CHAPTER 7
The last place in Manhattan Rachel wanted to visit was Times Square. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand, it was tourists. If one wanted to feel claustrophobic amongst an endless sea of tourists, Times Square was the place to be. Unfortunately, Julia had insisted on going up to the center of Manhattan. Rachel never officially agreed to the idea, but she remained taciturn as Julia dragged her by subway up to midtown. The blonde girl stood in the middle of Times Square staring up at the neon lights enthusiastically. Everytime she looked at an electronic billboard she would say, ‘Wow look at that.’ Rachel was getting a little annoyed by it. Julia now acted like an outgoing school-girl, a complete character change from the shy creature that always looked to the ground. Rachel, on the other hand, stared blankly into the endless crowds.
“Quick Rach,” Julia said happily, “Let’s take a picture together!”
Rachel groaned, “Oh come on, we look like a couple of tourists!”
“Rachel,” Julia whined, “I’ve never been here, I want to take a picture!”
Julia had explained earlier why she wanted to go up to Times Square: having grown up in New York, her father had never taken her to Times Square. It was a new experience for her.
“Hey Batman!” Julia called out.
On the corner was a man dressed up in full Batman gear who gave the cute blonde his attention:
“I’m Batman!” He spoke in a low Michel-Keaton-like cadence, just loud enough for the girls to hear him.
“Would you take a picture of us?” Julia asked him innocently. She held out her camera for him to take. Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Don’t you want to get a picture with me?” The actor suggested in a deadpan manner. He posed for the girls, “I’m Batman!”
“Just take the picture Adam West,” Rachel snorted.
“Hey!” Batman spat back, “Don’t insult me.”
Normally this man probably wouldn’t grant such a request to take a picture for two people, but these girls were cute, the blonde especially. She had to have been a tourist. The other black-haired was clearly a New Yorker. Her body-language suggested it.
“Be sure to get the signs in the back,” Julia smiled. She put her arm around Rachel and posed. Rachel simply stood uninterested. Julia touched her cheek against Rachel’s.
“Uh,” Batman was having trouble trying to operate the camera, “I don’t know how to use this. It’s not working!” His voice became more aggressive, channeling a more Christian Bale Batman.
“Just hold the top button,” Julia directed him.
“Okay,” He acquiesced, “I’m not a photographer, I’m Batman!”
Finally a flash went off, but Julia was unhappy. She saw Rachel’s listless face and reacted, “C’mon Rachel! Look happier, I want to remember this moment!”
“Yeah come on Rachel,” Batman got ready to take another picture, this time getting down on one knee, “Smile for Batman!”
Just before the flash went off, Rachel grabbed hold of Julia’s face and kissed her on the lips. Julia had little time to react as the camera’s flash went off. Julia quickly pushed Rachel away, her eyes widened, and ran towards the Dark Knight. His eyes were widened as well having just seen these two cute girls kiss. The blonde yanked the camera away from him and walked towards Rachel.
“What is wrong with you?” Julia looked for the picture, “You know I can’t keep a picture like this on my camera. What if my dad looks through it.”
Rachel stood there with a smile on her face as she glanced at the picture of Rachel and Julia kissing in Times Square. It was actually a great looking picture, beautiful! Why was Batman spending his time pretending to be a superhero? He clearly had a career in photography. Just before Julia’s gloved hand proceeded to delete the photo, it was interrupted by Rachel’s naked hand.
“Wait a second,” Rachel smiled, “I want that picture.” Julia and Rachel’s eyes stared into each other. The taller raven-haired girl smiled down to the scared blonde. “Send it to me before you delete it.”
Julia looked at the picture. It was a nice picture capturing the cute couple. Julia nodded her head, “Okay.” She put the camera in her bag and held onto Rachel’s hand.
“So,” Batman came up towards them in a somewhat creepy manner, “You girls wanna hang out with me?” He posed for them, “I’m Batman!”
“Yeah,” Rachel said sarcastically, “Sure you are,” and she led Julia away from the corner.
