It was not that easy for Robert. He didn’t find people as expendable as his father did. But he also understood that a man didn’t build a business as vast as his father’s without being merciless. And he, above all of his siblings, wanted to be just like his father. “Yes, sir,” he said.
His father gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead, and they began going their separate ways. But then Robert turned back.
“Oh, Dad,” he said, and Charles glanced over as he approached his office door. “You have visitors inside.”
“Yeah. Who?”
“Your old country club buddies.”
Charles frowned. “What do they want?”
“To get back in your good graces, what else?” Robert said with a smile. “You took your country club away from them. They want it back.”
“When hell freezes over,” Charles said. Robert laughed and kept on walking. Until he saw a beautiful blonde walk by. He turned around and watched her walk. He knew he had work to do, but she had that damn sexy walk. He hurried up beside her.
Inside the lobby of Charles’s small office building, three men, Aaron Gentry, Stoke Ackerman, and Bill Baxter, all major businessmen in town, stood from the chairs against the wall. Charles entered, looked over at Faye McKinley, his assistant, who was looking as if she was not quite sure what she was supposed to do with the three powerful men.
“Hello, Charles,” Aaron said grandly. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
But Charles couldn’t dismiss the past that easily. He not only was the kind of man who took names and kicked ass, he also vividly remembered the names he took and the asses he kicked. “May I help you?” he asked.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Charles, come on!” Aaron was smiling a smile so grand it looked pathological. “We have some good news!”
They waited for Charles to ask what the good news was, but Charles was not the go-along-to-get-along type. And they knew it.
Aaron glanced at Faye. “Perhaps we can discuss this privately?” he asked.
Charles didn’t want to discuss anything with any of them at all, let alone in private, but they were leaders in the community. It was better he knew what was going on with them than not. He escorted the men into his office.
They sat down, in front of his desk, and Charles sat down behind it. Over six years ago, Charles reclaimed property he had loaned to the town’s country club when these same gentlemen attempted to restrict Jenay’s access to that club. Not for any other reason than the color of her skin. They spoke boldly then about not needing his property anyway and how they were going to start their own new club. But it never materialized. Without that Sinatra kind of money in the pot, they could never get their acts together. And although they might have forgotten about it and moved on, Charles held onto a grudge for dear life. It was his nature. He was never going to forget the level of disrespect they showed toward his wife. He therefore sat there with nothing but contempt in his heart for all three men.
“So how have things been going for you, Charles?” Aaron asked. He was always the ringleader, but especially now. The others looked as if they would rather eat their firstborn than to have to ask Charles Sinatra for a favor. And Charles was already certain this visit was about that very thing: they needed his help.
When Charles didn’t respond even to his small talk, Aaron got down to business. “We, the members of the Founders Day committee, have selected your wife, Jenay Sinatra, to be our Founders Day Queen.”
They all looked at Charles as if he should have shouted for joy by now. Charles didn’t so much as blink.
Aaron held his smile, but his eyes showed his irritation. “She’ll get to ride high on the float during the parade and everything,” he went on. “It’s the honor of the century really, when you consider what that parade means to this town.”
Still nothing from Charles.
“So what do you think about that?” Aaron finally asked.
“Have you informed my wife of this . . . selection?” Charles asked.
“Not yet, no. We thought you would like to do the honor,” Aaron said.
“You thought wrong,” Charles responded. “You want her to be your queen, you’re going to have to ask her.”
“Ask her?” Stoke Ackerman finally spoke up. He and Charles got into it over Jenay and cake once upon a time. “Most people don’t have to be asked to accept such an honor. It’s an unparalleled privilege. The idea that we would have to ask her to accept it astounds me.”
“Be astounded,” Charles said, “but you will be asking her.”
Aaron considered his foe. And he was no fool. Charles Sinatra was his foe. “What would you tell us if you were your wife?”
“I’d tell you to go jump in a lake,” Charles responded. “But that’s me.”
Stoke and Bill looked at Aaron with that I told you so look on their faces. “We’ll ask her,” Aaron said.
Charles waited for the next part of this equation. This Founders Day queen crap was the warmup act. He was waiting for the main event: the real reason for their visit.
“By the by,” Aaron said as if it was a sudden thought that popped in his head, “I heard you were thinking about reopening the country club. If it’s true, we would love to be investors. We think we can bring everything you will need, except the bulk of the capital of course, to the table.”
Charles couldn’t believe the nerve of these men. Even if it were true and he was thinking about reopening the country club, why would he want to have anything to do with men who didn’t think his wife was good enough when they thought they owned the shit? Were they that foolish? Or did they think he was?
“Well,” Aaron asked, “what do you say to going into business with us again?”
“I say go jump in a lake. Again. And take those two with you.” Charles stood up, prompting them to stand too. “Good day, gentlemen.”
They had never been so roundly disrespected. But Aaron smiled anyway, this need for a country club membership apparently ran deep with him and he was still holding out hope, and then they left. When Charles sat back down, he wanted to holler. So he did. Faye ran in almost immediately.
“It’s okay,” he said, politely waving her off. “Just blowing off steam. Get back to work.”
