“It’s going well,” Tony responded. “Viewership is up significantly since they hired me on, and they’re thinking about expanding the show from one hour to two.” Tony smiled. “The ladies seem to love me.”
“You can go on to work now, Tony,” Allison said, as she stood beside Charles. “I’ll take Bonita to school.”
Tony didn’t respond to that. He fell into that contemplative look of his where he seemed to be psychoanalyzing people. Then he looked at his father. “So what are you going to do, Pop?”
Charles sipped from his coffee and began heading out. “I’m going to shower and get myself to the office.”
“This time of morning? You’re going to shock your staff.”
Charles laughed. “I know,” he said and kissed Bonita on the forehead. “Be good,” he said to her. He looked at Tony. “Behave,” he said, and headed out of the kitchen.
Tony looked at his sister. “Neet, why don’t you go get your book bag? I want to talk to Allison for a sec.”
“Do you have to?” Bonita asked.
“Yes. Go,” Tony said.
“Oh alright,” Bonita said as she jumped down from the stool and headed out of the kitchen too.
Allison looked at Tony. “She’s a sweetheart,” she said.
But Tony had something else on his mind. He looked at Allison. “Did Mom ask you to do this?” he asked her.
“To do what?”
“Come here this morning and take Bonita to school?”
Allison shook her head. “She didn’t ask me, no.”
“In fact, didn’t she tell you to take this week off?”
Allison smiled. “She did, yeah. And I appreciate it. But I thought about Bonita---”
“She also told you,” Tony continued, refusing to be suckered into a different train of conversation, “that I would make sure Bonita got to school and back. I’m certain she informed you of that.”
Allison nodded. “She did. So?”
“So why are you here?”
“I told you. I thought about Bonita and wanted to make sure she gets off to school.”
“Or did you think about my father and wanted to see if he was up for a wife-away morning fuck?”
Allison looked at Tony with shock in her eyes, but Tony was not amused. He was looking at her with daggers in his eyes.
Allison frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you coming here when Mom made it clear that you were off. I’m talking about the way you decided to dress this morning. You never dress that provocatively when Mom’s around.”
He could see the guilt in Allison’s eyes.
“My father’s a great looking man and girls like you are always trying to get next to him. And I’m not bragging on him. It’s a fact.”
“I wouldn’t do anything to hurt your mother,” Allison said heartfelt.
“I believe you. But that doesn’t stop you from putting your feet in the water to see if it’s hot or cold. Does it? That doesn’t stop you from dressing sexily, see how my father responds, and then you have a whole week to push that envelope.”
“So you don’t trust your father around me?” Allison asked him.
“I trust my father with my life. You’re the one I don’t trust. No offense, but this is my family we’re talking about. Nobody’s breaking up our happy home.”
“I would never hurt your Mom.”
“You said that already. And I still believe you. Look, Mom likes you because you’re really good with Bonita and you’re really good to Bonita.” Tony should know. His father and Jenay installed cameras when they first hired Allison so that they could see just how good she was to Bonita. She passed with flying colors. “But don’t confuse her kindness with foolishness,” Tony continued. “She’s nobody’s fool. She already told Dad that you had a crush on him, and Dad was the one who suggested she fire you. But Mom said no. If she fired every employee of hers who found her husband attractive, she said, then she would have no female employees. She wouldn’t have a few male employees either.”
Allison smiled.
“She also told Dad that a good Nanny is hard to find and you’ve been the best so far.”
Allison nodded her head. “Thank-you,” she said. “I love Bonita, and I respect Mrs. Sinatra.”
“And that’s why you do what she tells you to do. When she tells you to stay away, you don’t just drop by her house. You stay away. Got it?”
She smiled. “I got it.” Then she looked concerned. “Are you going to tell Mrs. Sinatra about this?”
Tony didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely,” he said. “She needs to know who she’s dealing with. And then, with the knowledge that you would try a stunt like this in mind, she’ll make a decision. But your services aren’t needed this week. Her order is still in effect.”
“So what you’re saying,” Allison said, “is that after I take Bonita to school, I should stay away the rest of the week?”
“I’m telling you that I’m taking my baby sister to school,” Tony clarified, “and you’re staying away as of right now.”
Allison nodded her head. “Okay,” she said. She grabbed her purse and prepared to leave. Tony walked her to the front door. When he opened the door, Donald was walking up the steps.
Allison turned to Tony. “I’ll wait to hear from Mrs. Sinatra,” she said.
“She’ll be in touch,” Tony said, and Allison began to leave.
“Hey Allie,” Donald said as he approached.
“Hey,” Allison said and hurried down the steps. Both brothers watched as she got in her car, and drove away.
Donald looked at Tony. “What was that about?”
Tony looked at Donald. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to make sure Nita got off to school.”
Tony frowned. “You knew Mom had instructed me to handle that.”
“And,” Donald added, “I came to make sure Miss Pretty Nanny didn’t try any tricks, like coming over while Mom was away.”
Tony smiled. “Are you serious? You actually thought about somebody other than yourself for a change?”
“Dad’s happy with a woman for the first time in my life,” Donald said. “Nobody is going to mess that up. Not the nanny, not anybody. They’ll have to go through me first.”
