Kane
My best buddy, Rocco, called to invite me to his family’s traditional Italian restaurant in downtown Charleston. Seeing as it was a Saturday night, and my aunt and uncle had taken Fox to Florida to spend the weekend at their vacation home in Miami, I accepted his offer.
The vino flowed like rain, his huge family refilling the glasses all night. One long table ran along the back of the dining room, and close to closing time the family would always eat dinner together, letting the staff take over what was left of the customers.
Rocco and I had been friends since grade school, and I felt like a part of his family. His father clapped me on the back as he filled my glass with red wine. “So, what are you two handsome devils going to be doing after closing tonight, Kane?”
“Going home and getting some sleep,” came my quick answer.
Rocco shook his head, his dark eyes peering into mine. “No. We are not doin’ that, bro.”
“I don’t know about you, but that’s been my plan all along. I’m stuffed and getting soused from all the wine. I think bed sounds like an amazing idea.” I took another drink of the fruity wine, which had a nice, crisp finish, savoring the flavors that burst inside my mouth. “Oh, Papa, this one is delicious!”
“Glad ya like,” he said with a nod. “That one came straight from my cousin Sal’s vineyard in Italy. He brought me a case when he visited last month. Mama and I are taking a trip to see them all in the summer. You should bring Fox, and we can make a real trip of it.”
“That sounds awesome. I might just take you up on that offer.” I thought about Fox getting to see Italy and a real working winery. He’d get a kick out of it, I was sure.
“Please do, Kane.” Papa jerked his head toward his son. “And we’ll take the meatball there too.”
Shaking his meaty fist in the air, Rocco growled, “The meatball would love to come with you, Papa.” He kicked the leg of my chair as he sat across from me. “For tonight, though, I’ve got plans for you, my best bud.”
Not in the mood to go out at all, but deciding to humor him anyway, I asked, “And what are these plans, Rocco?”
“Mynt,” came his one-word statement, which told me nothing at all.
“Mint?” Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned back to think about what mint could possibly be. “Is that like a dessert shop of some kind? Because I can tell you right now, I cannot possibly eat another bite of anything.”
Loud laughter peeled through the air as he cracked up for some reason. “No! Ha!” Then he stopped laughing. “Unless you consider gorgeous females a dessert, then yes.”
“Gorgeous females, huh?” I still wasn’t convinced. I had no desire to hook up with anyone after the brutal week I’d had. I’d taken two shifts for another doctor who had been fighting a losing battle with his allergies. On top of that, the clinic was overflowing with sick patients each and every day. All I wanted to do was sleep.
“Very beautiful women, Kane. And God knows you could use a woman.” Kicking the leg of my chair again, he wiggled his dark brows at me. “You get what I’m throwing out there, man?”
His cousin Louisa came up behind him. She’d had a crush on me for years. Her slender hands ran down her cousin’s arms as she looked at me, both things seeming rather inappropriate to me. “Don’t go throwing things like that at my man, Rocco.”
“He ain’t your man, Louisa,” Rocco corrected her.
Louisa was drop-dead gorgeous—she had the face of a supermodel and her body was round in all the right places. But beauty on its own wasn’t enough for me, and I’d always found that her brand of aggressive sexuality just didn’t work for me.
“He ain’t my man yet, Rocco. One day he’ll see that I’m the woman for him, though.” She licked her ruby red lips. “One day.”
“Don’t wait on me, honey,” I told her.
“Like she’s waiting,” Rocco said with a chuckle. “This one here went out three times this week. Once with the guy who delivers our tomatoes, once with the man who delivers the beer, and once with the guy who comes in to ask if anyone wants their cars washed.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The woman certainly liked variety!
Red cheeks blazing, she hit Rocco upside the head then turned to leave. “Idiot!”
Shaking his head, Rocco added, “I might be an idiot, but I ain’t lying.”
We laughed even harder. I wasn’t usually a jackass, but that woman had been coming on to me forever. But then again, she came on to every man within a 10-foot radius. Either way, I was getting sick of her not being able to accept my disinterest.
