by D. J. Manly
“Oh,” Tony replied and then felt a little guilty for gossiping. He changed the subject.
A few hours later, they touched down at the airport in Toronto. The pilot, a man named Henry Godridge asked them if it would be all right if they waited an hour until they flew back. He needed some coffee and to rest a bit.
“Take two hours if you like,” Tony replied, looking at Kevin. “I’m hungry. Maybe we could eat something here at the airport. Are you all right for time, Kevin?”
Kevin nodded. “Sounds good. Why don’t you go find your friend and your mother? I’m going to phone a friend of mine who lives here and chat for a bit.”
Tony made his way to the information desk where Sam and his mother said that they’d be waiting at about three o’clock Toronto time.
He saw them sitting together beside the window a little further down the platform. His mother looked the same, dressed in blue jeans and a navy T-shirt. Sam had changed some; his blond hair was stylishly cut, and his face was a little thinner.
Sam stood up at soon as he saw Tony. Even though Tony had changed himself, they still knew each other instantly. Tony’s dark curly hair fell past his shoulders now and he had a little gold stud in one ear. He was wearing Bermuda jeans shorts and a coffee-coloured T-shirt that said Russo Brothers European Tour 1995.
The two young men ran to each other and embraced, laughing and slapping each other on the back.
“Wow,” Sam cried, “I can’t believe I’m seeing you and I’m going to get to meet the Russo Brothers...hell...I’m going to stay in Johnny Russo’s house. The others at home can’t believe it, man. You should have heard the guys at school.”
His mother came forward now. Tony gave her a hug. “Hi, Mom. Glad you could come.”
“Me too. You look great. How are you?”
“Good,” he nodded. “Look, the pilot is taking a break and it’s kind of mealtime for me. Let’s go to the airport restaurant and eat, okay? We’ll leave in two hours.”
It was agreed. In the restaurant, Sam was full of questions. His mother said little, giving Tony and Sam time to talk. She smoked endless cigarettes and drank coffee, watching people as they walked by.
Sam was too excited to eat. Except for a couple of fries he stole from Tony’s club sandwich plate, he consumed nothing but glasses of Coca-Cola. Tony bought some chips to take on the plane, thinking Sam might be hungry by that time.
After a hour or so, they left the restaurant and walked around the airport for a while. Tony carried his mother’s bag. Eventually, they ran into the pilot. He told them that he was ready to leave anytime they were.
Kevin was standing on the runway as they made their way to the jet. Tony introduced him to Sam and his mother. They shook hands and boarded the jet as the pilot started checking around the plane.
Inside the jet, Sam oohed and aahed. “Is this really the Russo Brothers jet?” he asked, running his hand over the furniture.
Tony laughed. “Yep.” He showed him the other room where the bunks were and the cockpit. The engine started.
“Wow, there’s a TV. and V.C.R and everything in here. You could live in this thing,” Sam mentioned as they all took a seat.
Kevin instructed them to fasten their seat belts as the pilot called back that he was ready to take off.
“So, is it true you’re going to be in a video with the Russos?” Sam shook his blond head.
“Yes, Tony.” His mother looked at him. “Tell us more about that.” She looked a little agitated.
“Dad and I wrote this song together. He’s been giving me guitar lessons and I just showed him these words I’d written. Sometimes Drake gives me lessons too, believe or not, but I’m so nervous with him.”
“I can imagine,” Sam snorted. “Imagine, taking guitar lessons from Drake Russo. Wow!”
Tony smiled. “Ya, it’s mind-blowing the way he can play. It puts me in kind of a trance and then he gets a little pissed at me. Thinks I’m not paying attention.” Tony laughed. “Anyway, like I said, Dad and I were fooling around and I…had some words, he put some music to it and then Drake...well, he kind of put some finishing touches on it and then Uncle Pepi got at it and well...it’s good. Frank thinks it’s a hit.”
