Mick Sinatra 2: Love, Lies, and Jericho (19 page)

“And it will
be the last ass you ever kick,” Charles fired back.
 
But then he stood down and nodded.
 
He could respect a man who stood up for his
woman.
 
“But point taken,” he added.
 
And looked at Roz.
 
“No disrespected intended,” he said.

Roz
nodded.
 
“Okay,” she said.

Then Charles
exhaled, and looked at Mick.
 
“You want
to ride with me or drive your own car?”

Mick had to
take a moment too.
  
“I’ll drive,” he
ultimately said.

Charles
glanced at that car again.
 
Had to be
three-hundred thousand easy.
 
“Suit
yourself,” he said, and began walking toward his own vehicle, a big Dodge Ram
pickup truck, parked further along the curb.

Mick helped
Roz into his Maserati, and then got in himself.

Roz looked
at Mick as he waited for Charles to pull out.
 
“He treats you like you’re still that kid he was responsible for,” she said.

Mick
nodded.
 
“I noticed.”

“And I get
why he would do that.
 
But I don’t get
why you’re letting him do it.
 
You even
told him he can talk to you any way he choose.
 
What’s that about?
 
This isn’t
like you, Mick.”

Mick leaned
his head back.
 
He felt like a fish out
of water around Charles.
 
Then he turned
his head toward Roz. His lazy eye was practically closed.
 
“Remember when you were putting up with your
mother’s bullshit?”

“Of course I
remember.”

“Remember
when you told me you will always honor your parents, right or wrong?”
 

Roz
nodded.
 
“I remember.”

“Charles is
my parent,” Mick made clear.
 
“He’s the
only real parent I’ve ever had.
 
I honor
him.”

“Right or
wrong?”

Mick
nodded.
 
“Right or wrong,” he said.
 
Then smiled.
 
“But trust me.
 
He’s usually
right.”

Roz
laughed.
 
“Okay.
 
But Mick Sinatra taking a backseat to
somebody else?” She folded her arms.
 
“This is going to be an interesting visit.”

Mick laughed
too.
 
And then pulled from the curb as
his big brother’s big truck pulled off too.

“Come in!”
Jenay Sinatra, eating a chef salad, looked up from her desk inside her office
at the Jericho Inn.
 
When the door
opened, and Charles walked in, she smiled as she ate.
 
“What are you doing here?” she asked.

And then she
saw two additional people walk in behind him.
 
Charles glanced back at them.
 
“This is my wife, guys,” he said to them.
 
“Jenay Sinatra.”

Mick and Roz
glanced at each other, surprised.
 
Jenay
was African-American too.

“Couple
people here I want you to meet, sweetheart,” Charles said as he walked toward
his wife. They had been married for well over a decade, but his heart still
raced whenever he saw her pretty face.

Jenay put
down her fork, wiped her mouth, and stood up.
 
Mick and Roz walked toward her.
 
She was wearing reading glasses and looked very studious, but there was
no denying her beauty.
 
But they weren’t
surprised to see that a great looking man like Charles would have a great
looking wife.
 
But they were both
surprised to see that his wife was a black woman.
 
Mick was especially surprised.
 
He never recalled seeing any
African-Americans the entire time he lived in Jericho!
 
But he also saw her as a welcomed
surprise.
 
Now Rosalind would not feel so
alien, he hoped.

Charles
kissed Jenay on the lips, glanced into her eyes in a way that let her know he
was troubled by this turn of events, and then he placed one arm around her
waist.

Jenay was
concerned, because Charles looked so troubled, but she maintained her smile as
she looked at her two guests.
 
“So who
exactly are these lovely people?” she asked her husband.
 
She smiled such a warm, inviting smile that
Mick and Roz could not help but smile too.

Charles
pulled her closer, as if he had to protect her from a threat she might not
realize was there.
 
“I want you to meet Mick
and his fiancée,” he said.

