Adonis waved her off and grinned. “Don’t worry, baby. I could tell. Anyway, we’re adults.” His eyes narrowed seductively. “But you sure learn fast,” he added, patting her butt.
“Stop it.”
“So, what’s up? Wanna do something today?”
Daisy sighed. “I need to get back to the house. I promised Jay we’d do something today.”
“Let’s all do something together. It’ll be good for him. I can be like a big brother. He needs a man in his life. We can catch a couple of games, drink a few beers. You know…man stuff.” Daisy’s eyes widened, and Adonis laughed. “I’m teasing. But I can pick him up weekly and take him out. You know, do things with him that a man should do.”
Daisy punched him on the arm playfully. “I’ll think about it.”
Daisy walked into the bedroom and found Jay huddled in the corner with his basketball blanket wrapped around him. His eyes were wide and unreadable.
“What’s wrong, baby?” she said as she moved closer.
He grabbed her knees and held on tightly, almost making her lose her balance. “Ms. Ming Li’s dead!”
Daisy’s heart began pounding. What was he talking about? She’d just seen Ming Li. “No, baby. You must’ve had a nightmare. She left as soon as I came in.”
Jay shook his head and started crying. “No, Mom, I’m telling you, she’s dead! I heard her screaming all night, and she was still screaming this morning.”
Daisy started to interrupt him, then something told her to let him have his say.
“Someone was hurting her. I ran downstairs and called her name, but she didn’t hear me, she was screaming so loud. I opened her door and saw a man on top of her. The covers were moving up and down.”
Daisy rolled her eyes, sighing. She couldn’t believe that Ming Li would volunteer to babysit, then have a man in the house. “No, baby. Ming Li’s fine. That man wasn’t hurting her.”
Jay’s expression changed from fear to curiosity. Then he snapped his fingers in understanding. “Ohhh…okay. They were doing what I was watching on Cinemax last night—”
“What? What were you watching?” Daisy put her hands on her hips.
“I saw this man and woman on TV doing ‘the nasty.’ ” Jay paused, looked at Daisy fearfully. “I’m not in trouble, am I? Ms. Ming Li said I could stay up and watch whatever I wanted, as long as I didn’t disturb her.”
Daisy felt as though someone had knocked the wind out of her. What the hell is wrong with that bitch? We’re leaving. “Go take a shower and get dressed, Jay,” she said in an I-dare-you-not to-listen tone. “Now!”
Daisy rifled through her oversize, overfilled purse and retrieved her wallet. She selected the credit cards that were still good and could be used for cash advances, then counted the money that she’d been saving to move.
She shook her head at the one thousand and some odd dollars that she held. It wouldn’t be enough, but she’d have to make do somehow.
Grabbing an old newspaper from the corner desk, she flipped to the real estate section and pulled a pen from her purse. Apartments rented quickly in New York. Sometimes it took weeks, even months, to find something suitable. She’d give it a shot.
After circling and calling several that were within her budget, Daisy rested her forehead in her hand, exhausted from the effort. Finally, exhaling deeply, she decided to go through the ads once more. If she didn’t find something this time, she’d have to go out and buy a current newspaper. There was one ad she hadn’t called, one that she’d avoided: a crime-infested section of Hell’s Kitchen. She swallowed hard and thought about Jay. She assumed he’d never seen a neighborhood like that one. But it had its good points, and it was being renovated. Everyone needs a little culture. Better for him to learn about struggling than to end up emotionally screwed up, thinking that someone is killing the nymphomaniac.
Daisy and Gigi turned onto Forty-third Street for the fourth time and finally found a space to park. The block was a mixture of newer buildings and horrible, aging ones. Daisy knew she probably couldn’t afford the better ones, but prayed not to get a raggedy one.
“Well, maybe it won’t be so bad,” she said to Gigi.
Disgust was written all over Gigi’s expression. “You sure you want to do this? It could be awful. I told you that you guys could stay with me.”
Daisy opened her car door. “Come on. And thanks anyway. But you know I don’t want to be around Marcus. Anyway, who knows? Maybe it’ll be nice.”
