Gorilla Beach Read Free Page B

dark. With his pants down.
    â€œEwww,” said Gia.
    The cousins clattered back to the main room. Gia shouted, “There’s a creepy, sicko freak in the bathroom! Call the cops!”
    â€œWait!” shouted the male voice behind them. The kid was pulling his jeans up and fixing his belt. He had waxy skin, black eyes, dark hair greased back, and a five o’clock shadow that probably took him five months to grow. Through the armholes of his blackskank tank, Bella could see how scrawny he was. Maybe twenty-five, he was tall, with a long pencil neck and bobbing Adam’s apple.
    â€œCan’t I get a minute’s privacy around here!” said the kid.
    â€œIt’s a public john, not your bathroom at home,” said Donna, weaving over, line dancing on hold.
    â€œI went into the cowgirls’ room by mistake .”
    â€œYou know this freak?” asked Gia.
    Maria was shaking her head frantically. A warning?
    Donna said, “Gia, Bella, this is Fredo, my son, and the manager of this club.”
    Ohhhh, so that’s why we’re here, thought Bella. They could be at Karma, really celebrating Maria’s last night as a single lady. But, no, Donna the alpha lynx had to support her son’s crappy club.
    Maria, the peacemaker, said, “It’s an honest mistake, Donna. Gia didn’t know Fredo was your son. She’d never have called him a creepy, sicko freak otherwise.”
    â€œYeah, I would’ve!” said Gia. “He was in the pitch-black women’s bathroom, grunting.”
    â€œI thought it was the cowboys’ room!” protested Fredo.
    Cowboys’ room? It was so corny. “Why in the dark?” Bella asked.
    He blushed and looked at his Pumas.
    Donna said, “My boy has issues. He doesn’t like to see his poops. Even when he was a baby, he’d cry hysterically as soon as his diaper was full…. What? Don’t look at me like that, Fredo. You’re anally retentive. It’s just who you are, and I love you anyway. Did I embarrass you? I’m sorry, sweetheart. Let me give you a hug.”
    Donna steamrolled toward her cringing weirdo son and mauled him with kisses. It was sickening to watch. Bella squirmed sympathetically for Fredo. Poor kid, still caught in his mama’s French-manicured clutches.
    Gia whispered, “Okay, that’s disgusting.”
    Bella’s marathoner leg muscles twitched to get away from the uncomfortable relationship on display. But she feared making any sudden movements. Having grown up in a hard-core Italian neighborhood, she knew never to come between a Sicilian mama and her favorite son. It was like poking the bear with a stick. Or a Taser.
    Finally, Donna released Fredo, who stumbled backward a few steps and wiped at his skank tank as if he were trying to brush off the hug. Donna gazed at him with pure love and adoration. “My boy. Isn’t he handsome?”
    Dead silence.
    â€œHe’s going to the wedding, too,” said Donna. “Maria, didn’t you seat him at a table with the girls?”
    Maria nodded. “I did, Donna. Right between Gia and Bella.”
    â€œGood,” said Donna. “I heard you girls are both single right now. Fredo can be your date to the wedding. You two should be thrilled.”
    â€œWaaaa,” Gia said. “I mean, yay!”
    Bella glanced at Maria. She looked apologetic and silently pleaded with the cousins to go along. Gia read the message in her eyes clearly. Sighing, Gia said, “Great. We’ll rock the wedding. Like we’re rocking this club. Whoopee.”
    Donna beamed. “Wonderful. Fredo, more champagne!”

Chapter Three

Home Sweat Home
    â€œYou’d think Stanley would do better by us,” said Gia, looking up at the concrete building at the corner of Hancock and West Central Avenue. It looked like a stack of giant gray bricks with black, square windows. Not many windows, at that.
    Bella parked and