They heard the loud sputter of Darryl's motorcycle, which came into view beyond the glass doors. He parked it directly in front of the place and swaggered in, swinging his helmet by its chinstrap. He wore his same biker's uniform.
"Hey, mama and daughter, two peas in a pod," he said, smiling crookedly in ridicule. He slid into the booth opposite them and laid his helmet on the seat.
"Hi, Darryl," Jackie said awkwardly.
"Lookin' great, Jackie." He turned to Grace. "You, too, Mama." He slapped the tabletop. "Offer for a twofer still stands."
A sour-looking waitress, with a noticeably disapproving glance at Darryl, took their order for three black coffees.
"Mean lookin' bitch," Darryl whispered as soon as the waitress left. "So what's the pitch? Jackie says it's about the car."
"We're here to pay it off," Grace said, forcing herself to be pleasant. "The full amount owed." She opened her purse and drew out her checkbook and a ballpoint. "What is the exact amount?"
"Twelve big ones."
Grace smiled inwardly at the fact that he considered thousands "big ones." She knew Sam would have laughed out loud.
"Who do I make the check out to?" Grace asked.
She noted that Darryl and Jackie exchanged glances. "This time, I'd rather it was cash," Darryl growled. Grace caught a change in his attitude—much more serious.
"Believe me," Grace said, "the check is good."
"I ain't saying it's not. But cash is better."
"Come on, Darryl. Don't be ridiculous. Who do I make it out to?"
Again, Darryl and Jackie exchanged glances.
Grace held her pen poised to write; then she looked up. "I assume you brought the paperwork, the title, registration, all of that."
"I'm not stupid, Mama," Darryl grunted. "You can stop that check first thing in the morning."
"I guess you didn't bring it then," Grace said while watching his face. "How do I know you have it?"
Darryl forced a laugh and looked at Jackie. "I don't think Mama trusts me, baby."
"It's not a matter of trust," Grace said. "It's a matter of business." She was determined to tough it out and end this.
"Looks to me like Mama here has developed a very shitty attitude towards me."
"Look, Darryl," Grace said. She paused as the waitress brought their coffees. "This is a simple transaction. I have the money, but what good is the car if it isn't properly titled and registered? I could be paying you for an illegal, unusable car, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure you have the proper paperwork for your bike, and you certainly know the danger of being caught in an illegal transaction."
Darryl abruptly held up his hand. "Are you accusin' me of somethin', Mama?" As if to reinforce his statement, Darryl suddenly reached behind him and pulled out his knife. Jackie tensed beside Grace. He started to clean his nails with the point of the blade.
"Put that damned thing away, Darryl," Grace said.
"Just cleanin' my nails. No law against that."
Grace was surprised that she felt no intimidation or fear at his menace.
"Darryl, please," Jackie said. "Put it away."
"Little pussy scared?"
"Come on," Grace said calmly. "There's no need to get dramatic. Just put it away."
He sneered and slipped the knife back in its pouch. "You got a fuckin' lousy attitude, Mama." His hand shot out with an accusing finger pointed directly at her chest. Grace looked down at Darryl's finger; it seemed a cue for him to press it forward.
"Get your filthy paw off me, you pig," Grace said. She felt her anger break through. "I should go to the police and expose you. They'd throw the book at you. Car theft, prostituting a minor, statutory rape. Hell, they'd have enough to put you away for a very long time."
"Mom," Jackie warned.
She watched Darryl's face grow dark and ominous. His lips broke into his crooked smile. But he had withdrawn his finger.
"You won't do that, will you, Mama?" Darryl said.
"Wouldn't I?"
Darryl looked at Jackie, his eyes narrowing.
"It's not only for cleanin' my nails, Mama."
"Darryl…," Jackie began.
"I don't think the kike would be too happy with that, Mama…." He paused, watching Grace's face. She was stunned. Grace couldn't believe what she had heard.
"You promised, Darryl," Jackie said.
Grace closed her eyes tightly, hoping that when she opened them all this would go away.
"And I don't think he'd appreciate what you did with those clothes."
Grace, feeling a strange flutter in her head, turned to her daughter, who cowered in the corner of the booth. "You knew this?"
Jackie bit her lip and turned her face to the wall. Darryl's eyes burned into Grace's face.
"I saw you, Mama. You and that old Jew boy walking the beach hand in hand, kissin' and cooin'. Bet you're fuckin' the old guy's balls off, taking in that cut salami of his." He cackled. "I been following you, Mama. All this time you've been tellin' your little girl here that you were putting them clothes into charity. Bullshit. You gotta nice scam going with that fuckin' kike."
"How dare you!" Grace began, trying to get herself under control. She turned to her daughter. "And you!"
"I didn't mean any harm, Mom. I just…."
"Ain't her fault. Likes money, this little pussy of yours. Figured you got somethin' good going on. Got yourself a fat cat Jew."
"I won't sit here and listen to this," Grace said. But she couldn't find the energy to stand.
"What did I tell ya, Jackie?" Darryl said. "She's scared shitless." He leaned towards Grace. "You keep pushing that stuff about the cops, I go to Sammy Goodwin."
The name on his tongue was appalling. She felt her flesh turn to ice.
