The Mafia's Good Girl

4. FAVOR

~ Violet ~

“Officer, this is just a misunderstanding!”

Violet had been repeating the same words over and over again as she was being questioned at the police station. When the police came to raid The Union, all they could find was empty whiskey bottles, a passed out Dylan, and Violet standing in the staff room. Even all the strippers were gone without a trace. Violet must admit, they were very well trained.

“We got a tip that some gang members were meeting at the bar. Did you not see any of them?” the police officer asked her again.

“No, for the last time, I told you, I was closing down the bar and my brother was passed out because he drank too much. We were all alone in there,” Violet said reassuringly. “If you don’t believe me, check the register. I’ve closed the books and I was getting ready to leave, and about half an hour later, you guys came in,”

The police officer let out a sigh and slumped back to his chair. He was watching Violet’s expression like a hawk, but she wasn’t giving anything away. Sure, spending her Saturday morning in a police interrogation room wasn’t something she was keen on doing, but at this rate, this might as well happen.

“Sir, with all due respect, I think the girl’s telling the truth,” another cop suddenly chimed in. He was younger and probably lower in the ranks. He was standing in the back of the room and wearing a hat. Violet started to notice him, and his face looked familiar to her.

“What’s that, Miller?” the older cop said.

“I know her. And I know her brother. She’s a good girl, she’s not the kind that would lie,”

Violet then realized that this guy was Jesse Miller. He was a couple of years older than Dylan and he used to live down the street from her. Jesse was an all-American boy, tall, blonde, and handsome. They weren’t very close, but they did go to the same high school.

“You’ll vouch for her?” the older cop asked again.

“Yes, sir,” Jesse said firmly.

“Well, alright,” the older cop let out a final sigh. “We don’t have any evidence. Innocent until proven otherwise, right?”

“Does this mean I can go?” Violet asked eagerly.

“Yes,” Jesse replied.

“And my brother?”

“Him too,”

Violet let out the biggest sigh of relief as the other cops began leaving the room. Jesse was left alone with Violet and he gave her a reassuring smile.

“Thanks, Jesse,” Violet whispered.

“Let me drive you guys back,” he nodded.

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When Violet was finally released from the police station, it was already daylight. It was about 10 in the morning and Dylan was still dead asleep in the back of the car. Jesse was driving and Violet sat in the front seat.

Jesse and Violet enjoyed some chitchatting on the way back home. Violet told him about the situation with her mom and Jesse talked about what he did after high school and joining the police academy. Violet actually enjoyed their talks. Jesse was funny and easy to talk to, it was like catching up with an old friend. If they had met under better circumstances, Violet might’ve enjoyed it even more.

And yes, of course Violet noticed how good-looking Jesse was. He was well built, had gorgeous blue eyes, and a lovely smile. Sometimes she’d even catch him looking in her direction too, but Violet didn't want to get big headed. She just assumed that he was trying to look at the side mirror.

After about half an hour of driving, the car pulled to a stop in front of Violet’s apartment building. Violet took off her seatbelt and glanced back at the sleeping Dylan.

“I can help carry him in?” Jesse said as if he could read her mind.

“Oh, no, you’ve done so much for us already,” Violet said politely. “I’ve done this plenty of times, I got it,”

“Oh, okay,” Jesse nodded.

Violet got out of the car and pulled Dylan out by his shoulders. He was somewhere in between awake and dreaming. Violet put his arms around her and dragged him to the sidewalk.

“Thank you for driving us,” Violet said as Jesse rolled down his window. “And thanks again for what you did,”

“No problem, I know you two are innocent,” Jesse said, pausing for a beat before adding, “Well, you at least,”

Violet cracked out a smile. She then turned to her heels and she was about to climb up the stairs when Jesse called out to her again.

“Hey, Violet,”

“Yeah?”

Violet whipped her head back and watched as Jesse shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

“I know this may sound weird or whatever, but do you maybe wanna grab dinner with me sometime?” he said.

