CHAPTER ELEVEN
That elevator ride seemed to take forever. Jimmy was staring at his stepmother as she kept pressing the G button that would take them to their private garage as if pressing it would make the ride go faster.
But Jimmy knew she was wasting her time. He saw that look in Reno’s eyes. He’d never seen his father more determined ever. And that was the part that angered Jimmy the most. If he wanted to go be with another woman, let him go. That was how he felt about it. Let his ass go!
But Jimmy knew it was easier said than done. And Trina wasn’t even able to say anything yet.
That was why he rode on that elevator with her.
She was in the worst state of all of them.
He couldn’t let her bear that kind of agony alone.
It was one thing to fantasize about life without being saddled with a husband or father like Reno.
It was another thing altogether when that fantasy came true.
He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight.
But when they got off in the penthouse garage, they could only see the tail end of Reno’s sports Bentley speeding away.
But Trina didn’t delay. The garage was filled with Reno’s various vehicles, and the rest of the family cars too.
To Jimmy’s shock, Trina ran to the box where all the extra keys were stored, grabbed the first set of keys she got to, which happened to be the keys to Jimmy’s daughter Madison’s Genesis G70, and she hopped in behind the wheel.
Jimmy hopped in on the passenger seat just in time, because Trina had already put that car in gear and was about to speed off. As soon as he sat on the seat, even with his door still open, she took off behind Reno.
When they were able to find Reno, he was stuck in traffic on the Strip, which helped them to get closer to him. But they were still far behind him.
But Trina was determined. She was able to follow him for several blocks. Turning corner after corner, she mirrored his every turn. But once Reno made it out of the congestion of the Strip, he turned on the afterburner.
“Pop drives like a maniac,” Jimmy said. “You aren’t gonna catch him, Ma.”
Jimmy was right. In less than a minute, Reno and his Bentley had disappeared.
But Trina kept trying. Street after street after ever-loving street she kept turning those corners in search of that Bentley.
But it was no use.
He was gone.
“Pull over, Ma,” Jimmy said.
“I’ve got to find him!” She was gripping the steering wheel.
“Pull over, Ma. I need to tell you something.”
Trina looked over at Jimmy. She could see that it was something unpleasant he had to say. As if there wasn’t enough unpleasantness already said. But she pulled over.
She pulled into the parking lot of a sandwich shop that was just opening up for its five-a.m. start time. Then she turned her attention to her stepson.
And Jimmy didn’t hesitate. “I saw him yesterday, Ma.”
Trina didn’t respond. Like Sal, Jimmy was Reno’s protector too. She was certain he knew far more about his father’s questionable activities than he’d ever fess-up to. She continued to stare at him.
“I was meeting my colleagues after work for drinks at this bar. Pop was there with a woman. A very beautiful blonde. I was hoping there was nothing to it, but it . . . It looked like there was something to it, Ma.”
Trina’s heart squeezed. Before her, Reno seemed to favor blondes.
But Jimmy kept going. “They were talking,” he said, “but Pop hugged her too. And they looked into each other’s eyes like they were getting heated.
Like they needed a room, to be honest with you.
And then they left. Together.” Tears were in Jimmy’s eyes.
“I don’t know if she’s the woman he’s all into right now, but it looked very serious. ”
When Jimmy said those words, Trina’s heart sank. Reno said there was another woman. He said it as if there always was. Now Jimmy just confirmed it.
And something about that confirmation woke Trina up. Why was she going ballistic over a man who’d already moved on from her? Why was she begging him to stay with her when his heart had already left her probably long ago?
It was as if, in that very moment, reality hit her like a ton of bricks.
Reno was gone. He didn’t want her anymore. And she’d had better face it.
But even as Trina broke down and leaned over into Jimmy’s open arms for comfort, and even as her pain intensified in a way that made her want to die inside, something was still stopping her from throwing in the towel.
Something deep inside of her was telling her no.
This couldn’t be true. There was no Reno without Trina.
There was no Trina without Reno! And it was going to just end like this? Like this?
She moved away from Jimmy and began shaking her head.
“Ma, what is it?”
“No,” she said as she put the car back into gear. “Something’s wrong. Reno wouldn’t do this to me.”
“Come on, Ma,” Jimmy said. He was amazed that she was still in denial.
She looked at Jimmy angrily. “He wouldn’t do this to me! I don’t care what you say, what that woman says, what Reno said!” Then she said softly, the tears streaming down her beautiful face. “He wouldn’t do this to me. He wouldn’t.”
Then she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and took off.
Jimmy jerked backwards she sped away so fast.
“There’s no Reno without Trina,” she said out loud.
But Jimmy knew everybody once said there was no Tina without Ike. But that didn’t turn out to be true either.
The problem was that Trina didn’t know it. Or didn’t want to know it. But either way, it was bad.