by D. J. Manly
He could still taste him when he was on the train to London. What a great lover he was. His hat was off to older men. If Philippe hadn't been around, he might have stayed for a few weeks, maybe a month.
He closed his eyes, wondering what Jean-Claude was up to these days. He might just pop in and visit him. He could do that.
Carter pulled up outside the hotel.
Angelo pulled his uncle into an upright position and then backed himself out of the limo.
Carter offered to help.
Angelo threw his uncle up over his shoulder with a grunt. "Open the door for me, will ya, Carter? Let's try and get him upstairs and into the suite before a lot of people see us, okay?"
Carter opened the door and they walked quickly through the lavish lobby of the hotel. Carter rushed over to the elevator and pushed the button.
The door opened right away.
Carter stepped inside with them. "He must be heavy, sir," he commented, pushing the button for the ninth floor.
"Not bad," Angelo replied.
Angelo had developed quite a bit of muscle when he had spent two months in Greece working on the fishing boats. It was back-breaking work. At over six feet and a hundred and eighty pounds, he was actually bigger than his uncle, who at five feet eight weighed in at about one hundred and sixty pounds. It would have been far tougher for his uncle to have carried him.
The elevator stopped with a sharp ring of a bell, then opened. Carter ran ahead of them and knocked on the door of Sophia's suite.
Angelo adjusted Pepi's weight on his broad shoulder and waited.
Sophia came and opened the door. She took one look at her grandson with Pepi heaved over his back and stood back from the door. "Oh, my goodness," she mumbled.
She put her hands to her mouth as Angelo walked over and lowered his uncle onto the sofa.
Pepi moaned and turned onto his side, burying his face in the sofa.
Angelo turned to Carter and nodded. "Thanks, man, I'll be down in a few minutes."
Carter bowed his head to Sophia and then turned and left the suite, closing the door behind him.
"What happened?" she asked Angelo, moving toward him to give him a kiss.
He lowered his head for the kiss, and then laughed.
"Don't worry about it, Grandma, he's drunk. Too much wine at the restaurant. He's been under a lot of pressure lately. Hope you don't mind me bringing him here."
"Of course not." She reached up and smoothed back his long black hair. "You and your father and all that long hair." She clicked her tongue. "You need a haircut. Pepi and Johnny wear their hair long too, but not like yours, way down your back. It's nice, though, silky, soft. What do you wash it with?"
He grinned. "Rainwater, and lilies I pick from the meadow."
She made a face. "Very funny. I'll give you twenty dollars," she went for her purse, lying beside the phone on the end table, "and you go and get a haircut."
"Grandma," Angelo said. "I don't need twenty dollars. Stop it, now. I like my hair the way it is, okay?"
"The girls like it, I suppose?" She lifted an eyebrow.
Angelo laughed. "Yes, Grandma, the girls like it. Now I've got to go. Take care of Pepi."
He went to kiss her on the forehead and just as he did, she cried out, "Oh...my God, I almost forgot."
Angelo jumped a little as his five-foot-two grandmother began to hop around.
"What?"
"Your father called me."
"Good, I'm glad. You can tell me all about it later, I've got to go to the hospital now."
"Wait, listen," she put a hand on his arm as he turned to leave.
Angelo stopped, trying to be patient with her.
"He's getting out of jail."
Angelo's eyes widened. "What? Are you sure?"
She nodded. "He said it would be soon. The shooting was an accident, Angelo. Your father is coming home."
Angelo laughed and then let out a holler. He lifted his grandmother in the air and waltzed around the room.
She let out a yell and told him to put her down. He did, feeling like a grand piano had been lifted from his back.
"Be sure and tell Pepi as soon as he sobers up, okay?" he told her. "Oh, Gran, this is wonderful news."
After a few more minutes of repeating how happy they both were, Angelo told her he really had to go. He went back downstairs and got into the limo.
Dad was coming home. Now there was Johnny to worry about. One thing at a time. Uncle Johnny had to live because Dad...well, Dad wouldn't be able to go on, that much he knew.
He said a silent prayer, and tried to focus on his cousin, who was probably already at the hospital by now.
* * * * * *
Walking down that corridor to the waiting room at the end of the hallway, his legs felt like they were made out of lead. If it hadn't been for Kevin, he might have turned around and ran.
As it turned out, the waiting room was empty when he walked in. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Kevin looked around and let out a whistle. "Wow, this is some waiting room. The waiting rooms of the rich and famous," he chuckled.
Tony noticed the leather sofa and chairs, the vending machines and coffee machine. There was a phone and microwave in the corner, and Muzak playing very faintly in the background.
Kevin picked up a magazine off the table. "October 1998, this month's edition of Psychology Now. Even the magazines are up to date." He let the magazine fall back down on the table and then threw himself into a chair with a sigh.
"You don't have to stay, Kevin, if you have to be somewhere," Tony told him.