Violet wasn’t expecting this at all. Growing up, Jesse was about five or six years older than her. She never thought he’d see her as more than just the little girl that lives down the street.

Is he asking me out on a date?

Violet thought about asking the question, but somehow that made her feel embarrassed. It could just be a normal dinner. Maybe he wanted to catch up some more and continue the talks they had in the car.

“Um, yeah, sure,” Violet replied. “Dinner sounds good,”

“Great. I’ll call you?” he said.

“Okay,”

Jesse didn’t bother getting her number. He probably had it from the station earlier because Violet had to fill out a bunch of paperwork. He gave her one last smile before driving the car away. Violet stared at him for a second longer before turning to her heels, heading into the apartment building.

“You know he meant that as a date, right?”

Violet suddenly heard Dylan’s coherent voice. She was dragging him up the stairs and it turned out that he was awake all this time. Violet immediately let go of his arms and Dylan fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“Ouch!” he protested.

“Shut up, Dylan. He just saved our asses,” Violet hissed and continued up the stairs.

“You did that actually. You saved all our asses,” Dylan chuckled and followed her up. “Thanks a lot, Vi,”

Violet let out a deep sigh. She couldn’t care less about the mafia, she only cared about Dylan. If she gave them up, Dylan would get dragged down with them. That was the only reason why she lied for them to the cops.

And that was one time too many.

Dylan and Violet were about to reach the door, but Violet stopped her brother from getting in. She had one last thing to say and she didn’t want their mother to hear this.

“Dylan, you’ve gotta stop doing this,” Violet said rather sternly.

“Doing what?” he was playing dumb.

“The private parties. We can make do without them. Especially if it’s connected to the… freaking mafia!” Violet hissed the last part so only Dylan could hear her.

“Oh, really?” Dylan scoffed. He then pulled out his phone and showed Violet the screen. “Look at how much tips I’m getting just from last night,”

“Those are just the tips?” Violet gaped. She stared at the zeroes attached to the last p*****t Dylan received on his Venmo account.

“10,000 dollars for a night, baby,” Dylan hollered and put his phone away. He pushed past the shocked Violet and opened the door to their apartment.

10,000 dollars just for tips? For one person? For one night?

“Ma, we’re home!” Dylan announced proudly and stepped inside. Violet was following behind him.

“Violet, Dylan, where have you two been?” their mother came out with a concerned look.

“We had some work to do down at The Union,” he said simply. “It ran long so we ended up sleeping over there,”

“Oh, okay. Do you guys want some breakfast?” their mom didn’t wait for them to answer and she already decided, “I’ll make you some breakfast,”

“No, mom, it’s okay. I’m tired, I’m just gonna sleep,” Violet said.

“Nonsense, you need to eat something. Look at you, you’re so thin,” her mom wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Just eat a little and you can sleep after,”

Barbara Carvey stepped into the kitchen as her son and daughter followed right behind her. Today was a good day for Violet’s mom. It seemed like she remembered most of everything. On these kinds of days, Violet would consider it a blessing. So even though she hadn’t slept all night and she was dying for a hot shower, she obeyed her mom’s wishes and ate breakfast with her family.

Violet, Dylan, and Barbara sat around the small dining table and ate the eggs and bacon that Barbara made. Dylan and Barbara were talking about a TV show Barbara watched last night and Violet was tuning out. She was mostly silent, but Violet enjoyed the comfort of being around her mom and brother.

Honestly, Violet was still thinking about the 10,000 dollars Dylan got as tips. She did a quick math and if Dylan could do that just once a week, they’d be 40,000 dollars richer every month. That kind of money could go a long way, especially that they still need to pay the mortgage and their dad’s debt. And not to mention, Barbara would be able to get better treatment for her Alzheimer’s.

“So, are you gonna go out with him?” Dylan’s voice suddenly broke through Violet’s daydreaming.

