“Why not?”
“I work all the time, okay? Why you all on my case like this?”
“Because it’s not healthy, young lady. No friends. No family. That’s not healthy at all.”
But there was nothing to be done about it now, and they both knew it. They rode in silence.
Then Vince, who couldn’t stop thinking about Ricki, reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then pulled out a thick wad of one-hundred-dollar bills. “That’s at least a couple thousand dollars,” he said to her as he sat the money on the console and began putting his wallet back into his back pocket. Then he reached the money out to her. “Take it.”
She took it, but with confusion on her face. “Two thousand dollars? What is it for?”
“They have phone charging ports in hotel rooms. Once you get your phone charged, call me and I’ll Zelle you more.”
She was blown away by his kindness. “But what is it for?”
“Your birthday, Rasheda. It’s for your birthday. Happy birthday.”
Ricki stared at him as if she couldn’t believe it. Then tears began to well-up in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her sincerely.
It took her a moment to compose herself, and then she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
“What is it?”
“Nobody had ever given me a birthday gift before.”
Vince frowned. “Not even your parents?”
“If we were good, we got a gift. But according to them, I never was. So I never got one.”
“What about your boyfriends? A young lady like you certainly had boyfriends in your life. Or at least have one now.”
“I had’em alright,” she said. Odd still was the sense of relief Vince felt when she used the past tense. “But they never stuck around long enough to be that serious.”
“And why not?” he asked her.
“They said I was too mean.”
That was plausible to Vince. But was it to her? “Were you?” he asked her.
“If the definition of mean is that I didn’t put up with their bullshit, then yes. I was very mean.” Then she caught herself. “Excuse my French.”
“Profanity is not French,” said Vince. “But you’re excused.”
Ricki looked at him with all sincerity. “Thank you so much for this gift,” she said, “but I’m not worried about myself. I can take care of myself. I’m worried about my sister.”
The way she was looking at him with those big browns melted him again.
“I know this is asking a lot,” she continued, “but is there any way you can help my sister instead of me?”
“You mean bail her out?”
Ricki wanted to sayand get her a great lawyer too, but she knew that was impossible. Great lawyers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe millions before it was all said and done. She wouldn’t go there.
Besides, Erica’s bail would be ten percent non-refundable. That would be forty thousand dollars! That meant she would have to pay him back all of that money. It was hopeless either way. “Yes,” she said. “If you can bail her out, I’ll work out a repayment plan beginning with this birthday money. If you would bail her out.”
Vince exhaled. It was obvious he had been thinking about it before their conversation. “I’m disinclined to do that,” he said honestly.
