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Roman Vanity

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“I didn't mean any disrespect.”

“Of course didn't man. What's your name?”

I had a good look at this Vice character. He was a light tone. He may have been a black and white mix or maybe mixed with something else. He was handsome in the face with a light patch of brown freckles under each eye. He was tall, probably the tallest one in the room. The way he looked at me was almost defying me.

“His name is AJ...”

I hadn't seen the person sneak up behind me. It was my Uncle Jory. He had crept up behind me. He looked even worse than he did before.

All of a sudden Vice's eyes changed from something teasing to something completely blank and empty.

“Uncle...”

“You made it. Good...now tell me what happened to my sister.”
He wasn't cutting any corners. He hadn't given me a friendly hug from a family member. I didn't really expect it though. There was only one thing on his mind and that was my sister. I didn't know what to tell him. My throat closed up with the secrets from the past. I could tell him anything at this point. It didn't matter. I could tell him anything I wanted to and he'd know no difference.

“You already know what happened...”

That was the answer that came out of my mouth. I figured it put it on him to branch his own conclusions. His sister was dead. The police everyone thought it was an accident.

“Don't play me boy,” he replied.

“I'm not.”

He turned his head. I could tell I had probably put him in a bad mood or maybe he was just like that. He walked slower now. He had turned away from me and towards this shady looking Vice character.

He shook his head, “Vice get all these sissies out my house.”

The old man started to cough.

“Including this one?” Vice asked looking at me.

The old man shook his head, “That one's my sister's born sissy. He can stay.”
This man had just called me a sissy. I felt my blood boil a little bit but the more I thought about it the pointless it really was. Why would I get upset over this in his house? He was letting me stay. That was all that mattered. I didn't need this man to love me. Nothing came from love. Nothing spout from love but hatred and more pain. That's all that was there in love.

I went back to my room not waiting for Vice to clear out the house or anything. I remembered how warm and invited I felt when Barka had brought me in the house. All that had disappeared. These walls didn't love me.

I didn't have time to deal with these people.

I needed a job.

The next day it was all I could think about was finding a job but the idea of leaving my room was the only thing that frightened me even more. I half expected Jaime to come up and check on me but no one came. I wondered if they had an internet. I could go online and find some places that were hiring. It could definitely help me with my plans to get out of here. Still to find a computer I would have to leave out of my room and that was what I was afraid of the most.

I walked out of the room after getting dressed. I didn't know what to wear so I just threw on a v-neck and snap-back hat. I wanted to be comfortable if I had to face these people for another day. As I walked down the hallway I noticed the room across from mine was slightly open. For some reason I thought it was just smart to look in there...searching for a computer.

That was when I saw him again.

The dark eyed Roman.

He had no shirt on. He had only a towel wrapped around his waist. I could see his body now. He was covered in tattoos all over his torso. I couldn't peel my eyes off of him . He had two full sleeve tattoos and across his back was a dragon. I could see the water dripping down his back and his towel was so low that I could see the begin of his ass. He had a nice ass and it poked slightly out of the white towel. Every part of me just wanted to lick that water from the bottom his ass to the top.

I could feel my manhood rising all over again.

“Yo ok bro?”

I hadn't noticed him staring at me.

“Um...sorry...I was just looking for a computer.”
“Oh...right there in the corner. You can use my desktop.”

“I can always come back a little later.”
“Why would you do that?”

I shrugged and walked into the room. His room was a bit bigger than mine and he had decorated it with all a soft brown and tan color. The different shades made the room feel warm and inviting. On the wall I saw a painting. It was a naked man, cupping his penis in a sea of red flowers. As I walked closer I noticed the man looked awfully familiar. The painting was a painting of Vice from last night. Hadn't Vice said they were lovers? That would explain the painting.

“You like art?” he asked.

“I'm actually an artist. I paint sometimes. I actually do mostly graphic design work. That's actually why I want to use your computer.”
“Well we have something in common.”

“You like graphic design.”

“No...I paint. I definitely prefer the old arts. This graphic design stuff. That's not art. I can't really get into that shit.”