“Yeah, right. I don’t know why you can’t just hear him out. You’d forgive him if you knew his side of the story.”
Daisy shot Gigi a don’t-try-it look.
“Whatever, then,” Gigi muttered, following reluctantly. “Well, I can loan you some money, you know.”
Daisy waved her off, stopping in front of the five-story walkup. The steps were a little cracked and could have used a new cement job, but the entrance was clean and graffiti-free. She looked at Gigi and nodded. “If the inside looks like the outside, we might be okay.”
Daisy walked around the tiny studio apartment, which didn’t require much more than turning around. The place was a lot smaller than what they were used to, but larger than the bedroom they shared at Ming Li’s.
She took in the dingy paint and scuffed floors. “All it needs is a good cleaning,” she whispered to Gigi.
“The hallway stinks. Sort of reminds me of mopped-up piss—lingering.”
Daisy turned to the building super, Mrs. Janowski, who was leaning against the door in a multicolored muumuu, holding a broom in her large, age-spotted hands. Daisy focused on her eyes and tried not to stare at her purplish-blue-tinged gray hair, or the huge mole on her cheek.
“I thought the ad said this was a one-bedroom.”
Mrs. Janowski coughed and wheezed, then smiled genuinely. “Turn to the right, just off the kitchen.”
Gigi laughed. “I thought that was a breakfast area.”
“Me, too.”
“No, it’s a one-bedroom.” She pulled a pocket door from the wall and slid it closed. “Much bigger than a studio, trust me.” She pinched her thumb and index finger together. “This big, I tell you. If you want it, let me know. I’ll have someone come in to paint and clean it. The stove and refrigerator will be replaced.” She shrugged, then went on, “Probably secondhand and small, but clean.”
Daisy looked at Gigi, who shook her head.
Daisy turned to Mrs. Janowski. “Is it okay if I clean it and buy my own paint to save money? I don’t have much, and my son and I really need a place. My credit’s okay, and I have a pretty good job. Salary.”
The super waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I understand. I don’t do credit checks, and I don’t do rental agreements. This is one of my son’s buildings. He lives on Long Island in a big fancy-schmancy house. Can you believe the schmuck leaves me here? He’d let his own mother live like this, while his wife lives like a queen. So I do what I want. You want it, you got it.”
“Thanks.”
“Sure. Just give me two months’ rent up front. And forget the deposit. But you hafta buy your own paint.”
Daisy sat on the sofa in the living area, smiling smugly at her accomplishment. So what if it wasn’t their home in Staten Island…it would do. The eggshell-colored satin paint gave the apartment a clean, warm feeling. She hated that Jay would have to sleep in the room off the kitchen, but she refused to put him close to the front door and the street.
Daisy had managed to give the place a homey feel, but it didn’t feel safe at night. By day, it was quiet, but in the evenings it was loud and rambunctious, and filled with loiterers. She’d complained to Mrs. Janowski, only to be told that all the tenants had the same complaint. Daisy even called the police on several occasions to report the noise, to no avail. Apparently, a bunch of street people had decided to squat in front of their building. Mrs. Janowski assured her that they wouldn’t stay long; they tended to move from block to block. Whenever the police ran
them off from one location, they’d find another place to congregate.
Still, Daisy tried to take solace within her own four walls. As long as she and Jay went out for what they needed during the day, they didn’t have to go out at night. She just wished her apartment didn’t face the front. More than that, she wished that she could catch up to Ming Li. She hadn’t spoken to her since Jay had told her what had happened that night Daisy wasn’t there. According to Gigi, Ming Li was out of town with Lucian. Eventually, I’ll catch up to her, Daisy thought.
A knock on the front door snapped Daisy out of her thoughts and off the sofa that doubled as her bed. It had to be Mrs. Janowski. Anyone else would have needed to be buzzed in. “I’m coming, Mrs. J.,” she hollered, then smiled. Mrs. Janowski had become as much of a presence in the apartment as the new paint. She was obviously old and lonely, needed someone to talk to as much as Daisy did.
But when she opened the door, Daisy got a surprise: Marcus.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I need to talk to you. Can I come in?”
