From Sinner to Saint

by Jones, Janice

  “Honey, it is not polite to ask a lady her age, especially not as soon as you meet her.”

  “Well, I’m only eighteen, so I don’t know all the rules yet,” he said sarcastically.

  Regina shifted her position on the bench and stared Antonyo straight in his eyes, deciding she would like to get to know this young man. Not only was he fine, but seemingly intelligent and witty. He had the potential to be a very interesting molding specimen. However, before resolving to take him on as her own personal project, she needed a little more information.

  “Tony, do you mind talking about the problem between you and your mother?”

  Antonyo spent just as much time analyzing Regina as she did him. He knew the moment he laid eyes on her that she was a professional career woman, but his internal mack-daddy instincts were beginning to see just a bit deeper. This woman exhibited an interest so that she could size him up, perhaps trying to figure out if she could construct him into some type of playmate for her.

  He was so thankful for all the information he had received from his auntie. She had given him the extensive 411 on the older woman/younger man scenario. Regina needed to know his problem in hopes that she could solve it and become his hero. Maybe the answer to his troubles was becoming a little clearer already.

  “The problems between my mom and me are typical. I’m a college student and she wants me to learn more responsibilities. She wants me to get a job. We’ve been going at it quite a bit, so to alleviate the stress on both of us, I moved out of her home and in with my aunt, my mother’s twin sister.” Antonyo figured he’d leave out the part about Treecie’s moving deadline for right now, careful not to scare her off by giving too much information too fast.

  “Well, I can understand what your mom is saying. Though I am not a parent yet, I recognize from my own parents that teaching your child about life and its realities is of the utmost importance.”

  Regina stopped talking for a moment to try and gauge Antonyo’s reaction to what she’d said. She was interested to know if he would become defensive, or accepting of her input.

  Antonyo had already anticipated Regina’s typical response, so he played along with her game. The last thing he wanted to do was antagonize this woman of apparent means.

  “Oh, I totally understand my mother’s position, especially considering that my father was a deadbeat. She had to raise me all alone. It’s just that I’ve been having a hard time finding suitable employment. I am an honor student in college, and I feel that a fast food gig is beneath me. I am looking for something that will challenge me intellectually and help me to grow into something more constructive than a fry cook.”

  Impressive, Regina thought. Here sat a young man with a little ambition. He sounded a lot like her when she was his age.

  “I have an idea that could possibly help. Why don’t you give me a call at my office tomorrow morning after ten? I may be able to find a position for you as an office assistant or something.” Regina handed Antonyo her business card.

  Just as he thought; she was a lawyer. The card read: REGINA LEWIS-CAFFEY, ATTORNEY AT LAW. The hyphenated name piqued his curiosity. Was she married, or did she carry the last name of both parents? That question, however, was best saved for another time. Right now he wanted to keep things on a platonic level. Rushing things with this woman would be a mistake.

  “Oh, wow! I really appreciate this, Ms. Caffey. I will call you as soon as I’m done with my eight o’clock class,” Antonyo replied enthusiastically.

  “Call me Regina, Tony,” she replied as she casually winked her eye. “I’ve got to get back to my office now. I look forward to hearing from you in the morning.”

  She stood and extended her hand to the handsome young man, but instead of shaking her limb, Antonyo stood with her and gave her a light peck on the cheek, followed by his lady-killer smile.

  “Trust me when I say the pleasure will be all mine.”

  Regina was again impressed with his gesture. She gave him a huge smile in return and then left.

  One week later, Antonyo began working part-time in the law offices of Traylor, Goldwin, Kennell & Mark as an office assistant. He was assigned as an errand person for just about the entire office. Starting at eleven dollars an hour, Antonyo made almost twice the amount that most of his friends were making. He worked approximately twenty hours a week so as not to interfere with school.

  During his second week of employment, Antonyo discovered the explanation behind the hyphen in Regina’s name. He met senior law partner John Caffey when he was asked to deliver a package for him.

  When given the assignment by his supervisor, Antonyo immediately recognized the name and assumed Mr. Caffey was Regina’s husband. Surprise, however, came as he entered Mr. Caffey’s office to find a much older white man and he instantly realized his mistake. This must be Regina’s father. Though she lacked the classic bi-racial features, he assumed she carried the name of both her African American mother and her father; either that or she was adopted. He introduced himself to the distinguished-looking gentleman.

  “Hello, Mr. Caffey. I’m Tony Simms. I was sent here to pick up a package and instructions for delivery.”

  “Well, I finally have the privilege of meeting the young man my wife speaks so highly of. She was duly impressed with you on your initial meeting, son,” Mr. Caffey replied. “I had no choice but to recommend you for an entry-level job after hearing all of the glowing things she said about your ambition. It’s nice to finally meet you, Tony.”

  So, this is her husband. Wow, Antonyo thought. “It’s nice to meet you, too, sir. Thank you for putting in the good word for me sight unseen.”

  “You can thank me by simply showing up every day and doing a good job.” Mr. Caffey gave Antonyo a nice smile then handed him the package and told him the specifics about the delivery.

