Chapter 26
Bill called Sake at the end of her shift the following Saturday to give her the good news. “I got my cast off!”
“How does it feel? Can you walk?”
“Aw, man, it’s great. I still have to use my crutch, but I’ll be rid of that in no time, wait and see. Dad and I are going car shopping this weekend. I’ve been studying the reviews, the mileage stats, options and stuff for weeks, and I got it narrowed down to three models. The salesmen are rubbing their hands together, waiting for me.”
“Only Bill Diamond makes an appointment to look at a car. Probably even mapped out your route to the different dealerships.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
She felt his smile through the phone.
“Dad and I will narrow it down today, then tomorrow I thought I’d load up The Beast and we’ll come get you and take the top contender for a test drive.”
“What do I know about cars?”
“I don’t want to buy one without your thumbs-up. Case closed. Don’t you want to come?”
“You know I do. Besides, I got some good news, too. . . .”
Sake had sat for the GED last Saturday. She’d been on pins and needles waiting to get her scores in the mail.
“I passed. I’m a high school graduate!” Bill felt Sake’s euphoria through the phone line.
“Congratulations. I’m proud of you, Sake. You’ve come a long way.”
Bill was proud. Except for the selfish little piece of his heart that broke off and spiraled like the first leaf of autumn, down . . . down . . . down to the darkest recesses of his soul. Sake’s passing the GED meant she’d fulfilled her papa’s mandate. In only two more days, she would be free to go back to San Francisco with a fat pocketbook, just in time for her annual birthday rendezvous with her mother.
But Bill had learned some things, too—about himself. What he needed, versus what he’d thought he was supposed to want. And he planned to spend every second of these next two days showing her.
“Bill?”
“Yeah.” He snapped out of his thoughts. “Pick you up tomorrow morning.” He wasn’t asking. He was demanding. He had more to show Sake than just his potential new car.
The next day, Sake listened patiently while Bill ran down the list of his top candidate’s bells and whistles. “So, how’d you like ’er so far?”
“For real? A car’s a car. No matter which one you pick, give it a week and it’s going to end up looking the same on the inside as your old one, all Bill Diamonded out with your color-coded Post-its and tissue boxes and pens with your logo stamped all over them.
“I’m just grateful you can finally get out of the house and back to doing what you like best—selling real estate.”
Though he kept his eyes carefully trained on the road, he couldn’t help but grin. But it was more than just being able to drive again.
How had he ever gotten the idea that the future mattered more than the present? Now was all anyone really had. Soaring down the highway with Sake by his side, The Beast in her lap, and that new-car smell in his nostrils, Bill realized something: he was happy right now, in this moment. Sake was right. What did it matter, the model of car he ended up with? In this present moment, Bill couldn’t want for more . . .
. . . almost. Some habits were too deeply ingrained to let go of.
At the intersection of Elm Street, Bill turned.
“Don’t tell me. You’re still obsessed with that house?”
“The last time we were here, it was mid-summer, remember? The landscaping was at its peak.” Bill inched closer. Now the first blooms were done, the jade-green lawns yellowed. Fall was just around the corner. Soon school busses would be crawling down this residential block.
“Still for sale,” said Sake, when the sign came into view.
“How about that.”
She smirked. “Like you haven’t been checking online every blessed day.”
The heading on the data sheet read, Charm, Dignity, and Character.
But this time, instead of just a drive-by, Bill had yet another surprise in store for Sake.
“You might think you know me, but you’ve still got a lot to learn.”
As he pulled into the driveway, her expression changed.
“What are we doing?”
“Want to see what it looks like inside?”
“You got a key?”
“My friend John has it listed. He gave me the code to the lockbox. A little-known advantage among Realtors.”
Bill grabbed his crutch from the back seat. He already knew what the bungalow’s interior looked like. He’d been in it twice, before he’d ever met Sake. This walk-through was for her.
Front porch . . .
When Bill showed a property, it was only after carefully researching every aspect. Normally he used the client walk-through to deliver a persuasive argument, pointing out the highlights, hammering home the benefits. It wasn’t merely a sales pitch if it was truly the best possible location for his buyer.
But this time, he wanted Sake to form her own opinion, without his influence. It went against everything he’d been taught about sales—to say nothing of his elaborate life plan—but this time he was determined to follow his instinct, not his training.
Gracious yet informal living room/dining room with polished hardwood floors and fireplace, the perfect setting for gathering with friends and family.
With Taylor in her arms, Sake gravitated toward the kitchen like a bee to honey.
And there is no telling what you’ll cook up using your fully updated gas appliances.
Bill watched as Sake’s keen eye honed in on the range, then traveled across the marble countertops and stainless sink and fridge. He had to force his feet to stay glued to the living room floor when she wandered down the hall. To let the house speak to her, just as it had spoken to him months ago.
