Tricks of the Trade

"I should call Vinnie and tell him that you've been less than punctual this evening. What do you think he'd say about that?" Gina heard the anger rising in his voice.

"Oh, baby you don't need to do that." She purred. "I just stopped for gas and I'll be there in fifteen. I'll come in the back way so I can meet you in your office. Then you can spank me like the bad girl that I am."

He cleared his throat. "Fifteen. I'll show you what a bad girl you are. Fifteen, Gina. One minute later and I'm calling Vinnie."

"Later baby." She hit End before waiting for his reply. She quickly dialed Logan again.

"The prick took off with my car. If I start walking can you pick me up and take me to your place?"

"Awww, damn. No bad cop/bad cop?" Logan's deep voice greeted making her wish they had met under different circumstances.

"Logan, please. We can play later. I have fifteen minutes or he's going to call Vinnie." Her palms were beginning to sweat. Her slippers were already ruined but she didn't want to make a long night even longer by shoeing up before getting there.

"All right. I'm just around the corner." His radio squawked at him from the background.

"I know, I can see your blues through the trees."

"Know what I can see through your..." Her cell phone beeped loudly in her ear.

"Man, I hate that." Gina stomped her feet as she checked the display on her phone to see that her battery had finally lost its fight.

With the Day-Glo green display from her cell phone taking a breather, it was darker than she realized outside and was glad that Logan was on his way.

The headlights came into view as tiny pinpricks of light about two miles up the road. Noticing how the cruiser seemed to be picking up speed, she moved into the middle of the road and began to wave her arms in an arc over her head, making her look like she was trying to do the YMCA after one too many drinks.

Logan stopped the car near her with the squeal of tired brakes filling the air. Gina stepped to the side and leaned into the door that he opened for her.

"You look kinda rough there, sugar." Logan said.

She looked down at her knees, hose torn and slightly bloody from her attempt at automotive self-sufficiency. Dirt clung to the soft hem of her dress and she brushed it off before climbing in.

"Hi, to you too. Thanks for coming." She closed the door and lifted her buttocks off the cool, smooth leather seat to remove her ruined hose. "Guess these won't do me any good." Rolling them into a ball, she stuffed them into her purse next to the deceased cell phone.

"Working again?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, but I got a feelin' about tonight. Besides the fact that I had the friends-ova chat with Maria again."

"Why don't you put your foot down. Remind her that you're the boss. Then you won't need to go through this every singe week."

"I told her that she could have Angie over for a little while tonight."

"Jesus, Gina. You're such a pushover. Imagine what I could get you to do with a little pout."

"Ha-ha, very funny ossifer. While we're on the subject of pouting, I told Antonio that I'd be there in the Benz. You're okay with that, right?" She winked seductively and licked her lush lips.

"Jesus, Gina. You're never going to make it there in fifteen if I need to take you to get my car."

"Then we should leave now." She leaned over and flicked her tongue over his earlobe, breathing heavily. She slid her hand over his thigh and noticed the snugness of his pants.

***

Gina opened the door to Antonio's office just as he brought the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Vinnie. Listen," He saw Gina standing there and shook his head at her. He cleared his throat. "Next week, I need you to send her over at nine. I don't like paying for time I ain't using."

He pressed End and tossed the phone onto his desk.

"I'm sorry I'm-" Gina smoothed the back of her dress over her thighs, hoping to divert his attention and avoid the lecture.

"You were this close." He held up his thumb and forefinger, almost touching.

She approached him quickly, striking a pose on the edge of his desk, tilting her shoulder towards him to reveal a little extra cleavage.

"Antonio, baby. An astute businessman such as yourself wouldn't want to see his business go down the tubes, now wouldja?"

"Are you threatenin' me? I oughta-"

"No wait, baby. I know better than that. Just listen a second, how many girls does Vinnie send ya? Four or five? Do ya pay us all the same?"

"What I pay is none of your business. What I expect is my money's worth." He closed the gap and was standing in front of Gina; his hands gripped her upper arms.

"And you will. Trust me, this will be worth it for everyone. Listen, Vinnie's been shortin' his girls. Do you know my cut of what you pay? Two bills. That's it. I can't support my family on two bills. I got into this to support my family. I got an Ex who left me high and dry with the IRS. Pretty soon, I'll be back in the welfare line."

"And this concerns me how?" Antonio tightened his meaty hands onto her upper arms so tightly she thought her flesh would squish through his fingers.