Kevin looked at him. He was a good-looking kid. He looked a lot like Johnny Russo, with his shoulder-length curly black hair and sherry brown eyes. He had a sweet face, the kind of face that should appear on a teen beat magazine, and he was quite tall for his age, about five-ten. The fresh-faced boy next door who looked rather lost and frightened at the moment, like he was on the threshold of stepping into another world, a strange alien world that would ensure that he was never the same after.
Where in the hell was everybody, Kevin thought.
Shit, at least someone should have been here to meet the kid.
Kevin got up, poured himself some coffee and sat back down. He picked up a magazine and then suggested to Tony that he sit down.
"I can't, Kevin. I'm a little restless."
He stood instead in the corridor made of double-paned glass and gazed out at the lights of Los Angeles.
"Who are all those people with candles?" he asked Kevin suddenly.
It had been raining a while ago. There were drops of it still clinging to the glass.
Kevin stood up and walked over to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Fans. They're keeping vigil for your dad."
"That's nice."
"They've been there since the beginning," Kevin replied. "If you lived in L.A., you'd be one of those kids, wouldn't you....if things hadn't turned out this way?"
Tony nodded. "Probably. Me and my best friend, Sam." There were tears in his eyes now. "Everything is falling apart, you know...the world. The Russo Brothers were something special and wonderful. They made this world seem better, like redemption was possible. Do you understand what I mean?" He looked at Sam.
"I think so."
"When things were bad...when school was tough or when there was bad news on TV, Sam and I always had something to look forward to; a new CD, the possibility that the band would come to Toronto and we would finally get to see them. We started a fan club at school, and..." he stopped.
Kevin squeezed his shoulder. "It's okay, kid, really."
Tony placed his forehead on the cool glass. "No, it's not. Nothing is okay, because my whole life has changed. I don't know who I am anymore, and I'm afraid to find out. The Russo family has come too close. The illusion is gone, the fantasy is gone and I feel like Alice in Wonderland about to go through the mirror. That jet today, the security people all over the parking lot down there, those kids
strumming on their guitars, singing Russo Brothers songs, this is all too much now."
He didn't know what more to say, so he turned around and went to sit down in the waiting room.
A few minutes later, the elevator opened and closed.
There were footsteps hurrying down the hall. Kevin jumped out of his seat.
It was Janet Smith, Drake Russo's ex. He had met her a few times at social occasions. She was one gorgeous lady.
Janet nodded at Kevin and then looked at the young man standing in the corridor.
Kevin came over to her. "He's stressed out."
"I understand. How are you?" she asked, her voice low, keeping her eye on her nephew, who hadn't turned around yet.
"Fine. Can you handle it from here, then? I'm off."
"Sure. Thanks and take care, Kevin."
Kevin raised a hand in the air so Tony could see his reflection in the glass. "Bye, Kid. Your aunt is here. Good luck."
Tony closed his eyes, then opened them and turned around to see a woman in her mid-thirties. She had shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes. She wore jeans, red high-heeled shoes and a blue silk blouse.
She walked over to him. Her throat was dry. She couldn't speak. She blinked. There sure was no mistaking that he was Johnny's. He looked just like him.
"I'm your Aunt Janet," she managed, knowing that he already knew that.
"Tony Newton," he replied, trying to avoid her eyes.
"Do you want to sit down?"
He nodded, and followed her into the waiting room.
She asked him if he'd had a good trip.
He agreed that he had.
She offered him food and drink.
He told her he had already eaten.
He didn't want bullshit. She knew that, but she was overcome with emotion. She and Drake were his godparents. She told him that.
"Drake Russo is my godfather?" he gasped.
She smiled. "Yes. We were at your christening."
Tony met her eyes. "Why hasn't Mom spoken to you in all these years?" He fell silent for a minute.
Janet sighed. "I know this is hard for you to..."
"Hard?" Tony blinked. "My mother has lied to me all these years. Why did she lie to me?"
She ran a hand through her blonde hair. "I think you should ask Sandy these questions."
"She won't tell me, and anyway, I might not want to speak to her again," he replied stiffly.
"She's your mother," Janet protested.
"Is she?" Tony asked bitterly. "Maybe she's not my mother. Tom isn't my father. Who knows what other lies I've been told?"
Janet closed her eyes. She had warned Sandy that this would happen.
Tony stood up. "I have a right to know. How long was my mother married to Johnny Russo, or were they married at all?"
"Yes, they were married. I know, I was there. The marriage lasted a little over a year."
"Why did they break up? Why did she leave him?For Tom?"
Janet shook her head. "He left her."
"I see. Why?"
Janet let out a breath. "He just wanted to, I guess."
"I guess he just wanted to abandon me also!" Tony replied sharply.
Janet squeezed her eyes shut. He was putting her in the middle. She didn't like it. She didn't want to lie. She also didn't want to put all the blame on Sandy either, even if...poor Sandy.
"Johnny was the love of her life," she said.
Tony gazed at her. Janet saw that his eyes were full of hurt, rage, resentment. How could she make this better?
She couldn't. There had been so many lies. She couldn't add to them.
"I want you to know that whatever I tell you, it's from my perspective. It's not the only truth, but it's my truth, understand?"
"I think so."
