Where I Wanna Be (14 page)

Faith wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and buried her face in his chest. “You’re too good to be true, Eli.”

“
Nah,” he shook his head, “I just want to be the best boyfriend you ever had.”

Faith inhaled Eli’s cologne and deeply sighed. “You already are.”

****

“
So, how’s it going with you and Faith?” Nick studied his cards. “It seems pretty serious for the two of you.”

After Faith and her family left, the D’Amato boys gathered around the dining room table to catch up with each other while Nicola rested upstairs. “It’s getting there,” Eli admitted as he looked over his cards. “She has some trust issues still.”

“
She doesn’t trust anyone or she doesn’t trust
you
?” Kieran asked.

“
The former,” Eli then placed his bet, “I’ll help mom garden for a week.”

“
A week?” Joey raised an eyebrow. “Nah, bro, you need to come up with something better than that. I’m in that garden every damn weekend.”

“
All right, I’ll help mom garden for a month,” Eli upped his bet. “What’s your bet?”

“
I’ll clean the bathrooms here for a month.” Joey smiled.

“
Oh goodie, that reminds me to take a nice big shit here,” Kieran commented.

“
Fool, you do that and I will jig the toilet so it shoots water up your shitty ass,” Joey laughed.

“
All of you talking about shit, but you ain’t doing shit…” Nick commented. “I’ll make Sunday dinner for the next month.”

The other brothers leaned back in their chairs and rubbed their chins at Nick’s bet. He was a damn good cook and his lasagna could put their mother’s to shame. “If Nick cooks, I’ll clean the kitchen after he’s done for a month.” Tony placed his bet.

“
I’ll take out the garbage, vacuum the floors, and do the windows,” Kieran placed his bet.

“
So how does it feel to date the daughter of a famous preacher, Eliodoro?” Nick asked as he passed out more cards. “I’m sure that has to be a lot of pressure on you?”

“
Keeping their souls pure, Lord!” Kieran mocked.

“
Thou shall not stick his filthy penis inside my baby girl, Lord!” Joey laughed.

“
Dude…” Eli shook his head. “…I didn’t think I was dating Faith
and
her father.”

“
Get used to it,” Kieran took a sip of beer, “when I was with Jalara, I had to date her, her sisters, her parents, her cousins, her best friends.”

“
You see, Eliodoro,” Nick began to wax poetic, “no one ever tells you that when you date a girl, she comes with baggage. It may not be visible at first but as you continue to date her, you see all the stuff you have to put up with. If she has a collection that she maintains, you need to support that, no matter how ridiculous you think it is.”

“
Baggage!” Joey added.

“
If she has a girlfriend who calls her every night at three in the morning, guess what? You’re up at three in the morning with some hot cocoa for your girl.” Nick added.

“
Baggage!” Kieran gave a hi-five to Joey.

“
And if Daddy is a soon-to-be worldwide famous preacher, your ass better be in his church
every single Sunday
because she ain’t having it any other way.” Nick finished.

“
Can I get an Amen?” Joey mimicked a preacher.

“
Amen!” The brothers finished.

“
But, like I was saying,” Nick took a sip of beer, “if you really love her and you really want to be with her, you don’t care about all of that. That baggage I just warned you about? It’s no longer baggage. It’s little quirks you get used to. And if you support her quirks, guess what? You get to have it any way you want, how you want it, whenever you want it. And you want to know why? Because you proved to her that you love her and all you want is to be with her.”

“
So you’re saying I should stick with it?” Eli asked.

“
Do you love her?” Kieran asked.

“
More than anything.” It wasn’t a doubt in Eli’s mind.

“
Do you want to marry Faye?” Joey asked.

“
Eventually, yeah.” Eli started thinking about rings.

“
You want to pop her cherry?” Tony asked.

The brothers glanced at each other and then at the youngest D’Amato brother. “Can somebody please…?” Nick took another sip of beer.

Kieran reached over and popped Tony in the back of his head. “What the hell?” Tony rubbed his head. “That was an honest question!”

Eli rolled his eyes and took a sip of his soda. “I want to be with Faith no matter what.”

“
Then, Eliodoro…” Nick laid out his cards. “You will wait and be patient. If you’re patient with her, she’ll give you so much love, you will be wondering how in the hell did a poor sap like yourself get with the most beautiful woman in the world, because you surely don’t deserve her.”

“
You know; had I known I was going to be hiking, I wouldn’t have worn sandals.” Faith complained as the rough grass and wheat brushed against her legs.

“
We’re almost there, baby girl,” Eli led the way throughout the grassland.

“
Yeah, you said that about ten minutes ago.”

“
I promise this time.”

“
Yeah, you said
that
about ten minutes ago.”

To celebrate their six-month anniversary, Eli took Faith to the meadowlands in New Jersey for a romantic picnic. Going to New Jersey was a feat within itself, traveling by bus, then by train to get to their destination. Eli wanted to go all out for his girlfriend, even blindfolding her so she would have no idea what he was up to. He thought long and hard about what his brothers told him the other night and he was determined to earn Faith’s trust. He wasn’t concerned about when they were going to have sex; it was never that big of a thought in his mind. Instead, he just wanted to prove to Faith that he was different from her past boyfriends.

“
Okay, we’re here.” Eli stopped walking. “Let me just set up everything and you just wait there and be sexy.”

“
Should I strike a pose?” Faith asked.

“
You can do whatever you want, baby girl.” Eli laid out several blankets and began setting up the picnic.

“
As long as you erase the images,” Faith stated.

“
And what kind of pictures are you thinking of?” Eli asked.

“
I was thinking of something sexy like with my hands on my hips like this,” Faith posed, “or maybe blowing you a kiss like this.” She pouted her lips together.

“
Ooh, those are pretty sexy,” Eli stood back and looked at his creation.

“
Or maybe I could be buck-naked,” Faith smiled.

“
Uh-uh,” Eli replied.

“
Uh-uh, what?” Faith smiled.

“
If you’re going to be buck-naked, I’m the
only
one seeing that.” He walked up to her and snaked his arms around her waist. “And I have a photographic memory, too, baby girl.”

Eli was a good foot taller than Faith and she relished him holding her. It felt like he was protecting her from harm and nothing could come between them. And when he spoke Italian to her, she swore he was trying to get into her panties without trying. “Is that right?” She smiled.

“
Sei la mia anima gemella
,” Eli purred.
“
Il mio cuore batte solo per te
.”

“
Stop talking,” Faith warned.

Eli licked his lips. “
Perché
?” Why?

“
Stop talking,” Faith squirmed within his grasp. “just… just stop talking.”

Eli laughed and gently swayed his girlfriend. “I said you were my soul-mate and that my heart only beats for you.” He kissed her temple. “Is that better in English?”

Faith felt she could’ve melted into a puddle of, whatever, at that moment. Eli was everything to her and if she had any doubts about him waiting for her, they disappeared with his reassurances. “It sounds better in Italian. Are you going to teach our kids Italian?”

“
Of course,” he replied, “add in some Spanish when they get older and they’ll be a triple-threat.”

“
You seem to have our future all planned out, Mr. D’Amato,” Faith wondered.

“
I like to plan ahead,” Eli shrugged, “everything may not always go according to plan but at least I tried. But hey, I got everything set up now so let’s enjoy ourselves.” He removed the blindfold from Faith’s eyes. “Happy six-month anniversary, baby girl!”

Faith was awed by the romantic display. There were fresh roses from Nicola’s garden, a box of chocolates, a bottle of sparkling apple juice, and an assortment of finger foods for them. “You know I would’ve been happy with a pizza and a movie, Eli,” she shyly smiled.

“
I know,” he nodded, “but my girl deserves only the very best and I’m going to give it to her. Now, let’s eat and enjoy our anniversary.”

Over the next hour, the pair took turns feeding each other and conversing on a variety of topics. Eli intently listened to Faith describing a new hairstyle she learned online and was eager to try, while Faith smiled at how enthusiastic her boyfriend was at talking about graphic design and showing her drawings he took with his camera phone.

It was at that moment Faith decided she didn’t want Eli to wait anymore. He had earned her trust and her love. Even when they had their fights, she never saw her life without him. Would she regret it? It was a possibility. But it was a chance she was willing to take. She loved Eli so much and was ready to go to the next level with him. “I’m ready, Eli.” Faith spoke.

“
Okay,” Eli got up and dusted off his jeans. He looked around at the sky and noticed it was starting to get a little dark. They would make it back before it got too late. “We should probably get going.”

“
No.” Faith shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“
Well, what are you…” Eli then looked back at his girlfriend. She had a confident look on her face and reassuring look in her eyes. There was no mistake what she was referring to. He sat back down and held her hand. “Um, when?”

“
Well, I was thinking…” Faith glanced down at Eli’s thumb circling her hand and back into his eyes. “I was thinking now.”