“No really,” Batman argued, “I’m Batman! I have a utility belt and everything… Cause I’m Batman!” The girls quickly disappeared as Julia dragged Rachel into a hat store. The actor hung his head sadly, “Ohhhh, I’m so alone.”
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Amy sat at the table in Patsy’s fidgeting with the saltshaker. The table was in a private area in the restaurant. Don Gotti sat at the head of the table. On one side of him was Jackie Giovanni. On the other side sat Frank Columbo. Both of them seemed a little more at ease talking to the head of Manhattan. Amy sat next to her mother, and one of Columbo’s bodyguards sat beside him. Everyone else sat down, with the exception of Vinnie Montana who, according to legend, always stood up.
“So Frank is about to blow this guy’s head wide open,” the old man Gotti told a story familiar to both Don Columbo and Don Giovanni, “When Marlon takes a hold of his shoulder. Frank would have gotten no argument from me, the guy wouldn’t give us what we wanted!”
“The CEO guy was an asshole, he was asking for it!” Columbo snorted.
“I know,” Gotti calmed him down, “But Marlon says to us, ‘I have a better idea.’ See that’s what I always loved about Marlon, he thought outside the box. Marlon opens the guy’s briefcase. This CEO guy was carrying around, I dunno, thirty million dollars in traveller’s checks?”
“Something like that,” Frank agreed and took another sip of his drink.
Jackie sat back smiling at this story of her husband. She had heard this story quite a few times, but she couldn’t get enough of it.
“So this wall street creep starts saying, ‘What are you doing with my money?’ Vinnie’s got a hold of him, he’s not going anywhere. Marlon takes out a stack from his briefcase and walks over towards his desk. He’s starts to say, ‘You sure you don’t wanna tell me?’ The man says nothing. Suddenly Marlon takes out one of the checks and feeds it into a shredder.”
Jackie laughed at her late husband’s actions. Frank shook his head in annoyance.
“I’ll tell you,” Gotti explained, “That guy looked at his money being shredded like a loved one was being beaten before his eyes!”
Amy’s eyes widened as if a horrible vision had suddenly flashed by her eyes.
“I think he might have even pissed his pants.” A number of laughs came from the table. Columbo smiled to show Gotti he was interested in his story. “I tell you Jackie,” Gotti put his hand on her’s, “That CEO guy sang like a canary!”
“Was it really worth it?” Frank asked, “I mean the guy destroyed money!”
“Frank,” Gotti looked to his business partner seriously, “The information that guy had, you couldn’t put a price on it. Marlon knew that this guy cared more about money than life itself, and he got that son-of-a-bitch to talk! It kept all the families in business for years!”
Amy couldn’t take it anymore, “Mom,” she said to Jackie. Her mother looked at her curiously. Amy almost always refered to her as ‘Don Giovanni’ in the presence of her business partners, especially when Don Gotti was around, “May I be excused?” What, was she a school girl again, asking to be excused?
“Is everything okay?” Don Giovanni looked at her curiously.
“Yeah,” Amy grabbed her coat, “There’s something I have to do right now.”
Gotti raised his shoulders, “You gotta do what you gotta do.”
Columbo didn’t seem to care about it, but Jackie was suspicious of Amy’s ambiguous language.
“It was good to see you again Don Gotti,” Amy shook his hand.
“You as well Amy,” Gotti smiled. Columbo tried to regain Gotti’s attention as Giovanni Consigliere made her way towards to exit. Amy’s sleeve was intercepted by Jackie’s hand. She whispered into her ear:
“What’s going on?” Jackie asked her.
“Can we talk about it later?” Amy’s eyes pointed to Columbo. Jackie’s eyes vacillated towards her rival. Already Columbo was trying to get Gotti on his side. Jackie wasn’t sure what it was Amy was reserved from saying in front of them, but she allowed her adopted daughter to leave.
Amy simply walked out the door pulling out her cell phone. Jackie gave her attention back to Don Gotti, but very discretely pulled out her phone to send a text.
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“This city is beautiful,” Julia said at the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building. She and Rachel were the only two on the observation deck overlooking the city of blinding lights. Julia wasn’t exactly sure what Rachel did to get the two of them to the top of the tower, by themselves, skipping to the front of the line. However, she didn’t really seem to care. Julia’s head was on Rachel’s shoulders, their hands held together. Julia had just bought a brown fedora which she wore proudly. She pointed with her other finger to the southeast, “That’s Brooklyn over there?”
“Yeah,” Rachel said, “Jersey is the other side.”
“Right,” Julia answered. She looked around curiously, “Where’s the Chrysler Building?”
Rachel turned her head around and pointed to the northeast, “Right there?”
Julia looked at the Chrysler Building in awe. It was a beautiful building, even nicer than the State Building, “Wow!” She then turned her head back to the tip of Manhattan, “And that’s where The Twin Towers used to be.”
“Yup,” Rachel replied.
“I vaguely remember them when I was a little girl,” Julia reminisced, “My mother brought me to see them. They were incredible buildings.”
Rachel decided to change the subject, “What was your mother like?”
A long sigh escaped Julia’s throat, “She was the most loving, caring mother a daughter could ask for. My father’s always been a controlling man, but mom used to protect me from his insanity.” There was a long silence. Rachel looked to her girlfriend, “To tell you the truth Rachel, I don’t remember much about my mother anymore.” She let go of Rachel’s hand and looked to her own hands. They were encased in those white leather gloves she wore all the time, “I do remember one time sneaking into her room and trying on these gloves. They were of course way too big for a little girl. Later,” She sighed again, closing her eyes. Rachel held onto her, “Right before she passed away, she handed the gloves to me and said she wanted me to have them. I’ve worn them ever since. I dunno, I guess they comfort me thinking about her,” she hesitated.
“Maybe you also wear them because they remind you of how your mother used to protect you from your father,” Rachel added.
“Maybe,” Julia said. Tears began to escape Julia’s face, but she didn’t really cry. Rachel grabbed a hold of one of Julia’s gloved hands and embraced her. They both looked out to the Manhattan skyline. “God Rachel,” she changed the subject, “I’ve missed so much!” She then looked into Rachel’s eyes, “I want to explore every inch of this city with you, from the Statue of Liberty, to the Bronx Zoo.”
“We will,” Rachel promised her, “We’ve got our whole lives to do that.”
“And not only will we explore New York,” Amy said, “We’ll go to Sunny California and lie on the beach. We’ll go to Paris, oh and Venice,” She began to smile, “I’ve always wanted to see Venice. It seems like such a beautiful city-“
Julia was interrupted when Rachel planted a kiss on the blonde’s lips. Julia’s change in character had sparked new life into the raven-hair. She was extremely attracted by this. Julia felt safe with Rachel. She felt that Rachel empowered her, gave her strength. It was a perfect match. The only problem Rachel saw with Julia was kissing her. Rachel longed to slide her tongue into the blonde’s mouth, but Julia didn’t open her mouth wide enough and would close whenever the taller girl’s tongue tried to enter. However, after a few minutes, Julia began to loosen up. Before long, not only were Julia and Rachel’s tongues rubbing against one another. They began to rub their hands across each other’s bodies. Rachel got closer and closer towards Julia’s breasts. Just before she had the chance to feel them, Julia intercepted her hands, “Not yet, not yet.” Rachel acquiesced to her girlfriend’s demands, feeling her waste instead.
This passionate moment was interrupted at the sound of a phone ringing, a personalized ringtone Rachel had. Rachel and Julia continued to kiss each other, until the ring became louder and more distracting. Julia backed away slightly:
“Aren’t you going to get that?”
“No,” Rachel said trying to kiss her again, “It’s just Amy.” Rachel recognized the ringtone she used for her cousin.
“Rachel,” Julia stopped her, “Answer the phone. What if it’s something important?”
