Read Online Gorilla Beach by Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi - Free Book Online Page A

dumped the daiquiri in the trash.
    Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. “Gia!” screamed Bella. “What the fuck? You sprayed bronzer all over the bathroom!”
    â€œThe frickin’ bottle blew up in my hand. I’m suing the manufacturer! It wasn’t my fault!”
    â€œGiuseppe Troublino left a message on my cell phone. I can’t face him or Tony. You have to go to the body shop and pick up the Honda.”
    â€œBut … I need a tan.”
    â€œGet the car, then get the tan.”
    Bella hung up. Jeez, you paint the room bronze and your best friend goes apeshit. Gia headed for Boulevard, hailed a cab, and sulked in the backseat all the way to Giuseppe’s garage.
    She walked through the open bay doors. The garage was what she expected. Tools, rags, grime, nudie pinup calendar on the wall. In the back, an office with a window. A car was up on the hydraulic lift. Another parked below had its hood open. No sign of the Honda, or any people. “Hello! I’m here!”
    An old man rolled out from underneath a car. He was wearing jeans that were more grease than denim, a T-shirt that might’vebeen white in the seventies, and an American-flag bandanna around his wrinkled neck. He sat upright and wiped off his hands with an oil-saturated rag. Gia noticed that the half-moons of his fingernails were black.
    When he saw Gia, though, he grinned brightly. Took a decade off his craggy face. “How can I help you?”
    â€œAre you Tony Troublino’s grandfather?”
    â€œI prefer to call myself Anthony’s handsome and virile father’s father. But, yeah. Who’s asking?”
    â€œI’m Gia, Bella’s cousin. I’m here about the Honda.”
    Giuseppe frowned. Uh-oh. “About that, I’ve got some sad news. The Honda died this morning. I’m sorry. We did everything we could.”
    Gia was overcome. She’d killed Bella’s car! This was unforgivable. How could she ever make it up to her? “Can I see the body?” she asked. Paying her respects was the decent thing to do.
    â€œAre you sure you’re up for it?”
    She nodded, and braced herself. He brought her behind the garage, to the car morgue. There was the Honda, the bumper off, side door crushed, and the roof dented.
    â€œI told Tony last summer that this car wouldn’t make it another thousand miles,” Giuseppe said. “I can give you a couple hundred for the scrap and parts.”
    Jesus. One day you had wheels. The next day, you had lunch money. “Cash would be good,” she said, wiping away a single tear.
    â€œYou’re very brave. If there’s anything I can do …”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œMy wife Tina should be in the office. She’ll give you the money.”
    Gia found the place all right, but instead of Tina, Tony, Bella’s ex, sat at the desk. He wore Air Jordans, gray track pants, and a red tank top ironed to a neat crispness. The hair was trimmed short. His bulging, muscular arms and chest were waxed and oiled to afine sheen. Tony was an advertisement for the GTL lifestyle. Gia was momentarily blinded by the buff.
    â€œYou look good, Gia,” he said, smiling, standing to give her a hug. “Sorry about the Honda.”
    What would she tell Bella? “Still managing the gym?”
    â€œSure am,” he said. “You?”
    â€œCurrently between dead-end jobs.”
    â€œI hear you.” He paused for a beat. “How’s Bella? I’d ask her myself, but she refuses to talk to me after she dumped my ass for no friggin’ reason.”
    Whoa! He cut right to the heart of the matter. He must miss her bad. “You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
    He held up his hands. “Fill me in.”
    Gia bit her frosted-pink lip. What to do? Bella had made her swear not to tell Tony about Aunt Marissa’s cancer because Bella didn’t want his pity. Gia would