Jenay looked
at Charles.
 
“Mick?”
 
Then, after a pause.
 
“Your brother Mick?”

Charles
nodded.
 
He still couldn’t believe it
either.
 
“My brother Mick.”

Jenay looked
at Mick again with shock in her eyes.
  
She Googled him once and saw his picture online, but he now looked
entirely different in person.
 
“I Googled
you once,” she admitted to him.
 
“You
look far more imposing in person.
 
Far
more intense.”

Mick
smiled.
 
“I’m sorry I disappoint you.”

“No
disappointment,” Jenay responded.
 
And
then she smiled even grander.
 
“And
you’re little Micky?
 
Come here you!”

Mick loved
the way she said that, and gladly moved toward her.
 
They hugged vigorously, as if she was,
literally, welcoming him home with open arms.
 
It was a stark contrast, Roz noticed, from the greeting Charles had
given Mick.

Mick noticed
it too.
 
And he basked in the warmth of
this woman’s arms.
 
He was still reeling
from his encounter with Charles, but she was making it seem as if a true
bury-the-past
reunion could still be
possible.

When they
stopped embracing, Mick pulled Roz in front of him.
 
“And this beautiful lady right here,” he said
proudly, “is my better half.”

Jenay
smiled.
 
“Oh, is she?”

“This is my
soon-to-be-wife Rosalind.”

“You’re
right,” Jenay said.
 
“She’s very
beautiful indeed, Mick.
 
And she’s all
yours?”

Mick
laughed.
 
He liked Jenay already.
 
“She’s all mine,” he said happily.

“It’s so
nice to meet you, Rosalind,” Jenay said as they hugged.

“Call me
Roz,” Roz responded as they continued to hug.
 
“And it’s nice to meet you too.”

When Mick
looked away from the ladies, he noticed how his brother was now sitting behind
his wife’s desk staring at him.
 
Jenay
might have been all onboard with this get together, but Mick could tell that
Charles still wasn’t there yet.

“This is
such a wonderful surprise,” Jenay said.
 
She looked over at Charles.
 
“You
knew they were coming and didn’t tell me?” she asked.

“He didn’t
tell me,” Charles responded as he picked up her fork.
 
“I had no idea he was coming.”
 
He began eating some of her salad.

“Well, we’re
glad you came,” Jenay said, looking at her brother-in-law again.
 
“And we’re especially glad you brought your
fiancée along.
 
Have you set a date?”

“Not yet,”
Roz said.

“But it’ll
be soon,” Mick assured her.
 
He knew of
guys who pretended their booty calls were their fiancées whenever they took
them around their people, but Mick wanted to make it clear that he was not that
guy and Roz was not that kind of lady.
 
“We’ve only been engaged a couple weeks.

“This is
such a blessing,” Jenay said.
 
“I’m not
going to say Charles talked about you often, because he didn’t, but I know he
thought about you often.
 
And don’t let
his sour pus fool you.
 
He’s happy to see
you again.”

Mick smiled.

“So how long
are you staying?” Jenay asked, looking from Mick to Roz and back to Mick.
 
“A week at least, I hope.”

Mick glanced
at Charles.
 
“We haven’t set any
particular timeframe,” he said.
 
“But no
more than a week.
 
We both have
businesses to run.”

“Oh,
okay.
 
So I know you have Sinatra Industries.”

“That is
correct.”

“What about
you, Roz?
 
What do you have?
 
What is your line of work?”

“I own a
talent agency in Philly.
 
The Graham
Agency.
 
It’s doing great, but it’s just
getting off the ground.”

“All the more
reason not to stay away from it for long,” Jenay said.
 
“I fully understand.
 
When Charles turned this place over to me to
run, this hotel, it required my full attention too.”

“It’s a
lovely place,” Roz said, looking around.
 
“Just beautiful.”

“Thank-you
so much.
 
I’ll show you around.”
 
Then Jenay smiled.
 