His voice trailed off as he went into the bathroom. I wondered if he realized that I may take some offense to that but if he did there was no true notion. I was nervous as he walked into the bathroom and I sat on his computer in the corner of the room. It was wide apple computer with a flat screen. I looked around for the mouse everywhere, pulling out the chair and everything.

“What are you doing?” he asked me.

He walked out of the bathroom. This time he had on underwear instead of a towel. The underwear were long and tight. They clung to his body. I could see the bulge in front of him as he slowly walked to approach me. I tried not to gawk. I just turned back to the computer. Damn this man was so sexy. He had to know it too. Who walked around in their underwear all willy nilly?

“Looking for the mouse.”

“Um...it's a touch screen computer...”

I hadn't noticed him behind me until I smelled him. He smelled clean like soap and a hint of D&G cologne that I had smelled a long time ago. I tried to remember where I had smelled the cologne from. Then it came to me all of a sudden. It was the same cologne my father used to wear back in the day. I couldn't believe memories of my father just came shooting up into my head.

“See like this...”

He reached over me sliding his hand across the screen. The images on the screen moved as he did, “Thanks...so you are Roman?”

It had appeared to me that we hadn't even introduced ourselves. I figured then though why would he want to get to know me. My eye still looked like crap. My arm was wrapped up like a mummy in the cast.

“Yessir. Roman Badass.”

“I'm...”

“I know who you are. Your uncle talks a lot about you.”

“I doubt that.”

My uncle didn't know a damn thing about me.

Roman laughed. He was still close to me even though he showed me how to use the computer. He was watching over me as though making sure I didn't mess up his whole system. I fumbled through it knowing damn well I didn't know how to work this thing. I really just wanted to give up but I couldn't with him just peering over me watching.

“He says you look like your mother. Honestly you do...”

“You met my mother?”

“Once. Your uncle had taken me when he went to see her in the hospital. Supposedly that guy she was dating had beat her bloody. I was a kid then...maybe twelve or thirteen.”
“You've been with my uncle that long?”

Roman nodded, “I've been with him the longest of all his children. Well Vice and I have. I think I saw you for a minute too. You were scrawny back then. You scrawny as hell now. You need some meat on those bones boy...”

He laughed but I just looked at him. I knew he meant it as a joke but when someone who was that perfect teased you it kind of went straight for the jugular.

“Oh I got other things to worry about. I need to make some money.”

“Ask your uncle.”

“No I need my own money. I'm trying to get out of here.”
He shook his head, “Well you aren't going to find it on the computer. Come with me to the shore. I have a friend who owes me a favor. I may be able to get you in Scrawny.”
“My names AJ.”

“Sure Scrawny. Meet me downstairs in ten.”

I didn't know why he was being nice to me. Hell I didn't care. I was going out with Roman and I definitely went to my room to change. I figured I'd wear something a little nicer since he was going to be there. God knows why I did. I brushed my hair, sprayed on some cologne and put on my favorite sports jacket.

As I made my way downstairs I heard talking. I didn't know exactly who it was but then I heard the voices and I saw that one was Jaime and the other was Roman.

“You can't take him down to the shore.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not Roman. Uncle Jory said we aren't allowed to go to the shore. After the accident...”

“Fuck the accident. I'm not a punk Jaime. The rest of you can sit around in this house scared if your own shadows if you want to. No one is keeping me from what I got to do.”

“Ok big brother, you always know best, you do what you got to do, all I'm saying is leave the kid here. He's not about this life.”

Suddenly there were footsteps behind me.

“It's not nice to spy.”

I almost could choke when the person who said that patted me on the back. I looked back to see that it was Neiman walking down the steps. He gave me a slight smile as he did it and I walked down the steps after him.

When I made it to the bottom of the steps I could see that Jaime looked pissed. His handsome face was all rolled up into anger.

Luckily it moved from Roman and not to me. He had turned his grown to Neiman.

“Where were you last night?”

“I forgot about the party bro, calm down.”

“You forgot? You FORGOT? Am I the only one who cares about keeping this family together?”

