Hot Boyz (29 page)

With his eyes fixed on his game he spoke to his wife. “You satisfied now?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just wanted you to know how ridiculous that was.”

Mercedes stood with her arms crossed. “Okay so I feel ridiculous, Mason. Are you happy now?”

“Not really.”

“Well, I’m sorry.”

Mason said nothing.

Mercedes continued, “But why didn’t you tell me about Cicely before now?”

“I just found out not long ago myself.”

“So, you still should have told me.”

“Cedes?” He said her name while sizing up his next shot.

“Yes,” she answered, suddenly sounding like a rational woman.

“If you’d have been paying attention instead of snooping, you would have seen this in my briefcase.” Mason pulled a pink velvet box out of his pants pocket, handed it to her and continued sizing up his game as if it was golf.

Mercedes stood with the box in both hands and asked, “What is this?”

“Open it,” he replied, putting chalk on his cue. Winton took his shot.

Mercedes was almost afraid to catch a glimpse of what was inside as though maybe she didn’t deserve it. Lightly, she brushed her fingertips across the top and flipped it open with her thumb with caution, finding that to her surprise, tucked inside the white satin slot was a platinum anniversary ring with three, one carat, princess cut, baby pink sapphires. She inhaled and exhaled a major breath and then placed her flat hand over her heart. Her jaw dropped.

“Happy anniversary,” he said as he prepared to take his shot, not even looking back at her. He hit the yellow ball straight into the corner pocket.

Mercedes didn’t bother to look at him either. She took the ring out of the tiny box and slipped it on the middle finger of her right hand. She held her hand out for a full viewing, giving approval of its brilliance through her admiration-filled eyes. “Thank you, Mason. It’s beautiful.” Just as Mercedes prepared to take a step toward him with a pucker, she heard a crash. “What was that noise?”

“It sounded like a car wreck,” said Winton, placing the cue on the pool table and taking a few hurried steps toward the door.

Winton, Mason, and Mercedes ran outside to see that Star was behind the wheel of Mason’s Porsche, looking shocked and traumatized. She had decided to take the sports car for a drive and she ran smack dab into the small sycamore tree in the front yard. She got out crying, limping toward her mother looking stunned.

Later that evening after all of the drama of towing the car away and filing a police report, everyone arrived back from the emergency
room. Mercedes sat in Star’s room. She took a moment to console her and help her through her trauma. Star had an ace bandage on her knee. She bruised it on the steering wheel column. Mercedes wanted Star to know that what she did by driving her dad’s car without permission was wrong, but that they were indeed grateful that she was not too seriously hurt, nor was anyone else. Mercedes had also gotten in an accident when she was a teenager. She had taken her cousin’s sports car for a joyride in the rain and plowed right into the back of a police car. She told her daughter about that day and suddenly her own dilemma didn’t seem to bad.

Mason was grateful that all of the commotion was over for the evening. After the guests left and the caterers cleared out, Mason sat in the backyard under the stars and had a conversation with Claude. Mason had had enough.

“I’m putting this house up for sale, man. I’m leaving,” Mason told Claude while looking up, examining the glittering big dipper.

“I think that’s the best decision you’ve made in a while, man. You know how I feel about this damn place.”

“Go ahead and put a sign up tomorrow. List it for whatever you think it’s worth, maybe even less. Just sell it.”

“Okay. Where do you want to buy?”

“You know people act like they don’t even know I own property all over the country, man. Las Vegas, Martha’s Vineyard, and even in Tampa. I’m just talking about living where I want to live. In California.”

“Yeah, but where?” Claude asked.

“Perhaps Bel Air, maybe even Beverly Hills, I don’t know,” Mason muttered with uncertainty.

“You can get a lot more house, but it will probably cost three or four times more. Besides, you need a golf course in your backyard anyway. No more going to the local course or country club to practice. That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“Whatever, man. I just need to start over.”

“With the family, right?” Claude asked to get a sense of exactly how much of a change he intended.

Mason looked at him as though there was no doubt in his mind. “With the family. Even though I don’t know what the hell has been up with them lately. Especially Mercedes.”

“I think the ladies in this family trip more than we do. They’re all over the place.”