“Cool,” Sam replied. “Can you believe how things have turned out? When we were kids...how we loved these guys and then you turn out to...” He stopped, realizing that Sandy was looking at him. He cleared his throat and looked out the window.
Sandy smiled softly at her son. “It’s a lot...to be in a video and everything. I hope it’s not too much. Are you sure you can handle—”
Tony sighed. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m not being invited to join the band. I’m just going to sing backup and appear a few times in the video. Dad insisted since I wrote the lyrics with him. It’s just a video, that’s all.”
“That’s all?” Sam howled, looking at Tony now. “That’s all?”
Tony grinned. “Well...it’s...I know...” They both started hollering now like they were fans at a great football game. They leaned forward and slapped palms.
Sandy shook her head and then had to laugh. That was the Tony she remembered. This whole video thing worried her some, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it right now. Maybe he’d get this stuff out of his system once he got a taste of it and he’d want to come home. She was grateful he had finished high school, at least.
She looked out the window as the plane took flight. Her little boy was graduating. He was practically all grown up, but she still felt protective of him. She looked over at him. She had to admit, he did look happy.
She dozed off as Tony and Sam went on talking, the sounds of their voices growing further and further away. When she awoke, Tony was saying to Sam that he hoped he brought shorts with him. “You’re going to roast in those jeans.”
She looked down to see the great L.A. metropolis lumbering beneath the thick blanket of fog and pollution below her. Six hundred kilometres of freeway cut through the city. In the distance, the Pacific Ocean, and in the north, the desert mountains with their big gorges and high ravines. At the highest point, you could see the whole city of Los Angeles, the whole crime ridden, decadent, dirty city of L.A. where her son now lived.
They circled and then the pilot got clearance to land. Carter was waiting for them with the limo on the ground.
“What a life,” Sam smiled as they climbed into the limousine.
Kevin waved them goodbye at the airport. His car was waiting there in the parking lot. His job was done.
Tony began pointing out the sights to Sam as they drove into the city. Sam was overwhelmed by it all.
“Wait until I take you around Beverly Hills or wait until you see Malibu where Drake lives. You should see those houses. The house my dad lives in is modest compared to some of the movie star houses.”
“Have you seen any...movie stars?” Sam’s eyes were wide.
“Tons,” Tony laughed. “Dad knows some personally. I have so much I want to show you,” he said with excitement, pointing out this and that as they drove by.
When they pulled up in front of Johnny’s home, Sam was again impressed. Carter came around and opened the door for them and then took their suitcases out of the car.
Pepi’s car was still parked in front.
“Wow, look at that Jag,” Sam said, running his hand over the hood.
“It’s Uncle Pepi’s,” Tony told him.
“God, Pepi Russo is actually here inside that house?” Sam gasped.
“Sam,” Sandy interrupted. “They are just like everyone else. You’ll be meeting a lot of famous people, so close your mouth and try not to act like a country boy.”
It was not said harshly, but Tony resented it even though Sam laughed it off.
“Mom, that wasn’t nice,” Tony told her in whispered tone. “Let Sam be excited if he wants. I was the same way when I first met everyone.”
Sandy shrugged as she followed Carter up the path to the house that could have be
en have been hers. Drake had bought her sister a fancy house. She had gotten nothing from Johnny. When they divorced, he had nothing and of course she refused child support because she didn’t want him having anything to do with Tony. She never dreamt that he would end up being this rich.
Doris the housekeeper met them at the door. She was instructing Carter where to take the bags.
“Come on,” Tony said to Sam. “Let’s go find my Dad.”
“No need,” Johnny said with a smile as he walked out into the hallway, “Dad is right here. Hello, Sandra,” he said, tipping his head to her.
“Johnny,” she smiled at him. “It’s kind of you to let me stay here for the weekend. I really do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied.
He looked delicious as usual, dressed in a pair of tan cotton shorts and an olive green tank top that showed off the muscular tone of his biceps. She struggled to look away as he came up to meet Sam.