Spacious yet intimate master bedroom, a private place for quiet times. 2 baths eliminate early morning traffic jams.
She stayed back there a long time. He was dying to know what she was doing. Gazing out at the big tree in the backyard, seeing a picnic table under it? Picturing where would be the best place for a dresser . . . a bed? And if so, did her thoughts stray further afield . . . to what pleasures nights in that bed, in that bedroom, in that house, might hold?
Finally he heard her footfalls returning, only to turn to go up the stairs.
Bedrooms upstairs are quaint with slanty roof and recessed dormers. Abundant closet space.
He searched her eyes when she came back down, but she could’ve been a professional poker player for all she gave away.
“Backyard’s this way.” Bill hobbled to the door.
She put Taylor down. “Don’t open it till I put Taylor’s leash on her. I don’t want to lose her again.”
Full-panel cedar fence with custom gate and trellis.
“Don’t worry. She won’t get lost here.”
The second he opened the door, Taylor tore down the length of the yard and back, circled Sake, and scrambled away again before she could be caught.
While Taylor kept busy burning off excess energy, sniffing out secrets known only to the canine world, Sake ventured more cautiously.
Bill tried to see the property afresh, through her eyes. The elm in the far corner . . . the heavy-headed rhododendron blossoms nodding next to viburnum in the beds lining the fence.
From the heart of the yard, Sake stood still, framed by the leafy setting. Bound, yet still wild.
She destroyed him in that mini dress. Her black hair glistened in the sunlight. An image of a middle-aged Sake, face softened by time yet still beautiful, came to him, followed by a silver-haired version. This fantasy had nothing to do with what he ought to do. It was grounded in intuition.
He couldn’t hold his tongue a second longer. “What do you think?”
Over her shoulder, she answered, “Out here it’s free, yet protected.”
“I’m not talking about Taylor.”
“Neither am I.”
She whirled around on a heel. “Bill, why are we here? Why torture yourself? You said the only way you could afford this house was if you sold the strip center.”
He limped out to meet her, taking both of her hands in his. All the words he’d been holding back came rushing to the surface. “I always planned to buy a house only once I had a substantial enough down payment to get a short-term mortgage. You know me. Always thinking things through. But it doesn’t have to be like that. You’ve made me see that when something feels right, you have to run with it, even if that sometimes means deviating from plan.
“I’ve been socking money away since I was a DJ in high school. I’m already in a better position than most people to buy this house. What I need to know is: do you like it?”
She pulled out of his reach and spun around in a circle with her arms out. “It’s adorable for the right couple. A perfect little couple who’s madly in love.” Then she stopped, her eyes boring into his. “Why are you torturing me? What happened to ‘I’m a lot older than you’ and ‘we’re in different places in our lives’? What happened to Dr. Deb?”
“I was wrong.” He pulled a reluctant Sake into his arms. “I thought I had it all figured out. Then you came along, and I realized that if my plans worked out—if I ended up with a ‘Dr. Deb’—a few years down the road I’d be a miserable old fart married to an overbearing harpy.”
Sake looked doubtful.
“Say something.”
“This is some serious shit, Bill. You know I’m ill-suited for that.”
There she went again with her street talk . . . her self-defense mechanism.
“I still got a lot of unfinished business. I can’t just abandon my mother.”
Like she abandoned you? Thank God he hadn’t said that aloud. He couldn’t bear the thought of adding to the burden Sake already shouldered. Or, is it that Rico dude Sake’s afraid of abandoning?
His hands slid down her arms. “At least let me ride along with you and your father to the city on Monday. I want to be there, to help support you during your arraignment.”
“No.” She looked down. “I know you mean well, but this is between me and my mother.”
And her and Rico. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Then, finally, he nodded. “If that’s what you want.” He started trudging toward the house, his bones heavy with rejection.
“Let’s go, Taylor,” called Sake behind him. Her voice had lost its energy, too.
At the back door, they turned as one to see The Beast planted flat on her stomach in the middle of the yard.
“Come on, girl.”
Taylor looked content to stay there in that yard forever, even if it meant being disobedient.
“Stubborn dog,” muttered Sake, stomping back to snap on her leash.
The dealership was expecting its car back. Bill was driving Sake up to Domaine St. Pierre to drop her off when she suddenly felt all the blood drain out of her head.
“What’s wrong? You’re pale as a ghost.”
But Sake couldn’t have answered if she’d tried. There, parked right in front of the staircase, was a murdered-out black hooptie. And leaning against it with his arms folded was a lean, shaggy-haired guy.
Bill pulled in behind the car. “Don’t tell me.” They sat there staring through the windshield for a moment, bracing themselves for a confrontation.
Then Rico dragged his body off his car to saunter toward them, full of swagger.
“I think you should maybe stay here,” Sake said to Bill as she opened the door and put one foot on the ground.
