Dante's Way (12 page)

****

Hours later Dante sauntered around his bar. He smiled as Blondie’s
‘Call Me’
played loudly in the background for the
80’s
night. Every time he scheduled one of these theme nights, an hour before the doors opened a line was usually around the corner of the building. The place was filled to capacity tonight, but what pleased him the most was the energy inside of the place.

Making his way around the room, Dante grinned when he spotted a booth filled with his favorite couples. Stopping at the side of the table, he looked at everyone sitting there enjoying their usual food and favorite drinks as laughter flowed around them.

“How is it possible for all of you to be here tonight?” he asked.

“My father is in town and he’s at my house with a babysitter,” Hayward said. “Everyone else hired a sitter for the night. I don’t think our wives were going to allow us to miss 80’s night here.”

“Don’t act like you aren’t having a good time,” True told Hayward then glanced over at him. “How are you doing tonight?”

“I can’t complain, because I’m always happy when I get to see a table of beautiful women,” he flirted.

“Married women,” Dave corrected, wrapping his arm around Charisma’s shoulders making her roll her eyes.

Dante laughed at the hard glare Dave was giving him. He had heard rumors about how possessive he was of his wife, but he couldn’t blame the guy. Charisma was stunning and he would be overprotective too, if she was his.

“Don’t worry, Dave. I know all of these lovely ladies are taken. I missed my chance at landing one of them,” he teased.

“Are you sure you want a wife? I swear sometimes mine has me running around in circles.” Clinton chimed in, grinning at him. “You might be better off single.”

“Hey, I’m sitting right here,” Jenisha pointed out, leaning away from her husband. “Did you happen to forget that or do you want to be sleeping on the couch tonight?”

“I think you might be in trouble, Clinton,” Dante said.

“I’m not worried. It’s nothing a nice foot rub won’t get me out of once I’m alone with my beautiful wife,” Clinton said with confidence then winked at his wife.

“You better give me one hell of a good massage,” Jenisha stated, looking at her husband. “Where is Bambi tonight? She hasn’t been around trying to flirt with my husband.”

Glancing to his right, Dante found Keira staring at him waiting for an answer. He still couldn’t get over how truly beautiful she was on the inside and outside. Jim really got lucky finding her.

Sometimes a part of him wished that Keira had walked into his bar alone that night without Jim at her side. She was everything a man searched for in a woman, but they were only friends and he was finally happy with that.

“She quit a couple of days ago,” Dante answered. “I’m looking for a new waitress. Do you know anyone looking for a job?”

“Not right off hand, but I’m glad that she’s gone,” Keira answered. “I wasn’t going to stand for that woman shoving her breasts into my husband’s face one more time. I was going to forget I was a mother, a wife, and kick her ass.”

“Bambi was jealous of you and loved pushing your buttons. She hated your self-confidence. I wished you told me more often how much of a problem she was becoming for you and Jim. I can’t have my waitresses scaring away my customers or, even worse, my close friends.”

“I wasn’t even attracted to Bambi. She knew it and that was one of the reasons she kept bothering me all of the time,” Jim interjected. “How could I think about another female when I’m married to such a beautiful woman? I’d have to be out of my mind.”

Dante didn’t miss the love shining in Jim’s eyes when he stared at Keira. “I totally agree with you,” he replied. “Well, I better get back to my mingling with my other customers. Don’t worry about paying for the meal because it’s on me.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Jim said, surprised.

“Consider it my treat to you for your first adult’s night out in a long time. Have a great night and remember to try the karaoke machine before you leave.”

He waved goodbye and headed back toward the kitchen to make sure everything was going okay with the food. Dante wasn’t about to admit to anyone, he was running away from what he wished he had in his own life.

Chapter Sixteen

Tugging her jacket tighter around her body, Amara tried to blend in with the other runaway young people and homeless at the homemade campsite at the abandoned building outside of an old shopping center.

