As I entered the house, I ran into London, with purse and keys in hand, getting ready to exit.
“Oh, honey, you’re home,” she said with such a lack of emotion that I couldn’t tell if she was happy or disappointed to see me. For some reason, my wife was very hard to read as of late. Perhaps it was because my mind was so preoccupied with the task at hand.
“And you’re leaving,” I replied. “Where are you headed?”
“Oh, well, uh, just out to grab some lunch. Maybe go over to Roosevelt Field and do some shopping.” She kept her eyes focused on some point behind me, and the lack of eye contact made me suspicious. I was about to accuse her of something when she offered, “Would you like to join me? I could use the company, and we do need to talk.”
“I wish I could, but I have to do something for your father. Is your mother home?”
“No, she went to a doctor’s appointment.”
I nodded, thankful. I had been dreading the possibility that Chippy would be in the house to ask a million questions about where Rio was going.
“Okay, what about Rio? Is he up? I need to speak to him.”
“Believe it or not, he’s in the kitchen. What do you have to talk to him about?”
“Nothing. Just business.” Now I was the one avoiding eye contact.
“Do you want me to wait for you? I’d love to do lunch. And we really do need to talk.”
Did she want me to say yes? Did she want me to say no? This was the first time she’d spoken more than five words to me since her threat. What did she mean by “we do need to talk”? I was not going to talk with her about that phone call again. I still couldn’t read her, but I thought she was happy—or at least pretending to be. In any case, I had more important things to take care of at the moment.
“Uh, no. You go ahead and enjoy yourself. Buy yourself something nice.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry. I will.”
“Where’s your bodyguard, anyway? I don’t want you going anywhere without protection. These are bad times, London.”
“I know. He’s in the car, waiting for me.” She kissed me on the lips and then galloped off.
She was happy, all right, but I had no idea what she was so happy about. Then again, why shouldn’t she be happy? She had a nice house, a luxury car, the family she had always wanted, and she didn’t have to deal with half the shit I did. I’d be happy, too, if I had nothing better to do than do lunch and have Mommy-daughter time.
I walked toward the kitchen, dreading my assignment. It wasn’t that I was nervous about the assignment LC had given me. I was nervous for Rio, because we were about to serve Rio up to Alejandro. I might as well have been sent to the house to cut his head off and then deliver it to Alejandro on a silver platter. Today’s lunch special: Rio Duncan. Man, I could have used a stiff drink at that moment.
“Harris, what’s up, man?” Rio said upon my entering the kitchen. He sat at the island bar, nibbling on a sandwich and sipping a cup of tea.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
He looked down at his plate. “Just having something to eat before I head down to the office. Figured with everything going on, I should try and get down there before the sun goes down. Show Pop and Orlando a little support.”
“You wanna show the family some support, I’ve got just the thing.” Like an actor who hadn’t expected to win the Oscar, I didn’t have a speech ready. So, without further delay, I just got right to it. I reached into my breast pocket, pulled out an envelope, and threw it down on the bar. It landed right next to Rio’s glass of orange juice.
“What’s this?” He dropped the sandwich, brushed the crumbs from his hand, and then picked up the envelope.
“Tickets,” I said as he pulled the contents out of the envelope.
“Tickets for what?” He began reading the details on the tickets.