Chapter 1... Dominic
I’m not sure which day changed everything for me and my girl forever but I remember how it started and it started with her. I don’t mean Tristan, I mean her. I’d been with Tristan for two years. We met while I was working as a bouncer at a gentlemen's club in Huntington Beach, California. I fell for Tristan and hit the ground hard. When she made up her mind to move to Nevada with her dad and her step mom, I uprooted and followed her to the desert. I was that in love. Distance wasn’t an option for me.
The first six months were clear skies. I got a job in construction making that money. Labor has never bothered me, but sooner than later I wanted to own my own jujitsu center. I rented an apartment in North Las Vegas. Tristan never moved in because she claimed she felt her dad wasn’t ready to see his baby go. She divided her time between my place and her dad’s house. And better yet, I could still have my privacy.
Like Tristan, I made friends fast. On weekends I spent my entire days fight training, some nights I’d hang out with friends, some nights I’d hang out with Tristan. Other times I stayed home. This was one of those times. It was a Friday and I was tired as balls from working in the heat. I was lounging on the couch wondering what Tristan was up to. I texted her and waited a few minutes for her to text me back.
“Sup baby, I’m driving… I’ll call u when I get home” she texted me.
Fifteen minutes later I received another text.
“Can’t hang out tonight. Goin with my dad and Josephine to dinner”.
Lately texts from her were like this so no surprise. I texted back
“ok, call me when u get home”.
So back to the point … My trash was stinking up my apartment. It must have been the lasagna I dumped in the trash the night before. I slid open a window because the apartment was warm and airless. I twisted the trash bag at the top and lugged it outside and down the stairs. So as I crossed the parking lot to the trash dumpster, I saw her black Honda Civic pull up.