Words couldn't express the way Sophia felt when she turned around and saw RJ Gannon standing right behind her. She assumed that RJ gave her the brush off, but now Sophia was confident that he re-considered her proposal to team-up with her at the pool tournament. RJ was more than just eye candy to Sophia, he represented the upwardly mobile lifestyle that she desired to live. Sophia looked at RJ like he was the on the cover of GQ Magazine.
RJ and Sophia then hugged each other and started talking.
"I take it I won the bet." Grinned Sophia.
"And what bet might that be?" Puzzled RJ.
"Don't tell me you forgot what we did in the restroom?"
"Stop gloating, Sophia. If you and I are going to win this pool competition, we need to practice."
"I hope you didn't mind if I started practicing without you."
"I like a lady with initiative. Speaking of our wager, we never finished what we started. Remember the interruption?" Reminded RJ.
"Don't even try it, Gannon. I won fair and square and you know it."
"It was a draw."
"Now I know how we could settle this.....How about a rematch?"
"What are the stakes this time?"
"This time if I win, not only will you be my partner for the pool tournament, but you're going to come home with me."
"Is that a fact?"
"Not a fact. A bet. Will you accept?"
"It'll be a pleasure to beat you."
"Don't be so sure of yourself, RJ."
"You talk a good game and you been trying to hustle me for awhile. Let's see what you're made of."
"Ok then. But not here."
"Why not?"
"Because making out in a bar is so dirty."
"Well that didn't stop you from kissing me in the ladies room."
"That was different. I felt like living on the edge, but this is where I work. I don't mix business with pleasure. I like to be discreet."
"Who are you trying to hustle?
"Why must everything be a hustle to you? Work with me, RJ. My break's over and we'll take care of this later."
"I won't hold my breath. I'll be right here until your shift is up."
RJ plays a few games of pool while Sophia tends to the patrons that come in the bar. As time went by, RJ was able to hustle money from some patrons that passed through the Crossroads. Hanging out at the pool table was a very lucrative business oportunity for RJ as he continued to double his cash. It was finally closing time at Crossroads and Sophia made good on her promise to RJ now that the bar was empty.
"I'm glad that you stuck around. I thought you would've bolted on me."
"Are you kidding? This place right here is very profitable. In fact, I was thinking of visiting more often."
"I saw you running a scam on the customers. You're something else, RJ."
"I know. Now let's get down to business."
"I never thought you would go there."
"I just want to get this bet done and over with."
"Perhaps if you shut up we could."
"Why don't you make me shut up?"
"Is that a challenge?"
"Are you accepting?"
"I won't dignify that with a response." Sophia gives RJ a nice and hot kiss on the lips.
RJ puts his arms around her neck and let's nature take its course. As he was kissing her, he had thoughts about letting his guard down in front of Sophia. He didn't want to reveal too much about himself because he didn't want to leave himself open to be taken advantage of and risk endangering his emotions. RJ always remained very cautious around other people. It was a survival technique he picked up on the streets and in prison. Sophia stopped kissing RJ and let him gasp for air.
"Exhale, RJ. You smoke?" Sophia said as she lit up her cigarette.
"I enjoy breathing clean air, thank you."
"No need to be so health conscious. I already took your breath away."
"You can say that again. That kiss of yours left me so breathless, I need an oxygen tank. I surrender."
"It looks like I have a partner for the pool tournament and a bed buddy."
"Don't rub it in, dollface."
"Don't be such a spoilsport. Are you afraid to admit that you enjoyed the kiss or that you lost the bet?"
"Well I don't like losing, but if I have to lose, I'd rather go down in style."
"You sure didn't put up a fight against the power of my pucker. Let's say we go somewhere and get cozy. I'll take you to my special place."
"Where? The roof of the Palace?"
"Even better than that. Follow me."
RJ follows Sophia outside the Crossroads. She locks the bar up and then takes RJ to her special place. RJ gets in his car and follows Sophia on her motorcycle up to her private hideaway on the hill. It's high a plateau overlooking Llanview where Sophia goes to have some peace and quiet. When Sophia was kissing RJ at the Crossroads, she decided that she would bring him here and share her world with him.
RJ and Sophia finally arrived on the hilltop and settled down. Sophia got a blanket that was on her motorcycle and she laid it out on the grass so RJ and she could sit on it. Sophia looks up at the stars and starts talking to RJ.
"I love coming up here. This is the only place where I feel like I'm on top of the world and where no one can walk all over me like I'm a doormat." Remarked Sophia.
"So you love being on top of things?"
"It's better than being at the bottom. I grew up dirt poor and being made fun of because of it. I love coming up here because this is where I can get to be above all the B.S. and look down at all the chumps who insulted me."
"Well you're not the only one who loves being on top and I don't think you would be the last."
"It doesn't matter what order, just as long as I get there........and I will."
"That's the type of confidence I like in a woman. I could relate to where you're coming from. I grew up in a blue collar, working class household where money was tighter than a knot, but we managed to get by on the resources we had."
"My family wasn't that fortunate. My father wasn't around and my mother was too wasted half of the time to pay attention to my brother and me. I've learned to take care of myself at an early age."
"I remember you telling me that the night the robber came in the Crossroads." Recalled RJ.
"My mom loved her drugs more than her children. She once tried to sell me to her dealer pal in exchange for rock." Revealed Sophia
"Your own mother did that to you?! That's horrible!" Reacted RJ with a shocked look on his face.
"Tell me about it. I couldn't believe it myself, but my mom wanted to get high and she didn't care what she did in order to do it. Lucky for me, the dealer didn't want me. He wanted the money." She paused. "So what does my mother do? She takes her cigarette out of her mouth and uses it to burn my arm. All because she didn't have any cash and she couldn't sell me to her dealer friend." Confided Sophia.
"I'm sorry to hear that." RJ was appalled about what Sophia's mother put her through, but she reassured him that everything was alright.
"Don't worry about it, RJ." Sophia said as she brushed the subject off. "It's all in the past. As far as I'm concerned, that's all behind me. Tell me about yourself ?"
"What do you want to know?"
"I would like to know how long it took you to grow those dreds of yours?"
"I grew my locks for each year that I was locked up to symbolize my prison time."
"What were you in jail for?"
"Armed robbery. I served six years in prison for it."
"No wonder why your hair's long."
"Exactly. In the joint, you have time to focus on self-improvement while you're waiting patiently to be paroled."
Talking about prison to Sophia, transported RJ back in time where he was isolated away from society and hardly received any visitors. RJ paused for a minute to reflect on the cruel and harsh experiences he endured while he was incarcerated in Joliet, when Sophia shared another unpleasant memory of her past.
"I see. I only been to the detention home when I was a minor and that was for shoplifting at the mall. Third offense." Disclosed Sophia.
"Well the Penn is not the place to be, but what you been through was worse than serving time in Joliet. You didn't deserve to endure that type of crap from your mother. The human mind can only tolerate so much."
"You got that right. I wonder how much abuse your body can take, RJ."
"You look like you want to find out."
"Am I too obvious?"
"No. I speak and understand body language, fluently.
"You're bilingual ? Ooo-la-la."
"I also speak the universal language of love."
"Tell me about love, RJ?"
"I like to think of love as a photograph that takes time to develop."
"RJ, you certainly know how to make a conversation sound sweet."
"You want some sugar?"
"I thought you would never ask." Sophia wraps her arms around and RJ and kisses him.
While the both of them are making out on the blanket, they're unaware that Marco Dane is watching them from afar through his binoculars.
To Be Continued ....