Hildy, Lenny and Kentucky Bourbon

Brandi wanted to go home after being at the office all day. Yes, her new home consisted of a mostly empty condo with practically no assembled furniture other than a bed, a couch and a refrigerator. That's what was already supposed to be at there. But she suddenly felt tired, even though she shouldn't have been. It was just the different pace between Manhattan and Philly. She knew she'd get used to it in a few days. Donnie convinced her of this as he brought her to his apartment that night.

"Come on, I want you to say hi to Hildy. She's been insisting on seeing you since I offered you the job."

"Christ, Donnie, since I don't have a choice," she laughed. They took a cab to a complex called Oakley Mann and he led her to his and Hildy's place. On the way there, Brandi had wondered what happened to Mr. Belfort. He probably had other business to attend to. Hopefully, it had to do with renovating the shit-shack they called their office. Hildy ran to the door.

"Daaahh-niie! Braan-deee!" She cried. She kissed him and hugged Brandi. "How you been? Is Philly nice? I'll bet New York's like nothing you've ever seen, let me tell you..." She rambled, walking into the kitchen. Brandi sniffed the air. It smelled like burnt chicken.

"Good to see you too, Hildy." Brandi smiled.

"Fucking hell, Hildy. Why does the house smell like burning trash?" Donnie snapped, walking into the kitchen. He kissed his wife and slapped her on the ass.

"Christ, Donnie, I'm about to serve dinner. You two just sit at the table! I made chicken and vegetables."

Donnie sat down and Brandi did the same.

"Later, we thought about going to a party, isn't that right, Hildy?"

"Yeah, my friend Donna's husband just landed a job. They're having a party to celebrate." She stepped out of the kitchen holding a glass tray. "Won't you come with us, Brandi? It'll be a lot of fun!"

"Um, I mean I'm sort of tired and I don't have a dress, an-"

"Ahh, you'll be fine, doll. You can borrow one of mine! I'll do your hair, makeup and everything. It'll be great!"

"Jesus, Hildy, calm down. Can't we at least eat dinner first before you start whoring up my cousin?"

"She's my fucking cousin too, Donnie. And I'm not gonna whore her up. Eat fast so we can leave."

"Fucking hell, Hildy."

"Are you hungry, Brandi?"

"I'll eat at the party," Brandi answered sheepishly. Hildy had meant well, but the smell of the burnt chicken was starting to make her nauseous. She didn't understand how Donnie could stomach it.

"Great! We'll go do your makeup right now!" Hildy snatched her hand and pulled her upstairs.

"You better not make her look like a whore, Hildy!"

Brandi swallowed.

Meanwhile, in Hildy's bedroom, she was rummaging through her closet to find a dress.

"What color do you like? I got all kinds. This pink one would look just perfect with your skin tone."

Pink? She couldn't do that.

"Err, do you have anything else?" She said nervously.

"Of course!" Hildy pulled out a blue dress that would expose a lot of assets that Brandi had. She was about to start talking Hildy out of making her wear it but it was too late.

"Alright, now you put this on and I can do your hair."

Hildy didn't leave the room. Brandi had to change in front of her.

"Wow, Brandi! Nice pair you got there! I remember when we were both 12 and you were flat as a board."

Brandi had breasts. And hips. They probably came from the Italian side of their family. And the stupid fucking blue dress clung to her like plastic wrap.

"You look great, honey."

"Thanks, Hildy."

Twenty minutes later, Hildy was finally satisfied with Brandi's face and hair.

"Baby, come on, let's go! Tom's wife just called and said to hurry up."

The women came down the stairs.

"What the fuck, Hildy? Why do Brandi's tits look like they're about to pop out of your dress?"

"Stop it, Donnie. Let's go. You look fine, Brandi."

Brandi didn't think so.

Moments later, they arrived at a condominium. A woman in similar clothes to Hildy answered the door.

"Hildy! Donnie!"

"How ya doin', Donna?" Donnie kissed her cheek and Hildy did the same. Donna scanned Brandi up and down.

"This is you guys's cousin, right?"

"I'm Brandi," She said, shaking her hand. The four of them stepped into the party. It was a pretty calm scene, calmer than Brandi had thought it would be. Her parents had parties like this sometimes. Brandi quietly sat on the couch, suddenly missing her parents more than she had expected to. She had to keep introducing herself to people. Donnie noticed she was uncomfortable and brought her a drink.

"Just relax, we'll go home in a few hours."

She swallowed the drink. Suddenly a man with light brown hair and a gray sports jacket sat down next to her.

"Hi. You're Donnie's cousin, huh?"

The drink mellowed her out.

"Yeah. I'm Brandi." How many times had she said that throughout the day?

"I'm Lenny," he smiled. Brandi liked his teeth. They were big and shiny white. "Can I get you another drink?"

She nodded.

Lenny was actually pretty good at conversation. He made her laugh.

"So you from Philly?"

"Yeah, born and raised. Notice the accent?"

"Are you kidding? You sound like you're from Russia or something."

Their jokes didn't make sense anymore, they were numbed further glass after glass of whatever it was that Donnie poured her. It was weird. She wanted to leave, but Lenny made the party bearable. It was late by the time she left, and Lenny gave her his phone number.

"You better call me, Philly. I'll show you some real culture," he winked.

Brandi laughed again, and soon after, Donnie brought her to back to her apartment. But only after Hildy said goodbye and begged her to stop by again over the weekend. Brandi was hazy. She agreed.

"I know you're drunk, but show up to work tomorrow, why don't you?" Donnie laughed. She hugged him.

"'Night, Donnie."

It was strange how out of place she had felt in New York already. Brandi fell asleep that night consoled by the fact that at some point she would get used to it.

So as helpless as she seemed, drunk and not quite satisfied yet, Brandi didn't know what her future would look like 6 months from then. She didn't know that she'd become someone completely different than who she was at that moment.

Wall Street did that to people. Stratton, Donnie, Jordan, her coworkers, everyone she came in contact with contributed to who she became. Just 6 months from that summer, she became everything she had hoped to be.

Maybe even more.