“Think again,” Bill said, clearly bent on following her.
Bill’s limp had miraculously disappeared. The three met halfway between the two cars, Rico and Bill facing each other like gunslingers in an old western, sizing each other up.
Rico grinned at Sake. “Damn. You said your old man was rich. You didn’t say he was RICH.”
“How’d you find me?”
“The App Queen. Who else?”
The woman in The Mission who was never not on her phone.
“When she showed me this palace on the map, I had to come up and see it for myself. No wonder you didn’t want to come back. But now you got to. I got something to tell you.”
Sake’s breath stopped.
“Got a call from the D.A. yesterday. They dropped all the charges, just like I asked them to. We don’t have to go to court.”
She whooshed out a breath of relief. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “But there’s more. I found Haha.”
“You did?! Where?”
“Black Orchid. Sitting there at the bar, like she never left.”
“Omigod. Did you talk to her?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Why not? Why didn’t you tell her I’ve been looking for her?”
“Well . . .” Rico looked askance at Bill. “I don’t know how much you’d want me to say in front of—strangers.”
Sake and Bill exchanged their first glance since Rico had started talking. Bill’s expression was more serious than Sake had ever seen it.
“Dude. If there’s a stranger around here, it’s you,” Bill told Rico.
Sake stepped between them, her body equidistant between them. “You can say anything in front of Bill.”
Rico shrugged. “You say so. Your mom was pretty wasted. Even if I had said something, doubt if she’d remember.”
“You lost her again!”
“Hold up. Bartender says she’s there every Sunday till around one. That’s why I’m here. To take you down there myself. Right now.” Rico tossed his head back toward his car. “Let’s roll.”
Bill was the only one who wore a watch. “It’s already close to noon.”
That meant there was no time to waste. Bill still wore his concerned look, and Rico’s body was already angled toward his car. There, in the middle, Sake felt like the prize in a tug of war.
At the top of the staircase, there was a noise and all three of them looked up to see Papa standing there framed in the double doorway, like some sort of god. Peering over his shoulders from behind were her sisters.
Regally, Papa descended the steps one by one, taking in the whole scene: ice-cool Rico and his black car with its opaque windows and matte paint where chrome used to be. Bill, chest puffed out. And Sake, torn between the two.
By the time Papa reached them, his eyes were full of fire. He pointed at Rico. “I know who you are. You’re the salaud who had my daughter put behind bars! Get off my property now, before I have you forcibly removed!”
Rico held up his palms. “Get some chill, bruh. I forgave her—”
“You, forgave her? Why, you—”
“Papa, Rico came to tell me the D.A. dropped the charges. We don’t have to go to court tomorrow. It’s over.”
“You think I don’t know that? My lawyer called me yesterday. I don’t care why this derelict is here. I want him off my property—now.”
“I said, chill. I’m going,” said Rico, retreating. Just before he slid into his car he leaned his arm on its roof. “Sake, baby. Last chance. You comin’?”
“Are you mad?” yelled Papa. “My daughter is not going anywhere with you.”
Sake felt the pull of all three men, each willing her to decide in his favor. To do what was right for him.
She turned to Bill. “I have to see my mother. You understand.”
In her arms, Taylor wriggled with all her might. “Hush.” What had gotten into her? Why now?
“I forbid it!” said Papa, stepping toward her. “You stay right there, mademoiselle.”
“Rico found Haha. I have to go to her, Papa.”
“Tell me where! I will have my people go. Or, if you insist, I will take you there myself tomorrow, for your birthday, even if your court date has been cancelled. There is absolutely no need for you to associate with this . . . this vermin!”
With a roar, Rico fired up his engine. Acrid-smelling blue smoke billowed out the exhaust pipe.
“Please understand, Papa . . .” Sake started toward it.
“Sake—” Bill came after her. “Don’t do it. Don’t go with him. I’ll take you. We’ll follow him in my car.”
“I have to do this—on my own terms.”
“Wait!” Papa strode toward her with his hand out. “You won’t be using my credit card to finance this wild duck chase.”
Sake paused with one hand on the door handle. Without that card, she had nothing.
She drew Papa’s card from her bag and laid it on his palm.
“And don’t forget, our agreement does not end until tomorrow. If you leave now, I am under no obligation to fulfill my part of the deal.”
Only one day short.
In her arms, Taylor writhed again, catching Sake off guard. “Oh!” She watched helplessly as Taylor tumbled from her arms and scampered as fast as her short legs would carry her—back to Bill.
“I’m sorry, both of you . . .” Sake said, tearing a wistful gaze from Papa to Bill before turning her back on them.
She sent a pleading look to her sisters, still inside the front door with horrified expressions at what she was about to do.
They had accepted her without question. Now she was turning her back on them to salvage what was left of her past.
Then she jumped into Rico’s car before she could change her mind.