“You bang her.”
“I’m a married man.”
“You gotta tell Tina to stop fixing me up.”
“Why? You wanna get your rocks off, don’tcha?”
“I can do it on my own time.”
“Then do it,” Max said. “You’ve been out a week, or did ya get a taste for somethin’ different in jail?”
“Screw you, Max. That’s not funny.”
“Then why aren’t you horny?”
“You want the truth, or a lie?”
“I’ll take the truth.”
“I went to a hooker the day after I got out,” he lied. It was easier to tell a fib rather than start explaining why he wasn’t in the mood for sex.
Max’s eyes bulged. “You did what?”
“Yeah. I paid for it. First time.”
“Why’d you do that?”
“ ’Cause I don’t need to take a girl out an’ sweet-talk her into bed, make her think it means anything when it doesn’t. Right now I gotta concentrate. So do me a big favor, no more of Tina’s fix-ups.”
“Holy crap!” Max said. “You paid for it. Jeez! What was it like?”
“Uncomplicated,” he said. “And right now, that’s the way it has to be.”
A few nights later, Tina announced that the Delagado twins’ aunt Gloria was having a party to celebrate the girls’ sixteenth birthday.
“I promised her we’d drop by,” Tina said. “She’s quite a fabulous character. It’ll be a blast.”
“We can’t leave the kids alone,” Max pointed out.
“Yes we can,” Tina replied, determined to go. “What’s the big deal? They’re in bed asleep, and we’ll be right next door.”
“I’ll stay with the kids,” Michael volunteered. “You two go enjoy yourselves.”
“That’s not fair,” Tina began.
“You might as well make the most of me,” he said. “Anyday now I’ll be outta here.”
“If you’re sure . . . ,” she said, reluctant to leave him behind.
“I’m sure,” he said firmly. He had no desire to go to a sweet sixteen celebration—staying home was a far more tempting prospect.
Earlier in the day he’d met up with Gus, who’d told him there was something coming up that he might be interested in.
“What?” he’d asked.
“I’ll let you know,” Gus had said. “It’s a big-bucks job that’ll pay good.”
“What’ll I havta do t’ make big bucks?”
“Drive. You can do that, huh?”
He was twenty-five with no job and a prison record. Did he have a choice?
Yes. He could call the number that Karl Edgington had given him. And maybe he would. Eventually.
Tonight, he decided, was going to be the last night he spent on Max and Tina’s couch. He was getting lazy and too comfortable. Besides, leeching off his friends was not his style. If Gus came up with the job, he was definitely in. He needed to make some money, and fast.
The sound of Latin music began drifting over from next door. He put on the TV and tuned into Monday night football.
After a while he must’ve fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew there were sirens and lights flashing outside the window.
Jumping up, he hurried to the front door and walked into the street. People were milling about on the sidewalk as two ambulance attendants carried a stretcher to the back of their vehicle.
He grabbed a fat woman in a floral dress. “What’s goin’ on?” he asked.
“She’s dead!” the woman wailed, clumps of thick black mascara dripping down her cheeks. “The poor dear is gone!”
“Who?” he asked urgently. “Who’s dead?”
“Those little children will be all alone in the world,” the woman sobbed. “It’s a tragedy!”
Suddenly he spotted Max. His friend was sitting on the curb with his head in his hands.
Jesus Christ! Something must have happened to Tina. Something bad.
Dani—1970
There’s someone I think you should meet,” Gemini said.
“What do you mean—meet?” Dani replied, quite flustered. “Is it a man? Because I can’t meet any men—I’m still married.”
They were sitting in the park watching Vincent and Nando playing in the sandbox. It was Dani’s favorite thing to do, watching her son at play. He was so serious and intent, while Nando was all over the place.
“Oh, please,” Gemini said in her lilting French accent. “I know you do not love your husband, Dani. You are a woman, and you need to be fulfilled. It is time you left him.”
“I can’t do that,” Dani said, feeling immediately guilty. “Sam was there for me when I needed him.”
“I understand your guilt because he is the father of your child,” Gemini said, quite serious. “However, if Sam does not give Vincent or you the love you deserve, then you must think of your future.”
“It’s not that easy, Gem,” Dani said, frowning. “It’s complicated.”
“Everything is complicated. Look at me. I left Nando’s father, and he was from a very affluent family. However, I decided that happiness is more important than money.”
“Why did you leave him?”
“He abused me,” Gemini said simply. “His father was a powerful man in Colombia, and Moralis was merely the son. Because of his circumstances he took his frustration out on me—mentally and physically. After I gave birth to Nando, I realized to survive I must get away from him, so I came here.”
“Why did you choose Vegas?” Dani asked. “You could’ve gone anywhere.”
“I was a dancer in Paris when I met Moralis. I felt it unwise to return to France. Vegas seemed like a place where I could find a good job doing what I love to do.”
“Didn’t he come after you?”
“I am sure he did. But I have learned that once a woman walks out on a man, it is never prudent to return.”
“I think about leaving Sam all the time,” Dani sighed, glancing over at her son, who was happily making mud pies with Nando. “I can’t stand his drinking, and he never works. We fight all the time. It’s not the right atmosphere for Vincent to grow up in.”