Surprise was written on Mason’s face. “How is Venus all over the place? She’s probably the very one who stays out of trouble the most.”

Claude looked surprised. “You’re sticking up for Venus?”

“I’ve never had a problem with her. You need to go get her and stop all of this pride crap, bro.”

“Maybe so.”

“You know, Claude. All I ever wanted to do was provide for my family like Dad did. He got us straight up out of poverty and wanted nothing more than to do well by us,” Mason said, picking up an abandoned, capless, half-bottle of liquor.

Claude reacted, “Man, you need to put that down. Your answers are not in there. I can tell you that.”

“Coming from a man who’s never had a drink in his life.” Mason sniffed the mouth of the cognac bottle, taking in a whiff of the fragrant, potent eighty-proof hard liquor. He gave a look of both repulsion and delight. “All these many years of sobriety would be down the tube.”

“After I saw what it did to Dad, tearing up his liver and shit, you’ll never get me to try it. It sent him to his grave.”

“As much as I respect Dad for all that he did for us by teaching us the value of hard work, in a lot of ways, I refuse to be just like him. Dad solved his problems in a bottle. I grew up thinking that’s where all of the answers were supposed to be, right inside of here.” Mason squinted his right eye and peeked inside of the brown bottle. He raised it to the sky, trying to see if he could find any quick-fix answers that might be hiding deep inside. He set it down on the table, clanging it with strength as it met the beveled glass top. “There’s nothing in there that would help me deal with my stress. I’ve been there, done that.”

“Generational curses, man. It’s too easy to keep repeating the patterns of our parents. I refuse to.”

“I hear you. The old stuff of our parents and the new stuff we bring to our own kids.”

“The buck needs to stop here. I’ve got my own set of issues.”

The two were silent for a minute. Mason thought about his own brother’s problems, wondering how in the world he dealt with what happened to Fatima over the years. But he just had to know one thing. “Let me ask you something, bro.”

“What?”

“Why is it that you never asked Fatima to marry you?”

Claude looked forward without even a blink. He opened his mouth and then closed it. He licked his lips and then spoke. “I don’t know. I think maybe deep down I always knew she wasn’t wife material. She always seemed to need time to be alone, so she’d say. Now I know what that was all about. She was spending those alone times with a madman.”

Mason perused his surroundings, looking up at the tall palm trees and then up to the dark endless sky. “Yes, life is deep. My own daughter doesn’t get enough attention so she takes my car on an excursion and wrecks it.”

“Oh, she’s just being a teenager. She probably drove by her friend’s house and thought it made her seem cool. Surely she didn’t mean to wreck it.”

“Whatever she meant to do, I’ve got to make some changes.”

“And what’s up with Mercedes confronting Heidi tonight?” Claude asked.

“She found some pictures in my car.”

Claude looked like he did not need to know the details. “I won’t ask. And of all the nights, on your anniversary. You know Venus asked me why I hired Heidi. She thinks I hired her because she’s your lover or something. Plus, I think Venus told Mercedes that you and I own Heidi’s house.”

“Sometimes I really can see how Venus would have suspected something. But Mercedes has never been the type to be insecure. Not like this,” Mason said.

“She still doesn’t know about Cicely?”

“You mean about her being Dad’s child? No.”

“And you’re not going to tell her?”

“After all of this, I think that’s something I’m definitely going to have to do. And it won’t be about exposing Dad’s secret at that point, it will be about why it took me so long to tell her.”

“I’ll give it to you. You’ve held steadfast to your promise to Dad to keep that from Mom.”

“Oh, please. Mom has known about his love child all along. She thinks her name is Sissy.”

“Damn. I guess Dad wasn’t the slick ass player we thought he was.”

“Mom was the slick one. She knew every step he made before he made it.”

Claude uncrossed his legs. “Well, bro, I’m about to call it a night. I’ll get that sign up out front as soon as possible.”

“Thanks for having my back.”

“That’s what brothers do.” Claude stood up yawning. He stretched his arms up high.

“Right, right. And by the way, if you’re looking for your driver’s license, Mom had it in her purse. And some of your cash too, dude.”