"I'm getting' there. I'm getting' there. I know that he said Ronnie went back to the streets but I also know she still does the parties. How would you like to know that Ronnie's got a dirty little nose? She's probably toting close to a gram with her every time she's here. You've been straight up about drugs here. She's been crossin' ya. I ain't tryin' play ya or anything but I gotta tell ya what's really going down. Vinnie's making you look like he's running the show, and I know how much you like to be in control." Gina winced as he released her arms, feeling her skin stick to his fingers from the pressure.

"I'll think about it. Enough talking, time for business."

He exposed himself to her and as she drew closer his male essence filled her nostrils. Taking a quick spray of Banaca, she put on a smile. His breathing grew shallow as she tended to his needs.

***

Gina Divine knocked on the back door of Logan White's modest home on the outskirts. The glass rattled beneath her delicate fist. The Benz ticked and cooled in the driveway where she had parked it. Logan came to the door and flipped on the overhead light.

When he saw her, he switched into cop-mode. He opened the door and let her cross into the kitchen where she invited herself to a stool at the island.

"Can I get a cup of coffee?" Gina groaned, raking her fingers through her troussled locks.

Logan shortened the gap between them and studied her arms. He locked his sapphire blue eyes with hers and studied her worn appearance. Her lips were swollen, with the less than graceful remnants of pleasure that turned to abuse. There was a small telltale bluish purple mark near the corner of her eye. He met her eyes once more but she tried to look away when he gently traced the bruised outline of a large finger on her arm.

"Does this hurt?"

Gina's shrug away from him and whimper were enough of an answer for him. He softened his guard slightly. Her eyes stared back at him with a mix of emotions that he could not separate.

"I didn't come here to cry to you. I came to return your car and call a cab to go home. I need to be with my girls. But a cup of coffee would help take the edge off things right about now."

"I'll get you something, hold tight."

Over a pot of coffee, Gina explained how she told Antonio about Vinnie's skimming, about Ronnie's coke habit, and how the next party would be her last.

"Gina, do you realize that every week, you say the next party will be your last?"

"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me except for what I've allowed you to learn. I mean it this time. Next week, I'm keeping the entire cut and Vinnie can go fuck himself. If he's got anything left to fuck with by the time Antonio and his boys are done with him."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Logan snorted into his cup of coffee.

"Don't patronize me. I got two kids. Rememba? Had my jack-off Ex not run off with the whore from down the street leaving me with Uncle Sam tryin' to bend me ova the barrel, I woulda never gotten into this. My girls deserve better than that. You think what I do is easy?"

"Listen, sister. Get off your soapbox, I'm not in the mood. In case you forgot, it's three a.m."

"I'm not on a soapbox, I'm venting. There's a difference. How would you like it if some fat, ugly, unshaven woman with body odor so bad that you could barely breathe wanted to sit on your face?"

"Gina, we've had this discussion so many times, enough already. Let's go, I'm taking you home."

"Wait." She extended a hand to cover his and it made him meet her pleading eyes.

"What?" He tugged his hand out from under hers and reclaimed his keys from the bowl on the counter.

"It's really going to be the last one. You know that tonight, instead of one at a time, I couldn't keep them off of me. They were so rough that I couldn't stop myself from crying in front of them. And they thought it was part of the act. They thought it was funny! That is what I'm getting away from. I just need you to stay accessible. That's all I'm askin'."

Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them back only to have one escape and leave a streak through her make up and pave the path for more to follow.

"Gina, I'm sorry." He touched her hair gently; taming a stray strand that clung to her tear streaked face.

She wanted to go home, to see her daughters, to make sure they were safe. She wanted to also be alone, to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere and fend for herself. She wanted to stay there with Logan and erase the entire evening from her thoughts with profuse amounts of alcohol.

"I need to get my kids. I can't stay at my house tonight. They can't either. Can we stay here tonight? Just once, please? Vinnie'll be coming to find out why Antonio called. He'll know something's up. I just didn't think of it before. Please?"

He pulled her into his arms and held her until her tears were no more. He ignored the ramifications of kids in his house. He ignored the fact that he wanted her to stay longer than just tonight. He ignored the fact that he was involved deeper than he wanted to be.

"Fine. Let's go get the girls."

He put her coffee cup in the sink next to his and grabbed his holster off the back of the door and sighed. It was going to be along day already.