La Pantera

Ch.5 New Jersey Blues

Song for Chapter- Dance the Night Away by Van Halen

Whilst smoking away on the roof, Stevie felt a familiar itch start to crawl through her bones . Her jaws ground against one another, a consequence from abusing cocaine frequently. She did her best to ignore it , but the craving overtook her mind. It was all she could focus on , the feeling like a blaring siren roaring on full blast. A frustrated growl left her lips as she stood up and stamped out the cigarette roughly. Climbing down the tree, she was now in search of what her body wanted most. Leaping down with a perfect landing stance, her eyes gleamed in the dark as she stalked off into town. She knew she wasn't needed much the next day, which allowed her to focus on hunting down her needs. This felt like a night back home in Newark, New Jersey. The full moon gleamed down, allowing her to remember what home was like...

                                         May 1981

15 year old Stevie scuffed her boots on the rough concrete of the shady alleyway. She walked with her friends Matteo, Antonio, Lorenzo, Martin, Chuck, Matías, and Marcos. Matteo, Antonio, and Lorenzo were the Italian boys she had grown close with over the past 7 years . Martin was African American and so was Chuck, whilst Matías and Marcos were Latino. They'd been introduced to the rough group of Italians 3 years ago when they'd all ended up in the same gym class. Turns out they all had something in common; they'd all been bullied for their backgrounds.

"Betcha right now Ol' Man Hanks hasn't come up with the money we need ..", Chuck said with a smirk. "Nah man, he'll come up with it; we just take his social security check.", Stevie joked darkly , causing everyone to laugh. "I hope he knows we ain't messin' around.", Matías said with a warning tone. He was more of a serious person , not liking when people played games involving deals. "Relax...he'll fork it over , if he wants to live.", Lorenzo chuckled as they all headed towards the train station. "Don't worry guys ...it'll be ok.", Marcos smiled with ease.

Stevie reminisced at the memory with a bittersweet smile, clutching at the necklace Martin had given her tightly around her neck. It was hard to remember what happened to him, the memory too painful for her to bring up again. She had just turned the corner to come back when she noticed Nick ,who played Smokey ,talking with Christopher Penn, the actor who played B.J. Jackson , a friend of Rusty James. She slunk over to where they were talking quietly, like a panther in the shadows . She hid behind one trailer , having perfect access to what they were saying .

Nick was saying "Yeah I fucking hate him, thinks he's so talented when it was just Hinton who kissed his ass." Chris furrowed his brows not quite agreeing with Nick. "You have to admit, despite your opinion on him as a person, Matt is actually a really good actor. He's given me a few tips actually..", he started but Nick interrupted harshly "I don't wanna hear it! He prances around like he owns the place and it's so annoying!" Stevie chuckled , finding it very amusing that Nick was a big jealous baby, just like she had predicted. "You're delusional man...that's cause he KNOWS  he's got the talent here besides Mickey. Maybe if you focused on yourself you'd get that good too.", Chris jabbed at the end. Stevie's eyes widened in shock ; this kid called out the bitch of the set and she loved it . She smirked in satisfaction before stalking off to her trailer. Once in it, she searched her suitcase for any remaining coke she possibly could've saved. Finding a small amount left, she quickly placed it on her dressing table before inhaling without a straw, too impatient to do it properly.

Once the table was clear of coke, she sighed a deep , animalistic groan before chuckling darkly to herself. The coke triggered a manic feeling that spread through her entire being , causing euphoria. Laughter escaped her mouth uncontrollably before she started to get antsy. She turned on her radio before laughing more and dancing wildly to the rhythm. Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away" played in the background, the guitars and David Lee Roth's voice melting into one distortion as Stevie lost herself to the high.