“Oh, so Mom’s been snooping, huh? I thought I was missing some cash. I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on her,” Claude replied.

“I’m telling you she’s a busybody.”

Claude shook his brothers hand and then left, leaving Mason to himself.

Later that night, Claude drove to his deserted office to get going on listing Mason’s house. He stepped inside without turning on the lights and sat at his large, circular desk.

He turned on his computer and logged onto the Internet. The light from the screen shined directly upon the wooden-framed family pictures on his desk. Each photo included an image of his wife. One with him, one of Venus and her dad, and one with Cameron after one of his basketball games.

Claude gazed at his missing lady. He took a moment to notice
her, picking up each photo and examining it closely, as though she were a stranger. He took a moment to feast his eyes upon her unique beauty, seeing her as an outsider would. He saw her contagious, pretty smile, her wavy hair, and her flawless redbone skin. He admired her style, grace and stature. His stomach churned with a longing for her as a woman and as a friend. He saw this prize as something he’d lost out on. Claude put the examined photos down, and then leaned over to pick up the office phone. He called Venus on her cell phone but there was no answer. He then called her dad’s number.

“Hello, Mr. Ortiz. How are you? Long time no see. Listen, is Venus there? She’s not. Well, do you know where she went? No. Please ask her to call me when she gets in. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.”

Venus’s father’s one-word answers convinced Claude that he was bothered. Bothered that the very man who vowed to love, honor, and cherish let his daughter get away. Claude felt his father-in-law’s distance was understandable. But he was about to try to fix things.

Claude made another call to her cell phone. Again the machine came on.

“Venus, I don’t want to have to show up over there unannounced, but I will if I have to. I’d like to hear from you. Eventually, Cameron will be going off to college, you know. And then, one day, I’m going to have to face the fact that eventually, Mom is going to pass away. I’ve lost so much, Venus. I can’t lose you, too. I just can’t. At times I don’t know what to say or how to say it. See, I admit that I’ve spent many, many days trying to deal with my own pain. I apologize for trying to blame you for all of the secrets Fatima kept from me. I know that you were just being a friend. Venus, please call me so that we can work this out. All I keep thinking about is the first time we went for Mexican food to talk about our pain over losing Fatima. It was like you completed my thoughts. We felt everything the same. And then when we met up in Vegas to hang out, my proposal just sprung from my lips, as if it was so natural, as if it was just meant to be.” The voice mail cut
him off. He called again. He hoped Venus would answer by some stroke of luck, but she did not.

“Venus, I got cut off. Like I said, it seemed to be so natural. We said our vows at the chapel and came home as husband and wife. It felt so right. I don’t know what went wrong. I suppose I didn’t take the time to notice the signs that you felt like a replacement. But I get it. You will always be Fatima’s friend. And I want you to always be my wife. Because you and me, we live on and we must be happy in spite of what people think. That is why we’re here. To be happy in love. This feeling I’m feeling right now is not happiness. I feel alone and broken. Please reconsider your decision and come home. Please. I’d really appreciate it. I love you. And I can love you exactly the way you need to be loved. Show me how. And one more thing, in case I didn’t say it before; I’m so sorry we lost our baby. I’d like to try again. Good-bye.”

Claude logged onto the multiple listing site and added the Bedford Avenue home for 1.2 million. He took a for sale sign from his office, shut down the computer, and exited his place of business. He headed to Mason’s house to hammer the sign into the front lawn. And then he leisurely drove home to Cameron, glancing down hoping that his cell phone would ring. It did not.

It had been almost two weeks since the anniversary party and Star’s fender bender. Mason and Mercedes agreed that it was the perfect time for family therapy.

Dr. Little, a distinguished-looking man in his mid-fifties with a classic jaw and hazel eyes, sat in his sofa chair while Mason and Mercedes sat on the dark sofa across from him in his luxurious Westwood office. His many framed awards, accreditations, diplomas, degrees, and family portraits filled the walls. He gave Mason and Mercedes a friendly smile, put on his reading glasses and began to run down his plan.

“The first thing we need to do is agree that whatever is said here is adult conversation for your benefit as parents and spouses. It is not to be used against your children or each other at any time. Is that agreed?”