7 Chapter Seven

Alex made sure the door was completely shut before going off on Dante, "What the hell is wrong with you, man?"

"What?" Dante answered, feigning ignorance.

"What?" Alex repeated with utter disbelief, "What do you mean 'what'? You can't babysit the owner's kid at the site, especially if her parents don't know! If the company found out, they'd pull the entire crew off the project and our jobs would get axed! How do you expect to pay off your brother's medical bills without a job, dumbass!" Alex yelled, getting dangerously close to Dante.

Dante closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "First of all Alex, she's an adult- she's eighteen. Second, I'm not babysitting, she's waiting for me to finish my job so I can give her a ride home so she can tutor Manny. Also, don't start with her damn parents because they obviously think she can take care of herself if they can skip town and leave her alone at their place!" Dante barked at Alex.

Dante could see the wheels turning in Alex's mind and finally his voice softened and he placed his hand gently on Dante's shoulder, "Mano, I think you're getting too close," Dante swatted the arm away. Alex sighed, "Whatever man. Just make sure it doesn't happen tomorrow."

Dante flipped the bird at Alex's turned back as he walked away from the conversation. Dante walked in circles around the room, trying to cool down before going back to the first guest bathroom.

Naya shifted uncomfortably in her spot, "What was that about?" she asked even though it was obvious she had eavesdropped.

"Nothing," Dante said. And he'd meant it. His conversation with Alex had not changed Dante's plans in the slightest. In fact, it'd only encouraged him to make sure Naya made it to her study sessions with her brother. Dante was fuming; he felt Alex had no right to kick Naya out. If things got too dangerous, Dante figured they could just put her in another room or give her a hard hat. Why'd Alex have to make it a big deal? Dante was ready to be responsible for this girl and Alex should have minded his own business. Dante huffed under his breath, indicating to Naya that he was clearly upset over Alex's intervention. The two sat quietly in their corners engrossing their attention into their work so they wouldn't have to address the tension in the air.

At six o'clock sharp, the crew wrapped up work and started heading home. Dante was still pissed off at Alex, but he'd had an hour to cool down. Naya followed Dante down the stairs to his rundown truck. He'd started the engine and began driving away when he felt a small poke at his arm. "Um, I think you forgot something," Naya said, pointing to the side mirror. Dante looked and saw Freddie running down the streets like a madman, chasing the car and yelling Dante's name through the posh neighborhood.

The pickup truck skidded to a stop and a breathless and furious Freddie climbed into the car, "What the f-" Freddie suddenly noticed Dante's guest. Freddie changed his poise almost immediately, "We've already met, but the name's Freddie," he said as he extended his sweat covered hand to Naya. Naya didn't even seem to notice and shook it firmly.

"Naya," She said, introducing herself with a polite smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Freddie was about to continue his conversation with Naya when he suddenly remembered Dante's great betrayal, "You!" Freddie yelled, raising his extended index finger at Dante. Freddie reached over Naya to hit Dante, "Man, you were just gonna leave me all alone at the house with a dead cell phone and the last bag of stale chips on the site? Tha's cold man," Freddie continued scolding Dante when Naya caught a glance at her reflection in the rear view mirror, finally noticing how messy her hair had gotten.

She loosened her braid and pulled it up into a high ponytail. She was only able to wrap it around one when - SNAP! - her hair tie broke. Freddie noticed her hold the broken band in her hand looking dejected. "Oh, I gotchu girl," Freddie dug into the toolbox and found a tight blue rubber band. Naya accepted the gift gratefully and pulled her hair into an updo while Freddie tuned the radio to the hip hop and R&B station.

"It was a condom, right? Naya asked Freddie.

Dante nearly swerved and lost control of the car. Freddie was caught off guard too, but at least he had context.

"Yeah," Freddie chuckled, "my friend needed one and I just happened to have one that day.

Dante snorted at Freddie's blatant lie, "Yeah, just 'happened' to have one that day." Dante playfully nudged Naya, "His toolbox has a secret compartment where he hides condoms and his stash."

Naya raised her eyebrow and smirked, "Well now I'm wondering how you know all that." Freddie cackled in his seat and high fived Naya as Dante tuned a deep shade of red. Dante rolled his eyes over the two's chuminess but was secretly glad the two were getting along. It was like Freddie was putting his stamp of approval on Naya. Dante would be lying if he said he wasn't a little jealous though. Naya and Freddie had almost instantly clicked, but her conversations with Dante were always so short, as if she was still nervous around him.

The truck rolled to a stop at a red light and Dante saw an elderly white woman staring at the group warily from the street corner. Dante could almost see the assumptions this woman was cooking up in her head behind her dark toned sunglasses and shiny pink visor and imagined the beaten up pickup truck from the woman's perspective. I

t was a bit unusual, a tiny Indian girl donned in designer clothing sandwiched between a toned latino with a tattoo on his shoulder and a black man with the tips of his curly hair bleached wasn't exactly something you saw everyday. Dante smirked, making direct eye contact with the woman. He formed his fingers into a finger gun and aimed it at the lady.

The woman gasped and rummaged through her large purse to find her phone, but it was too late- the truck had already taken off and the finger gun was replaced with a middle finger left hanging out the window.