“Why, Donna? I would not have treated you this way.”
“Do I have to answer that, Angelica? You cost me a lot of money today, and I don’t take kindly to losing money. You’re a little old for my taste, but I wanted to help you. Adele Macy said you were feisty and would give the magazine debut the extra
Angelica dropped her bags to the floor and stared at Donna, who did not move from her position.
“Ms. Macy?”
“Yeah, Ms. Adele Macy from the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women.” Donna smirked. “We’re home girls. Twenty-two hours and twenty-eight minutes.”
“So, Ms. Macy is spying on me. Why? I don’t understand any of this and I don’t want to. I thought you brought me here as a courtesy for being Hamilton’s ex-wife…because you were doing a favor for your family.”
“Hamilton may be my cousin, but there is no love lost. He’s getting what he deserves.”
Angelica picked up her bags. “Thanks for the memories.”
“Anyway, Adele contacted my mother looking for my phone number. She told Mommy about you getting out of prison.”
A puzzled look crossed Angelica’s face. “Why would she call you? Why would she call your mother to tell her about me? What’s going on here?”
Donna moved from her position and quickly reached the door to the condo before Angelica.
“You can run, but you can’t hide. You’re going to have to pay for your sins. At every corner, every train depot, at every fork in the road, there will be someone observing you. You won’t get away.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Donna, but I’m glad to be getting up out of here.”
“Twenty-two hours and twenty-five minutes,” Donna sang and slammed the door just as Angelica cleared it.
Donna’s taunting disturbed Angelica. What did it all mean? How was Ms. Macy involved? She had done her time and paid for the crime she had committed-stupidity. While in jail, her betrayal of Hamilton and Jefferson had haunted her day and night. She had gotten what she deserved, but now Angelica wanted to be a productive citizen and possibly right some of her wrongs. So far, she had done a lousy job of it.
Angelica looked at her watch. She had less than a minute to get downstairs. Donna’s words still ate at her. Was Ari one of the corners she had to tread? Right now she needed a place to stay, and Ari’s offer was a blessing in her time of need. Or was it? She couldn’t think about that now. Finding a job so that she could become independent would be her chore, and Angelica vowed she’d do it.
The doors to the elevator opened and Ari was waiting like the perfect gentleman. He took her bags and told her to wait while he brought his car around. Ten minutes later there was a honk, and Angelica went outside. A Jaguar sat out front, and Ari was at the wheel.
A look of surprise registered on Angelica’s face. Ari opened the door to the Jag like he would if he were on duty and shut it once Angelica was inside. Angelica silently mouthed,
They rode in silence away from Manhattan. After a few moments, Ari turned on the radio and light jazz hit the airwaves. It took another few minutes before Angelica relaxed; Donna’s words about someone watching her still resounded in her ears. Angelica looked over at Ari, who seemed to be enjoying the music.
“I guess you think I’m some kind of bimbo,” Angelica said to Ari while looking straight ahead.
“Why would I think that?” Ari responded. “You’re a beautiful woman who’s in a dilemma. I’ve seen it many times. Now, I don’t go opening my doors to everyone who falls prey to Ms. Donna Barnes Reardon, but your need seemed urgent enough that I had to help.”
“Thank you, Ari. I really appreciate it. I don’t go off with people I don’t know, but, as you put it so eloquently, I was desperate.”
Angelica began to laugh and so did Ari. “You should have seen your face,” Ari said. “You reminded me of the Statue of Liberty, waving her torch for someone to stop.” They laughed again, and Angelica really relaxed.
“So tell me about yourself, Ari,” Angelica prodded.
Ari looked at Angelica. “What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you are willing to share.”
“I was a poor immigrant’s son. Our family came from Greece back in the 1950’s. My family owned a little restaurant in Queens, and I worked there until I finished high school. Broke my Papa’s heart. He thought I would take over the business one day, but I didn’t see it in my future. I had a sister who took over the business after my parents died. Still owns it.”
“So what did you do after high school?”
“I wanted to act. Took some acting classes in town. Actually did some Broadway. I was never in a leading role, but it was a good living because I seemed to always have a job. If I had gotten that break everybody pursues, I might have been a Cary Grant or a Clark Gable. I liked show biz, and it’s still a big part of me. Maybe we can catch a show on my day off.”
Angelica smiled. “I’d like that.”
“What about you, Angelica? What was life like for you before the penthouse?”
Angelica fidgeted in her seat. She hadn’t planned on Ari throwing the question back at her. It was uncomfortable, and Angelica had no planned speech for such an occasion. What could she say?
“Life was full for you, huh?” Ari asked. “Don’t know where to start?”
“Life hasn’t exactly been good for me, Ari. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of and the stench of it still seems to follow me.”
“Couldn’t be that bad. A beautiful woman such as yourself probably has had the world eating out of your hand.”
“I wish. Nothing as great at that, although I will say that I had everything I wanted, but it came at a cost. In fact, I paid a high price for a delusion of grandeur.
“I was married to a prominent police officer in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where I come from. He was so handsome. Hamilton is his name. He was the kind of handsome your girlfriends would say you have to watch out for because he was too fine to have as a husband and it wouldn’t be long before he’d be stepping out on you. I didn’t listen because I had to have him.” Angelica purposely left out how she met Hamilton in a strip club. “True to everyone’s belief, Hamilton not only had affairs with other women, he was an abuser-mental and physical.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ari said.
“We divorced years later. However, Hamilton was involved in some illegal mess. I became indirectly involved…” Angelica stopped, not sure how much of the awful details of her life she wanted to share.
“You don’t have to say any more, if you don’t want to.”
“Ari,” Angelica looked at him, “I want to be honest with you. You seem like an honest individual. As I said earlier, I did some horrible things that include sleeping with my best friend’s husband, and I compromised her husband and my ex-husband, Hamilton.”
Ari squirmed in his seat.
“I embezzled funds from my girlfriend’s husbands’ accounts-he owned a financial securities firm-for the head of an underground organization. I’m ashamed to say that I was the girlfriend of this underground figure, although Hamilton and Jefferson-my girlfriend’s husband-did not know it. Fast-forwarding, this underground figure put a hit out on Hamilton and Jefferson and I tried to warn them. I was with Jefferson when he was hit and, much to my chagrin, his wife, who was once my best friend, found out. More than that,” Angelica hesitated, then sighed, “I was sent to prison for my part. I was released a few weeks ago. Yes, I’m an ex-convict, released early for good conduct, but I’m a good person, Ari. I’ll understand if you want to drop me and my bags off at the side of the road.”
“It won’t be necessary,” Ari said, looking straight ahead.
Ari pulled into what appeared to be a quiet neighborhood in Queens. There were no loitering people or children playing in the streets. He pulled his Jag in front of a modest, single-dwelling brick home. Absent were the spacious yards she was accustomed to in North Carolina. There was a lot of concrete with little or no yard. Houses were close together, each one unique in its own way-a row of similar but eclectic houses that were postcard perfect.
Ari continued to be the perfect gentleman, retrieving her bags and leading the way inside. Angelica followed behind him. Ari disappeared into a room, leaving Angelica to herself. The living room was airy and decorated with
