Chapter 19 #2
Frank sat on the side of the bed, watching Justine sleep, then got up, took off his shoes, and lay beside her.
It was something he knew he wouldn’t have been able to do if she had been awake.
The room was so quiet, he could detect her measured breathing.
He turned over with his back to her so he wouldn’t have to stare at the roundness of her breasts under the delicate white nightgown.
He lay there thinking about what could’ve been if things were different between them before he, too, succumbed to the comforting arms of Morpheus.
Justine opened her eyes and went completely still when she stared up at Francis D’Allesandro sitting up in the bed next to her. She reached down to pull up a lightweight blanket to cover her chest when she saw the direction of his gaze.
“What are you doing here?” She didn’t recognize her own voice, because her mouth hadn’t caught up with her brain.
“I was waiting for you to wake up, Sleeping Beauty.” Frank smiled at her under lowered lids. “Don’t go and get your cute nose out of joint. I’m here because Kenny called and told me he couldn’t wake you up.”
Justine groaned as she sank back down to the pillows under her head. “That’s because I took something for my headache.”
“Headache or migraine?”
She closed her eyes, grateful the medication had worked. “Migraine.”
“How often do you have them?”
“Not too often.”
“Have you always had them?” Frank asked.
Justine opened her eyes, noticing the stubble on his chin and jaw. It was the first time she’d seen him unshaven. “No. They started right after I began taking an oral contraceptive.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You’re on birth control?”
She nodded. “Yes. My doctor recommended it to regulate my menstrual cycle.”
“Have you always had a problem with it?”
Justine sighed. “No. Before I had Kenny, it would come like clockwork.”
“Can’t you stop taking the pill if you’re having migraines?”
“Hopefully the migraines will stop now that I’ve been prescribed the lowest dose.” She smiled, her expression appearing more like a grimace. “Thank you for coming and allaying Kenny’s fear that he’d lost his mother.”
“There’s no need to thank me, Justine. I’m just glad I can be here for you and Kenny.”
“How’s he doing with his cooking lessons?”
Frank shifted and sat at the foot of the bed. “He’s a natural. My mother is also teaching him Italian.”
“That’s a skill he’ll be able to use if he does get a part-time position in an Italian restaurant.”
“I told you before that I’ll make certain of that once he’s in high school.”
“That all depends where we’ll live,” Justine said, meeting his eyes.
“I got a notice from the city’s department of buildings that they’re going to demolish this entire block of buildings in the coming year.
I spoke to my social worker about moving, who gave me a choice of several public housing projects in Manhattan and in the Bronx. ”
For the second time that day, Frank found difficulty in drawing a normal breath. He was aware of the urban renewal project slated for Justine’s neighborhood, and he wanted to believe it would take at least another three, maybe even four years for it to begin.
“Which one have you selected?”
“The Amsterdam Houses. They are on the southeast corner off Sixty-third and West End Avenue. Kenny can take the number one train on Sixty-Sixth Street directly to One Hundred Third and Broadway, then walk three blocks to his school.”
Frank’s anxiety eased when he realized Justine would continue to live on the Upper West Side.
Although he was realistic enough to know he would never recapture the easygoing relationship they’d had before he crossed the line from friendship to something more than she wanted, he hoped they would always remain friends.
“When do you anticipate moving?”
“Not until next spring when my lease is up here. Kenny will have completed most of the eighth grade before we move.”
“What about the ninth?” Frank questioned.
“He’ll probably stay and complete the ninth before going to high school. He’s been talking about going to George Washington High School in Washington Heights, then from there to City College.”
“It looks as though your son doesn’t want to leave Manhattan,” Frank teased.
“Look who’s talking, Frank. You still live and probably work in the same neighborhood where you were born and raised. Meanwhile, this Bronx girl lived in Mount Vernon for a while before moving to the Big Apple.”
“I did leave home when I went to college in New Jersey.”
“Princeton?”
Frank laughed. “Surely you jest. My grades and SAT scores weren’t high enough for me to get into an Ivy League college. I went to Rutgers as a business major.”
She smiled. “So, my good friend is a college grad.”
“Are you saying I’ve been promoted from mere friend to good friend?” he teased.
Justine’s expression grew serious. “You will always be a good friend, because you are my only friend, Francis D’Allesandro.”
“It’s the same with me, Mrs. Russell, because you hold the distinction of being the only woman with whom I’ve had a friendship.”
“I suppose that makes us special,” she said in a quiet voice.
Frank nodded. “Very special.”
She smiled again. “I don’t know what Kenny pulled you away from, but would you like to stay and share dinner with us?”
Frank felt as if he’d been given a reprieve. It was the first time since that disastrous Saturday, after when he’d cooked for Justine, that he would share a meal with her. “There’s nothing I would like better.”
Moving off the bed, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. It had taken him a while to understand that, while he’d lived his life adhering to a certain set of rules, it had been the same with Justine, and he had to respect hers.
It didn’t matter what he wanted, and if he’d hoped to continue to accept what little of what Justine was willing to share with him, then he was okay with it.
She had the responsibility of raising a child, and had hoped to educate him and herself, while his only responsibility was to himself and the viability of his family’s businesses.
Frank sat on the sofa in the living room and picked up Ebony magazine off the coffee table.
There were also copies of the Amsterdam News and the Daily News on the table.
There was no doubt Justine was an avid reader.
She’d joked about being twice as old as most night school students once she attended college, and she would probably be in her early forties by the time she graduated.
He knew if their relationship had been different, then he would’ve supported her financially while she attended day classes to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher.
Even if he’d broached the subject hypothetically, Frank knew she would’ve rejected it. However, he knew it would be different with Kenny. He’d wait; wait until the boy graduated high school to repay his mother for her friendship.