This wasn’t the prime place for her to bed down for the night. Yet, every other place she had gone to over the past two hours was already overflowing with people so she decided to continue looking. However, it was getting late and all she wanted to do was find a quiet and deserted corner to rest her head for a few hours.

Amara pulled her backpack on her shoulder when it slipped down again. Several pairs of eyes watched her as she stepped around the bottles and cans scattered across the ground. The smell of unwashed clothes and pee burned her nose as she hurried past a couple of men sharing a bottle of whiskey. She quickly turned her head away, so she wouldn’t give them any signs she was interested in any kind of ‘company’ from them for the night.

She was halfway past them when she got the eerie sensation that she was being closely watched. Her stomach clenched tight as she continued to try to make her way to the other side.

“Hey, pretty young lady. Why don’t you join us for a little drink? We don’t mind sharing our liquor especially with a chocolate beauty like you.”

Slowly, she turned around and instantly felt a sense of panic when she spotted the two men from earlier along with another man standing behind her eyeing her with lustful, hungry looks.

“No....thank you, I don’t want anything to drink,” Amara answered, taking a step back.

“We weren’t asking for your permission,” the taller of the men snapped at her. “We’re telling you to keep us company.”

“Randy is right. I haven’t seen a woman who looked as good as you in a very long time,” the other guy holding the whiskey bottle commented. He grinned at her showing a row of rotten teeth.

It was impossible to steady her erratic pulse. Terror like she’d never known before welled in her throat, but she hurriedly pushed it down so she could talk.

“I’m sure you can find someone else who would be much better company than me,” Amara answered, keeping her eye on all three men.

“Randy and Gus weren’t paying any attention to you when you hurried past us, but I saw you. How can I miss you? Tony always has his eyes out for a beautiful woman.”

Sounds intensified around her, battering Amara as she tried to think of a way out of this. She knew that she would have to out-think the three of them because she knew they wanted more than to share an old bottle of whiskey with her.

Just thinking about being in a dark corner alone with Randy, Gus and Tony petrified her. She had survived on the streets this long by using her head and she wasn’t about to lose her smarts now, not when she needed them the most.

Taking a breath, she plastered on a fake smile. “I’m sorry for being so rude. I shouldn’t have tossed your kindness back into your faces. Where do you want to have this drink with me?”

Amara watched how all three men’s eyes lit up as they roamed over her body. She could already see on their faces what they were thinking about and it scared the hell out of her. She wouldn’t have a chance against them if they got her alone.

“Over there at my tent,” Randy said, turning around, pointing over his shoulder.

She saw the horrible conditions where they wanted to take her, but she pretended not to see it. It looked like a prison waiting for any unsuspecting woman and she wasn’t about to be that woman. “It’s pretty dark out here. I’m not seeing what you’re trying to show me,” Amara lied.

“Girl, what’s wrong with you?” Tony snapped as he looked in the direction Randy was still pointing.

“I apologize, but I don’t have the best vision at night. Why don’t I follow you so there won’t be any confusion?” She wondered if they could hear the sound of her heart as it raced away inside of her chest.

“Are you trying to trick us or something?” Gus demanded, eyeing her warily.

“Of course not,” Amara answered sweetly knowing she had to make them believe she would follow behind them. “I swear I can’t see very far in the dark. Why do you think I was searching around for a place to sleep for so long earlier?”

The unwelcome tension stretched even tighter between them as Amara waited for the three homeless men to believe her lies.

“Okay...I believe you,” Gus finally said.

“So do we,” Randy and Tony added a few seconds later. “Follow us and we’ll make sure that you have the best spot inside of the tent.”

Oh, I bet the two of you would
, Amara thought watching as all three men twirled around and hurried back towards the dirty green tent hidden between two trees. She had to find a way out of this and fast.

****

Amara waited until Randy and his cronies were a little bit in front of her before she spun around and took off in the opposite direction running as fast as her shorter legs could carry her. She was halfway across the parking lot when she heard furious male voices screaming and cussing behind her.

