Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (21 page)

“Why do you need to meet him?” Ivy asked shocked at his outlandish request.

“Why?” Grey appeared calm on the outside even though inside he was reduced to rubble. “Because there is fifty percent chance that this child is his. And I have no idea what this guy is like or what his background is. All these are things that are important when raising a child…especially another man’s child. It’s sort of like when people adopt, they want to know what the biological parents’ backgrounds are to make sure that the kid isn’t certifiably psycho.”

“So you still won’t hear me on not separating him from his responsibility if he is the father.” Ivy sighed and leaned against the kitchen table.

“No, I won’t hear you,” Grey said grinding his teeth. He thought they had closed that subject.

“Why must you be so unreasonable?”

“What?” Grey clinched his fists. Wanting to call her ungrateful, considering that he was marrying her at all after her little escapade, he quickly bit his lip and put down the carving knife. “How sensible is it to allow him into our lives knowing that he would only ruin our marriage before we could get started.”

“We don’t know that,” Ivy said tired of the subject.

“I know it!” Grey screamed. “You know it too. Use your head, Ivy!”

“Listen to me. You should meet him, and I will arrange it soon. But it’s not your place,
although I know that you want it to be
, to play God and decide who should be the father. For the sake of the baby, don’t interfere with that part of the child’s life. Besides the entire situation is hypothetical at this point. There is still a great chance that this baby is yours. And for the small chance that the baby is not yours, heaven forbid, the baby can love you and love his or her biological father as well. But if you try to interfere and damage that relationship, it will back fire. Mark my words, Grey.” Ivy turned away and finished setting the table although the candlelight dinner had definitely been ruined.

“Look, I don’t mean any harm to you right now, because I know that you must be going through a lot. But I am at wit’s end with this entire situation. I need some type of control in this in order for me to go on. He’s already taken a piece of you that I will never be able to get back. I’ve got to make sure that I’m not running a losing race against this guy.” Grey’s anger faded into the dismal depression that was slowly taking over his spirit.

“You will never lose…” Ivy turned around to find Grey overwhelmingly disgusted. “Oh baby,” she said walking over to him. “You’ll never lose me. I will always belong to you as long as you’ll have me. What happened was a mistake, but God put this child here, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that he or she is not only is born safely but raised safely.” She took his hand and kissed it softy. “Be confident in us, please. Meet him; talk to him; do whatever makes you feel better about the situation, and then let it go.” Her eyes met his as he rubbed through her long locks of hair.

“Well, that’s a tall order,” he said wrapping his arms around her. “I just don’t know if I can do it.”

“Grey,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I know that I don’t deserve you. And I’m so sorry for this entire mess. I know that you would never put me through this or do anything like this in a million years, but please don’t leave me.”

How can she be so clueless?
Grey thought to himself as he looked in her eyes.

* *

After Grey had dropped her off later that evening, Ivy sat across from her telephone staring into space and pondering on Grey’s uncomfortable disposition at dinner. Even though she felt totally free of guilt when she first returned to Grey, she felt a surge of guilt overwhelming her now that made her feel utterly ashamed of her actions.

Have I really been so bad? Was it possible that Grey had never once cheated on me, and that all the little signs of infidelity had been imagined? Have I been the only one in our relationship to step outside of my boundaries?
Suddenly as Ivy thought back to the tears in Grey’s eyes, she felt it to be so. After all the years that she had tried so desperately to be faithful to their relationship and to him, she messed up. Picking up her telephone, she sighed heavily and dialed Nicola.

“Hello,” Nicola said looking at the clock on his nightstand.

“Hi, it’s Ivy.” Staring at the clock, the time finally dawned on her. It was almost eleven.

“Hey. What’s wrong?” He said hearing a peculiar sound in her voice.

“Who said that anything was wrong?”

“No one.” Sitting up in his bed, Nicola rubbed his eyes and picked up his watch.

“Actually, the reason I was calling is to ask you a big favor.” Silence. “Grey, my fiancé, wants to meet you. It sounds ridiculous, but he’s concerned about what type of person you might be.”

“Why does it matter? This guy isn’t marrying me.” The last thing Nicola wanted to do was get involved with her family any deeper before he knew whether or not the baby was actually his.

