No Ordinary Love (12 page)

Angelo had been surprised that the show had held Tony’s attention all the way through. He was most surprised when Tony called out “LIES!” or “TRUTH!” before the words flashed onto the screen—and he had been correct
every
time.

“I miss that show,” Aika said.

“The rich man did not find love,” Tony said.

“True,” Aika said, “but it was certainly entertaining, like this show will most likely be. People go on this show to look for love, too.”

“I will go on television to look for love,” Tony said.

“That isn’t happening,” Angelo said. “This show is about
second
chances. You haven’t had a first chance yet.”

“I want a first chance,” Tony said.

“This show could be a first chance for him, Angelo,” Aika said. “He’s famous enough.”

“No way,” Angelo said.

“Ignore him, Tony,” Aika said, reading the screen. “Oh,
this
is different. Viewers get to vote on who gets on this show. Those are the twelve finalists.”

“Wow,” Angelo said. “Nine white, one Hispanic, one Asian, and one black. Ain’t America great?”

Tony zeroed in on the black woman. “I want her. She looks like Angela.” Tony blinked. “She has your smile, Aika.”

“You want to vote for Trina?” Aika asked.

“I want Trina,” Tony said.

“One vote for Trina,” Aika said, and she cast a vote. “That Asian girl isn’t completely Asian. I’ll bet she’s half-white or something.”

Tony took the remote from Aika. “I want Trina.”

“Tony, that’s not going to happen,” Angelo said. “Never in a million years.”

“Let him at least read her bio first,” Aika said. “Click on her picture, Tony.”

Tony moved the pointer to Trina’s picture and clicked ENTER. “ ‘Robert and I met as undergrads at UCSF.’”

“Let me read it, Tony,” Aika said. “It may sound different if you hear a woman’s voice reading it.”

“I like your voice,” Tony said. “It is soft cotton.”

“There you go flirting again,” Angelo said.

“Thank you for another compliment, Tony,” Aika said. “At least I get compliments from him.” She turned to the screen. “ ‘Robert and I met as undergrads at UCSF. He was going to be a surgeon, and I was going to be a nurse. We married after graduation, I passed the NCLEX on the first try, I became an RN, and I agreed to fund his dream because I believed in him. I worked double-shifts at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital as often as I could for most of our marriage.’ ”

“She works at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital,” Tony said. “That is in Nob Hill in San Francisco.”

“How do you know that?” Aika asked.

“He has memorized much of San Francisco,” Angelo said. “Ask him about Chinatown sometime. Keep reading.”

“ ‘And then my husband met and started an affair’—
figures
—‘with a surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital. “I’m going to be late again tonight,” he often told me. “I have a seminar I have to attend over the weekend.” I thought he was putting in extra time to be a more skillful surgeon. I thought he was working longer hours so he could better provide for us. I thought he loved me.’ Wow.”

“What is an affair?” Tony asked.

Angelo sat up.
My brother has asked a question. This is ... rare.
“Her husband cheated on her. Not like cheating in school where you look at someone else’s answers. He had sex with another woman.”

“When you’re married, Tony,” Aika said, “you’re not supposed to have sex with anyone but the person you marry.”

“Oh,” Tony said. “Affairs are bad.”

“Yes,” Aika said. She continued reading. “ ‘I found out about the affair when he told me, “I’ve found someone who will be better for my career. I hope you understand.’ What a
turd.
‘And then he filed for divorce, not me, citing irreconcilable differences.’ Do you know what that means, Tony?”

“I sometimes see what Delores watches,” Tony said. “It is called
Divorce Court.
It means they are too different.”

“Right,” Aika said. “ ‘Because I couldn’t afford a decent lawyer and his mistress could, I didn’t get much in the way of alimony. It barely pays one-third of the credit-card bill he left me with.’ Poor woman.”

“Do you know what alimony is, Tony?” Angelo asked.

“Yes,” Tony said. “It is a monthly paycheck the judge orders one spouse to pay another. What is a mistress?”

Two specific questions,
Angelo thought. “A mistress is a woman a man has sex with who is not his wife.”

Tony nodded. “I do not like Trina’s husband.”

