The Family Business
Page 33
I took his advice and dropped the subject. I loved my mother, but everyone knew she could be a real bitch if you got in the way of one of her motherly missions. If it concerned the family business, I’d find out about it soon enough.
My mother gathered everyone together for our photo, and the photographer began arranging everyone. Of course, Paris made sure she was in the middle—until Momma put a monkey wrench in her plans.
“London, I want you and Paris to switch places.”
“Huh? Why? I’m good right here, Ma,” Paris protested.
“No, you’re not. I said move.” My mother put a hand on Paris’s shoulder to nudge her out of the way.
“But why? She’s good right next to her husband.” Paris rolled her eyes in London’s direction. London just smiled and flicked her hand at Paris like she was shooing a fly out of the way. The more things change, the more they stay the same. These two had been going at it like this for years, and I sure didn’t see it ending anytime soon.
“Because your sister is pregnant, and I want all our family members present to be in the photo, including the baby in her belly. Now move, girl.”
Paris and Rio exchanged a glance, communicating something in that “twin telepathy” they seemed to have. He shrugged, and Paris turned to my father.
“Daddy, that’s not fair,” she whined.
As hard as he was in the streets, my father was like a puppy dog around Momma. It was obvious by now that Momma had an attitude, and when she gave the old man the eye, he folded like a tent. He’d just recently gotten out of the dog house for sending Rio out to California, so Paris was on her own with this one.
“Paris,” he said, “just do as your mother says. When you get pregnant, you can be in the front of the picture, okay?”
“When I get pregnant?” She laughed and gave Rio another look. This time she spoke to him out loud. “They just don’t know, do they?”
Rio winked at her. “Well, like I been sayin’, ain’t no better time than the present to drop the bomb and school ’em. Besides, you said you were gonna tell ’em today anyway.”
“Tell us what?” My father was starting to sound a little agitated.
Paris smirked at London as she lifted up her unusually loose sweater to expose a small, rounding belly. She rubbed it in a slow circle and announced, “I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, Paris, no.” My mother’s hand flew to her mouth. She shook her head in protest. The rest of us were stunned into silence.
It took a while, but my father asked the question we’d all been thinking. “Who’s the father?”
Paris stared at him, looking genuinely taken aback by his question. I guess she thought her announcement was going to be cause for celebration, but judging from my father’s growing anger, the news definitely didn’t make him feel all warm and fuzzy.
“Who’s the goddamn father?” he asked, louder this time.
Rio chimed in like a comedian at a game show. He placed his fist near his mouth like he was holding a microphone. “Now, that’s the million-dollar question. Who is Paris’s baby daddy? Well, behind door number one there’s the newly elected congressman’s dead son, Trevor.”
Whom, I suspect, she killed, I thought.
“And behind door number two there’s the West Coast pharmaceutical distributor’s dead son, Miguel.”
Whom, I might add, she definitely killed.
“Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll find out in about six months who the winners are, but for the record, my money’s on the Mexican.”
Rio was about to continue his comedy routine, until Pops, Momma, and Paris all said, “Shut up, Rio!” in unison.
“Paris, my office now!” LC stomped off toward the house without waiting for a response.
Momma, on the other hand, was still staring at Paris like she’d brought home the Plague. “You heard your father. Now, get-”
“Junior!” Mariah spotted my brother and ran over to him. He lifted her up with one arm, kissing her cheek as he handed her the present he held in his other hand.
My mother pointed at the house, making sure Paris was headed in that direction, and then walked over to Junior. He placed Mariah down so she could open her present then walked about twenty feet away from the group with my mother. I’d stopped paying attention to them and was gossiping about Paris’s pregnancy with Rio, London, and Harris when my mother called my name.
I gave Junior a pound. “Hey there, bro, where you been?”
His mood seemed grim. “I was down in Philly taking care of something for Momma.”
“And?”
“Orlando, I don’t know how to tell you this....”
He just stopped speaking, and my mother had to continue for him. “We’ve found Vinnie Dash.”
I turned my attention back to Junior. “That’s great. Wait until Pop hears this. Did you take care of him?”
“Couldn’t. He’s got too much protection. If I took him out, it would bring a lot of heat down on us that we don’t need.”
“Protection? Who’s backing him?” I asked. Vinnie was a man with no home. There had to be a couple hundred guys out there looking for him—and that was just the Italians.
“Ma, that doesn’t make any sense. Who the hell would protect him? He’s got all kinds of money on his head.”
My mother handed me a picture as she spoke. “He’s being protected by the Jamaicans... and the mother of your unborn child. It seems Miss Ruby gets around.”
I looked down at the photo of Ruby, her belly round with my child, all hugged up with Vinnie Dash. Son of a bitch!
To be continued in The Family Business 2: Extended Family.
Discussion questions
1. Who would you have chosen to lead the family?
2. If you could be any member of the family, who would it be? Whose personality is most like yours?
3. When did you realize the Duncans were more than meets the eye?
4. Did you like the idea of Chippy naming her children after cities she wanted to visit?
5. What were your thoughts about Paris and London’s relationship?
6. Orlando once paid Maria $10,000 for night of pleasure. Do you think a night with anyone is worth that much money?
7. What did you think of Orlando and his relationship with Ruby?
8. Was Junior stupid for not wanting a larger leadership role?
9. Was LC homophobic? Did he treat Rio differently than his other children?
10. Was Paris misunderstood, or a true black widow?
11. How long did it take you to figure out the secret behind LC’s car?
12. Did you think LC was going to kill Paris? Should he have?
13. Was London wrong for sleeping with Tony? Was Mariah’s kidnapping her fault?
14. Was Orlando wrong for disobeying LC and sending Paris to L.A.?
15. What would you have done if you were Alejandro and your child was killed?
16. Were you surprised by the Italians’ involvement?
17. What did you think of Harris’ family ties to Sal Dash?
18. Do you think LC ever planned on giving up leadership of the family?
19. What were your feelings about Vegas? Would you like to see more of him in the future?
20. Whose baby do you think Paris is carrying, Miguel’s or Trevor’s?
21. Are you looking forward to the second installment of The Family Business?
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The Family Business Copyright © 2012 Carl Weber and
Eric Pete
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