Her Man: An Interracial Romance (The Bentini Brothers Book 2) (16 page)

     “Antonio is a very honorable man, Dad.”  I hurry
to interject before Antonio says too much.  My granddad, ever the romantic,
goes back to his original questions.  “So, you say it was love at first sight?” 
Antonio smiles at me.  “On my part, yes, without a doubt. But she wouldn’t have
anything to do with me.  I was persistent and wouldn’t let her bully me, as she
is sometimes prone to do.” He laughs at his own wit and my dad and granddad
laugh along with him.  “We became close and…what can I say, she is the love of
my life.”  He says leaning down to kiss me.  “Tony!  Not in front of my dad!” 
Turning my head away, his kiss lands on my cheek.  “See how she bullies me.” 
He laughs.  My granddad has a big smile on his face—he loves the banter, but my
dad is frowning.  “You said ‘she worked’ as your mother’s personal assistant. 
I remember my wife and daughter being excited about Tiressa getting that job. 
Are you saying that Tiressa no longer has that position?”  My heart nearly
drops to the floor—trust my dad to be so damn perceptive.  Once again, Antonio
doesn’t hesitate to give an answer.  “Yes sir.  The truth of the matter is that
my mother—”

     I don’t want my family to have a negative
opinion of Antonio’s mother, and more importantly, I don’t want them to know
what happened; so I interrupt, with a quick fabrication.  “His mother agrees
that I should venture out and have a go at starting my own business.  You’ve
seen some of the educational games and manipulatives I’ve designed.  Mrs. Bentini
has offered to help me get some of them patented and marketed.”  Although it
bothers me to be deceptive, I don’t regret the lie.  Clearly, my dad and
granddad are pleased by this new and surprising information.  Antonio takes my
hand, giving it a gentle squeeze of gratitude, as he adds, “Yes, we will make
sure Tiressa has everything she needs to make her business a success.” 
Everyone is delighted by Antonio’s promise, especially him.

     “What kind of work are your parents involved
in, Antonio?”  My granddad asks.  “My family owns Bentini and Sons.  We
manufacture and market state of the art appliances nationwide.”

     “Of course we’ve heard of B&S, there is a
B&S store in the area.  We have several of your brands here at the house.” 
My granddad acknowledges. 

     “That’s impressive.”  My dad says, nodding his
head.  Then my granddad leans forward in his chair.  “Antonio, welcome to the
family.  You have yourself the best of the litter.” 

     “Granddad!”

     “But beware…she’s just like her mother…” My
granddad starts.

     “And even more like her grandmother.”  My dad
finishes and both men collapse with laughter, as if they’ve just told the punch
line to the world’s greatest joke.  

    
It doesn’t take long befor
one of my little cousins comes over and reminds us that my grandmother wants to
see us.  As we leave the patio, I wave to some of my uncles who are in charge
of grilling.  My uncles love to barbeque and dominate the two massive custom-built
grill islands.  It’s easy to see and hear that my uncles are having an animated
discussion about two of their favorite hobbies, fishing and grilling.  Halting
their debate, they call us over.  I try to tell them that we have to go say hi
to Grandma, but my Uncle Kelvin approaches saying, “Come on over here and say
hi to your uncles…it won’t take you but a minute.”  Hugging my shoulders, my
Uncle Kelvin looks up at Antonio and says, “Damn, you sure are a big one aren’t
you.”  That’s my Uncle Kel for you…he pretty much says what’s on his mind. 
“Antonio, this is my Uncle Kel…Uncle Kel, this is Antonio.”  They shake hands and
we veer over to the grill area, set off to the side of the yard out of the way
of all the people coming and going.  As we’re walking, Antonio whispers to me,
“So, I go from being special to just being Antonio?”  I playfully punch his arm. 

     “Who’s your young man, Ti?”  My Uncle Alexx
ask the question, but they all have the same expectant expression.  Taking a
deep breath, I plunge right in.  “Uncles, this is my special guy, Antonio Bentini. 
Antonio, these are the best uncles in the world.”  I say, giving them a cheesy
smile. ”  I introduce each uncle from left to right, “Uncle Joe, Uncle Demetri,
Uncle Leon, Uncle Alexx and you’ve met my Uncle Kelvin.”  Antonio pours on the
charm, shaking hands and making small talk about fishing and grilling.  I’m
actually quite surprised, since I didn’t know that he likes to do either.  Soon,
more relatives come over and the small group chat turns into more introductions
and a big ‘getting to know you’ session.
 Beaming at us, my Uncle
Joe asks, “So, Antonio, tell us…what do you like about our Tiressa Tierra?” 

