Reno Gabrini- the Man in the Mirror

by Mallory Monroe

  “Believe it,” Trina said. “It’s true.”

  “Thank you so much,” Oprah said.

  “Hey, Miss Oprah!” Dommi said as he and Sophie ran to her bedside. They were both thrilled to see her again. But what warmed her heart most was that neither one of them seemed disturbed by her face.

  “It’s great to see you two sweet children again,” Oprah said. “You look so lovely today.”

  “Thank you,” Sophie said. Then she elbowed Dommi.

  “Thank you,” Dommi replied.

  “And what’s also true,” Trina said to Oprah as if their conversation had never been interrupted, “is that, when you’re back on your feet again, you will be handsomely compensated for your trouble.”

  But Oprah was already shaking her head. “You don’t owe me anything, Miss Trina,” she said. “Those ladies were hell bent on doing what they did. They were going to shoot me even if I told them exactly where you and the children were. I was nothing to them.”

  “That may be true,” Reno said, “but we’re still compensating you. Period.”

  Oprah and Jimmy glanced at each other and smiled. He’d already told her: never get in any disputes with Reno Gabrini.

  Reno, however, was crestfallen when he saw the condition of Oprah’s face. She was always a pretty, cheerful young lady. Always smiling and joyful. Now her face looked deformed, especially where that bullet entered her cheek and crushed it inward. Reno hired the best plastic surgeons money could buy to aid in her reconstructive surgeries, but even they could only do just so much.

  And although Oprah was upbeat about it, and cheerful, he could tell there were signs that she knew that gunshot had altered her life forever. Like when Trina took the baby from Reno and leaned him toward Oprah. “Say hey to Carmine,” Trina said.

  But Oprah turned her face away.

  Jimmy frowned. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.

  “I don’t want to scare the baby,” Oprah said.

  Trina’s heart dropped. And so did Jimmy’s. He stood to his feet. “Give me that baby, Ma,” he said to Trina. Trina handed him over.

  “Take him,” Jimmy said to Oprah. “Hold him. You won’t scare any baby because babies can see more than just your face. They can see your heart.”

  Everybody looked at Jimmy. Was this the Jimmy they knew?

  “You were beautiful before that shooting,” Jimmy continued, “and you’re beautiful now.”

  Oprah felt emotional as she took the baby into her arms. And the baby didn’t cry!

  “If people stare at you and call you ugly and all of that shit?” Jimmy said. “Don’t you blame yourself. You fuck’em, O. Fuck’em! There’s more to life than that vain shit. Even I know that.”

  Reno and Trina were floored. Their oldest child seemed to have grown up right here and right now, before their very eyes. Trina knew he had it in him all along. And Reno, who sometimes had his doubts, could only hope it would last.

  And then they all sat around the room, and small-talked.

  “I hear you may own a basketball team,” Oprah said to Trina.

  Trina smiled. “Jimmy is a gossipy little thing, isn’t he?”

  Oprah laughed. “Sometimes he can talk with the best of us ladies,” she said, which made Jimmy laugh.

  He told Oprah already about his bi-curious days, but that he decided he preferred the ladies. He told her mainly because he wanted their relationship, such as it was, to begin right. Oprah didn’t judge him, which, to Jimmy, was a great first step.

  “We haven’t bought the team yet,” Trina said to Oprah, “but we’ve agreed to the percentage split.” She was referring to the fact that Wayne Lowe and Roger Bridgemont had agreed to give her and Reno two-thirds share of the basketball partnership. “We haven’t gone before the commission yet, who selects the partnership that will be awarded the franchise, and we have some stiff competition. So we’ll see.”

  They continued to talk, mainly about women’s basketball and Champagne’s and Oprah herself, until it was time to go.

  And when they finally said their goodbyes, Jimmy made clear that he wasn’t leaving yet. He was going to sit with Oprah a little longer. Reno and Trina smiled. Was this their Jimmy?

  But when they got outside, and piled into Trina’s Mercedes, it was all about fun. Reno wanted to have fun. He was behind the wheel, Trina was on the front passenger seat, and Dommi and Sophie, with Carmine in his car seat, were in the back.

  Once they all were buckled in and ready, Reno looked at them and smiled. “Let’s get out of here,” he said to his family.

  Trina looked at him. “Out of where?”

  “Here. Vegas. Let’s take off.”

  Dommi smiled. “Really, Daddy?”

  “But where will we go, Reno?” Trina asked.

  “Wherever we want to go,” Reno said. “We’ve got a car full of gas. I’ve got a pocket full of money. Jimmy just might have found his soul mate.”

  Trina laughed. “I pray so!”

  “Let’s just go,” Reno said. “Let’s just drop everything and do it.”

  Trina smiled. “You’re serious?”

  “I’m serious, Tree. We need a break. Our children need a break. We’ll deal with counseling when we get back. I’ll personally contact Tony Sinatra myself when we get back. But right now, I just want us to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.”

  Trina was thrilled. She looked in the backseat, at the children. “What do you guys say? Wanna go wherever Daddy takes us?”

  Both were thrilled, too. “Yes, please!” Sophie said.

  “Let’s do this, Daddy!” Dommi said.

  Then Trina looked at Reno. “You heard the man,” she said. “Let’s do this, Daddy!”

  And Reno, laughing, pressed the button that turned Trina’s Mercedes into a stylish convertible, and then drove away.

  Dommi covered the baby’s face just so, and basked in the gentle breeze. It was nothing more than regular wind that blew in their faces as Reno drove them away, but it felt an awfully lot like freedom to them.

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