“Hi, Sam, I’ve heard a lot about you. I hope you have a good time while you’re here. If there is anything I can do...let me know, okay?”
Sam did manage to take his hand. He tried not to stare and then stammered his apology. “I...I can’t believe...”
Sam started laughing nervously, and Tony placed an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay.”
“Ya, I do that to people,” Johnny teased, “it’s my stunning good looks.”
“Please!” Sandy rolled her eyes and took her ex-husband’s arm in a familiar way.
Johnny allowed her to take his arm. “You used to think I was pretty cute,” he said, laughing. “Look at the good-looking kid we produced.”
Sandy smiled. “Okay, you got me there. No argument.”
“Come and have a drink,” he told her, steering her toward the living room.
“Where is Pepi?” Tony called after his dad before he had entirely disappeared from his view.
“In the music room,” Johnny called back, bending his head down now to hear what Sandy was saying to him.
Tony took Sam to meet Pepi. He hung out with them for a while and even played Sam a song on the piano. After about an hour, he announced he had to go. “I promised to have dinner with Janet and Mac tonight.”
“Mac the drummer?” Sam blinked.
“The same, in the flesh.” Pepi nodded. “Look, if you guys aren’t doing anything later, how about taking a ride in the Jag? Do you have a license?” he asked Sam.
“Ya...why?”
“Well, you can drive if you want. We’ll call Drake and maybe take a ride over to his place if he’s around. See ya,” he said and left Sam standing in the music room in partial shock.
“He’s letting me...drive...his...that...car? God. And did you hear how casual he was about taking a ride over to Drake’s place? Can you...I mean....”
“Sam,” Tony laughed, “Drake’s his brother, remember. It is casual to him.”
He hadn’t told Sam about the family secret yet. Pepi still referred to Drake as his brother and that’s the way it had stayed, so it felt right to say it that way. He would tell Sam about it while he was here just because they had always told each other everything, and he knew that Sam would not tell a soul if he asked him to. But it was not the time. There were too many other interesting things to talk about.
He took Sam up to his room and helped him unpack his things. “You know,” he said, “I’m going to ask someone to move a single bed into my room so we can stay up all night and talk like we used to. This is no fun, you sleeping in here.”
Sam nodded. “Ya. It will be like old times. Will it be a problem?”
“Naw.” He gave Sam a hug. “Sam, I have so much to tell you. I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.”
Sam hugged him back. “I’ve missed you too.”
“You’ll have to fill me in on all the gossip back home too.”
“I will. There’s some good stuff...especially with the science teacher, Mr. Adams and Mrs. Burke.”
“Really?”
But all that had to be for later, because just then Johnny came running upstairs, asking them if they wanted to come down for dinner. There would be plenty of time for talk later.
* * * * * *
They never did get to take that car ride with Pepi. He called to say he had met some friends and was going elsewhere. He promised they would do it another night. According to Pepi, Drake was incommunicado that night, so they couldn’t have gone there anyway. It turned out for the best. They had so much catching up to do that they talked almost all night long.
On graduation day, his mother presented him with a beautiful graduation ring. It was gold with little pit diamonds and had his name and the year he graduated carved on the inside. He also received a card and note from his stepfather Tom, which arrived by courier. Tom wrote that he was very proud of him and included a savings bond for ten thousand dollars, which he had put away for Tony’s university tuition when he was young. Tony called him back and thanked him, realizing how much he had missed him lately.
“I understand that you might have felt uncomfortable here, Dad...you know...but Johnny... Dad...wouldn’t have minded. I know he would have been pleased if you had come, and I would have too.”
“I will come out there to see you one day, I promise,” Tom said. “I don’t have anything against your dad, Tony. I would have felt more uncomfortable around your mother. It’s the divorce thing we’re going through right now.”
“I understand. I’d really like it if you could visit,” Tony said again.
“I will. I know that Johnny can give you so much more than I can. I just...”