     “Tiressa Tierra, huh?”  Antonio flashes me a
teasing smile before replying.  “I like her confidence, how she carries
herself.  I like her wit and sense of humor… her determination and integrity. 
I especially like her sass.  She’s beautiful to me…both inside and out.” 
Antonio says giving me a quick feathery kiss before I can move away.   They all
snicker.  “Damn girl, you trained him up real good.  He said all those flowery
love words without needing a cheat sheet.”  My Uncle Leon says and the rest of
them laugh and add to the teasing.  I glance at Antonio to see how he’s taking
all the jokes being made at his expense, and he seems to be taking it all in
stride.  “Tiressa, I think this one’s a keeper!”  My Uncle Joe proclaims.  “We
need more Italians in the family.”  “Here, here!”  Shouts my Uncle Demetri.
 

     I guess we were taking too long because my
Aunt Barb yells out, “Times up!  Half the day is gone and we still haven’t met
him yet!”  Aunt Barb likes to exaggerate, especially when she’s
had
a
couple
.
  
“Yall better go on over there
before steam starts coming out their ears.”  My cousin Lionel jokes laughing
and playfully punching my cousin Walter in the arm.  As we begin walking, my
Uncle Joe calls out, “Hey, Tony…don’t tell them nothing you don’t want the
world to know!”  The men roar with laughter and start another round of jokes
and lively debate, this time about sports. Once we finally make it to the
banquet tables—where there are even more family members sitting and talking in
small groups—I steer us over to one of the middle tables where my grandmother
is.  After giving her a hug and a kiss, I make the introductions she has been
so patiently waiting for.  “Antonio, I’d like you to meet my grandmother, Mrs.
Annie Johnson.  The wisest lady I know.”  My grandmother beams at the praise. 
“Grandma, this is Antonio Bentini, my special guy.”  It seems the more I
introduce Antonio as my guy, the easier it gets.

     “Young man, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

     “It’s my pleasure Mrs. Johnson.  Tiressa
speaks very highly of you.”

     “Antonio, this is my wonderful mother, “Alice
Hawkins.”

     “Hello Mrs. Hawkins, I’m happy to finally meet
you.  I can see where Ti gets her beautiful looks.”  He’s definitely a charmer
when he wants to be.  And my mother isn’t opposed to being complimented by a
handsome man…no matter what color he is.

     “Have a seat you two, we won’t hold you for
long...I’m sure you have more visiting to do…but we’d like to spend a little
time getting to know your young man, Ti.”

     If Antonio’s going to be an important part of
my life, then it’s important that he gets to know my family…and they get to
know him.  I told Antonio that my family doesn’t have a problem with me dating
a white man…and that’s true…for the most part.  But, the older
generation—primarily my dad and some of my uncles—continue to struggle, on some
level, accepting black women with white men.  But like many black men, they
don’t have a problem with black men dating any race they please.  It’s a
ridiculous and unfair contradiction.  Which is why I’m so proud of my dad and
granddad…as well as my uncles.  I can tell that they are still iffy about
Antonio.  But they talked with him and are willing to accept him, because he’s
the man that I choose to be with.   Now, Antonio is sitting with the matriarchs
of the family.

     “Well, I’m glad to hear that she’s mentioned
her family to you, Antonio, because for some reason—and I don’t understand
why—she has failed to mention you to her family.”  My mom says looking at me
disapprovingly.  Antonio calmly looks to me, as if to say
‘I told you so’
. 
I look at my mother and responding a little defensively.  “That’s not fair Mom,
Antonio and I just started dating.”

     “Not according to Helena; who claims that
she’s known about Antonio for almost a month now.  Tiressa, how could you keep
this from me?  I’m your mother!”  Apparently, my mom is irked that her sister
knew before she did; and is hurt and probably a little embarrassed.  “Mom I
didn’t tell Aunt Helena.  I didn’t tell anyone…well, almost anyone…not until
recently.”

