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transporting her in. “I think all of the brothers are.”

“We all have our moments of greatness, yes,” he smiled, “but we also worked very hard as well. Nothing was handed to us. I’ve had people turn me down for opportunities based on my accent and I’m from Staten Island, as if that makes me stupid or something. You tell them you’re Italian and from New York, immediately first people’s reactions are that you have to be a Mafioso or a part of some type of underground syndicate. I had to work twice, sometimes three times as hard than a regular Joe Schmo doing the exact same thing.”

“You paid your dues…” Zoe said quietly.

Joey shrugged. “I’m still paying them.” He noticed they arrived at their destined location and parked. He got out of the car and walked over to Zoe’s passenger side to let her out. “After you.”

Zoe was a bit taken aback by Joey’s chivalry. She was so used to fend for herself, she forgot there were men who still opened doors. “Thank you.” She hoped the blush she was feeling wasn’t too evident on her cheeks and within her voice.

****

“A nanny for an entire week!” Kay Adams clasped her hands together in excitement. She

was a tall, lanky Black woman with a natural afro that appeared to be straight out of the ‘70s along with her hippy chic vibe. She wore a series of bangles on both wrists along with a bright orange jumpsuit. “Girlfriend, I have been waiting for this day forever! I need the help around the house!”

“You don’t do anything but talk on the phone all damn day, anyway.” Kay’s partner, a Black man nicknamed Boogie, commented from the recliner chair. While Kay looked like a flower child, her partner played the role of ghetto thug – gold grills in his mouth, cornrowed hair covered up with a folded bandana, and arms full of tattoo sleeves, some indicating a stint he did in prison. Zoe didn’t have to wonder what Boogie did for a living.

Kay flipped him off without turning to his direction. “And this is why I need help,” she said to Zoe. “Come on in. I’ll show you around the house and tell you what schedule the kids are on.”

“Sounds great,” Zoe followed Kay.

Joey sat down on the sofa across from Boogie, who was partaking in a cocktail and

watching a reality show. The moment Joey sat down, he immediately felt Boogie’s glare on him, sizing him up as if Joey intruded on his property. “Nice watch you got there, man.” Boogie nodded over to Joey.

Joey glanced down at his Panerai watch, a gift from his mother to him and his brothers two years ago on the success of Madre’s. She treated them all out to a fancy dinner and gifted the watches to them at the same time. Each watch was engraved with the same writing –
You were
there for me when no one else was, mio figlio
.

The watch was very expensive in price tag but that was the least of the brothers’ concern.

The watch was officially invaluable because they all knew what their mother went through for them. Even Nick, someone who didn’t show much emotion, teared up at seeing the engraving.

“It was a gift,” Joey finally answered, pushing away the happy memory and coming back to the present. “A very special woman gave this to me.”

“Nice,” Boogie nodded. “So you’re one of them D’Amatos, huh?”

Joey felt the tension in his neck build up. Being known around New York had its good and bad moments. The moment someone recognized him by last name first, it was never a good sign.

Money usually came attached with the strings they wanted him to pull. “That’s right.”

Boogie turned off the TV and took a sip of his cocktail. He then listened for Kay, hoping she wasn’t eavesdropping in their conversation. “Listen, man. Let me rap to you real quick.”

Here we go…
it was always the same thing. For every legitimate business man who wanted Joey’s advice and guidance, there was always one person who wanted Joey’s money and a lot of it without any work to do. “Yes?”

“I got this idea, right? I’m talking it hasn’t been done before and we can major beaucoup bucks, man. Major!” Boogie exclaimed.

“All right,” Joey really didn’t want to hear it but wanted to be fair. He could remember the countless times people have turned him down flat based on what he looked like, and not necessarily of any ideas he had in his head. “Lay it on me, bro.”

Boogie left his chair and sat next to Joey, a closeness Joey wasn’t exactly comfortable with. “Strip football, yo. The females go out in regular gear but instead of grabbing a flag like they do in that kiddie flag-football shit, or that lingerie football mess, the other team strips when the main team scores!” Boogie said with a sure nod.