"You and I can both read the same story and you may hate it and I may love it, but it doesn't mean that one of us is lying."
"That's not quite the same thing. We are talking about facts here, facts, not fiction," Tony objected.
"No, we're talking about feelings, emotions...and emotions are never objective. We can't presume to know why some people do the things they do. We're not them. We have different ways of emotionally responding to things."
"The point is?" Tony urged, meeting her eyes.
God, he reminded her of Johnny when he looked like that. She felt like she was having deja vu. "The point is," she breathed, "I don't agree with what your mother did, but I'm not her. Johnny didn't love her and she knew it, but he adored you. You were the most precious thing in the world to him."
Tony felt himself trembling. "So...why, then, did he leave me?"
"He didn't leave you, he left your mother. She couldn't accept...certain things, and she wanted to punish him for breaking her heart, so she took away from him what mattered most...you."
"Why didn't he fight it, if I was so precious to him?"
"I don't know. Maybe he felt he deserved his punishment. Maybe she threatened him with something. The band was just beginning to get recognized when you were born. If she had something on your father that would have ruined their chance of making it...well...I don't know. Your dad would have never allowed anyone to hurt Drake."
"But how could she have hurt Drake?" Tony asked her.
"If she had something on your father and she threatened to tell the media, it would have hurt the band, and Drake wanted so badly to make it. It's all he ever wanted."
"What was it she could have said? Do you know?"
She shook her head, but of course she knew very well what it was.
"Did he have an affair?"
Janet was growing uncomfortable now. This is not where she had wanted to go with this conversation.
"What could she have said? Was it bad? Was my dad a pedophile or something?"
Janet laughed. "No, oh God, no. He was never that. Look, Tony, it doesn't matter. It was a long time ago. There's been a lot of water under the bridge since then. All you need to know right now is that your father has never forgotten about you, and he needs you now. As for your mom, you'll forgive her in time. We do crazy things sometimes when we feel rejected by someone we love. She was crazy in love with your father."
"It feels like nothing has changed all these years. Poor Dad...eh, Tom. Doesn't look like she ever loved him at all," her nephew said.
"Who knows? Anyway, do you want to see your father? I have to tell you that it isn't pretty. His head is bandaged, there are tubes everywhere and he is still in a coma."
"Is he going to live?" Tony asked her.
"You know...I don't know, dear." Janet reached over and placed her arm around Tony.
She drew his head onto her shoulder. "Your father and I were close once; at least, I thought we were. We all had some good times together, Johnny, Sandy, Drake and me and Mac too, of course, back in high school. God, deep down, he was so unhappy."
"Johnny?" Tony asked, looking up from her shoulder.
She nodded.
Tony lifted up his head, feeling a little funny about this intimacy all of a sudden.
"I think we were drawn together in a way, your dad and I, because we had similar hearts," Janet said almost to herself as she allowed Tony to move away from her.
She stood up suddenly. She had said too much now, but thankfully Tony didn't ask her to explain.
He really didn't understand what she meant. How could he? How could he possibly understand that she and his father had the same heart because they both loved the same man?
As well as she knew her own name, she knew that if it was Drake lying there right now, Johnny would be here beside her. They would comfort one another because they understood the other's heart. There would be no jealousy between them. Johnny had never had a reason to hate her because she was never any competition. Johnny had always had his heart. The only time that Johnny had resented her was when she and Drake were married, and then he actually seemed to feel bad when they got divorced. He even came to her and tried to offer his sympathy, an
d she hadn't been ready then to see him.
Actually, he had been the last person she had wanted to see and she had screamed at him, told him to get out. "You got what you wanted. Now go, he's all yours! Go!" She had collapsed on the floor, sobbing. He had stood in the doorway saying "I'm sorry" over and over until she couldn't stand it anymore, and she got up and physically pushed him out the door.
It took months before she could even look at him and then when she moved out to L.A., he wanted to be a part of her son's life and they came together again, she and Drake and Johnny and Mac. Only Sandy was missing. Although it was different from before, at least it was honest.
Now she regretted all the bad things she had ever said to him. She didn't want him to die, because he was her friend and the one person in the world Drake loved more than anything.
She looked over at Johnny's son and smiled. "Let's go in now, shall we?"
Tony nodded. "Okay, Aunt Janet," he replied bravely, "I think I'm ready now."
This concludes Episode Two of The Russos.
Stay tuned next month for the exciting Episode Three:
- Francine gets a serious case of the hots for her client.
- Angelo meets Tony for the first time.
- Tony makes a confession to Janet.
- Johnny's condition gets worse.
Meet Johnny Russo
Johnny Russo is the middle brother. He plays guitar in the Russo Brothers Band. He was married to Sandy briefly when he was very young, and they had a son, Tony. Johnny hasn't seen his son for years. Due to Sandy 's bitterness over the divorce, she has kept Tony's paternity a secret from him.
Johnny has had a lot of problems in his life. He is bitterly unhappy. He struggles with a drug problem and has been in and out of rehab. He has been through a variety of lovers. He harbours a hidden passion, a love that 'dare not speak its name,' and he suffers.