by S. Ann Cole
The brothers chuckled.
“And you?” Natalio asked Trevillo.
Trevillo shrugged. “Mrs. Lonnes divulged.”
“Of that affair I was benighted!” Natalio said through a hearty laugh. “Are you ever gonna sleep with anyone your own age…and who’s not married?”
“Young chicks are nitwits who only jabber about love and marriage and happily ever after. I’m not in for all that bullshit. These women who are already married or divorced know the deal. They’ve been there, done that, and now know that marriage is not all it’s cracked up to be. So they’re in for what I’m in for: fun.” He turned his gaze to me. “No offense, Sadie.”
“None taken,” Natalio and I replied in unison.
Lovello clasped his hands over his heart and said in a mocked girl voice, “Awe, you guys are so cute.”
Natalio made a swift swing at him but Lovello ducked and shifted to the side laughing like a young boy. They were a lively, sophomoric trio.
“We can see that your ass is going to be for dessert,” Trevillo said to Natalio.
Natalio sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“Don’t sweat it. He just might surprise us and not be a total douche today,” Lovello consoled, patting him on the back.
Turning to Natalio, I made to ask what he would be chewed up for, but the lightheartedness instantly vanished and their faces hardened with compressed lips, as they looked to the left where a lissome, dark-haired girl, wearing a gorgeous purple gown, strode lithely and purposefully towards us. She stopped at the steps of the gazebo and nodded.
“Brothers, Father beckons you now.”
Neither of them acknowledged her. Then she directed her gaze to me. “Hi, you must be Sadie.” She mounted the steps and offered her hand. “I’m Princessa Nelson.”
Taking her hand, I shook it and smiled. “Yes. Sadie Francé. Delighted to meet you.”
Princessa pursed her lips and scanned me from head to toe. She did a terrible job at trying to hide her sneer. “Hmm,” was all she said. Then turned stiffly and graced away.
“Ignore her,” Trevillo whispered. “She’s my sister but that won’t stop me from saying she’s a witch. Switch that ‘w’ to a ‘b’ and you’ll get my drift.” He turned to his brothers. “Time to be devoured boys.”
As we headed towards the house, I mulled over in my head that Natalio rarely ever mentioned his sister, just his brothers. “You and sister don’t get along?” I asked him.
“We use to trust her. But it took us a while to discover that she was a spy for Father. She’d listen in on everything we’d do or say then report back to him. So we ostracized her. Now she loathes us even more. Of course we love her, but she just can’t be trusted.” He bent his head to whisper in my ear. “I must warn you that this family is not, um…normal. Remember when I said we were pretentious?”
I nodded.
“Well, I wasn’t making light of the word. Once we enter this residence, we’re completely different persons; how we speak, walk and conduct ourselves. This is how we were raised. You’ll see. But don’t make fun of it, it’ll piss Father off.”
We were soon at the entry way of the grand house. Lovello and Trevillo were a few feet in front of us, clad in sharp tuxedos, crisp white shirts and bow ties just like Natalio. Uprightly postured, shoulders squared with one hand behind the back, they walked in single file towards the huge double doors where a pair of stiff menservants stood on either side. Natalio stopped and tilted my chin up, kissed my lips, then grasped my shoulders and pushed them backward.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I knocked his hands away and hissed, “Stop.”
He bit his lip, closed his eyes and gave a short shake of his head. “Okay. I’m sorry. Again.”
Hooking my arm through the crook of his, he placed his other hand behind his back, and he literally went wooden next to me. What the hell? Was all this really necessary?
Not wanting to laugh, I folded my lips and allowed him to lead me through the doors where the menservants nodded courtly with a “Pleasant good evening, Mr. Nelson. Ma’am.”
There was a tempting urge to roll my eyes but I ran it over with a bulldozer. This has got to be a joke.