The idea wasn’t half-bad, Joey thought. He could possibly market the idea to pay-per-view channels and recruit past and current porn stars. Local strippers would jump at the idea for more exposure and money. The wheels started turning in his head…

“…and we can charge families half-price and kids can come in for free!”

The proverbial record scratched, almost jerking Joey off the couch. “Kids and families?”

He hoped the condescending tone he had in his head came through in his voice.

“Okay, maybe not kids and families. You’re right, dumb idea. I was thinking of another one of my projects.” Boogie nodded as he rubbed his goatee.

He has more?
Joey was tempted to inquire what other
bright
ideas Boogie had in mind.

Something inside him told him he needed to practice restraint from laughing and rolling around on the floor, clutching his stomach. “Oh?”

“I always have ideas. I got a clothing line I’m working on plus I’m trying to get this rap career started. I’m tired of hustling, man. Always gotta do this and that.” Boogie blew out a tense breath. “I wanna be like you. Fancy whip, money, all the pussy you can handle with no afterthought.”

“I also work really hard,” Joey countered, “I put in a lot of long hours and I don’t really have much of a social life, contrary to what people believe. They see me hobnobbing with all of these entertainers and athletes but I’m usually providing a service for them.”

“Man, you gon’ tell me you don’t have a honey or two on the side?” Boogie inquired. “I know a man like you, there has to be someone or three.”

“No one and nothing serious,” Joey replied. He was sure if his career slowed down, he could find the time to date – court, even – a woman worthy to spend more than an hour’s worth.

Lonely? Not by a long shot. Joey could, however, admit he grew bored and uninterested with the current selection of women he was entertaining.

They all demanded one thing.

They all demanded the same thing.

The title of Mrs. Joseph D’Amato.

It was a title no one had come closer to earning and probably never will. He was quite content with that despite his mother’s insistence that he get married.

“I got caught up in knucklehead over there,” Boogie motioned to the back where Kay and Zoe were. “She was the Bonnie to my Clyde, my ride-or-die bitch, you know what I mean? She would roll my papers for me, weigh the chronic and tell me how much it should sell for. She wanted kids, I wanted kids so we did the damn thing. We wanted to be like Sam and Jenna; you’ve heard of them?”

A small smirk formed at the corner of Joey’s lips. If Boogie only knew Joey’s future sister-in-law was one of their children… “Go on,” was all Joey could manage to say.

“Then I don’t know, man…” Boogie wiped his nose and took another sip. “…I woke up

one morning and thought, this is my life? This is it? There has to be more.”

“You sound like you both need a vacation,” Joey offered, “sometimes parents get so

wrapped up in being parents they forget who they were before.”

“That might be it,” Boogie shrugged, “back to my ideas. I would love to meet with you sometime to discuss everything if that’s cool with you.”

“No problem,” Joey meant what he said. Even if he thought Boogie’s ideas were laughable at best, he still wanted to give the man a fair shot. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it over to Boogie. “Give me a call. If I don’t pick up, leave your number and I’ll get back to you to set something up.”

“Cool,” Boogie nodded as he pocketed the card from Joey. He looked around again to

make sure Kay wasn’t hearing the conversation. “So that nanny who came with you…is she single?”

Joey felt a weird tension forming at the back of his neck. Jealousy? No, it couldn’t be. He barely knew Zoe. What he did know, however, was there was no way Boogie was going to dip his small-time, drug-dealing cock inside her. Not if Joey could help it. “I don’t know, man,” he answered truthfully, “I didn’t ask.”

“Yo, find out for me, will ya?” Boogie’s eyebrows danced. “She is way too fine to be alone.”

Joey’s body suddenly tensed. His jaws tightened as his teeth clenched together. Maybe it was jealousy. Jealousy over what, though? A woman from California – Los Angeles, no less –

who he had never seen before until that moment? All of the times he had visited Kieran, they explored the nightlife, went out to games, and picked up a variety of women between the two of them; comparing notes to each other the following mornings after each tryst.

He had never seen Zoe. He most certainly wished he had.

She was an intelligent, exotic beauty with a tight body he imagined would look great underneath his as he moved inside her, while she clawed at his back and thrust her head into the pillow, arching off the bed, meeting him thrust for thrust…

“You okay, man?” Boogie asked.