The one thing Charles loved about Monday night dinner was that all of his children were required to be there. And they all were. Ashley Sinatra and her kid sister Carly, who came to live with Charles and Jenay six years ago and were eventually adopted by them, turned out to be beautiful, popular young ladies. Carly, the youngest, was a sophomore at Harvard and by far the more responsible of the two, but Ashley was a sweet girl too in Charlie’s eyes. Brent, Anthony, Robert and Donald, his four grown sons, were also present, along with gorgeous Bonita, his eight-year-old and the only child he had with Jenay. Nita was already spoiled, Charles thought as he looked over at her, and there was no way around it. She was his only biological daughter, she was the youngest child, and Jenay was her mother. Spoiled to the core. No way around it.
They were all in the dining hall of the beautiful home, all talking about their day, all enjoying sitting at their father’s table in their father’s house with their father’s full family. It took Tony, however, to point out the obvious.
“Where’s the women?” he asked.
Everybody looked at him. “Is that one of your sick jokes, Tony?” Ashley asked him.
“I don’t mean you and Carly, or Nita. You’re our sisters. I’m talking about women. Where are our women? I’m single, Brent is single, Bobby and Donnie are single. What gives, Pop? Why can’t your sons keep females in their lives?”
“Speak for yourself,” Brent said.
“He speaks the truth,” Robert responded. “You’ve had that slutty-ass Denise six years ago, and then a string of nameless women ever since, but nobody you even bothered to bring to meet the family. Tony’s the same way. And Donnie? Please. What woman would want to bother with him?”
“Stop picking on Donnie,” Ashley sa
id. “You’re always picking on him. I don’t see you with any steady girl either.”
“By choice,” Robert said. “I play the field. That’s what I do. What’s Donnie’s excuse?”
“It’s a profound question, Pop,” Tony said. “Why is it that none of your children are married?”
“I’m too young,” Bonita said, and everybody laughed.
“That’s right, baby,” Jenay said. “Don’t let anybody rush you into adulthood. You enjoy being a kid. You’re going to take your time, aren’t you?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Just like I did,” Jenay went on. “Because you wanna be smart and resourceful just like who?”
Bonita actually looked around before she answered that question. Then she smiled and pointed. “Just like Tony,” she said, and Charles and the others laughed.
“Tony?” Jenay asked, smiling too. “What about your father? Or me?”
“But Tony looks out for me,” Bonita said. “He takes me places and let me visit him at the radio station.”
“I heard about your new gig, Tony,” Carly said with a smile. “A radio therapist, or, to be accurate, a therapist with a radio show. That’s all right.”
“I thought you wanted to be a monk, or something,” Ashley said. “Now you’re a therapist. You can’t seem to make up your mind.”
“At least I have one,” Tony said deadpan, causing Carly and Robert to laugh.
“Not funny,” Donald said.
“Thank-you,” Ashley agreed. Then she looked at Jenay. “Ma,” she asked, “are you still going to California?”
“Oh yes,” Jenay said. “My father is still having his surgery in a couple weeks, and I’m still going for a week to help my mother with his recovery.”
“But what will Dad do without you?” Tony asked.
Jenay smiled. “Ah, Tony, that’s sweet!”
“Sweet my ass,” Charles said, and everybody laughed.
Tony, however, corrected his father. “You really need to watch your language around the children,” he said, sweeping his hand, not just toward Bonita, but Donald and Ashley as well. Robert laughed.
“Bump you, Tone,” Ashley said. She looked at Jenay again. “I’m asking because, since I’ll be graduating soon, maybe I can go to Cali with you. It’ll be a nice graduation gift for me.”
“But she’s going to visit her parents before you graduate,” Carly reminded her sister.
“So?” Ashley said. “It’ll be an early gift.”
Carly shook her head. “You really ought to stop partying and study more.”
“I’m graduating before you,” Ashley said, “so bump you.”
“First of all,” Tony said, “you’re two years older than Carly, so naturally you’re graduating first. Second of all, Berkskill College has its good points, I’m sure, but let’s not delude ourselves. It’s no Harvard. Carly will be a graduate of Harvard, just as I am. Big difference.”
“A college degree is a college degree,” Donald said.
He and Ashley high-fived. “Thank-you!” she said, and they both laughed.
“Guess who I saw today?” Jenay asked Charles in the midst of their laughter.
Charles looked at her. “Who?”
“Aaron Gentry and the good old boys.”
“Aaron Gentry?” Donald asked. “What did that prick want?”
“After they left your father’s office, they came to the Inn to inform me of the fact that they have selected me to be the queen of the Founder’s Day parade.”
Tony laughed. “Those guys!”
But Charles was not laughing. He stared at her. Was she tough enough to say no to vermin like that who once wanted to restrict her access to a club she actually owned? “What did you tell them?” he asked her.
“I told them to go jump in a lake,” Jenay said. “What do you think I told them?”
Charles was pleased. He should have known she wouldn’t disappoint him.
Tony shook his head. “Go jump in a lake. You sound like Pop,” he said.