Tony laughed. And gave his kid brother a big, bear hug, causing Donald to smile too. “Get in here!” Tony said jovially.
He was kissing her so aggressively that even Ashley knew this could get out of hand. But Barry was gorgeous, all the girls wanted him, and he wanted Ash. Ash didn’t necessarily want him. He was just somebody to fool around with until Friday night, when she and Willie, a real man, would get together, but she was going to enjoy this while she could. She leaned closer and let him kiss away.
Until they heard Carly’s voice. “Ash?” she yelled from behind Ashley’s locked bedroom door.
“Forget her,” Barry said, as he continued kissing.
“Ash!” Carly yelled again.
“Let me see what she wants,” Ashley said, but Barry kept kissing her. She had to lean her mouth away from his. “What, Carly?” she asked with a sting in her voice.
“Don’t yell at me,” Carly responded to the sting.
“Then leave me alone!”
“All right, lover girl,” Carly said. “I’ll leave you alone. But I thought you’d want to know that Dad just drove up.”
Ashley’s heart fell through her shoe, and she jumped off the bed.
“What’s wrong with you?” Barry asked, confused.
Ashley ran up to her bedroom window and looked down at the apartment complex parking lot. And sure enough, Charles Sinatra was getting out of his Jaguar. Barry hurried up to the window with her, and looked out too. He saw Charles standing at his Jaguar, and putting on his suit coat.
“Some white guy,” Barry said. “So what?”
Ashley began hurrying over to the bed and grabbing Barry’s shirt. “You’ve got to go,” she said.
/>
“Why?” he asked as she slung the shirt against him and began hurrying him out of the room. “Who is he?”
“My Dad. You’ve got to go!”
Ashley opened the bedroom door. Carly was standing in the hall smiling. “Hey, Barry,” Carly said. “Want to meet our father?”
Ashley hurried Barry through the apartment and out of their front door.
“If you see him, don’t say anything to him,” Ashley urged Barry. “I’ll call you later.”
“Y’all got a white daddy?” Barry asked. “How can that be? Y’all black.”
“Bye, Barry,” Ashley said, and Barry hurried on down the steps. Ashley slammed the door back and looked at her younger sister.
“If you say one word to Dad,” she said, “I will beat your skinny ass.”
“You’ll try,” Carly said as she sat down on the sofa. “And you should thank me. I didn’t have to tell you he was here.”
Ashley settled down. “That’s true,” she said. “But you still better not say anything.”
Ashley ran back into her bedroom and up to her bedroom window. She could see Charles walking across the parking lot and heading for the apartment building, and then she saw Barry walking past him. And Barry was grinning with his retarded self, she thought. But her dad ignored him, which was all she was after. She began to spruce back up her bedroom.
In the living room, knocks were head on the front door. Carly went to the door and opened it. “Daddy!” she said with a grand smile, and hurried to him.
Charles smiled greatly himself as he gave her a kiss and pulled her into his arms. “There’s my girl,” he said. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Carly said as they continued to hug. He entered the apartment. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I had some property I needed to look at here in Boston and decided today was as good a day as any. So I got in the car and drove on down. Since I haven’t seen my girls in a few weeks, I decided to drop by and check up on you guys. You certainly don’t bother to drop by and check on me.”
Carly looked at him and then nodded. “I see,” she said. “You miss your wife.”
Charles looked at her. Carly was his adopted daughter, but he declared if she was not just like Tony when it came to perceptiveness. “I miss you and Ash,” Charles said.
“And Mom,” Carly said. “But since she’s all the way on the other side of the country, you decided seeing the other two adult females in your life is the next best thing.”
Charles pulled her in his arms again. “You’re never a consolation prize with me,” he said, “and don’t you forget it. You’re never number two.”
“Except when it comes to Mom, right?”
“Damn right,” Charles said and Carly laughed.
“I understand it,” she said. “When I get married, you’re going to be second fiddle too.”
Charles laughed. “You’d better make sure he’s worthy of the number one spot.”
“I will, don’t worry. I will.” Then Ashley entered the living room. “It’s that other daughter of yours you need to worry about,” Carly added.
“What did you say?” Ash asked as she entered.
“I was talking about his other daughter. I could have been talking about Bonita.”
“Except you wasn’t,” Ashley said and then smiled and hurried to Charles. “Hey, Daddy!”
Charles gave Ashley a great bear hug also. It was no secret around the family that Carly and Charles had a special bond, but he loved Ashley just as much. If not more, given her many challenges. “Hey, baby,” he said to his oldest daughter as he gave her a kiss and pulled her into his arms. “You’re looking spiffy.”
“It’s great to see you, Daddy,” Ashley said. “What a wonderful surprise!”
Carly wanted to laugh, but she didn’t. She went and took a seat on the sofa instead. Charles sat beside her, while Ashley sat in the flanking chair. Carly leaned against him, and he placed his arm around her.
“Heard from Mom today?” Ashley asked, shaking her crossed leg. “We talked to her just before her flight yesterday, but we haven’t heard from her today.”
“I spoke with her after I got to my office this morning. She’s fine.”