As I got to the bottom of the steps. I turned to see Nima. She was passed out on the couch. She looked like a drunk mess the way she was laying there. Her leg was straddled against the high over the ledge and her head was falling off the edge. A part of me wondered if she was still alive. Did no one else seem to care that there was this girl passed out in the middle of the couch.

The only person that even made mention of it was Neiman, “Look at her. She gets trashed and embarrasses us. At least I had the respect not to show up. Father Jory doesn't care. He hates those dumb parties.”

“It's about family,” Jaime stated.

Family.

The idea and the word seemed so unfamiliar to me. Were my mother, Biggie and I a family? Hell, if we were it was definitely a deranged one.

Roman shook his head, “Listen, no one has time to sit around and hear you whine Jaime. Hey, kid! Are we riding or not?”

“Bring him back by 8. I'm having a quiet dinner with the family...”

Roman ignored Jaime as we walked out. It was clear that they definitely paid no mind to Jaime. Jaime seemed probably the same age as Roman. I figured they must have been in their mid twenties. I wasn't sure but I was confused on how different they were. Jaime seemed so mature and proper. He was so clean cut while Roman seemed well...just like he said his name was. He seemed like a Badass. I looked back and saw that Jaime didn't want me to go. He had that look in his eyes but he didn't warn me.

We walked out and were walking to what I believed was a garage. Roman walked out further in front of me.

“He pisses me off.”

“Jaime?”

“That was Vice in Jaime's mouth. Jaime is so scared of Vice. Hell they all are. They all follow Vice's rules. Father Jory knows I don't do rules. I don't do rules, dammit. From the get-go. I'm free, dammit.”

He was pissed. At that moment when he mentioned Vice I wanted to ask him what their history was. They were both like sons to Jory but had they dated? Were they still dating? The question burned on my lips but I was afraid to ask because Roman seemed so irritated.

When we got to the garage I saw several cars. Some were older and some were newer. There were maybe four of five in there. I realized he wasn't going for any of the cars though. He went to the shelf and handed me a helmet. I hesitated as I took it from him.

“You have ridden on the back of a motorcycle before haven't you?” Roman asked me.

“Um...yeah...”

It was a lie. I hadn't ridden anywhere close to a motorcycle before. I put on the helmet though and we walked over to his bike. As I sat on the back of it, I'm sure it was clear to him that I hadn't ridden on a motorcycle before. I was so close to him on his back that he slid his hand on my leg and grabbed him. He put it on the side.

“You put your leg there. Ok? And hold onto me. Don't let go. Wrap your hands around my stomach.”

The idea of straddling his back excited me almost as much as the motorcycle. I grabbed his waste and at that moment he looked back at me. I wondered what he was thinking but he had those same eyes that he had looked at me the day before. He put his helmet on and we'd gone.

The ride was fast and furious. At first I was calm but sooner or later I felt sure that I was going to lose my life. He was going fast. He was going almost 90 through the brick roads of Captiva Island. There palm trees everywhere and for some reason I loved the palm trees. They looked like happiness to me for some reason. I held on tighter to him. My hands clutched his sides. I was so drawn into him. I felt afraid but I felt excited as well.

We kept riding until we got to a shore. The shore was busy. There were a bunch of stores on the boardwalk and then a little further down there were the beaches. People were walking around the beaches with their bikinis on. It was almost winter really and it was nice to see that it remained hot here throughout most of the year.

“Damn boy, you almost broke my ribs,” he stated.

We had parked on the boardwalk. There were so many people around us. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

He laughed about it but I blushed with embarrassment, “Sorry.”

“You so serious...”

“What?”

“You are so serious. Don't you ever laugh? Don't you ever smile?”

If you saw what I saw you would have lost your smile too. He put his hand on my face though and with his finger he stretched out the sides of my mouth. He smiled and stretched his finger across my face. I couldn't believe this guy was here teaching me how to smile.

I finally let out a smile, “Happy?”

“Extremely. Your jaw doesn't look as swollen when you smile.”

