Chapter Twenty-Two Nomi #2
You are hereby summoned to appear in front of the Sparrow Nook Zoning Commission on August 15th at 6 p.m. for the hearing referenced above.
While the zoning commission received a request to withdraw the complaint initially filed against your dispensary by Dr. J.
D’Angelo, the commission finds merit in the complaint as presented and as further supported by its independent investigation.
Accordingly, the zoning commission has decided to hear the case, sua sponte.
As per your rights under City Ordinance 25-23489(b), you may present your case for the legality of your proposed use, along with any supporting evidence you deem relevant.
Sincerely,
Ms. Jacqueline Lombardi,
Zoning Commissioner
My hand falls limp to my side.
“Nomi?” Julian calls from around a mouthful of muffin, already noticing the shift in my mood, already concerned. The Eye of Sauron in human form. “What’s wrong?”
Eve’s staring at me, too, and Graham, who’s just emerged from his bedroom in yesterday’s swimsuit, pauses groggily in the doorway. “What did I just walk into?”
“The zoning commission granted Julian’s hearing request—”
“But I withdrew—” Julian cuts in, his eyes large and panicked.
“—sua sponte,” I finish. “Whatever that means.”
“Latin.” Graham takes a bar seat and reaches for the largest blondie. “Means of its own accord. When a court takes an action unprompted by a party to the case.”
“This isn’t fair,” Julian insists. “Lombardi knows I withdrew it!”
Something’s not adding up. This letter, Lombardi’s attitude at the party, the weird things she said… My spinning thoughts catch, and I look up. “She said you’re the new Wilson Phillips.”
Eve frowns, full bulldog. “Like the band?”
“No, that weird guy at the city council meetings. Lombardi said Julian’s the new Wilson.” It was so weird, it stuck in my memory like a bur. “Did he give you the idea to file it?”
“No.” Julian scratches his head. “Tonuto did, actually.”
“What?!”
“After the city council meeting, he found me in the parking lot, and he said…” Julian pauses, remembering. “That I’d find more conservative minds on the zoning commission and to file a complaint there.”
“Do you feel like he put you up to it?” I ask.
Julian frowns harder. “Everything’s a sale to that guy, so… yeah. Kind of.”
“Huh.” Graham finishes off his blondie. “Maybe Tonuto puts people up to doing what he can’t as a sitting city council member.”
“And maybe Wilson’s Tonuto’s usual patsy,” Eve says.
Wilson does complain a lot. The man singlehandedly keeps Sparrow Nook’s municipal government in perpetual investigative mode. I always wrote off his random attacks as a retirement boredom crisis, but what if he’s actually a mouthpiece for Tonuto, saying all the things Tonuto can’t?
“But why’s Tonuto after my dispensary?”
“He must stand to benefit by keeping you out of business,” Graham ponders. “Is he tight with Damon? Do you think Tonuto’s bringing you down to protect XYB?”
I press my knuckles to my mouth. “Damon was at the city council meeting that day. Maybe?”
“We’ve got to go to the press with this!” Eve starts scrolling through her contacts list. “Does anyone know a press?”
“Pressss-sah,” Graham hisses. “Pressssss-SUH?”
Well. The blondies have hit.
I glance at Julian, the only other straight-brained person in the room. He’s as flummoxed as I am. How do I figure out what Tonuto’s really up to? I could go to Min or Shar if I had a shred of evidence. But I don’t.
All I have is a zoning hearing, two weeks to prepare for it, and an ill, clenching feeling in my gut that everything’s about to go very, very wrong.
JULIAN
Dread grips my chest as Nomi crumples on the couch. I rush over and sit beside her, placing my arm around her back.
She lets me.
For now, a knowing voice whispers inside of me. But you both know you’ve fucking ruined it.
Is that all I’ll get? One perfect night with Nomi before it all comes crashing down? While she slept so soundly, I barely slept at all, practically vibrating with the intensity of my happiness. I held her close to me, tucked her into the shell of my body, and nothing’s ever felt so right.
I can’t lose her.
“I promise you, I’m going to make this okay.” My words are too loud, pitched to drown out the nasty certainty buzzing through me that I can’t make this okay, and everyone knows it.
Nomi meets my eyes with a distant expression. She looks as convinced as I feel.
