Page 43 of Time Served in New York
I could see the vein in his temple throbbing and wondered about the mottled red tone his skin had taken. It would bring me so much joy if the man would just stroke out right here in the middle of the store, taking his last breaths on the scuffed linoleum, but I wouldn’t be so lucky.
“What are you doing in my town?” my father growled.
I laughed softly, knowing that would enrage him more than anything. Well, almost anything.
“But it’s not your town anymore, is it?” I laughed again and grinned at him as I said, “It seems as if the roles have changed. Now I’m welcome here and you’re not. Funny how things worked out, isn’t it?”
“YouarePaola,” the woman whispered.
“Not anymore,” I said as I shook my head. “I’m Paula now.”
“Hey, little one, I got you a handful of kisses. Did you find what you were looking for?” Hook asked as he walked up beside me. He looked at my father’s angry face and tensed before he asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s just fine,” I said as I took the candy out of his hands. I set it on the counter next to my father’s selection and my own and said, “We’ll go ahead and buy his too. That way he can think of me every time he reaches for his favorite candy.”
We were silent as the woman rang up the purchases, and Hook never took his eyes off my father as I passed the woman a twenty-dollar bill.
“Do me a favor, please. Put the change down as credit for my father’s next purchase. I’d hate for him to miss out on one of his favorite things now that his situation has changed.”
“Paola . . .”
“I’m no longer the girl you can push around, Father,” I assured him as I reached for the bag of candy the woman held out to me. “You have no power anymore, and that’s gotta sting. But them’s the breaks, right? Enjoy yourretirement.”
I took Hook’s hand and walked away without so much as a backward glance, my eyes on the guard who was watching my father’s every move, ready to duck or run, depending on his reaction. When he did nothing but stare, I walked past him out the door and turned right.
We hadn’t gone far when Hook squeezed my hand and asked, “That was your dad, wasn’t it?”
“Sure was. Look at me all responsible and shit. I didn’t even stab him in the eye like I’ve been dreaming about doing for more than 20 years.”
“We could go back if you want,” Hook offered.
I laughed and shook my head. “No. I like how that went. He knows I’m here and walking around free, and there’s nothing he can do about it. It’s liberating.”
“I bet.”
“We can come visit whenever we want.”
“Now that things have changed, do you want to move back to New York?”
I looked at him in shock and asked, “Would you move here? What about Tonya?”
“I’m asking if that’s what you want,” Hook pushed.
“Hell no. It’s freezing here. If we were at home, I’d be sitting out by the fire pit with the girls drinking wine wearing shorts with bare feet.”
“Good.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I teased.
“I wouldn’t know how to live without you. I wouldn’t want to try.”
“I’m in this for the long haul, sweetheart. Glad to hear that you are too.”
We walked in silence for a while longer and then stopped at a crosswalk as we got to a busy intersection. Finally, Hook broke the silence by asking, “Can I have my candy?”
“Oh sure,” I said as I handed him the small paper sack.
“Hold this for me,” Hook said as he put something in my hand.
