“Yeah, right, Dad. You’ve done nothing but expose me to the upper crust my whole life,” David had commented sarcastically.
“David, watch your mouth. Show your father some respect,” his mother had said.
As much as David wanted to regale his father with his definition of “respect,” the last thing he wanted to do was upset his mother; especially since his father did that enough all on his own. Instead, he apologized, more to his mother than to his father.
“I’m sorry. Michael isn’t a bad guy. As a matter of fact, it was more my fault than his. This idiot in the club got upset because I was talking to his girlfriend. I didn’t even know she was there with anyone.”
“That’s your answer for everything: I didn’t know. Well, quite frankly, I’m sick of it. You just graduated from high school and, God willing, you’ll be going to college in a couple of months, and eventually law school. This bullshit has to stop!”
“Charles, don’t use that language,” his mother had said. “David, your father and I have tried everything we can think of and we’re afraid if we don’t do something drastic, things are only going to get worse for you. Therefore, we’ve decided that the only thing to do is to send you away; someplace where you can get the help you need. Obviously, we can’t give you that help.”
Nothing his father did could ever surprise him, but the fact that his mother was willing to send him away to some “treatment center” took David completely by surprise.
“Mom, please, I’ll stop. I swear I’ll stop. It just...It’s just been...”
Finally, everything he had been thinking and feeling for the past several months encapsulated itself into one long, heart-wrenching sob.
“I, I, need...”
David knew there was no way he could finish what he really wanted to say. There was no way he could hurt his mother in such a way. She had such high hopes for him. It would devastate her to know the path his life had taken; the choices he had made. Not to mention, what it would do to her to know that her own husband had been a part of it.
“What, David? Talk to me. Please talk to me,” his mother implored him.
David looked from his mother to his obviously anxious father and that’s when he realized there would be no easy way out of this one. He would have to go away and get himself clean. There was no way in the world he could tell his mother what had been plaguing him all these months.
“I’ll go,” he stated quietly. “I’ll go...”
Between rehab and college shortly thereafter, David managed to keep himself busy enough to try to keep his mind off of Marie and where she might be or what she might be doing. The thought of her sleeping with random men, cruising the streets of Hunts Point and putting herself in harm’s way, was often unbearable. But the one thing he was sure of was that drugs, alcohol and an endless flow of random women, wasn’t the answer.
Three months after going away to college in Boston, David returned for Christmas break to find an air of change around the house. His mother and father were cooler toward each other than usual, and David got the distinct impression that something was brewing that neither of them wanted him to know anything about. It was David’s fervent wish that his mother had finally come to her senses and was contemplating divorcing his father; especially after hearing them arguing one night from their bedroom.
“You’re a hypocrite, Charles! You walk around like you’re the pillar of the community when nothing could be further from the truth. This is your legacy, this is what you leave to our son; lies and deceit. Well, I won’t be a part of it! You can continue doing exactly what you’ve always done, exactly what you want to do, and everyone else be damned. But I won’t. I can’t. He deserves to know!”
“And what exactly do you think that will accomplish, Ann? Noth ing! We finally got him back on the straight and narrow and your decision is to go and upset the apple cart. What kind of sense does that make?”
“You will not manipulate me like you’ve done all these years. I’m standing firm on this. He needs to know and I’m going to be the one who tells him!”
“Why don’t you do that? Go right ahead, and I will see to it that you leave here with nothing!”
“No court in New York would allow that to happen,” Ann said.
“Don’t be so sure of that.”
“You’re only trying to scare me. Unlike you, I have never cheated on you. I’ve been a good wife to you and a wonderful mother to my son. No court would allow you to take everything away from me.”
“I don’t know about that, Ann. You’ve had not one, but two stints in a mental facility.”
“That wasn’t my fault!” she cried. “I tried to kill myself because of you. You. You did everything you could to break me and it worked!”
David listened from the hall. He remembered his mother going “away” several years ago and everyone being very hush-hush about the specifics. That explained it. It made David even surer about his thoughts surrounding his father. He couldn’t understand why she had never left him.
“Yes, Ann, but that, coupled with your ridiculous spending, will prove instability. Not to mention the fact that you signed a pre-nup.”
It had been so long ago, she had almost forgotten about the papers he had ensured her were merely a formality.
“But, Ann, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll provide you with the life you have become so accustomed to and you will keep your goddamn mouth shut. You can do that here or elsewhere. I really don’t care. I was done with you a long time ago. But you won’t ruin everything I’ve built all these years.”
“Charles, can’t we at least ensure that they’re not homeless? That’s the very least that we can do. We have so much to offer and they have so little.”
“You do what you will with your allowance, but rest assured, if David ever gets wind of what we have discussed this evening, you will have hell to pay.”