“Neither do I,” Aika said. “ ‘For the last two years, I have been living in a cramped apartment near where I work because I can’t afford a car or even bus fare. I need new work shoes and a rain jacket that doesn’t leak here in “sunny” San Francisco. I need a microwave from this millennium that doesn’t dim all the lights in my apartment. I need a bigger bed.’ ”

“I can give her those things,” Tony said. “She needs those things.” He read the next paragraph. “ ‘I also need a man to keep me company, to keep me warm at night, to talk to me, to listen to me, and to love me.’” Tony nodded several times. “I can do all those things.”

“All except for the love part,” Angelo said.

“Angelo!” Aika cried. “That was cruel.”

Angelo shrugged. “I’m just saying, and you know it’s true.”

“I can love someone, Angelo,” Tony said.

“Aika, keep reading,” Angelo said.

“I can love someone, Angelo,” Tony said.

“I heard you,” Angelo said. “Keep reading.”

“ ‘I gave up ten years of my life so my ex-husband could become a surgeon. I did this by choice.’” Aika shook her head. “I don’t even know this woman, but I like her. She makes no apologies for doing the right thing. ‘I sacrificed everything for him, and I would do it again. That’s the kind of person I am. And all I have to show for our marriage are his bills and some bad memories. I don’t have children because we were putting off children until he could support us. I could have had at least two children by now to love.’ ”

“I could give her children,” Tony said.

“And you’d be her meal ticket for life,” Angelo said.

“Angelo, please,” Aika said. “ ‘I have very little. I deserve a second chance at love.’” Aika flipped the remote to Angelo. “She does, you know.”

“She is the one,” Tony said. “I want Trina.”

Angelo scratched his head. “You don’t want Trina, Tony.”

Aika flopped onto the couch. “It sounds as if he does.”

“She’s some random woman on a reality TV show,” Angelo said. “I could show him a different woman ten minutes from now, and he’d say, ‘I want her.’”

“I want her, Angelo,” Tony said. “I really want her.”

“Okay, why, Tony?” Angelo asked.

“Trina is honest,” Tony said. “She is dark brown. Her face is an angel’s face. She has soft brown eyes with flecks of gold.”

“Her eyes look so tired,” Aika said. “It doesn’t look as if she wears any makeup. She’s a natural beauty.”

“She probably can’t afford makeup,” Angelo said. “And her ex-husband wasn’t a turd, Tony. He was an asshole, but Trina might not be telling the entire truth. Maybe she did something wrong in the marriage.”

“Her eyes are tired because of him,” Tony said. “I want her. I will be loyal, faithful, and true to Trina.”

Angelo laughed. “If she wanted all that, she could buy herself a dog.”

Aika threw a couch pillow at Angelo. “Tony, keep ignoring your brother.”

“A dog poops and pees outside,” Tony said. “I would use the bathroom inside. A dog only lives ten to twelve years. I should live until I am seventy-eight. A dog licks his balls. I do not lick my balls. A dog barks and growls. I would be quiet and whisper. I would keep Trina warm at night.”

Aika stood and rubbed Tony’s shoulders. “You are a sweet, sweet man, Tony, and any woman would be happy to have you.”

“Aika, really?” Angelo said. “If Trina threw him a ball, Tony would go and fetch it.”

“My mouth is not big enough for a ball and I am not a dog,” Tony said. “I want Trina. Help me get her.” Tony looked directly into his brother’s eyes. “Help me, Angelo. Please.”

12

I
have never seen Tony this focused on anything but his piano and his scribbles,
Angelo thought.
He also said “please.” Tony never says “please.” I hate to be the bad guy, but I have to nix this latest obsession of his right now before he gets hurt.

“Tony, Trina might not be available for you to go on a date with anyway,” Angelo said. “If enough people vote for her, she’ll be on this show. You would have to become a ‘Second Chance Suitor’ to meet her.”

“What is a suitor?” Tony asked.

“A man in competition for a lady’s hand in marriage,” Angelo said.

“A suitor only wants her hand,” Tony said.

“And the rest of her, of course.” He held out his hand. “Give me the remote. I want to show you something.”

Tony handed Angelo the remote.

Angelo clicked back to the main page. “See these guys? These would be your competition for Trina’s hand. Look at these guys. Geez, I haven’t seen
him
in fifteen years.”

“Who are they?” Tony asked.

And yet another specific question.
“Tony, you’d be going up against former star athletes, old-school rappers, one-hit wonders, models who have grown old in the tooth and abs, child stars who aren’t cute anymore, actors finally clean and out of rehab, comedians who were once funny but can’t shake their shtick, you know, men looking for a second chance at fifteen minutes of fame.”