“No, it’s not.”
“And,” Dani continued, “he’s always asking me for money to invest in crazy schemes.”
“I hope you don’t give it to him.”
“Of course not. I’m saving my money for Vincent’s education.”
“You have quite a dilemma,” Gemini said. “It is always better for a boy to have a man in his life.”
“I know,” Dani agreed. “That’s why it’s taken me so long to make a move.” She hesitated a moment. “You see, Sam rescued me and my sister from a terrible situation. I don’t want to talk about it, but believe me, it was bad. Sam brought us to Vegas and looked after us. Then later he married my sister. They were very happy, until one day she vanished, and we’ve never found her. After that, it was my turn to be there for Sam and get him through it.”
“And you did.”
“For a while. Then he took care of me when I was pregnant.”
“So he should,” Gemini said. “It’s his baby.”
“No,” Dani admitted. “Sam is not Vincent’s father.”
“Is this the truth?” Gemini asked, quite shocked.
“It’s hardly something I’d make up.”
“Does Sam know?”
Dani shook her head. She wasn’t sorry she’d revealed her secret; in a way it was a relief to share the knowledge with someone—especially since that someone was her closest friend.
“If he’s not Vincent’s father, then you have no responsibility toward him,” Gemini said. “Why should you support this man for the rest of your life?”
Gemini was right, she’d paid Sam back for everything he’d done for her. The tough part would be telling him that Vincent wasn’t his son, because that was something she had to do. It was only fair.
“So,” Gemini said, “after the show tonight I am having
dinner with my business manager. I would love you to come and meet his friend from Houston. He’s a very nice man.”
“If he’s so nice, why aren’t you dating him?”
“He’s seen you in the show, Dani,” Gemini said with a slight smile. “He is desperate to meet you.”
“I must be honest with you, Gem. I’ve had it with men. They fail to interest me. All I care about is my son, he’s everything to me.”
“May I ask who his real father is?”
“A man I met when I was very young. I guess he wasn’t that much older than me, although he had no idea I was only sixteen and a virgin. I imagine he thought we were the same age. He was probably nineteen or twenty. Unfortunately it turned out to be a one-night event.”
“And when you informed him you were pregnant, what did he do?” Gemini asked.
“I didn’t tell him.”
“Why not?”
“Because after our one night together, I never heard from him again. So . . . I decided to marry Sam.”
“And pretend that Vincent is his?”
She nodded shamefacedly. “Yes.”
“Perhaps something happened to your one-night lover. Life is like that.”
“Maybe.”
“At least if you’d told him you were pregnant, he could have helped support your son. Or do you not think he’s entitled to know he has one?”
“No,” she said fiercely. “He’s not. Vincent is mine. I’m the one who’s always been there for him, and I always will be.”
“If that’s the way you feel . . . ,” Gemini said.
“Yes,” Dani said, nodding her head vigorously. “That’s exactly how I feel.”
“So . . . tonight, you will come?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You’re sure?”
“Very sure.”
A few weeks later she threw Sam out. He staggered home at four in the morning, completely drunk, falling over furniture and spewing obscenities.
Wearily she got out of bed and hurried downstairs, hoping to shut him up before he woke Vincent.
He wasn’t alone. There was a woman with him, a painted whore chugging from a half-full bottle of whiskey while draping herself all over him.
“Wassamatter?” Sam mumbled, giving Dani a bleary-eyed look. “Don’tcha wanna join the party?”
“Get out!” she screamed, suddenly losing it. “Get out of my house and never come back!”
He left without a fight, the woman clinging on to him like a leech.
The next day she waited for him to come home, begging her forgiveness. Surprisingly, he didn’t.
A few months later Gemini suggested dinner with her friend.
This time she agreed.
And so she met Dean King, and almost fell in love.
Michael—1971
I’m getting an abortion and you’re paying for it,” Beth announced, tossing back her long black hair, a defiant expression on her young face.
“What?” Michael replied, in shock. She’d invited him over to the house, and this is what she had to lay on him.
“You heard,” she said, as if she’d casually mentioned she was about to get a root canal.
“You gotta be kidding me,” he said, pacing around the room. “I only slept with you once, and that was months ago.”
“We did it twice in one night,” she corrected. “You knocked me up, and now you’re paying to get rid of the kid.”
Christ! How had he ever gotten involved with this wild child? She was fucking insane! And so was he for going anywhere near her.
“What the hell makes you think it’s mine?” he demanded.
She threw him a scornful look. “Of course it’s yours. If you don’t believe me, we can take a blood test.”
He stared at this seductive child-woman who was accusing him of knocking her up, and attempted to get his thoughts straight. Everything seemed to have happened so fast. It wasn’t Tina who’d been carried out to the ambulance that fateful night a year ago, it was the twins’ aunt Gloria. She’d suffered a fatal heart attack in the middle of a sexy tango with Max. Poor Max had been plagued with guilt ever since.
After Gloria’s demise, the twins were on their own. The lawyer representing Gloria’s estate had arranged for them to remain in the house next door, with Max and Tina as their legal guardians.