We entered a capacious foyer, where the ceiling was as high as that of a Catholic church. Two long, winding stair cases with twisted golden banisters commanded one’s attention. The floors were white marble, and an imposing chandelier glistened from above. We continued towards another set of double doors where a towering, hard-faced, silver-haired man stood domineeringly upright, with an arm behind his back. His countenance held not a trace of emotion. Despite his tough demeanor, he was unequivocally handsome. There was no question as to where his sons’ handsomeness came from, for he was merely an older version.
Princessa, who was at the front of the queue, stepped up to him and nodded. “Father.” Next it was Lovello, then Trevillo, then Natalio and I stepped up. “Father,” Natalio nodded. “I’d like you to me—”
“Sadie Francé,” his father said in a chilling tone. I was close enough to see that his eyes were an intense steel-gray. Cold and impassive. He bore his eyes into mine without blinking. Neither did I, for what he didn’t know was that I found him idiosyncratically fascinating, not at all intimidating. He shifted his gaze to Natalio and nodded. Natalio strode off, propelling us into a grandiloquent room. Sumptuously and ornately decorated in white and gold. Everything was, true to his word, ostentatious and over the top. And I suddenly felt overwhelmed.
A purple, velvet, antique sofa with gold trimmings dominated the room, and upon it perched an extraordinarily beautiful middle-aged woman, resplendent in a flowing white and gold gown. One by one the brothers went over and pecked her stiffly on the cheek accompanied by “Mother.” She beamed at me and beckoned me to sit next to her once Natalio had introduced me.
“Sons,” the father’s voice resounded. “Study.”
Natalio gave me a reassuring squeeze before exiting the room with his brothers. Didn’t they call each other by their names in this house? It was Mother, Father, Brother, Sons…Jesus.
“Melinda Nelson,” the mother said in a sweet, soft voice. Her eyes were the exact bright blue like Natalio’s. And her coal-black hair was almost as long as mine.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Nelson.”
She leaned over and refilled her wineglass, asked if I wanted and frowned when I declined. I assessed her. Her smile was residual, but the sides of her eyes crinkled and there was a faint crooked line between her brows which told me she frowned and worried a lot.
“You are very beautiful,” she said.
“As are you, Mrs. Nelson.”
She frowned again, condensing the line between her brows, and gave a shy smile. But the beam that was in her eyes just seconds ago slipped, making evident the poignancy deep within.
Bingo. This woman was anything but happy. She didn’t believe she was beautiful?
“It’s nice that you two have found each other again,” she said in that soft voice. “My son used to go on and on about you when you two dated a few years back. He really loves you, you know.”
So she knew about our turbulent relationship then.
“As I do him. I’ve never been more felicitous,” I replied in my seldom used polite tone.
Melinda gazed at the wine in her glass and twirled it around unconsciously. “It’s beyond a boon when two people are equally in love with each other. Nothing but love holding the two together. No worldly thing. No mercenary intentions.”
Could her sadness be any more palpable? Did she marry a man she didn’t love because of money and now regretted it? Let me not judge. I just needed to hurry through this dinner.
Melinda leaned across and clasped her hand down on mine, taking me by surprise. “Do you really love him? Men change, you know. They change with such rapidity that—”
“Of course she doesn’t,” said a voice behind me, which I now recognized as Princessa’s. “She has a gold ey
e, and Brother’s a sucker for thinking she actually loves him.”
Disregarding her entirely, I remained stoic. Natalio had requested that I didn’t be sensitive. And innately I was not.
“Wane off, Princess,” Melinda said with an irritated wave. “Ignore her,” she whispered. “Nothing annoys her more.”
I plastered a smile on my face. “It’s okay. I’m not that easily riled. I need to use the powder room.” The word ‘bathroom’, I assumed, might be deemed inappropriate in this house and have me tossed out on my head.
“Left,” Melinda replied, pointing towards a doorway. “At the very end of the hall.”
I thanked her and sped off, grateful to get away. As I sidled down the dragging hall, I noticed that there were paintings of each family member. How much more archaic could this family get? Of Natalio’s painting, he stood primly in tux and bow tie, his face hard and stern. It made me giggle. There were a few others with younger versions of all three boys. One where they romped in the gardens, one by a pond, and another on the beach. As I continued my journey down the hall, stopping occasionally to scrutinize a painting, I heard harsh vociferations leaking from a room a few feet away from me. The door was slightly ajar and I edged closer to eavesdrop.
