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Mama watched them, indulging their argument, then quietly said, "I'm afraid Nick's right about this, Tina. Joe isn't right for you, right now. He's much too old. He's been around too much. You are young and innocent. Your brother is overbearing at times, I'll agree. But this time, he's right."
"I am so tired of him trying to lead my life. He's not my father," Tina spouted.
"Enough go to your room, Tina." Mama frowned at her beautiful daughter. "And don't come out until you can apologize to your brother. Nick has sacrificed his own life so we can have things better around here. He is the bread winner in this family, and don't you ever, ever forget it."
"How could I ever forget it, Mama?" She cast a contentious glance Nick's way, then stomped to her room and slammed the door.
A silence filled the room, as Mama glanced at her son, "She's right you know."
Nick turned stormy eyes on her.
"You can't lead her life, Nicky. Even when it's for her own good. Any more than I can tell you that your Miss Goody-Two-Shoes is right for you. Tina will rebel if we strangle her with our love. Perhaps you should go to Joe and talk with him about it. Even if he won't listen, you might make him see the responsibility of dating such a young and innocent girl."
"Like reasoning with a rattlesnake."
"You could try."
Nick's face turned beet red. "You're actually going to let her date him?"
"What? You want her running around behind our backs. Maybe if you talk to him, Nicky."
Nick shrugged with a low growl, and wiped his eyes, trying to clear his mind.
"This is exactly why we need to get out of here, Mama. Don't you see that? We don't belong here, anymore."
"Oh, and where do we belong, Nicky?"
"In Queens. I've been lookin' at a nice little place in Queens, Mama. A buddy of mine wants to sell it. All I need is the down payment, and we can move in, and the rent won't be any higher there than here. And you should see the neighborhood, Mama—such a difference."
"And how will you go about getting this down payment, Nicky?"
He didn't answer. Nick thought of Kelsey again, and wished he could confide in his mother about Kelsey's offer. He needed someone else's input, to get a clearer picture. The check in his pocket burned his hip! Yet he knew couldn't cash it. Couldn't look at it.
No, he wouldn't sell his kid down the river.
~~~
Nick found another job, working in construction again. Lousy hours, lousy pay, and a lot to put up with, but it was a job. Had it not been for his garage, Nick might have gone nuts, but he knew when he sank his teeth into an old classic '57 Chevy, he'd forget about his job and Miss Goody-Two-Shoes.
It worked until nearly quitting time on Friday, when his boss pulled him off the job for a phone call. Just what he needed. Nick gritted his teeth as he went to the phone, probably Mama wanting him to come home and rescue one of the kids. At the rate he was going he'd never keep a job.
"Nick?" The voice was soft, sexy and familiar as hell. Nick knew instantly it was Kelsey, and felt the same gut reaction to her voice, as other parts of his body reacted as well.
"How'd you get this number?"
"I looked it up in the phone book after I talked with your mother. She's a lovely woman, your mother. We've become good friends over the phone, Nick."
"My m-mother? You called my mother?"
She hesitated answering. "Yes, it was the only way I knew of reaching you."
Questions danced in Nick's head. How many times had she spoken with his mother, and why?
"Is everything going all right?"
"As far as I know. It takes a little time to be sure." She sounded as though she were smiling into the phone.
Nick tried to remember her smile, but he didn't recall her ever smiling. Not an out and out, get down kind of smile.
