First and Ten (25 page)

“Right now there’s no indication she harmed
DeMonte, but the thought that boy might be ignored or passed off to
someone because she’s having a manic episode…” Rome brought his
hands together in prayer. In a few days, DeMonte had become his
whole life. Each day he woke up secure in the fact he’d be going to
bed that night in the same spot. The child was coming out of his
shell and talking more. Rome had flown his mother up to help with
him, but like Candace’s mother, it wasn’t a long term solution. “As
much as I want him to know his mother, I never want to put him in
danger.”

“All I can recommend to the courts is
supervised visitation. She can’t be alone with him and never in a
place where she can walk out a door.” Dr. Millstone noted on the
chart. “I’ll send the documentation and records to your attorney.
Have you thought about the costs?”

“Costs? She has medical assistance
right?”

“She does…as well as her social worker is
getting her started on disability through Medicare but, Mr. Speed,
this is a for profit facility. We explained that to your
attorney.”

“You don’t take her insurance.”

“Legally we do, but it’s not our policy
because we have costs above and beyond what those insurances
cover.”

“Bill me, unless I don’t want to know how
much it is.”

“It’s a significant cost. Especially with the
extended time we need to house her.”

“Are you kicking her out?” Rome asked
defensively? “Because I have money.”

“I’m aware, but you might want to apply for
private insurance or…” Mr. Millstone took off his glasses and
folded them neatly. “You say you’re going to be there for this
woman. For your son. Have you put him on the insurance you get
through the Grizzlies?”

“Yes, but the only way I could put Candace on
is to marry her.”

Dr. Millstone shrugged his shoulders. “Is
that an option?”

“No, I’m not marrying her. Are you believing
her delusions now?”

“It’s not going to be easy having her in your
life. She’ll be melting down and you’re on her emergency call
list.” Setting the chart down on the chair next to him, Dr.
Millstone gave Rome a hard look. “The last thing I want for Candace
is to be abandoned into the system, but I doubt you’ll have a
future if you’re locked into her.”

“You just suggested I marry her.”

“There’s a choice to be made. You can only
help so much. This won’t be her last time inpatient. Put money
aside if you’re not going to get her on a better plan or expect to
have her taken to county facilities in the future.”

“Are you saying you won’t accept her?” Rome
questioned.

“I’m saying, the next time she breaks down,
wherever that may be, if they see two government insurance cards on
her, she’s going straight to a county facility.”

Rome wanted everything settled in time for
Dani’s dinner party. He wanted to be there for graduation. She
would be making a step out into the world and Rome needed to offer
himself and his son to be there on that journey. Only the best way
he knew to figure it out was with her. They needed to talk. He
needed to know what she thought of the situation so he could
determine if he was giving up too much.

First goal as a life coach, ban all
graduations or at least advise people to celebrate on their own.
Who needed inspirational speeches from heads of business? Better
yet, don’t graduate from business school. Van Denordy told Dani
he’d been asked to give the speech for the liberal arts college
graduation. As usual, he put it off until the last minute and she’d
ended up helping him with it over drinks a few nights before.
And in conclusion, you’ve just wasted the cost of a house on a
piece of paper all to say I didn’t sleep through all my
classes.
Maybe she should have taken out the wasted part, she
told him to, didn’t she? It got a little blurry at one point.
Thankfully they’d been drinking on the back patio as they watched
the tent go up.

Half the people around her were on their
phones hitting up social media. Dani adjusted her sunglasses and
prayed she’d put on enough sunscreen for the outdoor ceremony. Ryan
Field could hold thousands, but the graduation was done in waves.
If not, people would probably pass out. Still, the stadium looked
packed. Insanity.

Don’t slouch,
a text vibrated Dani’s
phone from her mother. She turned and looked in the massive stadium
and wondered how the woman could pick her out in the middle of a
thousand purple graduation caps. Finally, the president of the
college stepped up and she could get her degree.

“
Danika Margaret Albright, Masters in
Business, Summa Cum Laude…”
Cheers came from the lower left
side bleachers and Danika shook hands, moved her tassel from right
to left, and waved to where the eruption of cheers had come from.
Finally able to step down, she went back into the anonymous snaking
line of graduates until she could make her way back to her seat.
Although she wanted to toss her cap, she knew better. Her mother
had a trophy room and at some point this would be shadow boxed and
hung on a wall.

Now the hard part, milling around on the
field she didn’t know and if it would be better to go toward where
she thought her family was. Or stand still and wait to be
discovered?

“Danika,” the deep voice of Jerome Speed
caught her as she turned sharply and saw him standing with a
bouquet of flowers and a card. Her stomach flipped, unsure if she
was ready for the reunion. Two weeks of silence had made her
bitter. “Congrats. Summa, that’s big.”

Thousands of people were around them, but all
Dani saw was Rome with a French blue button down with his sleeves
rolled up. She could make out the dark tattoos on his arm. The
noise from the crowd switched to a rushing noise like she had conch
shells to her ears.

“I know it’s hot, but a suit coat is
customary,” she said and he stepped closer to her. “Ramona should
have advised a linen suit. Humidity in Chicago can be killer.”