Reluctantly, she opened the door.
“I came to explain.”
She had better things to do besides listen to a grown man plead his case, but she decided to hear him out. “I’m listening.”
“Daisy, I don’t know where to begin. I know sorry isn’t enough.”
“No, it isn’t,” Daisy said drily, sitting down on the sofa. “So why don’t you just tell me the truth, Marcus? The truth shouldn’t require a lot of thought, so how about you start explaining?”
He grabbed her hand. “Daisy, I never meant to hurt you. Never. I just got caught in the middle. I mean, what was I supposed to do? You were my friend, and so was Jasper—”
Daisy snatched her hand away. “Yes, I was your friend, Marcus. I thought that meant something.”
“Daisy, it did—it does. Believe me. I didn’t know about Jasper being married until recently, about a year before—”
“A year? You knew for three hundred and sixty-five days and couldn’t take just one minute out of one day to tell me?”
“Daisy, put yourself in my shoes for a minute. Last year we were out in Jersey and this lady comes up and kisses Jasper on the cheek. I thought it was you—”
“I know, Marcus,” she interrupted. “I saw Camille already. I know we look alike. Don’t act like you don’t know.”
Marcus nodded. “Fair enough. But as I was saying, I thought she was you. I grabbed her and hugged her, and she pushed me back. It shocked me. I almost called her by your name, but Jasper interrupted me and introduced her as his wife. I was burnt, Daisy. Truly pissed.”
“So why didn’t you tell me then?”
“What was I supposed to say? ‘Daisy, the man you’ve been with for years is married to another woman who looks like your twin?’ Everybody knew Jasper was your world. I didn’t want to be the one to shatter it for you.”
Daisy stood. “So you mean to tell me that you were willing to just sacrifice our relationship, that Jasper’s friendship meant more to you—”
“No, what I’m saying is that no matter what I told you, you wouldn’t have believed me.”
Daisy wiped a tear from her eye. “That’s asinine.”
“It’s true.”
“But the house…you showed her where we lived.”
“No. When Jasper passed, all his affairs had to be settled—you know, his estate: properties, bills, and so forth. When Jasper’s lawyer gave Camille the paperwork, she discovered the property listed under Jasper’s assets.”
“The Escalade?”
“She had it towed from my apartment. I didn’t even know it was gone until she called to inform me that she had a wrecker pick it up.”
“I don’t know, Marcus,” Daisy said, running her fingers through her hair. “This is all too smooth for me. It just doesn’t ring true.”
“So what am I to do, Daisy? If I don’t tell you the truth, I’m wrong. If I do tell you, I’m still wrong.”
Daisy’s eyes dropped to the floor. Marcus was right. She bit her lip, trying to fight back the tears, but it was a losing battle. Marcus scooted closer to her and tried to kiss her on the forehead, but she flinched and pushed him away.
“Well, I guess I should go. I love you, Daisy. You’ve been like a little sister to me, and I honor that. I’m sorry I hurt you, but I can tell that you’re not ready to forgive me. I’ll give you some time. I’m here, always remember that.” Marcus turned to get up.
Daisy stood up. “It’s not a problem. I’m over Jasper. I’ve moved on, and I’m with someone else. As a matter of fact, he and Jay are at the movies right now. Jasper wasn’t man enough to make sure his son was taken care of. And now I’ve finally found someone who wants me as much as I want him.”
“Want who?” Marcus interrupted.
“It’s none of your business. But if you must know—and I can’t believe no one has told you—Adonis.”
“It’s not going to happen, Daisy.”
“Excuse me? What did you just say? I know you didn’t just sit here in my apartment and try to tell me—”
“What about Jasper? I thought you loved him so much. The man’s body isn’t even cold yet, and you’re plotting your life with Adonis?”
“Let’s get something straight here, Marcus. I can do whatever and whomever I want. Furthermore, get your facts straight. I wasn’t plotting out anything with anybody. But, if I were, that’s my business. Yes, Jasper’s gone, and, no, he hasn’t been dead long. But even if he were here, he still wouldn’t be doing right by me. Did you forget that, Marcus? Did you forget how your friend played me, how he left us with no money and no home? We won’t even talk about all the shit that Jay’s going to have to contend with when he gets older.”