  Upon his return from delivery duty, Antonyo ran into Regina. “Hey, you. How are you doing?” she asked excitedly.

  Antonyo had only seen Regina in passing at the office for the past week. This was the first opportunity she’d taken to actually stop to talk to him. She looked even more beautiful today than she did the first time they’d met.

  “I’m doing great, Regina. I met your husband today,” he replied casually.

  Regina appeared a little perturbed by his announcement, so he decided to play on her discomfort to see what came of it.

  “Mr. Caffey seemed very nice. I guess you are quite proud of the fact he’s a senior partner.”

  “My husband is nice. Why don’t I take you to lunch? What time can you get away?”

  Again, Antonyo noticed her mild agitation as she quickly changed subjects, seemingly wanting to avoid the topic of her husband. “Actually, I get off in about fifteen minutes. Can you leave then?”

  “I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby.”

  Regina selected Sweet Georgia Brown as their lunch location, an upscale restaurant in downtown Detroit that featured live jazz and recipes that were flavorful and artistic in their presentation. Antonyo had never been to such a classy establishment and was somewhat taken aback by its extravagance. The prices were definitely out of the league of the ladies he usually dated; more evidence that Regina had money.

  “These prices sure are expensive,” he said after carefully looking over the menu.

  “They’re not that bad, actually. Besides, the food is worth it.” Regina quickly surmised that perhaps Antonyo assumed that he was to pay for their lunch. His comment about the prices was probably his way of informing her that he could not afford to pay. How sweet of him to even consider picking up the tab, she thought.

  “Oh, but don’t worry about it. It’s my treat,” Regina told Antonyo as she patted his hand.

  For sure! Antonyo thought, but instead he said, “Thank you.”

  “Did you ever fix things between you and your mother now that you have a decent job?”

  Trina and Antonyo had talked since he started working. She told him that she was proud
of him for finding employment, but that she was not going to let him move back home. Trina still had not found the will to forgive him for the way he disrespected her house. Her reasoning dictated that when a person is grown, he needs to be on his own. No need for Regina to know all that, though. Once he told Treecie about his job, she extended his stay an additional two weeks, giving him time to collect a paycheck and find himself an affordable place to live.

  “Yeah, we’ve talked and everything’s cool. But since I’ve been out of her house, I’ve decided that I’m comfortable with it. I don’t want to go back home.”

  Enough talk about him for now, Antonyo decided. He needed to steer the conversation back toward Regina and her husband. Just as he was about to do that, the waiter approached and asked for their order. Once that task was complete, the interrogation began.

  “So, how long have you and Mr. Caffey been married?” Antonyo asked her.

  “Two years,” Regina replied uncomfortably. She took a sip of her water, choking slightly on the liquid as it slid down her throat.

  Since the obstruction was a minor occurrence, Antonyo let it slide as if it had gone unnoticed, and continued with his interrogation. “How did you end up married to an older white man?” he asked bluntly.

  “Excuse me, young man, but you are way out of line,” Regina countered indignantly.

  “Young man. That’s funny considering . . .” Antonyo chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.

  “Are you purposely trying to insult me, Antonyo?”

  “Only my mother calls me Antonyo.” He corrected her without too much attitude, knowing it was just her counter attack. Then he continued his assault. “And, no, I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just curious as to why a black woman as fine and as smart as you could end up married to some old white fogey.”

  Again Regina was caught off guard. Here sat this young man, paying her a wonderful compliment served as an appetizer to a backhanded slap. He was even more intelligent than she had given him credit for in the beginning.

  “Tony, I appreciate you saying I’m beautiful, really, I do. But my marriage is none of your business.”

  “Okay. I’ll step off, but only after I ask you one last question.” Antonyo reached across the table and gently caressed Regina’s hand. “Are you happy, Regina?”

  Regina’s eyes became blank as she stared off behind Antonyo for several seconds. She then looked down at her hand while he continued to tenderly massage her fingers. Her gaze eventually met his eyes, her silence answering his question loud and clear. Regina was finally able to look away when the waiter returned a few seconds later with their food.

  They ate in a companionable hush for a while; then halfway through her meal, Regina started to speak. “John is not that much older than me; only seventeen years, actually. He will be forty-three on his next birthday. Not quite old enough to be my father.”

  Well, that cleared up the guessing game about her age. She was twenty-six. She was correct about the age difference not being as big as he assumed, yet the question remained as to why. Antonyo was pretty sure he knew the real answer, but he wanted it confirmed by Regina.

  “Okay, he’s not old enough to be your dad. He’s still old and white. Tell me what made you fall in love with him.”

  “John is a very brilliant man. He sat in with a professor of mine at law school one day as a special guest. After observing one of my mock arguments, he told me I had the legal mind of the late Thurgood Marshall. John recruited me as an intern for the firm.”

  Regina took a few more bites of her food. Antonyo thought she was ending the conversation, but quite the contrary. She continued until she had given him a complete answer to his question.

  “John and I started spending quite a bit of time together,” she continued. “He became my mentor. He taught me so much about life, the law, racism’s causes and effects, culture, everything. You name it; he seemed to know it and share it with me. We married two months after I received my Juris Doctor. I was hired by the firm as a law clerk and then as an attorney just after I passed the Michigan State Bar Exam.