Rachel rolled her eyes and picked up her phone answering it.
“Yes Amy?” Rachel said in a very silly tone of voice.
“Rachel,” Amy’s voice came through, “Where are you right now?”
“I’m at the top of the Empire State Building with Julia,” she answered and rubbed her free cheek across Julia’s, “Where are you?”
“Listen,” Her voice was audible for Rachel’s ear, but not Julia’s, “I’m worried about this relationship the two of you are having.” Rachel rolled her eyes. “I can’t explain it, but I just have this feeling something terrible is going to happen because of this.”
“What did I tell you about staying out of my business?” Rachel snorted very matter-of-factly.
“Well it’s my business now Rachel,” Amy raised her voice, loud enough for Julia to hear that. The two of them broke the embrace and Rachel walked to the other end of the tower, Rachel held her finger out for Julia to see asking her to wait. “Did you see the way Columbo was acting today? The guy is nuts!” The blonde looked at Rachel curiously, “I’ve got a terrible feeling Columbo is going to find out about this. And when he does Rachel, he’s going to kill his daughter’s lover!”
Rachel was now speaking in a place where Julia couldn’t hear her very well, “I’d take on Columbo’s entire army for this girl, Amy!”
“Listen,” Amy explained, “I know you two like each other. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you shouldn’t be walking around the streets of Manhattan holding each other, let alone kissing. And ESPECIALLY not in an area where Frank can see you two!”
How did she know they were kissing?
“So what am I supposed to do Amy?” Rachel asked in an irritated tone of voice.
“Take her back to your place,” Amy explained. Rachel looked at Julia, who smiled at her. Rachel didn’t smile back. “Please Rachel,” Amy was candid, “Do this for me, you’re sister,” There was silence, “Okay fine, your cousin. Just keep this relationship private right now.”
“All right, all right!” Rachel said, “Don’t get your panties in a bunch! I’ll talk to you later.”
“Thanks Rach,” The raven-hair immediately hung up the phone and walked back towards Julia. She stood there curiously:
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, she’s just being Amy-ish.” Rachel walked back towards Julia and kissed her again. Finally she held her and looked her in the eye, “Listen Julia,” Rachel seemed unusually nervous asking this question, almost looking down at the ground, “Do you wanna come back to Brooklyn with me tonight?”
Slightly shocked by the request, Julia looked up to the Twilight sky. Her father mentioned that she was to be home at a reasonable time. She was still reminded of how the man acted the last time she stayed out late. If she disobeyed her father’s wishes, Julia might never be allowed out of the house again.
“It’s okay,” Rachel said, picking up on her insecurity, “You don’t have to-“
“Yes!” Julia finally answered.
Rachel was slightly shocked herself hearing this, “Really?”
“Yes,” She smiled, “Yes Rachel, I want to be with you tonight. But I need to get back to Queens before midnight.”
“I understand,” Rachel said. It didn’t seem like they would have a lot of time, but Rachel would make it work.
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Before they knew it, the two of them were hand in hand jumping out of a taxi-cab outside of Rachel’s apartment. The cab quickly drove off after Rachel handed the driver some of Don Gotti’s spending money. Rachel asked Julia to wait on the sidewalk while Rachel climbed the stoop to open the door. The tall raven-hair smiled towards the blonde as she opened the door in a very seductive way. Julia laughed. Rachel walked inside the doorway, nearly closing the door behind her; just enough room for her hand to beckon Julia to come in. Julia began to walk up the stoop until the wind blew her hat right off of her hair.
“Oh no,” Julia almost laughed.
Rachel also laughed as Julia ran into the street to grab her new brown fedora. She quickly ran towards the stoop.
Just as the blonde did so, a car crept around the corner. It was Bobby, Columbo’s man. He could only see Julia running up the stoop to the apartment and the door closing behind her. Someone else was there, but Bobby couldn’t see. The man was commanded to watch Columbo’s daughter, so he parked his car on the curb and waited.
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