"Man, I'm melting here!" Street complained, while Luca rolled on the cart to get a closer look under the hood of the vehicle. "Heat's intense today!"

"Says the one that's doing nothing!" Luca said, annoyed. 

"You said you had it covered, so...I'm just following instructions!" he responded, shrugging his shoulders. 

POP

 Street approached the cooler, popped it open and retrieved an ice cold bottle of beer. He climbed unto the table, eventually sitting and swinging his feet in front.

"Yeah, yeah!" Luca whined.

PLOP

TIIISSSSSS

The sound of the bottle cap and the gas exiting the bottle was enticing, but Luca was on a mission to get this over with and done. He knew the moment he popped one bottle, he would forget about the fixing Chris' car...and he promised his cooks he was gonna help out in the truck today.

Lately, finding labor has been an uphill battle. Two of the regulars just started classes and Xiomara has had family situations. All of this and the current high volume crowds gathering in their spot, has pushed Luca to grab an apron. He wanted to hire more cooks and ushers, but there hasn't been many applications coming in. 

Today is super important, though. There's a huge activity near their block, which will probably bring in tons of traffic. Unfortunately, two of the guys called in sick and Luca was only able to get one more helping hand. Xiomara begged him to help out and the officer just didn't have the heart to say no. So, even with the injury, he knew he had to step up.

 Unfortunately for him, moving around and putting pressure on his back was exactly what the doc recommended NOT to do for the next week. He was supposed to be resting his back, but then again, his crew needed him. He had no choice but to ignore the doctor's recommendation. Unless...

"Hey! You know what? I should charge you for this!" Luca proposed, now rolling his way out from beneath the hood of the car.

"What? This isn't even my car!" Street complained. "You should work it out with Chris. I'm just doing her a favor!"

"C'mon, man! I'm short staffed at the food truck and tonight we're gonna get slammed!" Luca insisted, grabbing another tool and rolling under. 

"I told you, I'm busy."

"With what? Chris's doing a gig with Deacon...up in Palms Springs. Said it was a bachelorette party. So... why are you busy?" Luca teased, "Are you the stripper on call or what?"

"Funny. Hilarious." Jim snapped annoyed, then changed his approach, "Although...I could use the extra cash!"

"Yeah. Cash in on a big payday and get dumped the same night. Go ahead, Street, try it!"

"She wouldn't dump me... she'd be proud! Gloating!" he lifted an eyebrow and showed an evil smile.

RRROOOOOLLLLL

Luca came out from under the hood and stopped to glare at him. He frowned, shaking his head, "The only thing she'd be proud of is that you'd have enough money to  actually take her on a weekend trip outside of the city... to something other than a movie and dinner!" Luca snapped, annoyed, rolling his eyes, "You gotta stop being cheap and lazy, bro!"

"What are you talking about?" Street snapped, hurt, "We like to keep things relaxed, ok? I've asked her and she's fine with simple stuff. Chris is not a complicated chick, you know?"

"You realize she used to go to fancy dinners and shows when she was with Kira and that other dude, right?" Luca replied, rolling out and wiping his hands with a dirty cloth, then shoved it inside of the tool box on the table, "If you ask me you've settled. She's gonna get bored!"

"She's not. Relax!" Street responded with a shake of the head and a shrug of the shoulders, "Besides, I have an important workout session tonight."

Luca turned to him and frowned, with an teasing smile on his face. He gestured to his lower abdomen, while teasing, "More like self-stimulation session!"  

Street threw a death glare at him, with an angry frown "Shut up!"

"C'mon, man!" Luca pleaded, closing the tool box and grabbing a bottle from the cooler, "Instead of spending hand energy on yourself, you can come work at the food truck. I mean, you did put in money at it, you might as well help out too!"

TIIIIISSSSSS

Sigh. "Nope. Sorry, but my plans are to chill tonight. You know I'm always there for you, but..."

"C'mon, bro. I'm not supposed to move too much. If I don't recover fast enough...I don't wanna be stuck behind a desk when I get back to SWAT!" Luca pleaded, again.

"That's not too bad!"

"I need to be behind Black Betty! You know I'm dying for that!" he begged again.

"Next time. I promise, ok?"

Silence.

Both men enjoyed a slow sip of beer, while Luca glared at Street. The second shrugged his shoulders and smiled. 

"Don't make me!" Luca warned. 

"You got no leverage...so stop your threats!"

"If you say so..." he responded, taking another long sip. 