I gave him a push and laughed. This time my smile was real. It was actually real. It had been a while before someone had made me truly laugh. A warm feeling dug up in my stomach. It had been such a long time since I actually wanted to laugh.

“C`mon.”

He grabbed me by my hand. It was actually weird because he didn't find it awkward at all to be holding my hand leading me through the city like I was some kid or something. He didn't care that several people had turned around to look at us as we walked through the boardwalk. For the most part it was happy though. No one seemed to be judging too badly. Most people were interested in the tons of games that were lined up at the shore.

Everyone seemed to be having fun. We ended up looking at a couple of them. Roman pointed to some interesting ones and explained what they were. He never let go of my hand as he did. I didn't get why Jaime had told me to watch out for him. He wasn't like some sweet nice guy like Jaime. It was clear that he had an edge to him but he seemed to mean well from what I could see.

“This way...”

He lead me to the shore. The sands were high. I should have kept on what I had before if I knew we were playing in sand. We took off our shoes and walked across the shore.

“I thought you were going to take me to find a job?” I asked him.

“All in time. What you don't want to hang out with me?”

“I didn't say that...”

“So you do want to hang out with me?”

He laughed. I sighed. He definitely was a character but once again I found myself smiling. He had finally let go of my hand and had run ahead into the water. He ran into the water jeans and all. He didn't seem to give a damn. The jeans were really nice too.

I stood on the shore watching him as he ran into the water. He had the audacity to come back and kick up some water at me. It wasn't just water. The water and sand had gotten all over my favorite shirt. I stood there almost in shock.

“So is this where your reputation comes from? You being an asshole?”

He had meant it in a joking way. I figured he would take it as such. I even had a smile on my face. Roman didn't look at me with a smile though. His face had got serious. One eyebrow had raised up in the sexiest way imaginable.

“Reputation?”

“I was just joking?”

“Seems like my brothers have big mouths huh? I wonder which one though?” Roman stated shaking his head.

“Look I didn't mean to...”

“It is so going to rain,” he cut me off, “Fuck...I can't believe this shit. We just got here.”

I looked at the sky. There were a few clouds but the sun was still out. What was he talking about? As soon as I even thought it though, I felt a drizzle fall on my nose. Roman looked at me and I looked at each other. Almost like it was the end of the world the sky all of a sudden grew immediatley dark. The clouds covered up the sun almost completely.

“Oh shit,” Roman laughed.

At that moment I saw him just running. He hadn't called out for me or grabbed my hand like he did before. He was just jetting up the sides of the beach. I couldn't believe he was just leaving me like that. I ran after him but we were both too late.

The rains came down heavy. These Florida storms were something else. One moment it was sunny and the next moment it looked like a typhoon.

I chased behind Roman falling in the sand through the rain. He was fast as hell and he made his way back up to the boardwalk. All around us other people were scattering as well.

I had chased him down to a bar.

Roman was under the door and left it open for me.

“Thanks for leaving?” I stated.

He just laughed but didn't reply. We walked into the bar to see that it was relatively empty. I didn't believe they were actually open when I walked in. On the right hand side was an older woman. She was heavy set and had boobs that seemed to hang down to her navel. She smiled at Roman with a toothless grin.

“Here comes trouble...” she stated at him.

Again there was that reference. Roman had definitely had to make a name for himself around here. I still couldn't see it. He jokes around but the way people just assumed he was “trouble” was interesting. She didn't smile at him though.

“Where's Doc?” he asked her.

“Gone...what we got here. Your newest fan?”

She was staring at me when she asked. Roman looked at me and laughed, “Something like that I think.”

“I'm not your fan.”

“I'm just joking. He's the newest Vanity.”

“Vanity?” she asked shaking her head, “I thought the old man closed the house down.”

“I'm not a Vanity.”

Roman laughed at that moment but they were paying me any mind. They continued to have a conversation between themselves. I just decided to let them have it. Truth was I was kind of turned off by the comment Roman stated about me being a fan. It was the same sort of thing I had gotten from Vice the night before.