  “In the beginning, our union caused quite a bit of controversy within the office,” she told Antonyo. “He was a senior partner and I an associate. But I set out to prove that I earned the right to be there on my own merits. It has been four years now, and I have made junior partner all on my own. The tongues have ceased to wag, and John and I share a companionable work ethic and peace.”

  “A companionable work ethic and peace? What about at home? Do you share a hot and sexy bedroom? I think not,” he mocked.

  Once again, Antonyo’s insight surprised Regina, but the lawyer in her was not ready to concede to anything. She just wasn’t ready to pour out her soul to a teenager, even one as fine as Antonyo. She ignored the question and instead weaved the conversation in another direction.

  “It’s Friday. How about you and I catch a movie tonight? John is always so busy. He hardly ever has time to go out with me. I’m sure he won’t mind me hanging out with a friend this evening. What do you say?” she asked gleefully.

  The words not spoken were again very loud and he heard them quite clearly. Regina was trapped in a bad marriage. Well, if she wanted to hang out with him tonight to get away from her husband, he would be more than happy to oblige the beautiful, rich attorney. He actually had plans with Bianca, but he was sure he could get out of those. Antonyo would make tonight a night Regina would not soon forget. “I say yes!”

  Chapter 7

  That evening, Regina had Antonyo meet her at her girlfriend’s house, and they took off together from there. The night started with dinner at the Outback Steakhouse in Roseville, which was approximately thirty to forty-five minutes from the palatial estate Regina shared with her husband in West Bloomfield. They then proceeded to a movie theater that was another twenty minutes or so away. Their next destination was the place where they initially met for the very first time.

  Antonyo realized the entire journey was so far out of the way because Regina did not want to take a chance of running into anyone she or her husband might know. This was typical behavior of someone in an adulterous relationship. Treecie had already put him up on what was going to happen before he left the house that evening.

  The weather was quite a bit chillier down on the water at Belle Isle than it was the day they’d met, so they decided to sit in the car and talk for a while.

  “So, Tony, tell me, what are you studying in school?”

  “Right now I’m taking basic curriculum classes. I haven’t quite decided what I want my major to be. Engineering used to be my primary focus, with law coming in second. However, since meeting you and coming to work at the firm, my perspective has changed a little. I am leaning a little more toward being an attorney.”

  Antonyo was definitely spitting game. Never before had he thought about being a lawyer, nor was he seriously considering it now. He knew he was going to be a software engineer. This was all just a spiel to impress Regina.

  “If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

  Well, since she was offering, he figured now was as good a time as any to let her know what it was she could really do for him. “Now it’s your turn to tell me more about you. I want to know why you are still married to John Caffey when it is so obvious that you don’t love him.”

  “Tony, please. Why don’t you just let it go? My marriage is my business.”

  Antonyo undid his seatbelt and moved closer to Regina. He used his patented move of taking and caressing her hand and looking deep into her eyes before he continued in his pursuit of what he wanted—what he needed.

  “Regina, I don’t mean to offend or upset you. It’s just as I said before. I think you are so beautiful and so smart. I am very attracted to you, but more importantly, I like you as a friend. If you are truly happy with your husband, then I’ll ignore my fascination with your seemingly unfulfilling marriage. Otherwise, I have to say something.”

  Re
gina found herself truly enthralled with this perceptive young man. She had been from the first day they met. Antonyo was right; she was not happy with John.

  “Tony, I married John because I was bored with being my parents’ perfect little girl. They put such pressure on me to always be right. I had to do the right thing, go to the right school, and marry the right man. They were smothering me.

  “When I met John and found that he was attracted to me, I saw him as my ticket out of the strangle hold my mother and father had on me. I decided to shake things up and marry an older white man. I rationalized that he was at least rich and could provide a good life for me, so marrying John would be a win-win situation. I would get the satisfaction of annoying my parents, and they could take comfort in knowing that their only child would not starve to death.”

  After revealing herself and her situation to Antonyo, Regina felt surprisingly good. He was the first person with whom she had honestly shared her feelings. Her girlfriends, family members, and eventually her parents figured she was lucky to have a man such as John in love with her. They all envied her, so giving any of them the truth about her feelings had become a non-issue.

  “If you are not happy, why do you stay, Regina?” Antonyo knew the answer, but he wanted to keep playing the part of concerned friend.

  “Tony, marriage is a lifetime commitment. Even though I’m not in love with John, I do like him. Besides, being married to him offers me incentives. I am a valued attorney at an impressive firm because he believed in me and admired my legal mind. He is rich, and I share in everything that he has. I love the esteem I receive from being married to a partner in such a prestigious law firm. The ups far outweigh the downs in my situation.”

  “The down being having sex with a man that you are not attracted to,” Antonyo completed. Regina’s information was nothing that Antonyo had not already expected to hear. Her admission to using John made him feel justified in his plan to use her.

  Regina was again astounded by his astuteness. She scooted in her car seat in an effort to get as close to him as she could.