Joey blinked his eyes several times, coming back down to reality. He was almost pissed at Boogie for interrupting a great fantasy. He had so many women throw themselves at him that it was a foreign concept that it would him chasing after one of them.

It was official – he liked Zoe. He liked her a lot. It might have been just lust but there was only one way to find out. “Yeah, just thought about some business I need to take care of before the end of the week, that’s all.”

Ten

The text notification on his phone woke Joey up from his peaceful slumber. It was nine o’clock in the morning and he knew he’d overslept, but the way he spent the night before was worth the lost sleep. They sat up and talked most of the night about anything, everything, even getting into friendly debates about current events.

She spent the night with him, but they slept on the top of the bed wrapped around in a thick, fleece blanket, and with their clothes on. He didn’t look at her like she was a ho or any of the other tricks he had seen all over New York. There was something magical about that woman lying in bed next to him.

He stretched out in bed and yawned before he grabbed his phone to check it. Tony sent a mass text message to him, Nick, and Kieran and Joey thought for a moment he didn’t actually read what he thought he saw.

Something’s up with Faye and Eli. Faye’s going on vacation and Eli ain’t picking up his
phone. See if you can reach him and let me know what’s going on.

“…the hell?” Joey sat up in bed. He immediately put a call into Eli, who still didn’t answer his phone. Instead, Joey got his brother’s voicemail. “Yo, the moment you get this message, you need to call me, right away.” He then hung up.

“Is everything okay?” Zoe answered from behind.

Joey continued to stare at the text message, wondering what the hell was going on with his brother and sister-in-law. They always seemed to have the perfect marriage and their union was solid. Now something was terribly wrong. “I don’t know yet. I’m trying to find that out.”

Zoe sat up in bed and yawned. She grabbed her cell phone and glanced down at the time.

“Shit, I need to get going. I’m going to be late!”

“I’ll drop you off,” Joey got up and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. “Just let me know where you need to go.”

Zoe put her shoes on and grabbed her cell phone. She then joined Joey in the bathroom.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled at him through the mirror. “On a scale of one to ten, how badly do you think Kieran is going to kill us when he finds out what happened?”

“Nothing happened between us, Zoe,” Joey rubbed Zoe’s arms with a free hand as he

brushed his teeth. He then spit out the paste. “All we did was talk and fall asleep with our clothes on.”

“So, if I tell him how soft your bed is, that’s okay?” She winked.

Joey rinsed out his mouth and wiped it. “Woman, are you trying to get me killed?”

Zoe laughed. “I just want to know what I’m allowed to mention or not mention.”

Joey turned around to talk to his would-be girlfriend. “We’re just friends. Now, that could change and I hope it does. But as of now, we’re just cool. I don’t know what’s going on with my brother and I don’t want you to get caught up in that potential drama, if there is one. But I do want to spend more time with you and get to know you better. Is that cool?”

“That’s cool with me.” Zoe smiled. “I just want to put it out there so there’s no confusion.

If we are going to pursue something, I don’t do long-distance relationships.”

“So, if something more were to happen between us, either I move to LA or you move

here?”

“Something like that.”

“Good to know.” Joey softly kissed Zoe’s forehead. “I think it’s time I start visiting my older brother in L.A.”

****

Joey stared at the photo on his desk, almost in disbelief. It was Eli’s wedding day. All five brothers were dressed in designer tuxedos, looking like an Italian version of the Backstreet Boys, Tony joked that day. He could remember how happy his brother was, that he was finally marrying the woman of his dreams. Five years and many ups and downs, yet they always came back together. They always came back to each other.

They were always together.

It wasn’t so much that Eli betrayed Faith; he betrayed the family. Loyalty was cherished; fidelity was expected. If someone wanted to leave, they left; no questions asked. Maybe people weren’t meant to be together forever. Sometimes situations happen and people fall out.

But infidelity? That wasn’t Eli. That wasn’t even close to him. He wasn’t raised that way; none of them were. It was one thing that it happened to their mother. It was another thing that it happened to Kieran. But for Eli to step out? That was a foreign concept that Joey just couldn’t comprehend.