“…and my last words to you Lovello, is that ‘punishment is made for mockers and the backs of fools are made to be beaten!’” All three brothers had joined in midway through the verse.
Well, now I understood Natalio’s constant repetitions of bible verses.
“Do you boys think this is funny?” the father shouted.
“No, Father,” they all replied.
“Now you, Natalio, have you made up your mind about NIFTZ yet?”
“No. I’m still thinking—”
His father cut him off. “What the hell are you still thinking about? Who thinks about money? Fretting will kill your uncle much sooner than the cancer. Just accept the damn company and put the man out of his misery. Of your brothers, he chose you because he deems you more assiduous and goal-adhered. You’re constantly there with him in Japan, knows more about the business than any of us and that’s why he wants you to take it over. There’s nothing to think about.”
“I know bu—”
“It’s a multi-billion dollar company, son. You will accept it,” his father ended in a cold, commanding, case-closed tone. No room spared for debate. “Now, what of this girl your mother tells me you’re planning on marrying?”
My heart ricocheted in my chest.
“She’s—”
“Sadie Francé. Twenty-four years of age. Has been with drug dealers. Has been jailed. Has worked in a strip club. Has dated your own associate, Devon, and now she’s got her paws into you. Are you purblind? Asinine? An utter and complete lummox? Tell me!”
“None of that matters,” Natalio replied in an empty tone. “Sadie’s who I love. We’ve known each other since—”
“Ah, this is the same girl you’ve been running around with when you nearly lost your life in ELA? I see.”
“Yes. If I had stayed with her that night I wouldn’t hav—”
“I do not approve,” the father clipped. Finalized. Decision made.
An involuntary breath of air whooshed through me, and I inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm my pounding heart. You never really know how important the acceptance of your lover’s family is to you until you get rejected by them.
Natalio’s voice was still and reverential. “I didn’t ask for your approval, Father.”
“Oh?” His father’s tone was heavy with surprise and incredulity. “No. You did not. But I am telling you anyway. She can’t be a Nelson. She’s not of our strata.”
“You can’t stop me,” Natalio’s voice was determined.
“Shut. Up. Boy! You know bloody well that I can. And I will!”
All veneration was eradicated from Natalio’s voice when he spoke again. “You will not! You will not!”
Mumbles from the other brothers pleaded in earnest for Natalio to tone down, but Natalio continued. “I will marry her and you won’t stop me. Repudiate me, dammit! Even if she wants me for what I can give, I don’t give a shit! I’ll give her anything she desires because she makes me content. I. Love. Her. And that’s what people do when they are in love, they bound themselves to each other. I lost her once because of you and you will not take her away from me again. Do you hear me?” Natalio’s breathing was so loud and harsh it made me shiver. When he spoke again, his tone was more controlled. “My life has always been yours, Father. I do everything you tell me to.”
“Never without exhortation, you stubborn horse,” the father spat.
Natalio continued as if his father never spoke. “I’ve lived my life to please you. To gain your respect and honor. There was never a decision made for my life that was autonomous because of my submission to you. But not this time. Disown me. Do what you have to. But your approval for my marriage to Miss Francé is not needed.”
Marcello scoffed. “Oh yes it—”
“I will not take relationship advice from a man who knows not the denotation of fidelity!” Natalio snapped.
“Shit Natalio, stop. Stop now,” one brother pleaded.
“No.” Natalio said. “You didn’t think we knew, Father? Well, we do.”
The father, Mr. Marcello Nelson, was, for once, quiet. So that’s why the mother seemed so unhappy. The jerk was sleeping around on her. And how do you even try to divorce a man like him? I was overwhelmed just by eavesdropping. Why did Natalio and his brothers put up with his shit? The man was unbearable.