     “She didn’t, Alice.  Danece told me.”  My aunt
clarifies helpfully.  But my mom is still a little miffed.

     “Well how come Mya didn’t tell me?”  My mom
demands.

     “Because Mom, Mya didn’t know until just
recently.”  I explain.

     “Alice, leave the girl alone.”  My
grandmother, the grand matriarch, interjects and then smiles at me as she takes
my hand.  “We’re just glad to have Tiressa here…her and her nice, handsome young
man.”  

     Just then, my sister strolls to the table smiling
and greeting everyone.  She makes my cousin move over and sits across from me
and Antonio stabbing him with a fierce frown –and I just know she’s not even
going to try to be civil.  “I see it didn’t take you long to track her down.”

     “Mya, please. Not here.”  I send up a silent
prayer for her to keep quiet.  But apparently, my prayer isn’t to be answered. 
“Tiressa, he shouldn’t be here…he doesn’t have the right to be at our family
event, when his family—”

     “Mya shut up!”  I shout at her, bringing all
eyes immediately to me.   “What’s going on?!”  Our mother asks, clearly upset
by the sight of her only two children fighting.  It’s so unlike Mya and me to
be mad at each other.   “Nothing Mom…nothing is going on.  Mya?”  I silently
implore her to go along with me on this.  “She’s right…nothing is going on
Mom.”  Mya reluctantly agrees.  Looking at the shocked faces of my relatives, it’s
obvious that no one believes for a minute that we’re fighting about
nothing
. 
But thankfully, they aren’t poking and prodding to get at the truth –at least
not yet.  My Aunt Jacquie, known as the man-basher of the family, sights her
eagle eyes on Antonio and inquires, “So Antonio, what do you do for a living?”

     “Damn Jacquie, the man hasn’t even had a
chance to warm his seat!”  My Aunt Sandi says acting as if she’s surprised.  
But I can see that she’s just as curious…they all are.  Antonio smiles at my
Aunt Jacquie –who isn’t impressed with his winning charm, not one bit—and answers
willingly.  “I don’t mind.  I own a security firm.  We help businesses keep the
criminals out, and if they do happen to get past our security measures, then we
find out who they are, and track them down.”  The way he says it, with such
complete and absolute confidence, I know with certainty that Antonio would have
found me…no matter what.  My mom, aunts, and cousins take turns asking Antonio
questions, while my grandmother sits back and observe…every once in a while
asking a question of her own. 

     “
Have you been married
or engaged before?”  My Aunt Yolanda asks.

     “Yes.  I was married before.”

      “How many times?” My Aunt Emma asks.  At the
same time that I say, “Antonio?  You have?  When?”  I say surprised.

     “Umm-huhh…somebody got secrets…”  My cousin Jemar
says to his boyfriend, and several of the women mumble their agreement.    

     “Once, ten years ago.”  Antonio replies to my
aunt and then bending down, so that only I can hear, he whispers, “We’ll talk
about it later, okay?”  I’m a little taken aback that he was married and didn’t
even bother to tell me; but he’s right, now is not the time to have that
discussion; so, I silently agree.

     “Do you have any kids?”  Ask my Aunt Traci.

     “No.  No children.”  He looks down at me intensely
as he says, “Yet.”

     “So, Mr. Bentini.  We know you come from a
good
family with lots of money.  According to Ti, you’re a
good
guy.  We can
see that you have a great head of hair and
good
manners.  We know you
have a
good
time with my sister.  But we’d like to know if she’s
good
enough for you to marry?”  Mya’s still angry and it’s showing.   “Yeah. 
Exactly what are your intentions?”  My cousin Danece chimes in with just as
much saltiness.

     “Grandma, please make them stop.”  I plead, my
eyes shining.

     “No, grandma.  He needs to tell us what his
intentions are.  Ti’s already been seriously hurt.  And we all know how long it
took her to get over that jerk.”  Mya is referring to my ex of course.  “Yeah
mama.  We don’t want to see her hurt.”  One of my aunts add her two cents.

     “
I’ll answer just about
any question you have, if it’ll help you feel better about me and Tiressa being
together.  I love her and I want to marry her
, but she isn’t
making it easy for me.”  Some of the ladies hoot at that last part, and my Aunt
Barb throws out, “I know that’s right girl, make him work for it!”  Everybody
laughs at that sage advice and some add a few words of their own.