“Guess I need a stylist.” He smiled. “My mom
picked this out.”

“Your mom?” she laughed a bit and took a step
toward him. A few more and she could fall into his arms, but she
wasn’t ready to forgive yet. He couldn’t just show up on a random
Saturday and expect her to have time for him.

“I’m not the one in purple poly-blends.”

“Touché.” Dani let out a light laugh and
fluffed her graduation gown.

“Birdie,” her father barked as he found his
way in between her and Rome. “I’ll ask you to leave.”

“I was talking to Dani,” Rome said, stepping
around her father.

“Not here. There are cameras everywhere.”

“I don’t care,” Rome protested, practically
shoving the flowers in her hands, but her father batted them
away.

“That’s obvious,” her father said and locked
his arm around her upper arm to drag her from the stadium.

Dani looked back at Rome as he stood with the
flowers pointing to the ground. All she could do was mouth the
words
I’m sorry
before her father had her around a
corner.

“Dad,” she said as she started grasping what
was happening. “Dad, stop.”

“I’m not going to let him pull you into that
mess of his life.”

“Bill,” her mother gasped, finally catching
up to him. “My goodness. What happened? One second you were there,
then poof.”

“Rome showed up,” Dani said. “And, Dad, I
don’t even know…what was that? I’m not sixteen going to the prom
with a Hell’s Angel.”

“He’s not right for you.”

“Why?” Dani cried. “What has he done to me?
Nothing.”

“The circles he runs in—”

“Ran, and he didn’t even run in them. He
prefers being at home. I’m the one who dragged him out.”

“That’s why he has had two dozen paternity
cases in the past few years,” he bit back and Dani’s stomach
tightened.

“Like I’m some virgin. Geez, Dad.” Not the
right thing to say. That was immediately evident as her father’s
face was the perfect reflection of a nuclear explosion.

“He can have all the good intentions in the
world, but he’s made bad choices and they aren’t wearing white
after Labor Day. They’re permanent.”

“At least he wasn’t afraid,” Dani challenged,
losing a bit of respect for her father. “He took a chance and went
more than fifty miles from home. When have you stepped out of
Chicago and don’t say camping. That was Mom.”

“Chicago has everything I need.”

“You’re a billionaire, who if it weren’t for
Mom, you’d be in a basement somewhere pissing into milk jugs.”

“That’s not true. I just don’t see a need to
spend money like it’s a sport.”

“What do you think is going to happen?” Dani
asked, choking back the burn of acid in her throat. “Even if you
never made another trade or built a new business financially we’d
be fine. Take a damn vacation. Chill out. Give the damn Malibu to
charity.”

“Hallelujah,” her mother praised, then
realized it was out loud and turned around shoving Tawny and
Jericho away from the show.

“Look at you, speaking to me this way.”

“Well someone needs to and everyone else is
too damn afraid. I’m not afraid. You made me not afraid. I did this
on my own,” she howled. “The only reason why I haven’t moved out is
because I’ve been afraid of disappointing you. But I refuse to live
in a box no matter how pretty it is.”

Dani turned and took off back into the
stadium. The bright sunlight hit her as she came out of the tunnel
and looked for Rome, but he was gone. Her mother called for her but
she held her hand up behind her. This wasn’t what she wanted, but
it was time she grew up.

Rome sat in his SUV with his elbow resting on
his armrest, his thumb under his chin and his index finger against
his lips. Beside him, the flowers lay dormant in the passenger
seat. He wasn’t at a stoplight waiting for traffic to move. Parked
at the North Avenue Beach he watched as families played, building
sand castles and enjoying the day. His life afforded him the same
pleasures. Sure he had times when he was in lockdown and had to
stay at facilities away from his family, but this was the first
year it mattered. DeMonte had been pawned off so many times and
now, just as he’d found a home, he’d be pawned off to Jerome’s
mother. At least he would have a home and a room, but he needed
more. He deserved more.

He had tried to go home, but he just
couldn’t. There was a hole there. For the past year he thought it
was DeMonte, but that wasn’t it. He’d been in the house for over a
week and came out of his shell after a few days. Rome wondered if
that was the longest he’d been in one place. This morning he found
a pile of clothes in a pillowcase under DeMonte’s bed.
Are these
clothes dirty?
Rome asked.
Do they need to be washed?
DeMonte sucked on his thumb and looked up at Rome. When he dumped
the clothes on the bed, most still had the tags on them and two of
the cars DeMonte had been playing with the night before fell out.
It was his luggage. Rome held his son for an hour as they watched a
cartoon.

“
Sometimes Daddy has to leave for work,
but you get to stay. This is your house, DeMonte, do you understand
that?”

“
Uh-huh,” he replied and Rome’s heart
ached as he looked at the boy who couldn’t comprehend.

“
Baby, you can’t fix three years in five
days. Give that child time.”

“
Mama, I have to go to camp on Monday.” He
also knew he needed to find Danika. To explain what happened and
let her know he still considered her his woman. He needed to tell
her how he felt in his heart. The heart she owned. But that meant
leaving DeMonte again. He wasn’t going to repair a relationship
with a child in tow. “You know how that is. Lockdown at the hotel
when I’m not in class or training.”