Rebecca drove her black Lexus SUV west toward the strip. Frank rode shotgun while Robbie and Eddie sat in the back. Her tinted windows kept out most of the sun, but she still squinted and put on her dark glasses. At this time of day with the sun hanging low in the afternoon sky, it was going straight into her eyes. The street and edges of silhouetted buildings shimmered like burnished copper. So little time she spent outside during the day; sometimes she felt like a vampire or werewolf. Today, for no particular reason, the brightness singed her eyes. Other times, she practically bathed in sunlight and loved being dazzled until she was almost blind.
"So what'd she say to you when you called her?" Frank asked.
"That she'd try to make it," Rebecca said. "Of course, her 'I'll try' means she made other plans and she will only come if they fall through."
Robbie leaned forward between their two seats. "Who's Jeannie?"
"Long story," she said, and one she didn't feel like getting into. Every time she thought about it, it pissed her off. Jeannie was like a little sister to her, but God, that girl drove her insane with her pig-headedness. Wouldn't even tell her what Jimmy had said to her that upset her so much.
The lights blinked from red to green and she turned right onto Las Vegas Boulevard.
"Jimmy is such a chicken shit," Frank said, shaking his head.
"They're both chicken shits." She slammed the brakes and everyone lurched forward. In the middle of the block between intersections, a large and fat well-dressed man ambled across the street. Yuri Yushenko. With the lazy arrogance of a lion, he took his sweet time crossing the busy lanes, not bothering to look in either direction, unconcerned that any vehicle might slam into him as if he were above even the laws of physics.
Frank leaned his head back between the seats and said, "That's the fat fuck she was talking about."
Rebecca stared at him, her foot hovering over the gas pedal. "So tempted." Her upper lip curled up into a snarl and she pressed the clutch, then revved the motor so it sounded like she was about to gun it. Yushenko turned toward them, his face set in a scowl.
She grinned, rolled down the window and waved to him, heat blasting in like she'd just opened the door to a kiln. "Hi, Yuri!"
He waved back, a cursory wave, and continued walking.
"I can't wait. I really can't." She smiled at Frank and she could tell he hadn't filled them in yet, only hinted and teased a little. With the two men seated behind her, a plan she'd been dreaming about for months was that much closer to being made real.
"So where are we headed?" Robbie asked.
"Dairy Queen," Rebecca said. "Nobody's ever gotten him one before, and I know he's always wanted one, and while he insisted I shouldn't bother, I am anyway. An ice cream cake. Then we're getting a case of beer and maybe a bottle of whiskey. Then we're picking up the pizza. And then, we're heading to birthday boy's place whether he likes it or not."
"Where's he at these days?" Eddie asked.
"My cousin's old auto body shop," Frank said. "It ain't much, but the rent's free. All he's gotta cover is the lights, water and phone. About all you can afford as a dishwasher these days."
"Shit," Robbie said. "He never told me that. Why didn't you find him a better job?"
"Didn't want the help, said I'd done enough for him already."
"Stubborn ass," Robbie mumbled and Rebecca smirked, nodding.
"He doesn't understand some people like being generous," she said, realising she'd just missed turning off onto the street with the Dairy Queen. Might as well pick it up last, even though it would mean going out of the way now. "The boy has way too much pride."
"The boy always had too much pride for his own good," Robbie said. "And too little sense." Everyone in the SUV nodded in agreement.
At the red light, Rebecca stopped and threw up her hands. "I love the kid, but sometimes his brain malfunctions. That's all I can say. Anyway, we'll drop by the liquor store first and get him a bottle of something nice. Get him so drunk he won't care whether Jeannie shows her face later tonight."
"And drunk enough that he'll hear us out," Frank added. "I doubt we'll be able to convince him otherwise."