Any sense of pride David felt in finally bearing witness to his mother standing up to his bully of a father was short-lived. Within moments, there was a crack in her veneer and the frightened, subservient mother he had always known returned. More than anything, David wanted to rescue his mother, but he didn’t think it was a good idea to interrupt them now. However, he did wonder what they were talking about. For a moment he thought it might have something to do with the countless charitable organizations his mother contributed to. But why would that have anything to do with him? He snooped around the next day and took a look at his mother’s checkbook, hoping to figure out what it was she was talking about when she mentioned someone being homeless. But all he found was a check made out to PRIMCO Property Management. For a split second he hoped maybe she might have decided to leave after all. But distracted with the holiday festivities, he never gave it another thought.
The rest of David’s Christmas vacation continued as if nothing had ever happened. At the end of the holiday, he returned to
Boston. However, within weeks of returning to school, his mother contacted him and let him know that she had moved out—which made perfect sense. The PRIMCO check had most likely been a down-payment for an apartment. David’s contact with his father eventually became non-existent. Where before he felt obligated to interact with his father because he and his mother were still together, now he felt no need to. He could talk to his mother whenever he wanted without dealing with his father at all, and the independence he gained by being on his own at school, afforded him the opportunity to pick and choose his level of contact. His relationship with his father went from strained to virtually non-existent.
A little more than a month after that, his mother contacted him, summoning him for his father’s funeral. Charles McDonnell had had a heart attack and had died alone at their summer home on Long Island. His last will and testament left nothing to Ann, who was still his wife. He left everything he owned to David. With his father gone, David felt free to return to New York and enrolled at New York University and, eventually, NYU Law School. To his mother’s great
surprise, after passing the bar exam, David took his place exactly where his father had intended, at McDonnell & Simpson, poised and ready to continue the McDonnell legacy.
CHAPTER FIVE
McDONNELL & SIMPSON
Jade noticed the black Mercedes often, yet the driver never stopped to pick up any of the girls, including her. It became a mystery she was hell-bent on solving.
“Hey, baby, you want some chocolate?” Jade beckoned from her favorite corner. “I got whatever you want right here!”
She strutted over to his car, anxious to unveil her mystery man just in time for him to speed off. Right then Bridget got out of the car of one of her regulars. Undoubtedly, she had given him a blow job. That was what most of their customers wanted; some quick relief and off they went to their homes and families. Bridget often talked of marriage one day and children. Jade couldn’t imagine marrying anybody. What the fuck was the point; they all screwed anything with a pulse anyway. The only reason Jade saw for getting married was the Benjamins. And if it wasn’t in writing and it wasn’t big money, she still didn’t see the point.
It happened every day; some woman “thinks” she’s got everything her man’s got, until he moves on to the next best thing and she’s left with nothing. She would never be that kind of sucker and neither would Bridget. Bridget belonged to her; she was her cash cow and she would continue to be that, however and whenever she saw fit.
Bridget noticed Jade watching intently as the black Mercedes drove away.
“He drove up right next to me one day and rolled down his window, but Tamika, that junkie that lives over on Boynton, she ran over to the car and he drove off,” Bridget mentioned.
“Shit, Bridget! I keep telling you if you act like a punk, these girls are going to take what’s yours.”
“Jade, what are you talking about? He was just a trick.”
“A trick with big money,” Jade reminded her. “Did you see those fuckin’ seats; all leather. The next time he drives by here, I want you to make your presence known. You hear me?”
“What makes you think he’s gonna be back here again? He only comes by once-in-a-blue-moon, and he never picks up any of the girls anyway. Besides, what makes you think he’s gonna want me?”
“Because I know my shit, that’s why. They always come back. And I’m willing to bet all that I own, you’ll be exactly what he’s looking for.”
David was looking for Bridget. He found that the more he watched her, the more he wanted her. At first he had fooled himself into believing that eventually his fixation on this young woman would subside. But, nothing could have been further from the truth. If anything, his fascination with her grew. Where once he would visit once a week, he found himself taking a ride into the Bronx twice, sometimes three times a week. He even visited a psychotherapist, convinced that he was losing his mind. One visit to the therapist was all he needed to convince himself that therapy wasn’t for him. Instead he threw himself into his work and into watching this woman that reminded him so much of Marie.
Eventually, he worked up enough nerve to approach her, unaware that Jade had given Bridget careful instructions about what she should do if that black Mercedes with the genuine leather seats and the Adonis-looking occupant should ever stop.
Bridget saw the car as soon as it made its way by her.
“Hey, baby, you want some company?”
David couldn’t help but think how foreign the words sounded coming out of her mouth. If it were at all possible, she seemed even more out of place here than Marie had seemed all those years ago. There was an obvious innocence about her. He wondered how she survived without being eaten alive by the pariahs circling her, which, under the circumstances, also applied to him.
Here he was, this confident, captain of industry, almost forty years old, and this young woman, probably half his age, was making him as nervous as a teenager. It was as if all those women in between Marie and her had never even happened.