“So, this place with the gorgeous women. Tell me about it,” I conceded. I wasn’t saying I would go, but I did want to know what the hell it was.
With a flourish of his massive arm, he told me, “Mynt is one badass nightclub. The beauties are endless, the drinks keep on flowing, and the chances of not getting any leg are slim to none.”
My friend often used slang from the age of the dinosaurs, though I had a pretty good idea of what he meant. “Leg, Rocco?”
One hand came up to cover the left side of his mouth, hiding it from his mother, who sat only two chairs away from him on that side. “Sex, moron.”
“Ah!” I didn’t need or want any of that. “Nah. I’ll pass.”
“Pass?” His brows raised, his expression changing to one of absolute confusion. “Who says no to that?”
“A tired doctor,” I let him know. “I told you about my week, Rocco. Don’t look so stunned.”
“Well, here’s how my week went.” He banged his fist on the table, making the wineglasses shake, “Grandmama’s arthritis flared up, so I had to make meatballs every day this week. On top of that, it was my week to clean the damn fryer. That is one bitch to clean, mind you. I’ve worked three double-shifts this week and closed one night, then opened the next day. Now that is one hellacious week, and one that I need to end on a positive note.” His hand came up to cover the left side of his mouth once again. “And that positive note is sex, my friend. As much and as nasty as I can get. And I need a wingman, if nothing else.”
“And you want me to be said wingman, I suppose.” My drink sloshed as I picked it up. I was just about tipsy. Maybe the rest of the wine would make my decision for me—either take me home to bed or out to play wingman for the man I considered my very best friend. Downing the rest of it, I looked at Rocco. His eyes pleaded with me. “Can I go home and change first?”
“Hell, yes, you can!” With a snap of his fingers, his young cousin Giovanni came to Rocco’s side. “Give Kane a ride to his place so he can change. Then come back here and get me. I’m gonna clean up a bit in the kitchen, then I’ll be ready to go. You’re gonna drive us to that nightclub you were telling me about earlier.”
Minutes later I was sitting in the passenger side of an old Buick as the kid drove me home. He stopped abruptly in my driveway, making me grab the dashboard. “Okay, we’re here.” I got out of the car then looked back. “I’ll be right back.”
Going into the empty house, I immediately felt the absence of my son. I hated when he wasn’t home. But he’d really been looking forward to the trip to Florida, so I had let him go.
Walking past his bedroom, I stopped and pushed open the door. I hadn’t stopped by the house when I left work; I’d gone right over to Rocco’s restaurant. I saw that Fox had left his drawers open in his haste to pack. The maid would have to clean up his mess on Monday.
Closing his door, I pulled out my cell to call him. He answered the phone with an excited, “Hi, Dad!”
“Hey there, son. How was the trip down to Miami?” I went to my bedroom and took a seat on the bed, pulling my shoes off.
“Pretty long and mostly boring. I slept most of the way. Uncle James kept teasing me that I was farting in my sleep.” I heard him laughing.
Then the voice of my uncle came in the background. “He was farting up a storm.”
I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. “Well, doesn’t that sound like a fun trip.” More like a nightmare that I was damn glad I hadn’t been a part of.
“Nana and Pawpaw are coming up tomorrow, Dad,” Fox said. “They wanted to surprise us. But now they’re only going to be surprising Aunt Nancy, Uncle James, and me.”
I’d had no idea they would be going too. And now I felt bad for not being there. “Well, dang. I wish they would’ve told us something. I definitely would’ve come with you guys if I’d known. Do me a favor and give them some kisses and hugs from me, buddy.”
“Sure, Dad.” He laughed. “Nana will smother me with her kisses anyway. She always does.”
Mom and Dad had moved to Napa Valley, California, a couple of years back. We only got to see them once, maybe twice a year. As the newest doctor at the clinic I usually got the worst shifts, and my busy schedule made it hard for us to get out there to see them much. And they didn’t like to travel, so seeing them was difficult. The fact they’d gone to Florida was odd.
