Big Daddy Sinatra: There Was a Ruthless Man(77)
Jenay clicked off. And then she wiped her hands on a dish cloth and, with cloth still in her hand, she hurried for her front door.
She looked out of her peephole, saw that it was Brent, and gladly opened up. Donnie was a bust, in terms of her relationship with Charles’s children, but Brent and Tony had been wonderful. She rarely ever saw Robert.
“Hello, Brent, come on in!” she said.
Brent hugged her lightly and then entered her small home. “Cooking something?”
“I haven’t started yet. I was peeling some potatoes.”
“Oh, okay. Dad here? I saw his car out front.”
“He’s in the back. In the bedroom.”
“He’s still in bed, isn’t he?”
Jenay laughed. “Almost,” she said. “I heard the shower running, so I think he’s up now. But that father of yours? He is not a morning person.”
“And he never will be,” Brent said as he made his way down the hall that led to the master bedroom. When he walked in, his father, standing in his boxer’s, was just putting on his shirt.
“Good morning,” Brent said. “Or should I say good afternoon?”
Charles began buttoning his shirt. “How did you know I was here?”
“Come on, Dad. Since you met Miss Jenay you haven’t been exactly unpredictable. If you’re not home, or at your office, you’re either here or at the Inn. I took my chances and came here first.”
Charles looked at him. He wasn’t buying it.
“Okay,” Brent said. “Tony told me you spent the night here. Satisfied? So I came on over.”
“Why? And please don’t tell me Kerstin’s father needs a loan or some other friend of yours need my help. I’m not in the helping mood this morning.”
“You’re never in the helping mood,” Brent said. “And no, I’m not coming here to ask for any help of any kind.”
“Then what is it?”
Brent leaned against the side of the dresser. “The DA seems to think Donnie might have to do at least a year in jail. There’s no way around it.”
Charles exhaled. He still had an ache in his heart for his son’s dilemma. But this crime was different. He could have killed that girl, not to mention her baby. “Is there anything we can do?”
“If you testify on his behalf. To his character,” Brent added, “then the defense attorney thinks that can really help Donnie. Everybody in town knows how you don’t sugarcoat anything. The jury will believe you.”
“Your brother is a mess, and you know it,” Charles said. “If I get on that stand and tell the truth, he’ll get ten years. No. This is one fuckup he’s going to have to swallow.”
“So you think he should take the plea?”
“The offer of one year? Yes,” Charles said. “He deserves many more years than that.”
“That’s true,” Brent said. “And I’ll tell him. He says every time he calls you, he gets upset.”
“Because I don’t go along with his nonsense. He needs to finally realize the consequences for his actions. Part of that was my fault---”
“Yes, it was,” Brent agreed.
“But he went too far this time. I am not upholding him in this.”
Brent nodded. He couldn’t agree more. “Oh, and the DA says Miss Paige has agreed to plead guilty for stealing those jewels and will get probation and community service.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Charles said. “What about Edna and Bea?”
“Not so fortunate. They will get six months in jail, probation, and community service. Which isn’t fair on any planet. They found some of the jewels in Miss Paige’s house, yet she gets the least amount of time.”
“She’s wealthy. Money talks around here.”
“Then why don’t you throw some of that money around in defense of Miss Edna and Miss Bea?”
“Are you on drugs?” Charles asked his son.
Brent laughed. “I don’t think so.”
“Then stop talking crazy. They should have never agreed to participate in the crime with Paige. The fact that they did negates any sympathy I would have for either one of them. They’re getting what they deserve. I’m surprised they aren’t getting more time. Bet that wouldn’t have been the outcome if Jenay was the perp.”
“You’d win that bet,” Brent agreed.
“What bet?” Jenay asked as she entered the bedroom.
“Bea gets to plead guilty,” Charles said, “in exchange for probation and community service.”
“And the others?”
“Six months, then probation and community service.”