A second later a bottle zoomed past her head shattering a few inches from her body. The strong odor of whiskey filled her nose, but Amara kept putting more and more distance between her and the three determined men chasing her. She had to find someplace to hide, but where could she go without them finding her and getting payback?

Rounding the corner, Amara ran out into the street and barely jumped back in time as a car nearly hit her.

“You little bitch, come back here,” hollered a heated voice a few feet behind her.

Glancing back over her shoulder, Amara spotted Randy gaining on her with Tony and Gus close behind him and the determined looks on their face sent instant terror through her body.

Her heart pounded against her ribs as she continued across the street. She looked for anywhere to get some help when she suddenly realized where she was, giving her a sudden glimpse of hope.

The shelter Mr. Lee told her about was only a block away from her. All she had to do was keep out- running the men intent on harming her. Remembering her mistake from last time, Amara looked both ways at the next corner as sweat poured down her back underneath her backpack.

She darted across and felt a sense of relief when she spotted Pastor Allen’s outreach shelter at the other end. It was like a safety net waiting to wrap its arms around her.

“Why do you keep running?” Tony snickered, his voice sounding too close for comfort making her stumble, but she caught her balance before she fell to the ground.

“Leave me alone,” Amara screamed back as she was inches away from the welcoming sight of the steps. Rushing up them, she made it to the door and instantly started banging on it as if her life depended on it because it did.

“Please, let me in,” she pleaded. “Pastor Allen, are you there. I need your help.” Without even looking back, Amara felt Randy and his buddies closing the small distance between her and them.

Fear was rioting within her entire body because no one was answering her screams. Sweat poured down her back sticking her t-shirt to her skin. It even felt like her backpack was weighing her down but she continued pounding on the door.

“Please let me in. Is anyone there? God, please help me!”

“Hey, do you really expect someone to come out here and help you? It’s just you and us pretty little girl.”

Twirling around, Amara froze at the sight of Gus, Randy and Tony standing at the bottom step staring at her with smug looks on their filthy faces. She looked around for a way to escape from them, but they had her blocked in at all angles.

“You know better than to run from us. I wasted my best bottle of whiskey on you. You’ll have to pay for that and I’d much rather have you than liquor,” Gus said. He took a step towards her up the steps at the same time Amara heard the shelter’s door suddenly unlocking behind her.

“What is going on out here?” a male voice asked. “Who is banging on the door as late as it is? Is there someone out here in trouble?”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Amara pivoted and looked into the eyes of an elderly white man who could have passed for Santa Claus in any Christmas pageant, and then she looked down noticing the white collar around his neck.

Tears welled up in her eyes and poured down her cheek. “Pastor Allen, you have to help me,” she pleaded. “They’re after me. I need a place to stay. Please let me in. I swear I won’t be any problem. I can’t stay out here tonight. They wouldn’t stop looking for me. I know they won’t.”

“Who is after you, my child?” Pastor Allen asked, touching her on the arm. “I don’t see anyone behind you.”

“What?”

Amara turned back around and she was shocked to see he was telling her the truth. Randy and his cohorts were nowhere in sight. It was like they had never been behind her threatening revenge.

The emotion she felt was like a bottomless relief. She had never been so scared in her life. Maybe Mr. Lee was right about her getting off the streets, but her immediate future was all in Pastor Allen’s hand.

“Can I stay here? Do you have any more beds? Mr. Lee told me if I ever needed any help to come here and see you. I have to admit that I’m not a teenager like he might have told you. I’m twenty-four. Is that too old to be here?” She sent up a silent prayer that he would take her in tonight despite her age.

“Are you Amara?” he asked, coming a little further out of the door and standing on the step in front of her. “Mr. Lee called me about you yesterday morning. He wanted to know if you had shown up yet and I told him no. Why are you only showing up tonight? I can’t hold beds longer than a week.”

Disappointment wrapped its cold hands around her heart squeezing it tight. She had waited too long to come and now she was out of options. Liam was still missing and now she had lost her chance to stay here because of her stubbornness.