Street chuckled, as both stared at the vehicle in front of them. The garage was blazing hot, but at least the beer kept them cool.

SIP

"Anyway," Luca called, "I think you left one of your airpods on the couch when you crashed here the other night."

Street took a moment and thought, then responded, "No, I didn't."

"Yup. Remember you showed up at 3am, yapping about how she made a big deal outta nothing..? First major fight, huh? " Luca said, taking another long sip of the cool liquid.

"Oh, yeah. Make up was pretty hot, though." he responded with a light chuckle.

"Spare me the details. Anyway, she calmed down?"

"Yup. She had to. I mean...she's pretty hard-headed at times, but she knows."

"Woah! Is that Jim -the man of the house- talking?" Luca teased.

"I'm serious, man. I mean, I loved the idea of moving in together, but I wasn't expecting her to take so much time figuring out what she wanted to do. I've been patient, you know?" he took a sip of beer, then continued, "I just knew the safe house thing wasn't going to last long, but I wasn't expecting her to be job hunting for such a long time. Like, I really think she should've stayed in SWAT, made good money, and maybe part-time at the house."

"She didn't want to, man. Besides, it's never been about money for Chris."

"I know, but reality is things are expensive, Luca! Especially now with inflation and insurance going up." he paused for another sip. "We just got an email saying maintenance fee will increase in a month, and another increase is scheduled for six months from now."

"But...you make good money. You two can definitely balance the bills!" Luca said, now resting his back against the wall, while turning his neck to face his teammate.

"Yeah, but...I feel like she's kinda frustrated  now that she found a good job coz it doesn't pay as much, so she's not making as much as before -you know? When she was in SWAT. So, she feels like she's not contributing enough." Sip. "Before, when we signed the lease, we kinda agreed we would split it as she could. Fifty, quarter...whatever, really."

"Seems fair."

"Absolutely! But this month some stuff came up-"

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, her uncle was mugged closing up the truck. She asked if we could help pay their lease and I agreed, but then she also helped out her cousin with something of school. I had some credit card charges I needed to take care of and other stuff. Point is, money's tight."

"I know, right? Economy has hit all of us hard, bro."

"I know" he paused to take another sip. 

"Every couple goes through a rough patch. Fights are to be expected, bro."

"Yeah, I know. The whole thing started coz I told her I may be a bit short this month on rent, so... I asked her to chip in more and... she totally flipped out! She pretty much called me out for not" he put up two fingers from each hand, "managing my money the right way" he placed them down and shook his head frustrated, "...which I don't think it's fair, you know? So, we start mouthing off to each other, really go at it...she comes at me coz she says I talk too much, but... she doesn't talk at all and when she does, I can't say a word!"

"Dude, I'm not a counselor. You know that, right?"

"But, even you gotta admit it -Luca- Chris can get under your skin...it's annoying!" he snapped angrily. 

Silence. 

Both men continued enjoying their drink, in the silence of the space.

"No wonder why she was doing more hours at work this week and today she's with Deac. I get it. At least you were able to settle the issue, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've been covering most of the stuff while she changes jobs and settles down...which is no problem. You know?" he responded, still frustrated. "It's just this time I need her to contribute  a bit more, that's all. Then, I'll get back on track. That's what she doesn't get. She'll bitch and whine about everything, but when I bring up stuff, she shuts down! Like, completely. Silent treatment the whole day!"

"Street, you gotta also do your part, man! I remember tons of times when I had to put in most of the lease here...so, I get where she's coming from."

"C'mon, man!" Street snapped annoyed, "I'm only asking for this one time. Besides...why are you taking her side? We're bros!"

"I need a helping hand tonight!" Luca responded, making Street roll his eyes and shake his head.

Sigh. "I told you. Next time!" he snapped, even more annoyed. He straightened up and grabbed the car keys from the table. 

"You know? I ran into Mikey yesterday." Luca said, as Street stretched his back. "He's a good guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah" he answered, opening the door to the driver's side. 

"Told me how much fun you two had the other night...said you went for drinks, something about the job..?"

Street froze his movements, raising his stare up to him. 

"It's funny coz...uh...SWAT hasn't handled any cases involving Dolby's Sports Bar...or anywhere near it!" Luca reported suspiciously. 

"So? We had some drinks." Street said, nonchalantly. 

SLAM

"Dude told me you took out a couple of hundreds in dollar bills, which makes sense. You know? Curly Hips Gentlemen Club, right at Dolby's basement...the night you and Chris started with the money issues."