“And for you to come on a Monday is
excellent.
 
We have our family dinners on
Mondays.
 
You’ll get to meet the whole
clan tonight!
 
I’ll have the maid prepare
the guest room at the house and---”

“Ah,” Mick
interrupted her, “I think my brother, your husband, has other ideas for our
stay.”

Jenay
frowned.
 
“What other ideas?”
 
She looked at Charles.
 
“Charlie, what other ideas?”

Charles
wiped his mouth with Jenay’s napkin, and stood up.
 
“I thought they would stay here.”

Jenay
couldn’t believe it.
 
“Here?
 
Your brother?
 
No way, Charles!
 
They’ll stay at
the house.
 
I insist upon it.”

Charles
didn’t argue with his wife.
 
At least not
yet.
 
Mainly because a part of him wanted
this reunion as badly as Mick wanted it.
 
He knew it was needful too.
 
But
he didn’t know Mick’s motives.
 
He didn’t
know if he and Roz were there to hide out, he didn’t have a clue what was up
with them.
 
But Mick was his
brother.
 
But he was keeping his eye on
him.
 
“If that’s what you want,” he said
to his wife.
 
“Okay.”

But Mick
could tell it was not okay.
 
“We can
certainly stay at this fine establishment,” he said.
 
“We don’t want to impose.”

“No
imposition whatsoever,” Jenay insisted.
 
“We’re thrilled to have you.
 
Charles is too, he just doesn’t know how to show it.”

“Anyway,”
Charles said, walking from behind the desk, “I’ve got an eviction to serve.”

“Perfect,”
Jenay said.
 
“Mick can go with you, and
Roz can stay here with me.”

“Sounds
good,” Roz said.

Charles
wasn’t crazy about the idea, but he was not an unreasonable man.
 
He knew it was needful and best.
 
That was why Jenay, a very reasonable woman,
suggested it.
 
“That can work,” he said.

But Mick
wasn’t so sure.
 
Charles could tell Mick
was concerned about leaving Roz behind.
 
Charles was protective of Jenay that way too.
 
He knew it when he saw it.
 
“She’ll be in good hands,” he said to Mick.
 
“Don’t worry.”

And that was
enough for Mick.
 
He kissed Roz on the
lips.
 
But leaving her in a strange place
with a woman they were only just beginning to know, even though he was only
leaving her for a little while, was still unsettling to him.
 
Roz was his responsibility.
 
He would have preferred they stayed
together.
 
But Jenay was right.
 
He needed time with his brother.

Charles
drove his truck along the backroads of Jericho and Mick bounced along on the
passenger seat.

“It’s
amazing how so little has changed,” Mick said as he remembered those
backroads.
 
“It’s like time stood still
here.”

“It did,”
Charles said as he drove.
 
“Some people
tend to like that fact.
 
I like that
fact.
 
But you were never one of those
people.”

Mick
smiled.
 
“You got that right.”

“So
Philadelphia’s your home now?”

Mick
nodded.
 
“Yeah, it’s where I landed and
stayed.”

“But still can’t seem to keep yourself out of
trouble.”
 
Charles said this as if it was
a fact.
 
He looked at Mick.
 
Mick didn’t respond.

They made their way along a dusty road that led to an
old farmhouse near the outskirts of town.
 
Mick smiled.
 
He remembered this
place too.
 
“Isn’t this the old
Cunningham farm?”

Charles was impressed.
 
“You remember it.”

“How could I forget it? I used to fuck those
Cunningham sisters every chance I got.”
 
He looked at Charles.
 
“So did
you.”

Charles didn’t like to be reminded of his womanizing
days.

“What happened to them?”

“They left town as soon as they turned eighteen.
 
The old man tried to keep the place up, but
then he got real sick and died.
 
The
house went on the market for pennies on the dollar, so I bought it and started
renting it out.
 
