Big Daddy Sinatra 3: The Best of My Love (The Sinatras of Jericho County) (18 page)

Willie
put on his best smile.
 
“Remember me?” he
asked.

“I
do,” she said.
 
“Willie, right?”

“That’s
right!
 
Good for you!
 
I just wanted to see if maybe you wanted to
come to this little get together I’m having at my house Friday night.”

Ashley
was inwardly thrilled.
 
She remembered
him saying how he was an NFL scout, which automatically made him big time in
her eyes.
 
If she could get her hand on a
baller, she’d be set!
 
“Sure,” she said
easily.
 
“Where and when?”

Easy
as pie, Willie thought.
 
“Don’t tell your
mother though,” he said.
 
“She may not
take too kindly to you going to a party that’s probably going to be attended by
many professional athletes.”

“Don’t
worry,” Ashley said.
 
“I don’t tell her
anything about my private life.
  
That’s
why they call it a
private
life.”

Willie
laughed.
 
“You’re so smart,” he said as
he realized just how dumb she really was.
 
And how easy.

“Do
you want me to bring my friends?” Ashley asked.

Willie
looked over at her friends.
 
Then shook
his head.
 
“Not sophisticated
enough.
 
Don’t bring anybody.
 
Don’t even mention it to them.
 
You’re the only one I want.”

Ashley
smiled.
 
She loved being singled
out.
 
“Okay,” she said.

On
the first morning of Jenay’s absence, Charles woke up at seven on the dot, far
earlier than he had awaken in years.
 
But
it was not by accident.
 
He missed his
wife.
 

He
turned onto his back and stared up, at the ceiling.
 
He had seven more days of not being with her,
not touching her, not smelling her, and already he was a basket case.
 
He even thought about hopping a flight
himself, and going to California.
 
But
even Jenay would find that troubling.
 
And he would find it especially unsettling himself.
 
He’d never depended on another human being in
his life.
 
His happiness, his peace, his
sense of rightness was never intertwined with anybody else, and he was not
going to start allowing it now.
 
But he
couldn’t dispute the truth: he missed his wife.

He
got out of bed, naked as usual, and put on his robe and slippers.
 
He had a powerful urge to phone Jenay, to
make sure she was still okay, but it was four in the morning in California, an
ungodly time as far as Charles was concerned.
 
He was not about to awaken his wife that time of morning.

He
felt odd and out of sorts being up this early, but he made his way into the
bathroom, peed, and then washed his hands and threw water on his face.
 
He looked at himself in the mirror above the
vanity and saw the strain in his eyes.
 
He found out late last night from Brent that in a couple days, on
Thursday, they were going to have his father’s hearing.
 
He would have to face that man again for the
first time in thirty-six years.
 
And his
wife was out of town.
 
It was not going
to be a good week.

He
left the bathroom and made his way across his huge bedroom to his double
doors.
 
When he unlocked and swept them
open, and was about to walk out, he was shocked to see his eight-year-old,
Bonita, fully dressed in her school clothes and lying on the floor just outside
of his bedroom.

“Nita?”
 
He went to her and lifted her into his
arms.
 

“Hey,
Daddy.”

“What
are you doing out here?”

 
She hunched her shoulders.

He
smiled.
 
“You miss mommy too, don’t you?”

Bonita
looked her big, green eyes up at him.
 
He
knew then that he had hit the nail on the head.
 
“When is she coming back?” she asked him.

“Not
for another seven days,” he said.

She
looked concerned.
 
“Why couldn’t she take
me with her?”

“Because
you have school, sweetheart.
 
You can’t
miss school.”

“Not
even for seven little days?”

Charles
smiled.
  
“Not even,” he said.
 
Then he kissed her.
 
“Come on, let’s go get you something to eat
before school.”
 
He began carrying her
downstairs.
 
“Where’s Tony?”

“In
the kitchen,” she said as he carried her.
 

But
when they arrived in the kitchen, Charles was surprised to see, not only Tony,
but Allison, the nanny, was there too.
 

“I
don’t believe it!” Tony said with a smile as he sat at the center island.
 
“You’re up this early?
 
Stop the presses!
 
I’ve never seen anything more incredible in
my life!”

Charles
ruffled Tony’s thick hair.
 
“What time
did you get here?” he asked as he sat Bonita on the stool beside her brother.

“The
time I was supposed to get here,” Tony said.

“And
what time is that?” Charles asked, walking around and standing at the center
island across from his son and daughter.

“Would
you like a cup of coffee, Mr. Sinatra?” the Nanny asked him.

“That
would be brilliant,” Charles replied, and glanced down at her short skirt.
 
“Thank-you.”

“So
what gives?” Charles asked Tony.
 
“What’s
going on with you?”

“Who
usually takes Bonita to school, Dad?”

Charles
actually had to think about this.
 
“Allison,” he said.

“Wrong,”
Tony said.
 
“Mom always takes Nita to
school.
 
That’s their--”

“Girl
power hour,” Bonita said.

Tony
nodded.
 
“Right.
 
That’s what Mom calls it.
 
Their girl power hour.
 
Allie isn’t usually here until after Nita
gets out of school.
 
She decided to come
early this morning because Mom is out of town.”

“And
what’s your excuse?” Charles asked his son.

“Before
Mom left town she task me with taking your daughter to school every day given
your penchant for, how do we say it?
 
Late sleeping?
 
But that’s what
Mom does.
 
She handles things.”

“Because
she’s a good woman,” Charles said, missing her terribly.

“Because
she knows your ass,” Tony responded.
 
“Because she knows it was for damn sure you was not getting up and
taking anybody anywhere.”

Bonita
hit Tony on his arm.
 
“Don’t talk to
Daddy like that,” she said.
 
“He’ll take
me to school if I ask him.”
 
Then she
looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes.
 
“Won’t you, Daddy?”

Charles
smiled and winked at her. “You know I will.”

Bonita
smiled greatly.

“So
how’s it going Mr. Radio Therapist?” Charles asked Tony as Allison handed him a
cup of coffee.

“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.