“Tell them I’ll call tomorrow,” I said as I got up to take my pants off to put on a nice suit.
“Whatcha doin’ tonight, Dad?” Fox asked.
I didn’t want to tell him too much about the little outing Rocco had planned. “Not much. Just going out with Uncle Rocco for a while.”
“Oh, man!” Fox laughed and shared my news with whoever else was around him, “Dad’s goin’ to hang out with Uncle Rocco tonight.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, lover boy!” Uncle James called out.
I wasn’t some horny teen anymore who needed a scolding. Having a son before you turned twenty could be a real wake-up call. “I shouldn’t have mentioned anything about my night. I can see that now.”
“Nope, you shouldn’t have,” Fox told me. “Be good, Dad. And please, don’t do what you did when you were in high school. I’m not ready for a little sister or brother yet.”
“Gee whiz,” I whined, not used to getting sex and relationship advice from a ten-year-old. “Love you, son. Be good. Mind your aunt and uncle and be careful, please.”
“You too, Dad. Love ya.” He ended the call as I sat back down on the bed.
Being so open and honest with my son didn’t come without a bit of a backlash sometimes. It had been Rocco’s party where I’d finally gotten to know young Zandra Larkin better, making my little boy in the process. And no one ever seemed to forget it.
Sitting on my bed, I found myself thinking about that night. I’d had no idea she was a virgin until she told me so. I’d been hot for her, but when I’d heard that softly-spoken confession, my cock had taken over completely.
I’d never had a virgin before. Not that I’d even had that many girls at seventeen—I’d had three, to be exact.
If I’d been more mature, I wouldn’t have taken her virginity that night. I would’ve done things differently. Maybe spent that night talking more and kissing less. Maybe I would’ve taken her on a few dates before even going past first base.
If I could go back in time, I often wondered if I would do it all over again. After all, if things had gone differently, I wouldn’t have Fox, and he was my entire world. Would I have ruined that young girl’s life to have my son?
Would I have taken that sweet cherry away from her if I’d known that she would get pregnant and that her parents would react as they had?
Shaking my head, I knew I wouldn’t do that to her again if I could go back. If I’d only known how much that two hours of passion would take away from her, I wouldn’t have done it.
My heart began to ache a bit. With no idea how Zandra had fared after all of that, I wondered from time to time what she was doing with her life.
Being a doctor, I knew what the loss of a child could do to a person. Even if she’d wanted to give our son up, that decision could’ve had some serious repercussions on her mental state. Every woman reacted to that decision differently.
Is she okay?
Had she moved on with her life? Had she gotten married? Had more children?
With no idea what Zandra Larkin, or whatever her name was now, was doing, I had no way of knowing how having our son had affected her. All I knew was that if I hadn’t ended up with our son, then I wouldn’t have been okay.
I’d gotten lucky. I had family who believed that blood ran thick. We would never give one of our own away. Come hell or high water we’d do everything we could to keep our family together and safe.
Our families were clearly very different. Hers had made her give up the baby. Mine had searched relentlessly until they found him and made him ours.
What would it do to a person to have their own blood turn on them like that—to not only not support them through a difficult time, but to actively make them give the baby they’d carried inside of them away to strangers?
I knew that some babies were better off with adoptive parents. Some people just didn’t have the capacity to care for a child. And there were others who were more than capable of caring for that baby. But in those cases, the biological mother and father came to that decision.
I’d been left out of the decision. And for all I knew, Zandra had been left out of it too.
Before we knew whether we’d be able to get my son, I’d felt empty and lost. Afterward, the relief of knowing he’d be with me forever—that he’d have a loving family for the rest of his life—had been the best feeling ever. Sure, there was the underlying fear that I wouldn’t be such a great father, but I knew I had great role models and that my family would help me learn along the way.
Poor Zandra clearly didn’t have that same support system. How would that have made her feel? And how would she feel about that, so many years later?
And most of all: is she okay?