Chapter 24
Kenny set his chopsticks beside his plate, then rested his elbows on the table. He so wanted to tell Larissa that she was a spoiled brat, used to getting whatever she wanted, because her father doted on her.
“What gives you that impression?” he asked.
She lowered her eyes. “You came out and said in not too many words that you didn’t want me to come here.”
“That’s because there were things I’d planned to do by myself while my mother was on vacation.”
“Had you planned to have a girl over?”
A slight frown furrowed his forehead. “Is that what’s bugging you? You think I’m involved with another girl?”
Larissa met his eyes. “Yes.”
“What gave you that impression?” Kenny questioned.
“You didn’t want me to touch you at the barbecue. You even told me to stop.”
“That’s because I couldn’t move without you clinging to me. What were you trying to prove to the other girls? That I was your boyfriend?”
“No, Kenny. I wasn’t trying to prove anything.”
“Are you always so clingy with other guys?”
A secret smile parted her lips. “Only with those I like. And you have to know that I like you. A lot.”
Kenny wanted to tell Larissa that she couldn’t have been more obvious. It was something Frankie and Ray had confirmed when he told them about her. “And I like you, Larissa, but nothing’s going to come of it, because you’ll be heading for Atlanta in a couple of weeks.”
“True. But can we see each other before I have to leave?”
“That all depends.”
“On what?” Larissa asked.
“My job.” Kenny told her about working in a restaurant kitchen in East Harlem.
“You’re kidding, aren’t you?” she questioned, her expression mirroring shock.
“Why would I kid about that?” He was hard-pressed to keep his increasing annoyance with Larissa out of his voice with each passing minute.
“Because it appears to be so beneath you to work in some kitchen.”
“And what would be better than working in a kitchen?” he asked, raising his voice. In that instant, Kenny knew he was close to losing his temper. Something he rarely did.
“I could get you a position working at one of my father’s car dealerships. He would be able to adjust your hours depending on your class schedule.”
“Why would I want to work for your father when I work for my family? Yes, Larissa. The restaurant belongs to my uncle’s family.”
A rush of color suffused her gold-brown complexion. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No, you didn’t,” he said facetiously. “That’s because you don’t know anything about me, Larissa.”
Larissa knew Kenny was right. She knew nothing about him, and that made it difficult for her to get close to him.
She knew he wasn’t who her mother wanted her to get involved with.
She had preached to her relentlessly about what type of man she wanted her daughter to marry.
He had to be a college graduate, someone from a good family, and he must be a professional.
The year her mother hosted a sweet sixteen celebration for her, Larissa decided it was no longer who or what Gladys Rossi wanted for her; it was who Larissa wanted for herself.
And right now, she wanted Kenneth Russell, because she’d found him to be a challenge.
And there was nothing she liked better than a challenge.
Peering at him through her lashes, she decided on another approach. “Why don’t you tell me about you, so I can stop making a fool of myself.”
Kenny smiled. “You’re not a fool, Larissa. And there’s not that much to tell you about me.”
“I’m interested in whatever you choose to tell me.”
Kenny was right, because she didn’t know much about him other than he was an above-average student. She knew he lived with his mother, and it was his uncle rather than his father who’d come to the graduation ceremony.
She listened intently when Kenny revealed his father had died before he was born, and he’d been raised by his widowed mother.
He’d grown up half a block from Central Park West before moving into public housing four years ago once his old neighborhood was slated for urban renewal.
While in high school, he worked weekends at his uncle’s restaurant as a cook and server, and had promised to work there every other weekend while in college.
“My mom and I will be going to the same college this fall. She married right out of high school and got pregnant right away, so she had to put off going to college until now.”
Larissa laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Mom will take night classes, while I’ll go during the day.”
“That is so cute.” She picked up her fork and continued eating. “It appears as if you and your mother have a very good relationship.”
“We do. My mother is the best.”
“Your mother was widowed very young. Didn’t she want to marry again?”
“I asked her the same thing, and she said no.”
“But your mother is so pretty, and men would be attracted to her.”
Kenny agreed with Larissa. Men were attracted to his mother.