The guy I’m going to
kick out now has been here for a little over a year, but took it upon himself
to stop paying his rent four months ago.
 
I’m supposed to understand that.
 
I don’t.
 
He’s getting out today.”

But Mick was confused.
 
“Shouldn’t the sheriff’s office handle your evictions?” he asked his
older brother.
 
“Shouldn’t the cops be
handling this?”

“The cops around here are too close to the
tenants.
 
They don’t do shit.
 
I get on my son about it all the time, but it
hasn’t worked.
 
They have more pressing
matters, let Brent tell it.”

“Who’s Brent?” Mick asked.

“My son.
 
My
oldest boy.
 
The chief of police.”

Mick was surprised to hear that.
 
A law enforcement officer in the family?
 
“The police chief?
 
You don’t say?”
 
Mick shook his head.
 
“Now that’s a switch,” he said, and Charles
couldn’t help but laugh.

“Look like somebody’s waiting here already,” Mick
said.

Charles didn’t recognize the car, but he recognized
the person inside the car.
 
“That’s my
son Robert,” he said, as he drove up alongside an Infiniti.
 
“He manages my rental properties for me.”

“Oh, okay.”

“He’s not exactly great at his job,” Charles admitted,
“but he’s getting there.
 
He handles my
evictions for the most part.
 
He tried to
handle this one.”

“Is that him?” Mick asked when a young man, blonde and
blue-eyed, stepped out of the Infiniti.

“That’s him,” Charles said, and got out of his truck
too.
  
Mick got out also.

“What’s this?” Charles asked as he pointed at the
Infiniti and walked toward Robert.

“You like?”

“What happened to the Corvette, or whatever that was
you were driving?”

“I wanted something different.”

Charles wasn’t buying it.
 
He stared at his son.
 
“It was repossessed, wasn’t it?”

His son didn’t respond.

“I thought you were trying to get your credit back on
track, Robert.
 
We were working on that!”

“I know that, Dad.
 
But it’s okay.
 
I’m straight.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I am!”

“Tell that shit to the birds because you know I’m not
buying it.
 
You just had a car
repossessed. You are not straight.
 
Your
credit is a mess again.”

Robert, knowing his father spoke the truth, decided to
look beyond him at the man standing beside him.
 
“Hi.”

“Hello,” Mick said. “Robert, right?”

“Right.”
 
Robert
looked troubled.
 
He looked at his
father. “He looks like Brent.”

That fact wasn’t lost on Charles either.
 
“Brent looks like him,” he said.
 
“He’s my brother.
 
Meet your Uncle Mick.”

Robert couldn’t believe it.
 
“You’re Uncle Mick?”
 
He smiled.
 
“You’re the gangster?”

Mick laughed.
 
“I’m a businessman actually.
 
Sorry
to disappoint you.” Mick extended his hand. “But nice to finally meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Robert said grandly as they
shook.

With his blonde hair and striking big blue eyes,
Robert was a gorgeous specimen to behold.
 
He reminded Mick of his long-deceased mother.

“So how long do you plan to stay, Unc?” Robert asked.

“That’s still to be determined,” Mick said.

“I’m just glad you came.
 
Dad has told us so little about you.
 
When we would ask he’d get so upset that we
stopped asking.
 
That was years and years
ago.”

Mick glanced at Charles.

“Is he at home?” Charles asked his son.

“Yes, sir,” Robert responded.
 
“He’s inside.
 
I’m sorry you had to get involved, but he just won’t listen to reason
and the cops are pretty useless.
 
I
didn’t even bother calling them.
 
He
wants us to give him more time to get up the money.”

“His time is out,” Charles said as he began walking
toward the back of his truck.
 
“He knows
that.”

Charles grabbed his rifle out of the back of his
truck.
 
Mick was surprised.
 
Charles had always been such a law and order
man, he couldn’t imagine him taking matters into his own hands.

But that was exactly what he appeared to be doing as
they made their way toward the front steps of the farmhouse.
 