“Hi,” was all he could muster. “I’m not sure what I feel like doing tonight. Do you have some time? I’ll pay you five hundred for the whole night.”
Bridget could barely contain her excitement. That was more than she had ever gotten for a trick. Hell, that was more than she had ever gotten in a night; even a week. Often, she was lucky if she got fifty bucks in a night. But, with that excitement, also came a little fear. Once a guy had offered her a hundred, much the same way that this man had, and he had beaten her up pretty bad. She had ended up with a broken arm, and he had punched her so hard in the face that the blood vessels in her eyes had broken. As much as she would have liked to get five hundred and not have to work for the rest of the night, she didn’t want to die for it either.
Lured by the prospects of that much money, Bridget couldn’t help but take a chance and she got in his car.
“So how does this work?” David asked.
“Depends on what you want.”
“Not really sure yet.”
“Are you hungry? We could stop and get something to eat.”
Now Bridget was sure there was something wrong with him. What did he think this was—a date? Men seldom cruised Hunts Point looking for someone to take to dinner.
“Uhm, I kinda need the money up front.”
David retrieved his wallet and handed her five crisp one hundred-dollar bills.
Her heart was beating so wildly in her chest she hoped he wouldn’t hear it. She didn’t want to let on that this was more money than she had seen at one time in forever.
“So, what would you like to eat?”
He really wanted to take her someplace where they could sit down, eat and talk, but her attire made that a little difficult. He was so fascinated with her, he wanted to know all there was to know about her. She possessed an opposing duality that was unmistakable—girl, woman, sinner, saint, gentle, rough.
“Whatever you want is fine,” she answered.
“We could go to a hotel and order room service if you’d like.”
“Okay.”
Driving into Manhattan, David watched as she passed the sights and sounds of the city. It was as though she were a child seeing everything for the first time. David parked the car and they walked a block or so and checked into the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown.
Once inside the hotel room, Bridget was surprised to find that he wasn’t the nut job she figured he would be. She found out he was a lawyer and told him that she had always wanted to be a lawyer herself, but things hadn’t turned out the way she wanted. Even though she knew he probably didn’t take her seriously, it appeared as though he was actually listening.
“I think they have a room service menu here. You want to look at it?”
“Yeah!” she said with excitement.
Bridget looked at the menu and was delighted with all the choices. She seldom ate well and it was difficult for her to make a decision. Sensing her dilemma, he told her she could order whatever she wanted, if she couldn’t make up her mind. He was surprised to discover that she was actually very conservative in her choices. As far as David was concerned, that spoke volumes about her character.
Sitting with her and talking up close, David’s own character surprised him as well. He expected to want to have sex with her as soon as they were in the hotel room. Yet, he was enjoying just sitting and talking with her. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attracted to her, but he was treating her more like a person and less like a prostitute.
Bridget was full of questions and David found it difficult to figure out whether or not she was more woman or more child. One minute she was cautious to a fault, clearly making decisions to protect herself; the next she was prattling on and on about anything and everything. He got the impression she didn’t have many people to talk to.
“You probably wouldn’t be able to tell it to look at me, but I can take steno and type.”
At first, David thought maybe she might be trying to hustle him for a job. Then he realized her self-esteem was in great need of a boost. Her s
ecretarial skills were obviously something she was very proud of and she wanted to impress him. In many ways, it was very sad.
“Really, he answered. “You ever think of going to an agency or something and trying to get a job working as a secretary or a clerk?”
“Yeah, I think about it all the time, but Jade always tells me that no one would ever give someone like me a job.”
“But, you won’t know that until you try, will you? I’ll tell you what. I’ll meet you at the same place, time and day that I met you tonight in the Bronx, and I’ll get you some information that you might be able to use to get started in a new line of work.”
Bridget was so excited, she couldn’t contain herself.
“Really! Seriously! Thank you so much! I’ll be on Hunts Point the same day and time next week, waiting. Thank you so, so much!”
For some reason, it made David feel good that she was so happy. He genuinely liked this girl. He didn’t know if it was because he reminded her so much of Marie or because the thought of helping another human being gave him a sense of purpose. He had lived such a narcissistic life; it felt good to know that he could actually have real impact on someone else’s life.
David noticed that Bridget’s demeanor shifted and the girl/woman suddenly became all woman.
“Now, is there anything I can do for you?” she asked in her sexiest voice.
Although he was attracted to her, for some reason, he felt as though any sense of pride he had in himself at doing a good deed would be lost, if he had sex with Bridget at that moment. He made up an excuse about having to get up early in the morning. Time and time again, after his last encounter with Marie all those years ago, he often wondered if he had waited and continued on the same course with Marie, maybe, just maybe things would have been different. Maybe if he hadn’t had sex with her in the first place, he wouldn’t have spent all these years unable to let go of a woman he had known only briefly. That was the same feeling he got when he thought of how good it would feel to be with Bridget.
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