"See, Jackie? She ain't so cocky no more. Got this good thing goin'. I know I'm right, Mama."
"How could you?" she asked Jackie.
"I just wanted to know what was going on," Jackie said. "I have a right to know. I'm your daughter."
"Are you?" Grace asked Darryl.
"Hey, don't get me wrong," Darryl said, "I don't wanna rain on your parade. No way. Pork your Jew boy day and night. No big deal. It's just that me and Jackie figure you could share your good fortune with your daughter and her friend."
"Mom, I never!" She attempted to move but was blocked by the table.
"Now take it easy, little pussy," Darryl said. "You been bitchin' and moanin' about Mama putting out no bread in your direction. Here's your chance. Hell, she's not going to blow this deal. Right, Mama? We understand each other, right? There'll be nothing between me and you, and we won't make no trouble for you and your kike, as long as you share."
Grace slid out of the booth. It was like a bad dream. She felt unclean. She was disgusted and disappointed in her daughter.
Grace's legs felt rubbery as she moved out of the coffee shop. In the street she felt disoriented. Then she heard Jackie's voice behind her.
"Mom, I didn't know he would go this far."
Grace turned toward her daughter, feeling little compassion. "You knew all along!"
Jackie looked down at the sidewalk, locking and unlocking her fingers.
"You lied! You promised!" Grace said. "How could you?"
"I'm so sorry. I was mad."
"Mad?"
"That you weren't telling me everything."
"And you thought I was holding back on the money."
"I was working two jobs. I was tired. It was his idea, not mine. I'm sick of this, I'm sick of everything. I just told him to get lost. Let him keep his stupid car. I was wrong."
"He's an evil man," Grace said, not totally believing her daughter's remorse. Darryl's anti-Semitic remarks echoed in her mind. She felt as if they were somehow directed at her as well.
Then, suddenly, Darryl was standing beside them. "You ain't off the hook, Mama," Darryl sneered. "You neither, little pussy. Don't think you can just throw back the car without paying nothin'."
"Enough!" Grace shouted, finding her voice again, feeling the white-hot purity of her rage. "Don't you pull that intimidating shit on us—not ever again! Get the hell out of our lives!" She moved fearlessly toward him and pounded her finger into his collarbone. "And see to it that you get that car out of my face by morning. You hear that, stud? By morning!"
"Or what?"
It was as if all the setbacks and losses she had ever suffered exploded inside her with volcanic force. "I will see you in hell if you ever come near us again!"
"Don't fuck with me, lady," Darryl croaked, momentarily stunned by her outburst, then quickly recovering his arrogance. "You don't know what trouble is. You fuck with me, you're both dead meat."
Grace grabbed Jackie by the arm and ran toward her car. When they were inside, Grace quickly locked the doors, turned the ignition, and gunned the motor.
As they drove in silence, Grace calmed herself.
"If he doesn't get his money soon…," Jackie whispered.
Suddenly in her side mirror was Darryl, coming up fast on his motorcycle, the shiny metal of the bike reflecting the street lamps. The road was almost deserted at that hour and he drove the bike past them, then cut in front, then circled around them and repeated the maneuver.
"He's trying to make us crash, Mom," Jackie whimpered.
Grace held the wheel steady, determined to keep them on the road. Then, finally, he lifted one hand, gave them the finger, and sped off.
"I'm so, so sorry," Jackie said.
"Are you really, Jackie?"
***
When they arrived home, she parked the car next to the white Ford.
"It better be gone by morning," she said, banging her car door shut. "Leave the keys on the seat."
"You sound like you don't trust me."
"Do I?" Grace asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Jackie fished the keys out of her pocket and put them on the driver's seat.
Grace opened the door of the apartment and headed directly into her bedroom, undressing quickly, throwing herself naked on the bed. By then anger had turned to fear as she imagined what could happen if he carried out his threats.
Confronting Sam would be the worst-case scenario. Everything between them would end. He would quickly learn the truth.
She was growing tired of it all. She knew in her heart and soul that she loved Sam Goodwin, loved him as she had never loved anyone in her life. The idea calmed her and she crept under the covers.
How far afield she had come from her original intent, from when she was at Saks! Life was dynamic and unpredictable. She had been caught in a web of her own creation. She speculated about what might have happened if she had told him the truth from the beginning, or if she had not done any of this in the first place.
It's time, she decided. Time for a full confession.
Then she remembered Anne's love letters she still carried around in her purse, ammunition at the ready. Ready for what? Perhaps, as a last resort, she would show him how simple it was to misplace trust, to be fooled, to be manipulated into believing deliberate lies.
There was only one option for Grace—to tell him, at a minimum, about her own lies. That was her resolution. If his reaction was to reject her, then she would tell him about Anne, show him the evidence. Could one betrayal cancel out the other?
She felt herself growing drowsy, and soon her thoughts drifted into the void of dreamless slumber.
***
Grace awoke to a sense of foreboding, and remembering the events of the night before, she dashed into the living room. The studio couch was closed, the bedclothes folded. She looked out the window. The car was gone. Checking the time, she assumed that Jackie had taken the bus to school.
Perhaps I have won my point with Darryl, despite all his threats.
Looking on the bright side, she considered that the incident might have brought Jackie to her senses.
She showered and dressed and went off to meet Sam.
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