“They don’t want me in their parade,” Jenay continued. “They know it and I know it. I told them to jump in several lakes.”
Charles smiled. “A woman after my own heart right here,” he said braggingly.
“What did they say,” Tony asked, “when you suggested such an odd water destination to them?”
“They told me that since the parade isn’t for several months, I should think about it. They insist, despite my water destination suggestion, that the so-called honor is still mine.”
“Bunch of fucking losers,” Robert said. “Who in hell wanna be in their parade?”
“So, Bobby,” Carly asked, “how does it feel to be Dad’s property manager now?”
“It feels great,” Robert responded. “I have a lot to learn still, but it’s going well.”
“Personally, I don’t see why he should be manager,” Donald said, “while I’m still an assistant at the Inn.”
“Bobby works hard,” Tony said.
“I work hard!” Donald insisted.
“I’m saying!” Ashley agreed.
“But Bobby has Dad’s back,” Carly said. “His employees were stealing from him and back-stabbing him. Bobby won’t tolerate any of that.”
“I won’t either!” Donald said. “And I have Dad’s back more than anybody at this table!”
Tony cleared his throat and playfully motioned his head toward Jenay.
“Except for Ma,” Donald added, and everybody laughed.
But Carly noticed that Brent was not feeling it. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “Everybody’s upbeat, except you.”
“And what else is new?” Tony asked. “Brent was born with a scowl on his face. That’s why they made him chief of police. He was young, but he was the only one who looked the part.”
They laughed, but Charles noticed the difference in Brent too. “What’s the matter, son?” he asked him.
Brent looked at his father. “I told you we need to talk.”
“Then talk.”
“It’s private.”
Jenay looked at Brent when he said that.
Charles considered him. “What could be so private that my own wife and children can’t hear it? There are no strangers at this table. Tell me.”
Brent exhaled. He wanted it off his chest anyway. But he thought about his kid sister. He looked at Bonita. “Neet?”
Bonita looked her big, green eyes up at him. Although Brent was her older brother, he was always so serious around her, and he was so much older than her eight years, that she thought of him as more of her other dad. “Sir?” she asked.
“Take your plate and finish your dinner in the Rec room. Donnie, you and Ash go with her.”
Robert laughed.
“See?” Donald protested. “Everybody treats me like a kid!”
“And why do I have to go?” Ashley asked.
“I’ll go,” Carly volunteered. She was tired of Ash and Donnie’s complaints anyway.
“Thanks, Carly,” Brent said.
“Come on, Nita,” Carly said. “Get your plate.”
Carly ate one last forkful of food and left her almost-empty plate, and then escorted Bonita, with her plate in hand, out of the dining hall.
After they left, Brent looked at Charles. “It’s about your father,” he said.
And as soon as he said that, you could hear a pin drop. Everybody looked at Brent.
Charles looked and frowned. Had he heard him correctly? “My father? What about my father?”
“This morning a special prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office paid me a visit.”
“So that’s who that was,” Robert said.
Brent looked at him. “What are you talking about?”
“The new girl in town. I saw her. She was gorgeous, but mean. She wouldn’t give me the time of day. Yeah, I could see her being a special prosecutor alright.”
She had been on Brent’s mind ever since he met her this morni
ng. For the obvious reason, since she was the bearer of the bad news, but also for reasons that were far from obvious. “You saw her where?” he asked his playboy of a brother.
“Around town, I don’t remember where,” Robert responded. “Is she busty, lots of curves, African-American?”
“That’s her,” Brent said. “So?”
“So?” Robert smiled and looked at his father. “Ah, Dad, you should see this woman. She is stacked to the max, you hear me, and gor-or-or-geous! What I’d give to lay my head between those two big, juicy---”
“You stay away from her,” Brent admonished in such a stern way that everybody looked at him. Robert couldn’t help but smile.
Tony smiled too. “Want her for yourself, do you, big brother?”
“This shit serious,” Brent said in his firm, Brent-way, as they called it. “Why are you making a joke out of it?”
“Go on, Brent,” Charles said. “What about this special prosecutor?”
Brent exhaled. Sometimes those brothers of his infuriated him! But his father was right. He moved on. “She said there were some issues surrounding his case-in-chief when it was originally presented. Because of that, she said the Governor has ordered a second look at your father’s conviction.”
“A second look?” Charles asked. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“They believe there might have been some type of prosecutorial misconduct during the course of his trial.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Jenay asked.
“They fucked up,” Tony said. “In other words.”
But Charles and Jenay were staring at Brent.
“She wouldn’t give me the details regarding what the original prosecutor did wrong,” Brent said to his father and stepmother, “but she told me the end result. She said either granddad will be given a new trial, or, and here is the kicker, he’ll be released immediately.”
Charles’s heart dropped through his shoe. “Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of a sick joke?”
“I couldn’t believe it either, Pop.”
Jenay was floored too. “When is this second-look hearing supposed to take place?” she asked.
“It hasn’t been announced yet. She’s collecting evidence right now. Once she’s ready the judge will put it on the docket.”
Big Daddy Sinatra 3: The Best of My Love (The Sinatras of Jericho County) Page 6