Then Charles seemed to think about something,
and glanced back at Mick.
 
“This could
get ugly,” he said.
 
“You might want to
wait in the truck.”

Robert grinned.
 
“Dad!”

Mick smiled too.
 
“I think I can manage,” he said.

“Sure?” Charles asked.

“Positive,” Mick replied.

“Suit yourself,” Charles said, and continued to walk
toward the front porch.

Mick glanced over at the barn.
 
Still standing, but barely.
 
He remembered how pretty those Cunningham
girls used to be, with their red hair and freckles, and how often he was in
that barn banging them.
 
But then the
front door of the farmhouse opened, and a tall man with his own rifle stepped
out, and his trip down memory lane slammed into reality again.
 
Those fond memories were gone.

“Don’t come any closer, Big Daddy,” the man warned,
“or you won’t live to regret it.”

“Time for you to go, Earl,” Charles responded as they
stopped at the top of the steps.
  
They
were within inches of the big man, but Charles didn’t seem to mind.
 
“You’ve been served.
 
You’ve been evicted.
 
You’re getting off of my property today.”

“I told you I was gonna catch up,” Earl said.
 
“I told you once I get that settlement---”

But Charles wasn’t interested.
 
“Settlement my ass,” he said.
 
“I heard that song before, again and again,
and it has never happened.
 
Now you’re too
far behind to catch up.
 
You’ve got to
leave now.”

But Earl was defiant.
 
“Nope,” he said.

Robert frowned.
 
“What do you mean nope?” he asked.

“I’m not leaving!
 
This is my land.
 
And nobody’s
forcing me off of it.”

Mick was astounded by the man’s arrogance.
 
His
land?

Robert wasn’t astounded at all.
 
He and his father were accustomed to the
arrogance of their deadbeat tenants.
 
But
he wasn’t about to let the comment slide.
 
“This is not your land,” he made clear.
 
“This is my daddy’s land.
 
And
they don’t call him Big Daddy for nothing, Earl. Not for nothing.
 
You need to get your things and get out of
here before you understand the full meaning of that nickname.”

“I ain’t going nowhere,” Earl said, still
defiant.
 
“He don’t scare me.”
 
Then he pointed his rifle.

“Don’t do this, Earl,” Charles said.
 
“You need to just leave.”

“Make me, Big Daddy.
 
You’re so big and bad.
 
I dare you
to make me move.
 
Hell, I dare you to
make me move from the spot where I’m standing, you yellowbelly fart!”

Before Earl could appreciate what was happening, Mick
grabbed the rifle from his hand, butted him in the face with the handle and
knocked him on his ass.
 
Then he stood
over Earl and pointed his own weapon pointblank at his face.
 
“I just moved you,” Mick said.
 
“What will you do about it now?”

Robert grinned.
 
He was amazed at Mick’s agility and quickness.
 
But Charles was alarmed.
 
He moved Mick back and reached for that
rifle.
 
“It’s just a house,” he
said.
 
“It’s not worth dying over.”

Mick knew a guy like this could spell trouble in the
future, but it wasn’t his lane.
 
He
didn’t have to live here, Charles did.
 
He stepped back and allowed Charles to take the rifle.

Earl was so stunned and scared that he scooted back
before standing up.

“Get out of here while you still can,” Charles warned
him.

“I’m going.
 
Keep that guy away from me!”

“Then leave,” Robert said.

“What about my stuff?”

“It’ll be out on the side of the road later today,”
Robert told him.
 
“Come back then.”

“What about my rifle?”

“Because you threatened us with it,” Charles said,
“I’m turning it over to Brent.
 
Get it
from him.”

Earl stared at Mick again, and then took off down the
steps, got into his own beat up Ford pickup, and took off too.

Charles and Robert looked at Mick.

“I told you I can manage,” Mick said.

Robert laughed.
 
Charles shook his head, and headed back to the truck.