“How about granddad?” Carly asked. “How’s he doing?”
“She said he’s recovering nicely from his surgery. He’s fine too.”
“That’s good,” Ashley said.
“So what about you two?” Charles asked. “School still going okay?”
“It’s challenging,” Carly admitted, “but I’m hanging in there.”
“I’m doing better than that,” Ashley said. “My grades may be better than Carly’s this term, Dad.”
Comparing grades received from coursework at Berkskill College versus coursework from Harvard was like comparing a kitten to a lion, but Charles nor Carly had ever played that game. They both were glad Ashley finally settled down long enough to make it through college at all.
“And you graduate in a couple months,” Charles said. “That’s fantastic, Ash.”
Ashley smiled.
“No classes today?”
“I have one tonight,” Ashley said. “But that’s the only class I have on Tuesdays.”
“I had two this morning,” Carly said. “I have one tonight as well.”
Charles held her tighter. He was so proud of her he sometimes felt emotional about it. She worked so hard and achieved so much. “So everything’s fine then?” Charles asked them.
“All is well,” Ashley said.
Charles looked at Carly when she said nothing. “All is well?” he asked her directly.
“If Ash leaves those boys alone and stop bringing all of these different guys to our apartment, then yes, all would be well,” Carly said.
Ashley rolled her eyes. “You are such a snitch! People hate snitches!”
“It’s not safe what you’re doing,” Carly said. “You don’t know those guys like that, but you always bring one home with you. To our home! It’s damn uncomfortable and I’m tired of fronting for you.”
“You aren’t fronting for me,” Ashley said, “so don’t even get it twisted like that. You talk too much and that’s a fact of life and has always been a fact of life with you.”
“But am I lying?” Carly asked. “No, I’m not, thank-you very much. And since Dad pays our rent and all of our bills, including our very expensive tuition, I feel he at least has a right to know who’s coming and going in this apartment that we wouldn’t have if it was not for him.”
“Whatever, Carly.”
“So answer my question, Ash. Am I lying?”
“Snitch,” was all Ashley would say.
“But am I lying?”
“Bitch,” Ashley said.
“That’s enough,” Charles said to Ashley. Then he looked at Carly. “Have you had lunch?”
Carly was still upset with Ashley, but she shook her head. “No, sir.”
“Let me talk with your sister, then I’ll take you guys to lunch.”
“Yes, sir,” Carly said. She gave Ashley another cold look before leaving the living room.
“Don’t believe her, Dad,” Ashley said.
“Carly is a lot of things,” Charles said, “but she’s no liar.”
Ashley shook her head. “She needs to mind her own business. I’m a grown woman.”
“A grown woman that acts like a girl,” Charles said. Then he stared at her. “Was that grinning boy one of those men you bring home with you?”
Ashley was stunned. Charles didn’t give Barry a second glance when they walked past each other in the parking lot. She didn’t think Charles even noticed him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I don’t.”
Charles considered her. She was willing to lie to his face, and that was not good. “It’s easy to be easy, Ash,” he said.
Ashley looked at him. “What does that mean?”
&
nbsp; “Easy girls are a dime a dozen. Men run through them like they run through shoes. They discard them afterwards just as easily too.”
Ashley stared at her adopted father. She never had a good relationship with her deceased biological mother, so she never missed her. But she missed her biological father so much that sometimes she felt guilty loving Charles and Jenay and her newfound siblings as much as she did. It felt almost like a betrayal to her. Quince Franklin, her biological father, was a good man, she felt, who turned to crime only because he had to take care of her and Carly. She sometimes felt guilty that maybe Quince’s need for fast money had everything to do with her desire to live the good life and therefore might have caused him to turn to crime. And his crime spree caused him to get into that shootout with police that ended in his death. Jenay made Ashley and Carly both go to therapy years ago to deal with their troubled childhood, and Ashley remained in therapy today, but it didn’t change how she felt.
And that was why she was not about to do anything to ever make another man feel as if she was not worth it. She decided that if she didn’t do anything else right, she was going to please men right. She therefore smiled. “Don’t worry, Dad,” she said. “I’m not easy in any way. I may laugh and talk with guys, but that’s as far as it goes. Trust me on that. And I have the grades to prove it. I’m going to do better than Carly this term,” she said. “Mark my words.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Brent drove up the long driveway that led to his front door and got out of his truck exhausted. He wore spandex shorts and a sweatshirt, and felt the need for sleep growing stronger by the second. Because he worked so late he was not able to get to the gym until after eleven tonight. Since the gym closed at midnight, he barely had time for half the workout he usually preferred to do. But he worked up a sweat nonetheless.
He grabbed his gym bag and towel out of his cab and headed for his front door. Tony’s car was there, which was not unusual. Tony spent almost as much time at Brent’s house as he did at his own home. But Donald’s Jeep was there too. That was unusual.
Donald, in fact, opened Brent’s front door before he could. “Hey, Brent,” he said jovially as Brent walked in. “How was your workout?” He looked down at Brent’s shorts and sweatshirt. “You look jock-ish.”
Big Daddy Sinatra 3: The Best of My Love (The Sinatras of Jericho County) Page 14
