Page 65 of Flint
“Are we good?”
He turns his head to look at me. “Yeah, bro. We’re good.”
Chapter 21
Jules
The Allen house in Pasadena has two lemon trees in the front yard, one on either side of the front porch. There are beautiful yellow rose bushes planted around the house. Their house is painted light yellow. And the cushion on their front porch swing is yellow as well.
“Oh my God, I’d forgotten how much the Allens love yellow,” I exclaim out loud.
Daniel smiles from beside me in the back seat. “Yellow has always been my favorite color too. I wonder how many other things we have in common.”
Flint comments from the driver’s seat as he eases into the driveway. “They say identical twins raised apart have all kinds of uncanny things in common.” Flint hesitates for a second before adding, “Except that whole being a mobster thing. I don’t think you have to worry about him outshining you in that arena.”
“As far as being a mobster goes, I wasn’t the best one. It’s why I ended up in an apartment and my brothers ended up in mini mansions. My mother always told me that I just wasn’t applying myself and I needed to think like a criminal if I wanted to outsmart one.”
Flint exclaims, “No shit? Your mom really told you to think like a fuckin’ criminal. She understood the family business was about crime, right?”
“I’m not sure how much of that she understood. Sometimes, I got the feeling she thought we were competing with each other to take the most racing bets or something like that.”
“I’ve always heard mobsters keep their old ladies in the dark about what they do.”
“That sounds like the men in my family,” Daniel murmurs while looking out the window.
The car comes to a rolling stop, and everyone in the Allen house comes spilling out onto the front porch.
“Fuck,” Daniel mutters under his breath. “It looks like they called in the entire extended family.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask. “You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”
“Of course not. It’s weird how much his wife looks a lot like my first girlfriend.”
I laugh. “Are we betting on whether they had the same first name?”
“I doubt it,” he says, straightening his clothing.
We get out of the car and hang back as Daniel walks towards the front porch. An older woman comes running out of the crowd. She stops right in front of Daniel, and her hand flies to her mouth. “Oh my God, it’s true. I have another son.”
He reaches out and pulls her into a hug, holding her close.
I’m close enough to hear her say, “I wish your father had lived to see this day.”
When they break apart, Daniel tells her, “I was told you didn’t want me. That my parents didn’t have enough money to pay for two babies.”
She stares at him like he’s grown a second head. “No, your father came from money. We never would have wished you away. Even if we were poor, we would have simply worked harder before ever giving you up.”
“You think it was all on the nurse? A moneymaking, baby-swapping scheme” Flint asks.
“Some people will do anything for money,” I add.
“I should have known better than to believe their lies,” Daniel says bitterly.
Suddenly, Robert is on the sidewalk, reaching his hand out for Daniel. “We look just alike, you and me. I couldn’t believe the photographs you sent of you and your mother. She looks like a nice lady.”
“She had nothing to do with what happened. She knew nothing about it until a few days ago.”
“You should invite her to come with you next time. We’d love to meet her,” Mr. Allen’s mother says.