Street froze, then turned to him. 

"I remember she texted... asking me where you were, and...uh... I kinda lied for you." he paused, approaching the car. 

Luca rested both elbows on the lowered window of the driver's side and tilted his head, showing an evil grin. 

Street squinted his eyes, glaring at him directly. Silence.

"Since you told me you were -and I quote-" Luca put up two fingers up from each hand, "taking care of stuff." he rested his hands and paused, "Turns out the stuff involved Mazy and Aphrodite. Buying shots, getting in on the action with the ladies...you were wasted after the third round of shots! Yelling 'that b*tch can't tell me how to spend my money!'" 

"I'm gonna kill him!" Street whispered, bowing his head.

VRRROOOOOOMMMMM

"Oh, no. He didn't tell me." Luca snapped, shaking his head slowly.

Street raised his head immediately and frowned hard. "He didn't?"

"No." Luca paused, noticing a sigh of relief from his friend. "His friend Red caught it on his cellphone!"

Street pinched his eyes closed and tilted his head back onto the resting piece. Sigh.

"But don't worry about it, bro. I gotchu! Talked to him and managed to get him to delete the video-"

Sigh.

Street immediately turned his head towards him, "Luca, bro... thanks for saving my ass!"

The older officer nodded his head quietly, as he took out his cellphone and clicked on the screen, "Right after he sent me a copy."

"Whaaaat?" Street asked, stunned. 

He was so surprised, he turned off the car and got out in one motion.

 "Did I tell you how you kept throwing money around like you were some kind of pimp? You really should hold your liquor, Street!"

"You can't!" Street said taking a step towards Luca.

"I could!" 

"Luca, you wouldn't!"

"Not only that, dear ol' Mikey told me that after spending -like- a thousand bucks in bets, booze and boobs, you took them for a 'late night snack', which was a couple hundred dollars."

Luca smiled, as Street pinched his lips. Silence.

"What a night, huh? Oh, yeah! And uh...buddy over at traffic division tells me you were stopped the other day, which racks up the limit. You're down a chunk of change, almost to the point of having to face a judge and risk a suspension, buddy!" 

Both men were now standing face to face, with Luca wearing a wide smile and Street trying to hold it together. 

"And you know how much she loved bailing your ass out the last time your bike got manhandled and she had to spend her time and money on you!"

"That was years ago!" Street snapped annoyed. 

"You're right, you're right." Luca said, throwing both hands in the air, surrendering. He took a step back and started organizing the tools in his box. "But, uh... I'm pretty sure she still remembers having to -and I quote- 'haul my ass out on a free day, cash out one of my cards, just to save his sorry ass!"

Street shook his head slowly, "Bro-"

"Not to mention, that alternator that you were dying to get for the bike- which was, what? Almost two grand? Give or take."

"Luca!"

"Yup, I would understand why you're such in a pinch this month-"

"Fine! Fine!" Street shook his head and glared at him. Pause. "Give me the video!"

Luca continued, moving in silence. "Should I?"

"Bro!"

"Shift starts at five pm. I count on you or I get my phone...sis's on speed dial!"

"You wouldn't!"

"I would!"

"This is blackmail, Luca!"

He turned to face him, with a smile on his face, "Yeah. I know. I'm a cop!"

"You're bluffing!"

"Ok. Ok." Luca said, throwing both hands up, again, surrendering. "You relax tonight, no problem."

Sigh. "Great." Street said, making his way back to the car.

"My couch will always be here for you...matter of fact! It might be a great move, coz I could sure use an extra couple of bucks in my pocket. Things surely are expensive here in LA. With an extra cut on the rent, I could go ahead and buy the Yater gun I've been dying to-"

"Fine, fine! I'll be there." Street snapped, annoyed. "You know what? This is low, Luca. Really!"

"Great!" Luca said slapping the dash in triumph, wearing a big smile. "Meet me at four there, to open up. Dinner's on the house...and if you want, you can even take leftovers home when we close."

"Wait! Close? You're gonna make me do a full shift??? Luca!" the young officer complained. 

"Fifteen hundred bucks in one night, between drinks, dinner and a strip club? You're willing to risk a steady relationship for make up sex that might not even happen at all...? She finds out she has to work overtime to pay a bigger chunk of the lease coz you went night riding for vengeance, racked up traffic tickets-"

"Ok, ok! OOooooookkkk!" he interrupted, shaking his head. "You suck!"