She stood there in that dignified pose of hers they often saw whenever she was appearing in a Broadway show. With her smooth, dark skin and her high cheekbones, and with those eyes that knew how to cut any man down to size, she always came across as a woman you would be wise to never cross. That was why the eyes of everybody in that room were riveted on her. But her eyes were riveted on Mick.
And then finally, without batting an eye, she spoke. “You have another son,another child, that you never bothered to tell me about?”
Everybody noticed that Mick couldn’t even look at her. He was tight in his chair, with his elbows on the arms of the chair, and his long fingers in the air and pressed together as if he was forming a tent around his intentions. It was as if he was in deep contemplation of his next move, not the bombshell he’d just dropped on his own wife. “Yes,” he said to her.
But before Roz could say another word, the door of the office flung open and Jackie, followed by her twin Duke, ran in.
“Daddy, he did it again!” Jackie yelled as they hurried up to his desk.
“No I didn’t!”
“Yes you did!”
“No I didn’t!”
The room plunged into confusion again. “What the fuck is this about?” asked Reno.
“What did he do again, Jackie?” asked an agitated Big Daddy. “You know better than to bust into your father’s office like this!”
But Mick seemed to appreciate the reprieve from that firing squad called Roz. “What did he do again?” he asked his daughter.
“We were watching this movie about somebody killing college freshmen. But Duke had already seen it before so he told us who done it. He told us who the killer was like he’s stupid. He ruined the whole movie for the rest of us. He’s stupid like that, Daddy.”
“I was just horsing around.”
“No you weren’t. You’re just evil like that. You’re stupid like that.”
“Stop saying that,” Duke said.
“I’ll say whatever I want,” Jackie shot back.
Their distraction worked for Mick. He needed it. But it was so unexpected to Roz that it unhinged her. There she was in the middle of a slow-burning meltdown, and her children had just rushed in over foolishness!
But Mick was all into it. “That’s not stupidity,” he said, looking angrily at his son. “That’s selfishness. That’s a total disregard for the feelings of others. And I told you, Duke, no Sinatra will behave that way.”
“I know that’s right,” said Big Daddy.
But Roz would have none of it. “Get out!” she yelled at Duke and Jackie.
“But Ma, it’s so unfair. Make him stop.”
“I said get out!” Roz yelled again.
Before Roz did something harsh like slap the shit out of them, Nikki jumped up and ushered Duke and Jackie out of the office. “Let’s go,” he said, and the twins, knowing they could push their mother just so far, followed her lead.
And even though Mick appreciated the distraction, Roz’s full attention was still on him. As soon as their twins walked out of that office, she picked right back up where she left off. “Are you saying to me that you have another son?” she asked him again. “Is that what you’re saying to me?”
Mick finally looked at her. He hated to see the pain on her face. “Yes, Roz, I have another son.”
Everybody could see how that response alone did something to Roz. A sudden flash of rage crossed her elegant face. But she still had to ask the crucial question. “Was he bornafteryou met me?”
Everybody looked at Mick. Mick hesitated, but he answered her. “No,” he said. “He’s in his twenties. No.”
“Did you know you had this son before you met me?”
Another hesitation. That wasn’t good. “I was told somebody else was the father. I found out a couple weeks ago that I’m the father.”
“You knew two weeks ago, but you’re just telling us?” asked Teddy. “You’re just telling Ma?”
