Jia decides she might as well actually use the bathroom before she gets into an argument with a scary gangster but a few minutes later she’s washing her hands and getting ready to head back into the bar.
Looking around, there’s no sign of Jillian. She seems to have actually taken the advice to get out. As soon as she walks back into the room, she has everyone in the place’s attention. This time she isn’t avoiding it. She walks right up to the table where Rocco’s sitting. At this point he’s got three other guys with him.
“I need to talk to a guy named Rocco.” She stares the man down.
The table immediately goes quiet. “You found him,” says the man with the messed up nose. “Not a lot of people walk in here trying to find me. Would you like another drink?”
“Sure. Scotch and soda.”
It takes a moment to get the bartender’s attention but when they see Rocco waving they rush over. “Bring my friend here a scotch and soda. On my tab.” He gestures for his men to make room for Jia to sit and they scooch in. “I’m always glad to meet such a beautiful young woman. What can I do for you?”
“I’m actually here about my brother, Shin Crawford.”
At the mention of Shin’s name, the table’s mood noticeably shifts. Everyone was already nervous but now these men are downright tense, ready to make a move at a moment’s notice. Rocco doesn’t seem worried though. “I guess you’re here about the trouble he’s found himself in then.”
“Something like that.”
Rocco smiles and places a hand on Jia’s. Now she tenses. She’d like to pull away but she wants to solve this diplomatically. He says, “Your brother’s a good young man. Great at fixing cars up. We actually lent him some money because he wanted to start a business tricking cars out. Didn’t work out and he hasn’t been good at paying us back. Very sad. We don’t want any trouble of course but it is a lot of money and we can’t have him skipping out on that.”
“You seemed to be willing to let it go if he did something for you last night.”
He shifts his eyes to each of the other men. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If I did though, I can say that sometimes people can find other ways to pay us back. If he for example brought us things worth what he owes. Or if he were willing to work with us and provide a service to help pay off the debt. We could then possibly overlook things. You know, I was expecting to see your brother last night. He was going to stop by and talk about that debt but he never showed up. As someone trying to work with him, that worries me.”
Jia pulls her hand away. This guy’s creeping her out more by the second. “I know exactly what you were going to talk about. That’s why I’m here talking with you. I don’t want him involved in any of that anymore. There’s another way. Like you said, he’s great with cars. Why doesn’t he just fix your cars for awhile?”
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Rocco’s eyes narrow. “That was kind of the idea actually. To work on our cars though, you have to be someone we trust. Someone we know can see certain things. We have an initiation for people and if your brother can’t pull that off, then we can’t have him working on our stuff.”
“Okay, then why don’t we just agree to pay you a certain amount every month. He’ll get a job, shouldn’t be a problem with his skill. How much does he owe you?”
Pulling a notebook out of his pocket, Rocco flips through a few pages. “Your little brother is into us for a little over a hundred grand. That’s not something he can pay off with his leftover cash at the end of each week. I’m maybe willing to give him time to try, but first he has to be made an example of. There’s no getting around that. If he’s willing to accept that then I can maybe see about what happens after.”
Gritting her teeth Jia says, “That’s not an option. What do you want? I’m willing to help you out to protect him.”
“Not quite sure how you can help us little lady. Well actually, I have one thing you could maybe help me with.” He turns to the other three men at the table. “Get lost for a little bit guys. I want to talk with the lady in a little more privacy.”
The other three don’t seem to like it but they grab their drinks and head to another table. Jia leans forward, wanting to hear what he can offer. “Just to be clear, when you talk about privacy, are you asking me for what I think you’re asking?”
Rocco grins ear to ear. “Depends on what you think. I’m not one to mince words. You’re cute. Suck my dick and I’ll give your brother a week. I’ll even take a hundred bucks off what he owes us. If you want more time, just make it good enough and we can maybe do this every week. How does that sound?”
“You’re offering to pay me for sex?”
“You can think of it that way if you want. I don’t really think of it as sex though. I have a girlfriend and I only sleep with her. This is to tide me over between trips home. I think I’m being pretty reasonable really. I could ask to fuck you, but I’m trying to be a nice guy and respect my lady. What do you say?”
She stands up and puts some space between them. “I say that I’m a licensed vigilante and you just committed a crime right in front of me. I’m fully allowed to take you in right now and I will absolutely do so. If you’re willing to forgive part of my brother’s debt and give him some time on the rest though, I’m willing to forget how disgusting you are.”
“No need to shit with me, we both know there aren’t any vigilantes in Napa.”
“There’s one.”
Rocco considers this for a minute or two before his eyes narrow. “You aren’t shitting me are you?”
“Afraid not, I’m pretty serious at the moment. I’m giving you an out.”
He smiles. “That’s awfully generous of you. Here’s the problem with that though. You are surrounded by my men. You picked a bad place to try and pull this shit.” Standing up, Rocco whistles to get the attention of everyone in the bar. “Listen up men, this little girl here is a vigilante and she knows way more than she needs to. She doesn’t leave here. Keep it clean though, no evidence.”
Well fuck she thinks. Probably should have listened to Shin, or Jillian, or her dad, or any of the people who told her this was a bad idea. Only one way out at this point. Time to take these guys down.