“We finally had a talk about how we planned to handle this situation, and of course, the possibility of the child being yours came up in the discussion. So, he wants to meet you for the sake of the child. He wants…to know who he’s dealing with now.” Ivy couldn’t find a better way to explain it and instantly felt uncomfortable for asking.

“Look, you know that I want your relationship to work with your fiancé, but I’m not going to be jumping through hoops for you too either. This is a problem that you two have to solve internally. I don’t want to…get more involved than I have to at this point.” Nicola wasn’t in the mood to get agitated, but Ivy was slowly helping to it anyway.

“Just do this for me,” Ivy said softly. “Please, I won’t ask you for anything like this again,” she added grinding her teeth. “It would really help, Nicola.”

After a long silence, he finally responded reluctantly. “Fine, but it’s not for him. I’m going to set things straight face-to-face, because I don’t have time for this kind of drama regardless of our little outcome.”

“Okay.” Ivy just wanted to be out of it. “Is tomorrow around twelve good for you? He wants to meet you for lunch downtown at the Piatza Club, he’ll be in the VIP booths in the back of the restaurant. He’s reserved a table for you two to talk and have lunch.”

“Yeah,” Nicola said yawning. He was getting tired of both Grey and Ivy at this point and regretted the entire situation. “Ivy, I’ll only do this once.”

“I understand. Thanks. Really.

There was a long silence on the phone.

“Well I’ll let you go.” She was beginning to feel nauseous all over again.

“Alright,” he said hanging up the phone.

Getting out of bed, Kit looked over at Nicola and smiled. “I didn’t know that you had a child,” she said lighting her cigarette. “You don’t look like the type.”

“I’m not the type. I don’t even know if I’m the father yet,” Nicola said pulling the comforter from his legs and sitting on the side of the bed. “Hey, put that out will you. I don’t want that smell in my fucking bedroom.” Women, he thought to himself as she stood up naked and walked to the bathroom.

“Don’t get mad at me, because you’re suffering from baby’s momma drama,” Kit said slipping on her jeans.

“What do you know about baby momma drama?” Nicola said laughing as he stood over the toilet. Looking at himself in the mirror, he decided that he desperately needed to shave.

“Let’s just say that I had my tubes tied after my first son, Nathaniel.” She said struggling with her French accent.

“You have a son?” Nicola asked wiggling his leg and flushing the toilet.

“Yeah. He stays with his father in Atlanta.” Kit pulled a picture of her son from her purse and handed to him as he walked out of the bathroom. “He will be five this February.” She smiled proudly.

“Damn, he’s black.” Nicola said shocked that there was very little resemblance between Kit and her son.

“You know what they say,” she said putting the picture back in her purse. “Once you go...”

“Believe me, I already know the saying,” he said tired of hearing the same tired-ass cliché.

*

Noon came early for Nicola the next day. Pulling into the parking garage of the Redbirds Baseball stadium, he slipped on his shades and ran his fingers through his hair. As he walked into the Toyota Center that housed the Piatza Club, the receptionist pointed him to elevator where he was escorted to the second floor. Sounds of soft jazz, low chatter greeted him as the doors of the elevator opened. He was quickly taken to the VIP booths by a chipper Mexican hostess.

Grey sipped an afternoon Mimosa and looked around the restaurant through the glass walls of the VIP area that set elevated hoping to spot his opponent. He had come early and prepared mental notes. He was ready to unleash boundary rules and make his territory known. He was prepared to be Grey Henderson. His confidence was soaring when he made eye contact with a cop that he had met briefly at his dad’s meetings at City Hall. He nodded first at him and then almost choked on his drink. Could it be? No. Hello no. Maybe Agosta would simply walk to another table and await a friend to meet him for lunch. But the guy kept approaching him as though he was going to sit at his table.

Almost in shock, as Nicola approached the table, Grey put down his glass and stood up. Were there not even six degrees of separation in Memphis? Lieutenant N.M. Agosto of the NARC-TACT Unit, as in Nicola Mutherfucking Agosta? This was Ivy’s Nicola! The name made since now, although before he had never known or cared to know Agosta’s name, he knew it now. In the back of his mind, he could even hear Ivy screaming it. Slowly, Grey calmed himself. There was no need to shit a brick now. The harm had been done. There was also no need for formal introductions. They both knew each other quite well.

