Chapter 72

“I’m home!”  Jon entered the front door of his home, yelling at no one in particular.  From the staircase came the sound of thundering footsteps, and his two youngest sons skidded to a stop in front of him, wrapping their arms around his legs.

“Daddy!  You’re home!”  The chorus echoed like music in his ears, and he grinned delightedly at the enthusiastic reception.  It was nice to be missed. 

“So are you!”  He swung Romeo up, feet flying in the air, despite the protesting muscles in his back.  His littlest would soon be too big to toss around and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity, old age be damned.

Dropping Romeo back to his feet with a giggle, he ruffled Jakey’s hair.  “How are ya buddy?”

“I’m good!  Come play with us!”  Jake tugged on his father’s hand until his backside was almost on the floor from the effort.

Laughing at the boy’s antics, Jon told them, “I will in just a minute.  Let me say hi to Mommy, Steph and Jesse first.”

“Stephie’s not here and Jesse’s in his room with his ‘puter,” Romeo informed him.

Dorothea materialized, drawn by the ruckus of their sons’ greeting, and Jon gave her a little frown.  “Why isn’t Steph here?”

“She’s at Brandi’s studying for a test.  She’ll be home in about an hour to offer you the proper homage and respect.” 

“You’re such a bitch sometimes,” he grumbled, pulling her into his arms for a tight hug. 

It didn’t matter if she was being a bitch – she was his bitch, and he liked her that way.  Stepping into the circle her arms defined coming home for him.  The sweet, clean smell that surrounded her, the silky fall of her hair, and the feel of her firmly toned muscles under his embrace all signified that he was off rockstar duty.  Today, in this minute, he was just a man coming home to his wife and family.  It wasn’t usually an emotional scene in their house, but this time he held just a little tighter, for just a little longer – and she let him.    

“Boys, go upstairs to the playroom.  I’ll send Daddy up in a few minutes.”

Jake put out his bottom lip and grumbled under his breath, “No you won’t.  You’ll sit and talk ALL night, just like always and then we’ll hafta go to bed.”

“Jacob…” Dot warned.  “Do as you’re told.  Daddy will be up in a few minutes.”

“Go on boys, scoot.  I’ll be there soon, I promise.”  They weren’t happy about it, but both trudged off, dragging their feet pitifully.

“Come on.”  Dot took him by the hand, leading him to the kitchen, where she reached into the wine cooler for a bottle. 

Jon took a seat at the breakfast bar and watched her fish around in the drawer for a corkscrew.  Once successfully located, she dropped it and the bottle in front of him while she went to fetch glasses from the cabinet.

Five minutes later, they sat across from one another, quietly sipping wine, hands loosely entwined on the bar. 

“How is she?  They went straight to the guest house I suppose?”  His wife’s quiet questions broke the silence.

“Yeah.  She’s good.  Doing better than the rest of us, I think.”  He searched Dot’s eyes for anything that might contradict his opinion.  “You’ve talked to her.  Am I wrong?”

Swirling the burgundy liquid lightly in her glass, Dot studied it intently before replying.  “Jon, how do you get over something like that in a few days?  Yes, she acts like herself, but how is that possible?  Out of all the shit that happened, in her mind the biggest problem here is Richie’s reaction.”

“She’s always been tough.  I thought I was tough, but she puts me to shame.  I mean, I look at her and my gut just clenches.  God help me, all I can think is that I’m glad it wasn’t you.  I would absolutely lose my fucking mind, yet she laughs and smiles like it never happened – like she really did fall down a bunch of steps.”

“I assume she hasn’t talked to a counselor or anything?”

“Nope.  She told me and Rich both that, because she doesn’t remember the rape, it essentially didn’t happen.”

Dot huffed with disgust.  “You damn stubborn Bongiovis.  She remembers getting the crap beat out of her.  How is she coping with THAT?”

Jon shrugged his shoulders.  “Richie thinks she’s been guarding her back to prevent anyone sneaking up on her, but you couldn’t prove it by me.”

“So what happens now?  She goes back to work, riding the train – by herself – an hour both directions every day, and we’re all supposed to be okay with it?  With this dirtbag still running around, God knows where?”

Not only was his wife a beautiful woman, but she was smart too.  She was bringing up points that he hadn’t thought of – and he should.  He’d already arranged for an extra security guard at the Philly Foundation building, but hadn’t thought about her long commute.

“I don’t know about we, but I’M sure as hell not okay with it, and I know Rich won’t be either.  Maybe she could stay in his condo downtown.”

“And live by herself?  I fail to see how that’s better.” 

No one in the world could make him feel stupider than his wife, and it had a tendency to piss him off.  This is why she was never invited to business meetings.

