy!” I yelled, but the yellow head didn’t turn around. A couple spun in front of me, and when I dodged around them, he was gone. I made for where I had last seen him and whirled around, searching, searching….
There. I leapt forward and grabbed at his leather jacket. “Teddy!” I yelled, ready to throw myself into his arms. He turned…
“Nope, sorry. I’m Mike. Wanna dance?” An unfamiliar face—nothing like Teddy’s—leered at me. I shuddered. He wasn’t even Asian.
“No, thanks. Sorry.” I walked slowly back to the table where I’d left my tray, disappointment oozing through me. Why couldn’t it have been Teddy? More than anything, I wanted to talk to someone who I didn’t have to hideanything from. Was that so much to ask?
“Heaven, are you okay?” A. J. asked when I loaded up the tray. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I said, mustering a smile.
“All right, then get back out there!” He pushed a full tray across the bar. “Make some money!”
“Okay,” I said, trying to sound perky. I was tired and beaten down, but I couldn’t exactly tell A. J. that. I felt stupid for letting myself believe that the guy might have been Teddy. Wishful thinking. Sure, he was into hip-hop, but what were the chances that he’d show up at the very club where I’djust sta
rted to work?
Right now, an ally like Teddy would be pretty comforting. Hiro wanted to protect me. He had my best interests in mind, but he was too rigid. Everything was black and white for him. But in my life, there were only shades of gray. I thought about our earlier argument and felt suddenly like I might cry. As imperfect and unfulfilling as my relationship with Hiro had been, now—it was over. There was no point dissecting something that didn’t exist.
I stepped behind the bar for a glass of water before making the rounds. If only I could forget about everything, make it go away.
“Nice to have a break, huh?” Nina asked, looking over from the cash register.
“Me?” I asked, not sure who she was talking to.
“Yeah, you. Bartenders don’t get breaks on a night like this.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t tell what she was getting at. “I just needed some water.”
Nina shrugged. “Whatever you say. If I were you, I’d be out there making some money instead of back here making excuses.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I said as Nina moved back down the bar, “but I think I’ve got the hang of it.” What the hell was her problem?
Nina turned back around. “So you’re an expert now, huh?”
I drank the rest of the water and picked up my tray. “I guess I am.” I was too deflated to bother being nice to her. If she wanted to play it like that, so be it.
Her eyes shot daggers at me. Did she have something against me? Or was she just generally sort of weird and off-putting? If she hadn’t been so drop-dead gorgeous, I would have sworn she was threatened by me. Well, Miss Supermodel had nothing to worry about. I headed back to work.Great, I thought,you’ve been at Vibe less than a night and you’ve already made an enemy.
“Well, if it isn’t little Miss Heaven…”
I turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Suddenly Marcus stood next to me, smiling at me with that strange, slow smile. He was wearing a red-and-white track suit, which, although it would have looked completely ridiculous on some guys, made him look buff and hot. The jacket was unzipped, revealing a tight tank top that showed off his six-pack. Yellow-tinted sunglasses half hid his eyes.
“Hi,” I said, standing up a little straighter and trying to look more like I imagined a confident shot girl just about to head back to the job might look. Why did Marcus make me feel so tense?
“Taking a break?” he asked, squeezing a little closer to me.
“Kind of,” I said, then added, “Cheryl couldn’t come tonight. She had to be at work early tomorrow.”
“Too bad,” Marcus said, but he didn’t sound too bummed out. “So how’s life in these United States treating you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, tensing even more. Why would he ask me a question like that?
“Well,” Marcus drawled, lighting a cigarette, “Cheryl said you’d only been in the States for a few months, and I figured that must be a big change.”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m just getting settled in before starting school,” I lied, hoping he’d drop the subject. I’d always wanted to go to UCLA. It seemed like as good a reason as any for my being in the States.
“School? Now, that’s not what I heard.”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped, wishing he would just leave me alone. He was giving me the creeps, and I had work to do. I noticed A. J. staring at us from the other side of the bar—Nina stood beside him with a nasty smile on her face—and I inched a little farther away from Marcus. She was probably telling A. J. that I was slacking off or something—what if I lost my job after just one night? I had to get back to work—now.
“Not a thing, not a thing,” Marcus answered vaguely, “except I heard your agenda might be a little different.” He looked me in the eye. I wished he’d take off those sunglasses.
“What did Cheryl tell you?” I asked, my voice harsh. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“Whoa, chill out, girl,” Marcus drawled, and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m just saying you got yourself a job here, and maybe a few friends, and maybe school isn’t your priority right now.” He massaged my shoulder with strong fingers. A chill ran through me. Something definitely was not right with him. And I had the sickening feeling he might be hitting on me.
“Maybe,” I answered shortly, jerking my shoulder away. “I really don’t know. I’ve got to get back to work.” I tried to get A. J.’s attention.