Tony looked at the Second Chance Suitors. “They have tattoos and jewelry. I do not have tattoos and jewelry. They have fancy clothes. I do not have fancy clothes. They have big muscles.”

“So do you,” Aika said. “You’re a very strong man.”

“Their muscles are bigger,” Tony said. He then gazed at the twelve finalists. “Trina will not win.”

“She might,” Angelo said.

Tony shook his head. “She is the only one with dark brown skin and dark brown eyes. She is unique like Angela and Aika. She is not like the others. She will not win.”

“She might win the vote
because
she is unique,” Angelo said.

“No,” Tony said. “She will not win. Her face is pure. Her face is honest. She deserves a second chance. The other women do not. Therefore, Trina will not win.”

“He’s probably right,” Aika said.

“Find her for me, Angelo,” Tony said. “Bring her to Brooklyn.”

“It’s not that easy, Tony,” Angelo said. He pointed at a woman named Bambi Bennett. “What about her? Will she win?”

“She has big blue eyes,” Tony said. “She has big breasts. Her buttocks are not in proportion to her breasts. She has a tattoo above her flat buttocks. She has big hair. She will win the vote.”

Angelo clicked on her photo. “Let’s see what Bambi has to say. ‘I have been beautiful all my life, so beautiful that no boy in high school would ask me out.’ Seriously?”

“Let me read the rest,” Aika said. “That sounded so creepy coming out of your mouth. ‘I didn’t go to homecoming. I didn’t go to the prom. I thought that in college that would change, but it didn’t. I have never been on a single date in my entire life.’ Oh come on.”

“She is lying,” Tony said. “She has been on many dates.”

“Of
course
she’s been on dates, Tony,” Aika said. “She’s lying to get sympathy. ‘I want to go on this show to get a second chance at romance, the kind of romance that’s new, pure, and innocent.’”

“I want that kind of romance,” Tony said.

“Bambi is exactly what advertisers want,” Aika said. “Can you hear Bambi’s voice reading her bio while they film her walking through empty bleachers at a high-school football stadium or wandering through an empty gymnasium where streamers litter the floor?”

“Or having her walk along the beach at sunset in a skimpy bikini all alone,” Angelo said.

“Bambi would not walk alone in a bikini,” Tony said. “Men would be walking behind her and staring at her buttocks. I sometimes stare at your buttocks, Aika. They are pretty.”

“Dude, really?” Angelo said.

“I am sorry,” Tony said.

“Don’t be, Tony,” Aika said. “At least you
tell
me what you appreciate. Unlike your brother.”

“I tell you what I like,” Angelo said.

“In bed,” Aika whispered.

“Well, yeah,” Angelo said. “What better place?”

“Bambi is not honest,” Tony said. “She lies. She will win, but she will not find love.”

“Probably not, but America loves wistful, innocent, doe-eyed beauties like Bambi,” Aika said. “She’s the all-American girl.”

“She has some seriously nice, um, assets,” Angelo said.

Aika jumped into Angelo’s lap and held him against the couch. “Quit staring at the big-eyed, big-chested Rapunzel who’s long on legs and hair and short on intelligence.”

“Trina is a pretty name,” Tony said. “I want to talk to her.” He turned to Angelo. “I will get my phone.”

“You don’t have her phone number, Tony,” Angelo said.

“Get her phone number for me,” Tony said.

“I’m not getting her phone number,” Angelo said. He kissed Aika forcefully. “I want this little lady’s phone number.”

“I want her phone number!” Tony shouted.

Angelo looked around Aika.
He asks specific questions and he shouts? Who is this guy in front of me?
“Tony, listen to me. You’re not ready for any woman, much less Trina.”

“I need more practice,” Tony said. He walked quickly out of the theater.

“Where are you going?” Angelo called out.

“I am going to practice with Angela,” Tony said.

“Geez,” Angelo said. “Aika, if we don’t do something, he’ll be on the G train and knocking on Angela’s shop door in half an hour and Angela has been closed for two hours.”

Aika leaped off the couch and met Tony as he was reaching into the closet for his Brooklyn Dodgers jacket. “You could practice with me, right?”

“You are not Angela,” Tony said. “You are not dark brown. Trina is dark brown.”

“But you like me, don’t you?” Aika asked. “You think I’m pretty.”

“Yes,” Tony said.