“Huh?” she looked up instinctively. Her mom and brother were staring right at her.

“Go out?” Barbara repeated Dylan’s words. “Violet’s got a date?”

“Yeah, with a policeman,” Dylan snickered.

“No, it’s not a date. It’s just dinner,” Violet glared at him.

“A policeman?” Barbara was now very interested. “How did you two meet?”

“At the police station interrogation room—“ Dylan was jokingly answering, but Violet quickly stepped on his foot to stop him from talking.

“No, don’t listen to him,” Violet said quickly. “He’s Jesse Miller, mom. He used to live down the street,”

“Oh, Jesse Miller,” Barbara looked up as if she was thinking hard about something. “I remember him. He’s a good looking kid,”

“And he’s asked Violet out on a date,” Dylan interjected again.

“It’s just dinner,” Violet rolled her eyes dramatically. “Besides, a guy like him is never gonna be interested in a girl like me,”

“What do you mean?” her mother asked.

“He’s, like, beautiful. And I’m all… plain,” she sighed, motioning to her face and body.

Violet never had much luck with guys in her life. She was always too bookish and serious. When all the girls in her high school were making make up tutorials on Youtube or making Tik Tok Videos, Violet stayed in the library to study or at the coffee shop to work. Guys like Jesse Miller would never notice someone like her. The only reason he was so nice to her was because they used to be neighbors and he felt bad that her innocent ass was being dragged to the police station.

“That’s nonsense, Vi. You’re beautiful. And plenty of guys adore you,” her mother said in protest.

Of course you have to say that, mom. You’re my mom.

“Pssh, yeah right, which guys?” she scoffed.

“The one that sent you the gift,”

“What gift?”

“There’s a package sent for you. It arrived this morning,”

“For me?”

“A very nice man in a suit sent it. I put it in your room,”

Violet narrowed her eyes at her mom, but Barbara only shrugged. She didn’t even have any guy friends, let alone a gentleman caller.

“And I don't remember ordering anything from sss…” she trailed.

Plus, sss delivery guys wouldn’t wear suits.

Violet couldn’t wait any longer. She instantly got to her feet and raced to her bedroom. It was a small apartment, so it didn't take her long for her to get there. Violet opened the door to find a big white box sitting on her. She approached the box and her finger trailed the lid. Violet could feel the hard material of the box and she knew this must an expensive packaging.

Definitely not sss.

Slowly and gently, Violet opened the lid and she gasped at the sight before her. Inside the box was a glamorous arrangement of purple flowers. Roses to be exact. Violet had never seen such beautiful flowers in her life.

“Woah, those look mighty expensive?”

Violet whipped her head to see Dylan standing at the doorframe. He was holding a plate and eating as he walked inside her room.

“I didn’t even know they could make violet roses,” Violet giggled to herself. She had seen plenty of red, pink, or white roses before. But she had never seen it in this color.

And Violet Rose is my name.

“Who’s it from?” Dylan asked.

Violet tried to reach around the box to see if there was a card and she found something resembling an envelope at the bottom of the box, underneath all the roses. She pulled it out and it was a big white envelope, much too thick for a card.

Violet and Dylan exchanged a curious look as Violet held the heavy envelope in her hand. They then took a peek at what’s inside, and their jaws dropped to the ground.

“Oh my god, Dylan!” Violet gasped. Her hands were shaking.

“s**t!” Dylan muttered. “That’s thirty grand right there,”

Inside the white envelope were three stacks of 10,000 dollar notes. The only other time Violet has held this much cash in her hand was when she was counting the register at work.

Also tucked inside the envelope was a small black card. Dylan watched in bewilderment as Violet pulled the black card out.

“What’s it say?” he asked.

Violet swallowed hard as she read the one line written in gold ink. She couldn’t even open her mouth to speak. She simply showed the card to Dylan and let him read it by himself.

“ Now we’re even. – D V Z. ”

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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -