Where I Wanna Be (16 page)

Eli glanced down at Faith’s pinky and back at her. Just when he thought he had her figured out… he interlocked his pinky with hers. “Pinky-swear.”

“
I trust you, Eli. I trust you and I love you. I wouldn’t have given my virginity to you if I didn’t.” She added. “You’ll always own a part of me.”

Eli wrapped his arms around Faith in a warm embrace. “I’ll always own it.”

****

“
Now remember, save some food for your brother,” Nicola instructed her sons around the dinner table, “he was supposed to be here already, but I guess he and Faith are still out on their date.”

“
You snooze, you lose.” Kieran gathered another helping of lasagna.

“
I swear, men starting dating a chick and they don’t know how to act,” Joey put some more salad on his plate, “and they wonder why they’re constantly broke.”

“
You sound like a pimp,” Tony took a sip of lemonade.

“
I ain’t never getting married,” Joey shook his head. “Ever. Gotta give up half of my stuff just so she can have something?”

“
You gotta give up half of nothing?” Kieran joked.

“
Dude, do you not see the car outside?” Joey pointed to the front windows. “Yeah, that Mercedes is mine. Ain’t no woman getting that ride.”

“
Yeah, that ten-year-old, dusty-ass Mercedes is yours,” Nick added. “Father God have mercy on the woman who gets into that ride…”

“
Shhh!” Nicola instructed her sons as she glanced back at the TV. “They’re about to call the numbers!” She picked up a lottery ticket on the way home from work just for fun. It seemed everyone was talking about the huge jackpot—a staggering $300 million. Customers at the diner were talking about it. Her coworkers at the janitorial job were fantasizing about it. It was the biggest news story out of New York in ages.

“
Come on, ma,” Joey shrugged, “do you think you’re gonna win? The chances of winning that are one in a hundred million.”

“
Says the bro who probably picked up a few lottery tickets of his own,” Kieran smiled.

Joey gulped his food down. “If I win, you ain’t getting shit.”

“
If you win, I hope you fix that
Mer-Cade-Eees
you’re passing off as a Mercedes.” Nick smiled.

“
Be quiet!” Nicola hushed up her sons, who gathered around her at the TV. “They’re going to start now.”

Joey pulled out his tickets and watched along with his mother. As suspected, he didn’t win the jackpot but he won a few hundred dollars. “It may not be three hundred million,” Joey smirked at Kieran and Nick, “but it’s more than what you fools have now.”

“
Oh, goody, you can finally pay me back that five hundred I loaned to you the other day,” Nick said.

“
And that two hundred I let you borrow a few months ago.” Kieran added.

“
And that fifty bucks you took out of my piggy bank!” Tony yelled.

Kieran and Nick looked down at Tony and back at Joey. “Dude, for real? Our little brother’s piggy bank?” Kieran asked.

“
I needed gas money!” Joey defended.

“
Ma, you hear this mess?” Nick looked over at Nicola, who was sitting down and seemed to be in a catatonic state. “Ma? Ma?” He rushed over to her, with his brothers in tow.

Nicola couldn’t believe it. She almost didn’t play because she thought it was silly. She only bought a ticket because it seemed everyone else did. She thought about her life. She had sacrificed so much for her sons, working extra shifts to give them what they wanted. She missed out on football games, school performances, and other things she wouldn’t be able to see again. They always had nice Christmases. They always had food on the table. They may not have worn the latest designer styles but they didn’t have torn and worn clothing.

And now, Nicola could give her sons everything and more. “We won…” she murmured.

“
What?” Kieran asked. “Won what?”

“
We won!” Nicola pointed to her ticket. She then shot out of her chair. “We won! We won! We won!”

Nick snatched the lottery ticket out of his mom’s hand and he couldn’t believe it. She had all six winning numbers. “We won!”

“
I’m quitting my jobs!” Nicola danced. “No more shitty customers! No more shitty toilets! I’m officially retired!”

“
It’s time to celebrate!” Joey opened up another bottle of wine while Kieran put on some music.

Eli and Faith arrived home in the midst of the celebration. He knew something was up when he saw Tony sneaking in sips of wine while everyone danced around the living room. “What’s going on here?” Eli asked.

“
Dude, where you have been?” A slightly inebriated Nick walked over to his brother. “You missed the big news but you can still celebrate with us!”

“
Big news?” Eli asked. “What big news?”

“
Mom’s a fucking millionaire!” Tony yelled before Kieran popped him in the back of his head.

“
What?” Eli asked. “What happened?”

“
Mom won the lottery! We’re rich!” Joey handed Eli a glass of wine and one to Faith. “We’re celebrating!”

Eli put his glass of wine down and walked over to his mother. “Is that true, ma? You really won it?”

“
I won it,
mio figlio.
” Nicola smiled big, a result of too much wine. “We never have to worry about anything for the rest of our lives.”

Eli gave his mother a warm embrace and blinked back tears. He knew how long she had worked and how hard. If anyone deserved to win the lottery, it was definitely his mother. “I’m so happy for you, ma.” He got up and walked over to Faith and hugged her. “My mom just won the lottery.”

“
That’s great, Eli!” Faith hugged him back. “Your mom truly deserves it.”

“
Yeah, she can finally quit her jobs and just enjoy herself now.” He took a sip of wine. He glanced around at his family, who were all in various stages of intoxication. “I should probably take you home before I’m not able to.”

“
That’s fine,” Faith smiled. “I’ll wait for you outside. Bye, everyone!” She waved to all of them.

“
Bye, Faith!” They said in unison.

“
I’m going to take Faye home and I’ll be back so we can continue. Please don’t drink up and eat up everything, okay?” Eli begged.

“
Can’t promise you that,” Joey shook his head.

Eli drove Faith home and walked her up to the front door. “I know this was a wild and crazy day for both of us,” Eli rocked on his heels. “once everything kinda calms down at the house, I’ll let you know all of the details. Just keep the lottery stuff silent because I don’t want cousins that I never heard of coming out of the woodworks.”

“
Your secret is safe with me,” Faith promised.

“
I do have to talk to you about something, though,” Eli began.

“
Oh?” Faith led him to the porch swing and they sat down on it. “What is it, honey?”

“
Well, I know what you did for me earlier was special and you can never do that for another guy. And I do take it very seriously.” Eli held Faith’s hand. “And with recent events with my family tonight, well, that changes a lot of things.”

“
I don’t understand…” Faith shook her head. “…what are you saying?”

“
I’m saying,” Eli took a deep breath, “I know this isn’t the most romantic way of saying this and I promise you I’ll do a better job in the future. But I was wondering…” He looked down at his feet.

Faith nudged Eli’s face towards hers. “You were wondering what, Eli?”

“
I was wondering if you want us to get married?” Eli asked.

Faith’s eyes lit up. “When?”

“
Whenever you want. I don’t have the money now and we should probably wait until we’re out of high school, but I do want to marry you. I do want to make you a D’Amato.” Eli promised. “What do you say?”

“
I want to go to college first, Eli. I want to get my cosmetology license.” Faith said. “If you can wait for me doing all of that, then yes, I’ll marry you.”

“
That’s fine, I’ll wait.” He promised her.

“
Pinky-swear?” Faith held out a pinky.

“
I pinky-swear it.” Eli locked pinkies with her. They kissed again and held each other for a long time. “I need to get back home before they drink up everything. We’ll talk more tomorrow, baby girl.” He kissed her one last time. “I love you, Faye.”

“
I love you, Eli.” She watched him leave. Faith rushed inside the house and to her bedroom. Her life, as she knew it, was perfect. She fell more in love with her boyfriend, now-fiancée, gifting her virginity to him. They were going to get married and as a bonus, he just happened to be rich.

Her life was a fairytale. Nothing could ruin it.

Eli

Present Day…

Eli calmly sipped his cappuccino as he watched the impending drama outside the doors of Madre’s. There were five women, two older and three younger. He already guessed the young and petite blonde was the bride-to-be. He assumed the older woman who looked like her was her mother and the lady next to her was an aunt. The other two girls were either sisters or friends of the bride and Eli could already tell they were just as tired of the bride’s shit as the mother was.

There was no father in sight and Eli assumed the man was enjoying college football or hiding somewhere in a dive on the outskirts of town, leaving the mother to handle her daughter. Eli couldn’t blame him. He imagined the father was spending a small fortune for his daughter’s wedding and probably grumbled about all of the things he could’ve bought instead. Despite the fluctuating economy, expensive taste never went out of style.

“
And I’m telling you for the last
fucking
time, this is
my
wedding and if I want orchids in my wedding during the summer, I’m going to have
fucking
orchids in my wedding during the summer!” The bride hissed to everyone.

“
Oh, boy,” Eli sipped his coffee.

Joey stood beside his younger brother and watched the drama unfold. Nicola was the face of Madre’s and Eli was the creative force behind the flower designs. Joey managed the shops along with his mother and brother, making all of the business decisions. He was very glad he put his MBA to use so he didn’t have to deal with the onslaught of fussy brides, bratty girls celebrating their quinceañeras, and over-zealous wedding planners trying to get thousand-dollar flower arrangements for a few hundred bucks. He loved to leave that mess in the hands of his brother and mother. “Watch out now. We got a bad-ass in our mix.”