Natalio’s voice came leveled and lower as if not wanting such contents to be overheard. “Maybe if you’d married someone you actually loved, and wasn’t concerned about what Mother was bringing to the marriage, then you wouldn’t have to…”
The sounds of approaching footsteps jerked me away from the door. I turned to see two maidservants striding down the hall, one was carrying an arm full of folded white towels and the other was carrying a tea tray. I ambled on, hoping I was succeeding at looking casual and not suspicious. But when I neared the maids, the shorter one with the towels leaned towards me and said, “Ya better be careful aroun’ here, girlie. These folks are lineage of piranhas.” She winked at me and walked on.
Relief flooded through me, and I sighed, grateful that I wasn’t caught by a figure that was less in my favor like Princessa Nelson.
After being sedated by the exchange of text messages with Kelsy, updating her about the formality and antiquity of the Nelsons, my abrasive welcome, and their unconcealed disdain for me, I took a deep breath and exited the powder room, bracing for the storm’s eye.
I took timid steps down the hall, not wanting to hurt even a wandering ant. The study door flew open and out breezed Natalio in a fit of pique, ensued by his brothers. Though I quickened my steps, I didn’t catch up with him because the hall was so damn long. I heard his distant call of my name from where he’d left me, so I hurried along and as soon as I entered the great room—which was now crowded with what I assume were the rest of the Nelsons, aunts and cousins and whoever—Natalio grabbed my wrist and tugged me towards the exit. “Come. We’re leaving.”
Protest? No, I did not. For I was ecstatic about fleeing the medieval family. As we reached the double doors for exiting, Trevillo, the eldest brother, caught hold of Natalio’s arm.
“Christ, Natalio, will you please calm down?” he said. “You know this is what Father wants. He’ll think he’s won. Because you’ll go home and be eaten up with guilt of your broken reverence then later give in to whatever he wants you to do just to regain his honor. You know that’s how it always plays off. Stay, and he’ll see that you’re serious about this.” Trevillo glanced at me and gave a faint smile, not knowing that I’d overheard—um, eavesdropped and knew what they were talking about. Me.
Natalio heaved and looked down at me, his eyes flaming with rage, his nostrils flaring. In the hopes of quelling him, I reached up to cup his face and gav
e him a soft kiss. He pressed his forehead to mine and closed his eyes, his breathing evening out. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll stay.”
“Good,” his brother replied with a pat on the back. He leaned in and lowered his voice, “You really flipped out with that bit, brother. Now that he knows that we know, he’ll—”
“Stop playing Mr. Impeccable?” Natalio snapped.
Trevillo sighed and folded his lips. “Let’s just have dinner and get this dreadful evening over with, shall we?”
Chapter Twenty Four
In the safety of Natalio’s arms, I stood reticent as the family engaged in dull conversations, waiting patiently and without complaints for the dinner’s commencement. For me, it was one helluva wait. What was taking so long? It was just food.
I’d scarcely finished the thought when a rotund, middle-aged manservant emerged through a set of double doors that had been closed on the right, holding a wand that seemed much too heavy for his proportion. He held it aloft before slicing it through the air and hitting it against a huge gold gong that I hadn’t even noticed was there. The blow elicited a loud, grating bang, ceasing all chattering and yanking everyone’s attention.
“Good evening, everyone,” he said courteously. “Dinner shall inaugurate.” He stepped aside and gestured to the double doors that were immediately pulled open by another pair of menservants. All the Nelsons garnered single file and walked through the double doors. I folded my lips and followed, trying with tenuous control not to fall into a howl of laughter at this family’s over-the-top absurdities. A small giggle managed to escape and Natalio glanced down at me with warning eyes.
The dinner room was white and…astronomic and archaically decorated with antique pieces and paintings. Silver draperies curved away from gold-framed windows. Elaborate high-back, red velvet chairs surrounded the longest dining table I’d ever seen. Above was an exquisite glistening chandelier that lit up the room. But what really made me refrain from taking these people seriously was the pig on a spit that spun on open fire next to the fireplace. It was as if I’d stepped into a scene of a Jane Austen novel. These people couldn’t possibly be serious.