“How are you, Lt. Agosto?” Grey said offering his hand when he was brought to the booth. It was the only sensible thing to do. Shake his hand. Be a man.

“Please, we’re not at work, call me Nicola,” Nicola said shaking Grey’s hand and instantly recalling Grey from the many late night meetings at city hall. Ivy failed to mention she was engaged to the Mayor’s son.

“Alright. Well, call me Grey,” Grey said noticing the platinum Rolex on Nicola’s wrist. How could a cop in Memphis afford something like that on his salary? “I see we share the same taste in jewelry.” Grey extended his arm to reveal the same Rolex on his left arm.

“And women,” Nicola said adjusting himself as he took a seat.

There was a silence at the table as the waitress handed Nicola a menu. Grey fumbled with his glass while Nicola fumbled with his coat. Each shocked by the other’s involvement. Both expecting something other than what they had discovered. Tired of the obvious tension, Nicola spoke.

“So, I’m told that you wanted to meet me.” Nicola’s eyes were fixed on Grey.

“Yes.” Grey made eye contact and locked his vision on Nicola. “I figured that we should meet and come to an agreement on some things concerning the child and Ivy.”

“Yeah. That’s what baffles me. How can we come to an agreement about an issue that is yet to be an issue? She’s still pregnant.”

Grey’s arrogance flared in the midst of him trying to put in words his newest frustrations. “You already know without me telling you that this is a very complicated situation.” He said forcefully. “Ivy is going to marry me, and yet she may very well be having your child.”

The returning waitress interrupted Nicola. “Could I have vodka tonic, please? Heavy on the vodka,” he said giving her the menu. “Thanks.”

“Either way, I am here to ask you to relinquish your rights as the father should the child actually be yours.” Grey saw no reason to beat around the bush. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if Nicola was interested in retaining his rights.

“Uh huh,” Nicola said sipping his water. “What in the world would make you think that I would do something like that? I’m not some teenager and neither is Ivy.”

“I realize that, but you two also are not together.”

Nicola saw where this was going. Nowhere. He leaned forward. “You didn’t come in here to be my daddy did you?”

“Excuse me?”

“My daddy… You didn’t come in here to delegate, dictate shit to me?”

“No.” Grey looked him square in his eyes. “I’m not your fucking daddy. But I am Ivy’s fiancé and no matter what you have done, that won’t change. So, I’m here to talk to you like a grown man face-to-face about what’s gonna go down. You have a say in this,” Grey said turning on his political charm. “I just want to make sure that we’re both clear about where we stand.” He sat back for a moment and neutralized the situation. They were in a public place. There was no need for barbaric theatrics.

Nicola calmed down and followed suit. He could see that Grey had an angle. Now, he had to figure out what it was. “You want me to back down and let you lead a normal life…no outside interference.” Nicola was impressed with his aggression, and respected his request, but he couldn’t grant it. “Is that about right?”
“Basically.” Grey saw no intimidation in Nicola’s eyes and was glad to meet a worthy opponent. His blood rushed but the challenge excited him. “Relinquishing your rights will give you the green light to return to your normal life…no Ivy…no baby…no drama.”

“Well, I can’t do that.” Nicola shifted in his seat. “If the child is mine, I will have an active role, and if not then I will leave both of you the hell alone. In fact, it will be all my pleasure.”

“I see that you’re not open to discussions with this,” Grey said nodding at the waitress as she set his grilled salmon in front of him.

“Not at all,” Nicola said smiling. “What are you so nervous about anyway? She loves you.”

“Mr. Agosto, do I look nervous to you? If so, please look again, because I’m not. It’s just that I want us to have,
as you said before
, a normal life. Ivy may have been a one-night stand to minute pump. Besides, third wheels aren’t considered normal, and I think you but to me she’s a hell of a lot more than a two- we both know that right now that’s what you are.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I’m not looking to tag along for the ride.” Nicola looked around the room. Who was this guy suppose to be?