“You and Adonis…” Marcus shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. How many times are you going to play the fool? Adonis is engaged, Daisy. Engaged.”
9
Unable to reach Adonis by phone, Daisy went to his apartment building. She seethed, wanting to ring his neck just as she’d rung his line. The click of her heels against the clay-colored stone floor echoed frustration. He knows I’ve already been played like a fiddle once. Who the hell is he? The accompaniment? Pacing fluidly between the entry and the ornately carved limestone bench in the center of the lobby, she rubbed her hands on her jeans and nodded at the doorman for the umpteenth time. How dare Adonis take Jay out for the day and pretend to be someone he wasn’t? Yes, he was a man, and a gorgeous one at that, Daisy admitted. But he was somebody else’s.
Starting to feel as though the walls were closing in on her, she stepped out into the street for some air. Gratefully, she inhaled the cool breeze, which was quickly becoming a wild, gusty wind. Looking into the sky, she noticed the clouds rushing together. Perfect, she thought. A storm. Just what she needed: more tension. If it thundered, she’d be up all night comforting Jay.
She removed a candy bar from her pocket, opened it, and bit into it. Three more bites and it was finished. She’d been craving chocolate for the past five days, and she was retaining water. As inconspicuously as she could, she reached down and unfastened her pants, careful to make sure her shirt covered them. Her stomach ached, and a dreadful heat warmed her lower abdomen. Adonis had truly picked the wrong time to piss her off. Pushed too hard, a bloated, PMS-ing woman could be deadly.
“Hey, you,” she heard Adonis’s voice calling from behind.
She turned, sneering, “How dare you?” She hurried up to them and took Jay by the hand. “The next time you want to play nice guy, become an actor. Your show’s already old.”
Adonis held his hands up in surrender. “What are you talking about?” he asked, looking genuinely surprised.
“We don’t need sympathy,” Daisy said, just as the rain began pouring down violently. She shielded Jay with her jacket, then went on, “You don’t have to be kind to us. He’s not an experiment. This isn’t the Boy Scouts, and you won’t get a badge f
or being a Good Samaritan. So from now on, if you want to do a good deed, do one for your fiancée.” Daisy turned to walk away.
“Who?”
“Your fiancée—the woman you’re going to marry.”
“Christy?”
Daisy turned back to him, eyes blazing. His were bulging. Obviously, she had caught him by surprise. He stood stock-still, as if his feet were glued to the ground. “Oh, you forgot your fiancée already? Just stay the hell away from us!”
Propped on a few throw pillows, Daisy relaxed on the sofa with a warm comforter around her. Staring absently at the wall as the television watched her, she waited for the double dose of Midol to kick in. She wasn’t one for pain and didn’t care what the recommended dosage was. She needed immediate relief, not only from cramps, but from the strain.
She heard Jay padding around in his so-called bedroom. It’s about time. She needed to shower, and she assumed that he was now very clean; he’d been in the bathtub for over an hour. The wind whistled, and the window rattled. Daisy felt a slight breeze slip through the cracks. Wrapping the comforter tightly around her, she got up to make hot chocolate. Then a loud bump coming from Jay’s area startled her.
“Jay? You all right?” She walked toward his room and saw something fly past before she could reach the doorway.
“I hate,” he said, throwing another ball, “being here!” He started crying like a baby.
Daisy wasn’t ready for a tantrum, and she didn’t know how to console him if he was ranting about Jasper. “What’s the matter, baby?” She reached out to hold him.
He pulled away. “Why does everybody keep leaving me? Why’d you tell Adonis not to talk to us anymore? I bet you said the same thing to Dad, and that’s why he died. You probably killed him!”
Daisy held her breath. Not today. The pain reliever hadn’t kicked in yet, and she was just as irritable as Jay was. “Listen. Not right now, okay? I’ll explain later. It’s an adult thing. Now, pick up this stuff and we’ll have some hot chocolate and watch a movie.”
Pushing Up Daisies Page 10