I was there for almost ten minutes. I thought he completley forgot about me until he came over. He had two beers in his hand and he gave me one of them.

“You got the job?”

“What?”

“You got the job,” he stated, “That Lady back there was Irma. Her husband owns the joint but he's never around. She says you can start tomorrow. I'll bring you...”

That quick. I hadn't even interviewed. I hadn't even met the owner. I looked at him and he smiled as though wanting a round of applause.

“Thank you,” I said instead.

“No doubt. I'd do anything for my brothers.”
“I'm not your brother,” I repeated.

He shook his head and laughed, “Sure. Anyway. Back to my reputation. What did you hear from Vice?”

“Nothing really. I just maybe assumed something.”
“Assumed what?”

“Probably that you were some sort of slick playboy.”

He looked at me and laughed. He took a long gulp of his beer. I had caught him off guard with it. He seemed to take that minute to really gather up what he was going to say next. It felt good to see him squirm for a moment.

“I'll admit... I am a tease. I am no virgin either by far. I only dated one person in my life though...”

“Vice.”
“Yeah. I figured he told you that. He never misses the chance to gloat that he was the only guy who had my heart.”

“But aren't you like house brothers?”

“Yeah...but we liked each other before the old man took us in. Vice and I came in together. He found us at the homeless shelter. We were inseperable.”

“Were...?”

The question was left in the open for a while. He didn't answer it. He just took another sip of beer. So there was something that made Roman uncomfortable and shy. It was Vice. All of a sudden the shoe was on the other foot and it was him being awkward.

“Enough about Vice. What about you...”

He was running. He still hadn't answered whether Vice and him were still dating. Were they still together or not? It was a simple idea and he knew I wanted to know but he was beating around the bush. He was avoiding the question.

“What about me?”

“Are you gay, bisexual...straight?”

“Curious...”
“Curious? You should talk to my brother Neiman. That is so strange to me. Like how is one older then 12 but still curious. Have you ever been with a guy?””

My throat closed up.

“Only one.”

I had almost choked on the words and Roman noticed. He had given me this look. It was this strong look and weird.

“Have you ever been interested in other guys?” he asked.

Hell yeah. I'm interested in you.

Instead I just shook my head, “Not really. Maybe a thought here and there. What about you? Are you gay, bisexual or straight?”

“Bisexual,” he stated shaking his head, “Like I said no rules.”

Except when it came to Vice huh? I didn't say anything. I just remained silent and sat there. He drank his beer but it was something else that had gotten his attention. I wasn't sure what it was but he was looking out of the window.

“We should probably get out of here,” he suggested.

Just as he got up to lead the way, a group of guys walked into the bar. It was clear some of them were gay. They didn't seem to see us and walked right up to old Irma talking to her about something. I counted how many there were. There were six. I could tell by Roman's eyes that he knew them and could also tell by Roman's eyes that he didn't like them.

One of the guys looked over our way finally. He was Spanish and tall. He was probably as tall as Vice was. He stood maybe 6'2”. He walked over to us slowly though.

“Wow, look who it is...Badass Vanity...”

“Rook, what's going on man, long time.”
“Not that long.”

The other guys were walking up to us as well. It was clear they were meaning to threaten us. The faces they had on were not happy. They were not amused. They looked pissed. Rook stared at us.

“Whose that?” Rook asked.

“He's a Vanity,” Roman stated shaking his head, “AJ Vanity.”

I'm not a Vanity. The guy Rook looked at me hard. He was attractive and sort of had some features similar to Vice. He didn't have as many tattoos as Roman but he did have quite a lot and even had one on his face. It was a huge tear right underneath his eye. He had cut his eyes short but they were still thick. He gave me a look and smiled.

“He sexy as fuck,” Rook stated, “What's good papi?”

He was staring me up and down in this way that made me almost want to cover myself up a little. It looked like he wanted to have sex with me right here and now in front of Roman and everyone.

“C`mon man. What do ya'll want?” Roman cut him off, “We have truce with House Havok.”

“That truce died bro. That truth died when your brother killed mine.”

At that moment Rook pulled out a knife...