And he was certain she would’ve accepted their advances if it hadn’t been for Francis D’Allesandro.
The man he called Uncle Dee had become an integral part of Justine Russell’s life, and he suspected she was in denial about being in love with him.
It was only after he’d graduated high school that his mother and Frank had resumed their friendship, where they were not only dating each other, but planning trips away together.
“My mother claims she’s living her best life right now, and marriage doesn’t factor into it.”
“Good for her. I’m just waiting for the time when I can do whatever I want without having to answer to someone.”
Kenny frowned. “You don’t realize how lucky you are, Larissa.
Your parents are sending you to a private university where they can write a check to cover all of your expenses for the next four years.
Even after you graduate and have the career you want, you’ll still have to answer to someone.
The alternative is going into business for yourself. ”
“I’m definitely not going to take over my dad’s business, because I’m planning on a career in politics.” Larissa swallowed a mouthful of fried rice. “What had you planned to do if I hadn’t come here?” she asked.
Kenny slowly shook his head. Larissa didn’t want to work for her father, yet she’d talked about him working in one of his dealerships because she believed it was better than working in a restaurant’s kitchen. It was obvious the girl was confused.
“I was going to listen to music.”
“On the radio?”
“No. I’m developing a rather extensive record collection.”
Larissa’s eyes grew wide. “Can I see what you have?”
“Sure.”
After he and Larissa finished eating, Kenny stored the cartons filled with leftovers in the refrigerator and washed the dishes and glasses, leaving them on a rack to air dry. Then he led Larissa into the living room to show her his record collection.
Sitting on the living room’s area rug, Kenny took albums out of a wicker basket he’d stacked alphabetically, watching for Larissa’s reaction to his taste in music. “I’ve just begun collecting jazz,” he said after a comfortable silence.
Larissa shook her head. “I don’t know what it is, but I can’t get into jazz. All that improvising goes over my head.”
Kenny stared at Larissa’s delicate profile as she read the backs of the album covers. He liked her and would’ve liked her better if she hadn’t been so aggressive. He preferred doing the chasing rather than the reverse.
“It has taken me a while to come to appreciate it.”
Larissa picked up a 45, smiling. “This is more my taste. I love Motown.” She handed him a record. “Can you please play this?”
Kenny took the record, got up, and removed the cover to the turntable. It was “My Girl,” by the Temptations. Securing the plastic yellow adapter, he placed the record on the spindle.
“Don’t turn it on yet,” Larissa said, pushing to her feet. “I have to get something.”
“What?”
“You’ll see,” she said, smiling at him over her shoulder.
Kenny didn’t have to wait long to see what Larissa was holding in her hand when she returned to the living room.
It was a marijuana joint and a lighter. Waves of shock slapped at him.
Not only was he entertaining a girl in his home while his mother was away, but she was inviting him to smoke dope with her.
He’d smoked it for the first time the year before, when he, Frankie, and Ray had gotten together with some other boys in the basement of a building in El Barrio that was slated for demolition.
The smoke had burned his eyes and chest before he felt a calming sensation that left him so lethargic, it had taken a while before he was able to stand upright unaided.
Although he enjoyed the effects of smoking weed, he’d never purchased it for himself, because he didn’t want to risk being arrested and sent to prison.
Frankie knew a dealer, and whenever Kenny felt the need to indulge, he gave his friend enough money for a few joints.
He’d made it a practice never to smoke in the apartment, and prayed his mother would never discover that her son was an occasional pothead.
“I don’t smoke in my house.”
Larissa smiled. “But you do smoke?”
Kenny nodded. “On occasion.”
Her smile grew wider. “I hope this is one of those occasions, Kenny Russell, because you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing us.” Larissa flicked the lighter and lit the joint. She took a drag, held the smoke in her mouth before slowly letting it out, then handed it to him.
Kenny sucked in a lungful of smoke, feeling its effects immediately. It was stronger than any herb he’d ever smoked. Then she was kissing him, and tearing at his clothes. Bending slightly, he picked Larissa up and headed for his bedroom.
“I’m on the pill,” she whispered in his ear.