By this time Michael had found a small apartment and moved out. He’d decided it wasn’t worth trying to get back in with Vito Giovanni when he could be making good money elsewhere, so he’d taken the job Gus had offered him, and after a few successful runs, he’d become part of Gus’s crew in the Lucchese family.
He’d also finally contacted the number Karl Edgington had given him. A woman had answered the phone.
“Michael Castellino,” he’d said. “Karl told me to call.”
“About time,” she’d said. “Discuss nothing on the phone. Meet me tomorrow, four o’clock, outside the Plaza.”
“How’ll I know you?”
“I’ll find you.”
And she had. Her name was Warner Carlysle and she was a definite uptown beauty, tall, with auburn hair and a confident attitude. It turned out—much to Michael’s surprise—that she was Karl Edgington’s mistress. She was also the keeper of his cash, a million dollars in unmarked bills that the detectives who’d arrested him knew nothing about.
“Karl wants to legitimize this money,” she’d said. “And obviously he can’t. So, for a return of ten percent, he wants you to slowly invest it in the market over a period of time.”
“What if I blow it?”
“You won’t. I’ll give you Karl’s instructions and a certain amount of cash at a time. This is a no-lose proposition.”
“How come he trusts me?”
“Karl is not as mild as you think. Screw him, and you screw yourself. Follow instructions, and everyone turns out a winner.”
Which is exactly what he’d done, and he was making plenty.
Christ! His one night with Beth was a big mistake. However, it was his mistake, and now he had to pay the price.
She was seventeen and pregnant.
He was twenty-six and pissed.
“Take the goddamn test,” he said, reluctantly doing the right thing. “If it’s positive, I’ll marry you.”
“Big deal,” she said, thrusting out her lower lip. “I’m too young to sacrifice myself to marriage, and I’m certainly too young to have a baby. I’m getting rid of it, Michael, and you’re paying.”
This girl had balls bigger than his. “No,” he said sharply. “I don’t believe in abortion.”
“Who cares what you believe in?”
She was too much. “Are you listening to me?” he said angrily. “No abortion.”
“My plans do not include getting stuck with a baby at my age,” she said, brown eyes flashing. “If you really want to know—I’m going to be a dress designer. The biggest and the best.”
She’d already dropped out of school, and was attending a fashion institute. At least she had a mission, which was more than he could say about most of the women he dated. They all wanted to get married. They were all after the gold ring on the finger. So far, none of them had come close.
As far as he was concerned, marriage was a gold ring through the nose, and not something he’d ever considered before. Now he was offering it to her, and she was turning him down. Unbelievable!
He confided in Max over a beer at their local bar.
“Jeez!” Max groaned. “Why’d you havta screw her? She’s seventeen, for crissakes. You didn’t have enough pussy, you had to have her too? That’s some dumb move!”
“Yeah, it was stupid,” he admitted. “But she was always giving me the come-on.”
“An’ you couldn’t resist.”
“Guess not.”
“How was she in the sack?” Max asked, narrowing his eyes in a sly fashion.
“Get the fuck outta here,” Michael said, frowning. “You know I never talk about the women
I’ve been with.”
“Gee, thanks,” Max said indignantly. “Here I am, married six years, an’ you don’t wanna tell me shit. Would it kill you to give a married guy a cheap thrill?”
“I’ll tell you this,” Michael said, ignoring his comment. “I’m sure as hell not allowing her to get rid of my baby.”
“What’re you gonna do,” Max said sarcastically, “tie her to the bedpost?”
“You’ve got to get Tina to talk to her. Maybe after the baby’s born she’ll snap into some kind of maternal instinct thing. Isn’t that what women do?”
“How would I know?” Max said, swigging his beer. “If you were smart, you’d let her get rid of it.”
“That’s not right, Max. How’d you feel if it was Susie or Harry?”
“Okay, okay—I get what you’re sayin’.”
“Then you’ll speak to Tina?”
“Sure. Only I’m warnin’ you—my lovely wife’ll have your balls for breakfast.”
“I hope she enjoys ’em.”
“You horny disgusting pig!” Tina raged. “Why couldn’t you keep your slimy hands off her?”
He shrugged. “You’re right, I never should’ve gone near her. Believe me—it’s my mistake.”
“And a big one,” Tina said, glaring at him. “Don’t you understand? Max and I are supposed to watch out for those girls. We’re supposed to protect them from old leches like you.”
“I’m not exactly an old lech.”
“Well, I think you’re disgusting. It’s terrible what you’ve done to that poor little girl.”
“Oh c’mon, Tina,” he said, defending himself. “Beth is about the most street smart kid I’ve ever come across.”
“You just said it, Mike—she’s a kid, and you should have left her alone.”
“I didn’t, an’ now what happens?”
“You’ve got to marry her.”
“I’ve offered. She doesn’t want that.”
“You offered to marry her?” Tina said, shocked.
“I certainly did.”
“And she said no?”
“You got it,” he answered wearily. “Look—if she has the baby, I’ll support them both. But I’m telling you straight—no abortion.”