“Dad, you’ve given me something Johnny didn’t have the chance to. You were my father for seventeen years and you’re still my father. I have two dads now, that’s all.”
There was a silence. Tom cleared his throat. They talked for a little while longer. Tony told him he would put the money away and use it if he decided to go to university. He was seriously considering getting a degree in music. They rang off, promising to see each other soon.
Drake, Johnny, Pepi, Mac and Janet all showed up for the ceremony. Frank Carr regretted that he couldn’t attend; he was in Copenhagen with an up and coming pop group. He had flowers sent to the house later on in the afternoon.
At the ceremony, the Russo family stood at the back of the room and disappeared before the crowd broke up. They didn’t want to take the attention away from the graduates. Janet left with them. She didn’t stop to say hello to her friend because she was still angry at her.
Tony and Sam partied in style that night. A band called Export provided the entertainment. They played disco stuff, which was all the rage, and they were really quite good. Right at the end of the night, the disco band filed off the stage without so much as a goodnight.
“It’s too early for them to wrap it up,” Tony complained to Sam and some of his other friends. “Hell, we’re just getting started.”
There was a great deal of protest by the crowd of students in the huge gymnasium.
And then suddenly, a voice came over the loudspeaker. It was Mr. Phillips, the principal. “Hold on to your hats, graduates of 1998, please welcome the Russo Brothers Band!”
The crowd went wild as Drake, Johnny, Pepi and Mac strolled out onto the stage and took their places.
“Happy Graduation, Tony!” Drake hollered into the microphone. “Happy Graduation, Beverly Hills High!”
The crowd was screaming again and then Johnny cried out, “Let’s rock and roll!”
They played four songs and then stopped. The crowd yelled and screamed and clapped. It took Johnny at least twenty minutes to get them to be quiet enough so that he could be heard over the microphone.
When they had settled down somewhat, he walked to centre stage and looked down at Tony, who stood in front, looking up at him. “I want my son to know how proud I am of him tonight. I wish him the brightest of futures. May all your dreams come true, son. I love you so very much. You’ll
never know what it means to me to be here with you on a night like tonight. Thank you for letting me share it with you.”
The crowd cheered. Tony blushed a little and when he looked up at his father, he felt so proud and so happy to be his son. Tears stung his eyes. Sam hugged his shoulders and his mother came over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
The Russo Brothers left the stage and the other band came out and played another set. Students ran outside to catch another glimpse of them as Carter whisked them quickly away in the limo.
Tony and Sam danced the night away. Carter picked them up after they had breakfast in a greasy spoon on Watts Boulevard with a bunch of other graduates. They were both pretty drunk when they climbed in back of the limo.
They slept the day away and then that evening, Johnny asked Tony to come outside with him. They stood on the curb with Sam and his mother.
“What are we waiting for, Dad?” Tony asked and then he heard the roar of a car motor. It was Drake. He drove up to the curb in a black Ferrari.
Drake got out and flashed Tony a smile. He tossed him the keys.
“I get to drive it? Wow, when did you get it?” Tony asked.
Drake leaned on the hood and smirked. “Just now. Its custom-made.”
“I thought you weren’t buying another car this year?” Tony gaped.
“It’s not mine, dope, it’s yours!” Drake scoffed.
Johnny started laughing when he saw his son’s face.
“Mine!” His eyes were like two saucers. He looked at his father. “Mine?”
“It’s a graduation present,” Johnny said. “Like it?”
“Like it? Like it? Oh, Dad.” He threw his arms around his father, almost knocking him over.
Sam was whistling.
“Come on, Sam!” Tony ran around to the driver’s side of the car and got in. Sam climbed into the other side.
Drake stepped away from the car, then leaned into the passenger side. “Don’t speed,” he said. “Take it easy. It’s a powerful car.”
Sam looked at Drake and then laughed. “This is wild. I don’t know what thrills me more, the car or the fact that Drake Russo is actually standing beside it.”