“Then we’ll hire a driver to take her back and forth.  Or can you find something wrong with that, too?” he asked sarcastically.

“Okay, you can just curb the attitude with me, mister.  It’s not my fault that – for once in your life – you don’t have everything planned out to the letter.  And speaking of attitudes, what about this dinner tomorrow night?”

“What about it?”  He would rather have his chest hairs removed one at a time with tweezers than suffer through this thing tomorrow night.  Family gatherings were barely tolerable when he WASN’T in the middle of a tour, and this one had the potential to be a friggin’ disaster.

With raised eyebrows, she told him matter-of-factly, “You had better talk to Therese and Michael before everyone gets here.  Richie can take care of himself, but you didn’t see how bent out of shape Allegra was after the last two installments of ‘Meet the Castanellis’.  Another round of Therese’s judgmental arrogance may crack that pretty façade Allegra’s carrying so proudly.”

“Jesus, Dottie,” he groaned.  “I have TWO days off.  Not even two FULL days.  Can’t I just enjoy them?  Aunt Therese will be fine.  You know she’s not normally like that, and besides, Mom and Dad will be here.  And Joan.  It will be fine.”

Her brown eyes pinned him with the same glare she gave the kids when they misbehaved.  “She doesn’t KNOW what her daughter’s been through in the last week, Jon.  There’s no reason for her to cut Allegra any slack, and I’ve never known ANY of your family to err on the side of peace and tranquility.  Take five minutes and call the woman so we don’t have a nuclear meltdown in our dining room.  Okay?”

Goddammit I am NOT one of the kids.  WHY was I happy to see her again?  Oh yeah.  She’s safe, sound, in one piece, and I love her. 

He gave a petulant sigh.  “Yes, dear.”

“Thank you.”  She leaned in, pressing her lips sweetly to his.  “Now, go see your boys.  In another five minutes, they’ll have plotted my demise for keeping you away so long.”

He chuckled and slipped his hand around the back of her head, drawing her close for another kiss.  “Love you, babe.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Just be glad Tom Cruise was busy the day I married you.”  The callousness of her words was belied by the soft twinkle in her eyes.

“You’d be a lousy Scientologist, anyway.”

♫  ♥  ♫

He dialed the phone with a deep breath, bracing himself.  All he wanted to do was live in his little cave – okay, mansion – like a reclusive hobbit for the next two days.  Refereeing a meeting between his high strung aunt and his best friend was NOT on his priority list.   

Sometimes family was a pain in the- “Hi Aunt Therese, it’s Johnny.” 

“Johnny!  To what do I owe this extra special pleasure?”

Ego completely aside for the moment, he knew he’d always been her favorite nephew.  Maybe that had something to do with the fact that he was the eldest, or now because he was embarrassingly rich.  Either way, he hoped it would work in his favor.

“I understand you’ll be joining me for dinner tomorrow night.”

“That’s right…” 

“Well, I just wanted to tell you how much I’m looking forward to it, and ask your help with something.”

She loves to help.  Play to her weakness.

No matter what recent events had transpired, his aunt was a good woman with a generous heart.

“Of course!  What can I do?”

“I’m hoping that we can have a nice, agreeable evening.  You know, everyone getting along and having a pleasant meal together?  Can you help me make that happen?”

“What are you trying to imply, Johnny?” His aunt’s voice became sharp.  He needed to tread carefully, so he scrambled for some politically correct bullshit to sugarcoat his message with.

“I know you’re still a little emotional about Frannie’s life situation, but I really wanted to try and focus on the positive things she’s been doing lately.”

“You’re saying that I’m going to talk bad about my daughter?  That I’m going to cause a scene?”  Therese’s voice was cold as ice.

“No, I didn’t say-“

“So because I’m concerned about my very naïve daughter, I’m an embarrassment to my hot shot nephew.  You don’t want me telling the truth in your house with this man.  This… this… GUITARIST my daughter thinks she loves.”

Not want her in his house?  When did he say that?  He mentally counted up her age.  Was it too early for her to be getting dementia?

“Aunt Therese, Richie is really a good guy-“

“No, no, no.  You’ve made your point.  You don’t want me there, I won’t be there.  End of story.”

“Therese, I’m sorry if-“

“It’s too late for apologies.  What’s done is done.  Goodbye Johnny.” 

Click.

His fingers wrapped in a fierce grip around the phone, but he firmly resisted the impulse to fling the thing across the room, out the window and into the river.  What had happened to his aunt?  The woman had gone nuts.  Psycho nuts.

Now what was he supposed to do? 

Shit.  Dot’s gonna give me seven kinds of hell over this. 

There was only one thing he could think to do.  Only one person who may have a chance at pulling him out of the muck he’d just created.

He dialed the number from memory.

“Hey, Mom.  How are ya?”