Santori Reloaded, page 21
part #3 of Santori Series
Kage’s father nodded, wiping away his own tears of joy. “When I heard Santori died, I thought it was time to make myself known. Santori wouldn’t let me have any contact with you. That was part of the deal. He said he would look after you, and that you would never want for anything, but I had to disappear and never show my face again.” He broke down into a crying fit, and Kage pulled him close.
“Shhh. It’s okay, Daddy. It’s okay.”
It was disconcerting in a way, to see the child comforting the father.
“Did you get my notes?” the older man asked. “I was worried about you, because I knew that crazy Theo would be in charge.”
“You sent the notes,” Kage said, shaking his head in bafflement. “I had a feeling they were friendly.”
“Well of course they were,” his father said almost indignantly. “I was warning you.”
“Thank you,” Kage whispered, pressing his forehead against his father’s. And then, as if something had suddenly occurred to me, he straightened and turned to me. “Dad, this is Jamie. My fiancé.”
Kage’s father smiled and held out a trembling hand. He looked like a beaten dog, and I found myself just wanting to comfort him. This was the man who had sired the love of my life. The man who had lost one young son and was forced to abandon the other. My heart broke for him.
“Bobby,” he said. “Pleased to meet you.”
I took his hand in mine and squeezed. Not aggressively, but just enough to let him know I cared. “It’s nice to finally meet you, too,” I said.
He gave a sheepish smile. “I already knew who you were. I’ve been keeping up with Michael as best I could. Following his life and whatnot. It was—” He broke down again, and Kage walked him over to a small bench in an alcove of the foyer.
I followed, feeling helpless to ease this long-overdue meeting. The foyer was thick with the emotion coming off of the two men.
“It was just so damn hard,” his father continued. “Watching you grow up and not being able to talk to you. I couldn’t even give you a hug or tell you I loved you. I missed you so much.”
Kage took his father’s hand. “I missed you, too, Daddy. I didn’t know what happened to you. I was afraid he had done something to you.”
“Broke my heart,” Bobby said. “But he let me live, and I guess that’s something. He was so cold. Sometimes I’d think I never should have asked him for help. But then I’d think, no, my boy is rich now. He’ll never want for anything, and very few people get a break like that. It’s all I ever wanted for you and Evan. To be stable. To have a home and food to eat. A warm bed to sleep in. I just worried that he would hurt you.”
“He never beat me or anything,” Kage said, and I couldn’t help but think of all of the things he was leaving out.
“That’s good,” Bobby said. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear that.”
After a long, awkward silence, Kage ran a hand through his hair and let out a nervous chuckle. “This is all so much to take in.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “Sorry again for the timing, Kage. I just thought you’d want him to be here for this.” He chuckled. “We had to find him a suit to wear on short notice.”
Kage stood, still holding his father’s hand, and smiled at Aaron. “You’ve pissed me off a lot in the past, and I haven’t always trusted you, but you did good this time. I’m glad you brought him tonight.”
“Why don’t you invite your father in to meet everyone?” I suggested. “It might be a bit overwhelming, but there will never be a better time. Everyone is here.”
Then Kage started and looked at his phone. “Oh, shit. We should have left five minutes ago.”Then, to his father, he said, “Daddy, I am so glad to see you, and I love you, and…” He laughed. “Well, it’s just good to see you. But we all have somewhere to be, and we’re about to be late.”
“Oh, of course,” Bobby said awkwardly. “I didn’t mean to keep you. I just—Aaron said it would be fine, and I wanted to see you up close again. But I’ll—I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Don’t be silly,” Kage said, beaming at his father. “You couldn’t have come at a better time. Seeing you just makes all of this even more special. The problem is, we have somewhere to be. All of us. You included.” He turned his attention to Aaron. “Will you please round everyone up and tell them we’re headed down the street? I’ll take Jamie and my dad on ahead, and we’ll meet you there.”
“Maybe we should just go back to the hotel,” I said. “Now that your father is here, it seems like a bad idea to go sightseeing. You two have a lot of catching up to do.”
Kage just grabbed me with one hand and his father with the other and pulled us out the door and down the block. I shot Kage’s dad a bewildered look and shrugged.
“Jesus, Kage, where are we going? To put out a fire?” I fought against him a little bit, afraid he was going to scuff my shoes on the pavement. And his poor father didn’t look like he was in any shape to be jogging.
“Michael,” his father called, laughing. “Slow down, son. I’m not as fit as I used to be.”
“Sorry,” Kage said, casting an apologetic look over his shoulder at him. “We just have an appointment to get to, and it’s the most important appointment of my life.”
He pulled us up onto a small stoop covered in artificial grass. There was a tattered awning over us and a red front door with peeling paint stood before us, its brass knocker old and tarnished.
Kage pushed inside with a jingle of the bell, and then we were standing in a grand foyer. Well, I could tell it had been grand at one time, but now it was pretty rough around the edges. Still, the atmosphere was nice. Kind of spooky.
Someone hurried out of the back and down the long hallway toward us. The lighting was so dim I couldn’t see who it was, but as he drew closer, my breath caught in my throat.
It was an aging Elvis, decked out in a bedazzled jumpsuit and amber-colored aviator glasses. His face was lined and drooping with age, his thinning hair teased into a wispy pompadour and dyed shoe-polish black.
He didn’t look much like Elvis, I thought, but his smile was absolutely arresting. Those eyes. Those cheeks. I could almost believe he was the real thing when he smiled.
And then I thought of Santori’s journals. And of Peter’s recounting of his and Gio’s fake wedding that had meant nothing and everything all at the same time.
“What—” I stared at Kage, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open.
Kage smiled back, a blinding smile, and the pure joy on his face brought fresh tears to my eyes. I couldn’t stop staring at him.
“Jamie?” someone was saying. “Jamie?” I tore my gaze away from Kage and discovered the voice was coming from Elvis, who stood patiently while I freaked out in his foyer.
He reached out a wrinkled, bejeweled hand and grinned at me. “Welcome to Heartbreak Hotel.”
THE END
Maris Black, Santori Reloaded