“I’ll hire a lawyer—the best. We’ll work night and day to put our case together. When’s the hearing?”
“Two weeks.” Nomi exhales shakily.
“Then we better get to work.”
She nods, then turns to Eve. “Sorry to bail, but I’m not going to be any fun with this looming over me. I need to figure this out.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? Leaving with this guy?” Eve gestures at me with such comic disdain, I’d feel offended if she hadn’t just made me breakfast.
Nomi’s lips draw up into a sad smile. “Yeah. He’s got to make this up to me, and besides, I love a good grovel.”
A metric ton of pressure lifts from my chest. I sink to my knees in front of her, taking her hands in mine.
“Baby, I’m gonna grovel so hard.”
“Ew, gross.” Eve recoils, then points toward the door. “Get out of my beach house, the both of you.”
“My beach house, you mean?” Graham reaches for another blondie, which, bold. “Oh, and can you make us some coffees before you go, man?”
After coffee chores are complete and Nomi hops in the shower, I grab my phone. “Going for a walk—I’ll be back in twenty.”
Graham’s lying in the middle of the floor while Eve finds Live Free or Die Hard, the controversial winner of the Bruce Willis Service Area poll. Neither pays me any attention.
The second my flip-flops hit concrete, I pull up my messages. I consider calling Eric, but he can’t help me with this. I need a special bench of expertise, and a deep one. The fact is, the D’Angelos know everyone, and chances are high that my family’s got a connection we can take advantage of.
I blow out a breath, rejoin the family chat I keep deleting, and draft a multiparagraph explanation of the entire situation, complete with how important Nomi is to me, how badly I’ve screwed up, and how desperate I am for this hearing to resolve in our favor.
I also throw in a sincere apology for not texting more, just to sweeten the pot.
It takes mere seconds before the first text rolls in.
The D’Angelo Family Sex Gods
AUNT EDNA
New phone, who dis
MARCO
HEYOOOOOOOOO
ALDO
Bro, congrats about Nomi! Also, Aunt Edna just OWNED YOU, SON!
MOM
I have a son?
MOM
A son who knows how to text?
JULIAN
I knew this was a mistake. If you’re not willing to help me, just say so.
AUNT EDNA
of course we’re going to help you! What did I tell you about that butthole
MARCO
What DID Aunt Eddie tell you about your butthole???
ELLIO
This sounds concerning.
ALDO
My interest is peeked. Peaked?
MARCO
Piqued.
ALDO
Thanks, bro.
ALDO
Your butthole has piqued my interest.
VERONICA D’ANGELO-BORK
OMG, does Nomi know there’s something wrong with your butthole?
JULIAN
There’s nothing wrong with my butthole!!
AUNT EDNA
Acceptance is the first step to unclenching.
VINNY D’ANGELO, ESQUIRE
if you clowns are done talking about his butthole, can we get down to business?
JULIAN
VINNY D’ANGELO, ESQUIRE
Let’s meet today to discuss. Who can host?
AUNT EDNA
Let’s meet here. I’ll lie in my hospital bed and help you scheme.
MOM
Let’s make it a cookout! I’ll send a spreadsheet out for dish sign-ups.
MARCO
Say… 3 p.m.?
ALDO
Party O’Clock!
ELLIO
I’ll bring the ping-pong balls.
JULIAN
really?
I swallow, weirdly touched by the messages streaming across my screen.
It’s a mix of arguing over who makes the best potato salad and who knows who on the zoning commission, and in Vinny’s case, a piercing interrogation over the original complaint’s contents, whether Nomi has been contacted by any zoning investigators, and if so, who.
I didn’t realize he had so much experience in front of the zoning commission, but apparently him and Veronica often team up to get the zoning outcomes their clients need, a tit-for-tat, keep-it-in-the-family situation between a real estate agent and the lawyer that helps her get her way.
I hadn’t known, but why would I? When have I ever deigned to talk to Vinny?
I always avoided him because he’s Gino’s son, but Vinny saw what went down at the party, and he didn’t call me out.
There’s clearly more to Vinny than I thought.
To all my family, really.
The fact that everyone’s pulling together for me and Nomi, thinking hard about how to get us out of this trouble, means more than I can say.
Maybe Nomi’s right, and I haven’t given them the chance to love me the ways they know how. But I feel it right now.
I feel it.