“Why you have to be like that?” Marcus asked, grabbing my wrist. He wasn’t the gentle player anymore. “I think youdo know. You just don’t want to tell Marcus.”
“P-Please,” I stammered, trying to get my wrist back without dropping the tray I’d picked up.
“Please what?” Marcus hissed, leaning over so that his face was close to mine.
“Everything okay here?” A. J. said. I breathed with relief.
“Hello, my brother,” Marcus said, dropping my wrist as though surprised to find he’d been holding it at all. A. J. glanced at me with what looked like concern.
“See you guys later,” I mumbled, and escaped back into the crowd. As I turned from the bar, I noticed that Nina was staring at A. J. with a weird look on her face. Clearly some kind of Vibe drama was going on, and I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. I felt almost as alien as when I’d washed up at Cheryl’s party that first night of the wedding, unsure of what to do or say and without any clue as to how to read a social situation. When I was sure no one was looking, I downed one of my shots. I figured, hey, that’s what people do in the movies when they’re freaked out, right? My head was spinning and my nerves were frayed. I didn’t know what to think. One thing I knew for sure—Cheryl needed to stay away from Marcus. He was extremely sketchy.
By the time Vibe cleared out, it was four in the morning. I’d given A. J. my heap of cash, and now he was laying out my tips on the bar.
“Two-twenty, two-thirty, two-forty…,” he counted, “two fifty-five. And some change. You did great.”
“Wow,” I said, collecting the bills from the counter, “that’s half my rent right there.” If I hadn’t been so utterly drained, I would have jumped up and down with joy. It was the most money I’dever made on my own. And I’d made it all by myself.
“Just don’t spend it all in one place.” I nodded, hardly able to muster up a laugh. My feet were killing me, and I could have fallen asleep right then and there. But it was worth it. I’d be able to pay Cheryl back in no time!
“Well, well, well, looks can be deceiving,” Nina commented as she walked by behind the bar.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, wanting to strangle her.
“Nothing,” she said lazily, a nasty smile playing at the corners of her mouth, “just who’d have thoughtyou’d rake it in like that?”
I stared at her with what I hoped was disdain but said nothing.No sense in starting trouble, I told myself.Just let it go.
“Nina, why don’t you finish cleaning the glasses?” A. J. asked, looking annoyed. Nina bowed sarcastically and went to the other end of the bar to finish her closing duties. “Sorry about that,” A. J. said. “She’s very territorial.”
“So I see.”
“Don’t let it bother you,” A. J. said. “You did a fantastic job. Really.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying to let go of Nina’s snottiness. I yawned. “I think I have to get used to this late schedule.” I felt fuzzy and buzzed and couldn’t wait to get home. I drank down the rest of the vodka cranberry A. J. had made for me before he counted out my tips. It felt so adult to be coming off a shift and having a nightcap. And even if Nina was a bitch, A. J. was nice.
“It does take some adjusting to,” A. J. commiserated. “But you’ll get into the groove. Do you want me to call you a cab?”
I nodded. “Thanks.” I wasn’t about to risk a mugging with all that cash on me. And for the first time I had plenty of money to pay for it.
After A. J. and I worked out my schedule for the coming week, I climbe
d wearily up the steps, almost bumping into Matt, the bouncer, who was on his way down.
“You got a ride home?” he asked.
“A. J. called me a cab.”
“Good. Be careful.”
Nice to knowsomeonecares, I thought.
I pushed open the heavy door and stepped into the deserted street. The taxi was nowhere in sight. I leaned back against the wall of the building, closed my eyes, and slowly rubbed my temples. My mind was cluttered, and I couldn’t tell if the feeling of unease I had was just a result of one vodka cranberry too many or—something else. Had Marcus really been weird, or was I just rattled from the potential Teddy sighting? Had I really seen Teddy? Nothing that had happened to me all night seemed to make any sense.
I opened my eyes. Still no cab. I wondered if the driver might have trouble finding Peabody, which was more of an alley than a street, really, and decided to walk up to the intersection. My boots clopped loudly on the pavement. I shivered, vowing to bring a pair of jeans to change into the next time I worked.
Ten minutes. Fifteen. Still no cab. I thought about going back to Vibe, but it seemed quicker just to head for the bus stop. After a few blocks I heard the engine of a car behind me, and I turned around, expecting to see a taxi.
It wasn’t a taxi.
A Mercedes with tinted windows came down the street toward me. I walked faster, praying that it would drive right past me.
The Mercedes slowed to a crawl. One of its tinted windows rolled down with a faint buzz.
Yakuza.I recognized the thuggish face of one of the men who’d kidnapped Karen. That meant they were working for the Yukemuras. I broke into a sprint. How had they found me? Had they been trailing me this whole time, just waiting for a second chance to strike?
“Get her!” I heard him shout in Japanese as I scooted onto a side street. The car squealed into action behind me, and I heard the sound of a door slamming, followed by feet hitting the pavement.
They were gaining on me. There was no way to outrun them. I’d have to fight.
