Royce (54 page)

They arrived dog tired and after driving hours from the airport in Florence to a small village called Valle ai Piedi Delle Montagne or Valley at the Foot of the Mountains that’s when Joy found out Jameson spoke Italian.  She marveled at the car dealership as he bought the cars, the man never ceased to amaze her and he still called her ma’am.  “So Jameson I didn’t know you spoke Italian,” she said when they were finally at the villa, “Yes ma’am,” and she knew that was all she’d get from him.  For a man who spoke many languages he was a man of few words.

Jameson drove through an archway onto a cobblestone courtyard and before them stood an old world very beautiful light tangerine colored villa.  The villa was off the main road and set off to itself, it had been built some three hundred years ago and since that time it had seen many lives.  It was a home for a rich Italian monarch, a school, a hospital, a hideout for a rich opera singer and his mistress and now it was a home again and in time running water and electricity had been added but those were old too and after admiring it for a moment wearily they unloaded and headed inside.  The lights flickered, sputtered and sprung to life when Joy turned the switch and like all the places Jameson found this was spacious and well maintained.  The décor was painted frescos on the wall, plastered walls in unique textures and painted beautiful colors in gold and tangerine, the ceilings high, the floors of marble.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” she gave a little clap and they all looked at her, “A real brick oven,” she said smiling, “You know how long I’ve wanted to cook in one of those,” and all of them just looked at her like,
really you’re excited about a brick oven. 
It was Royce who played along even as he smiled at her, “No babe how long?”  She laughed, “You don’t really care, none of you do,” they laughed at that.  “Okay let’s check out our new home and find our bedrooms,” and they walked the house. 

This house was “L” shaped and wide, Royce loved it had a wall around it and he knew that’s probably why Jameson picked it.  After they walked down the opulent marble foyer two steps led down into a massive family room with large windows and a backdoor opened to a courtyard with a little iron gate that led to the fields behind.  The kitchen was off the formal dining room and there were two winding stairways.  They took one and went upstairs and this is where all the bedrooms were.  They opened door after door and it was a bedroom, at least ten of them in varying sizes, some small, some larger.  There were three bathrooms but none in the rooms so that meant sharing for the kids.  The master suite was huge with its own private bath and balcony and Joy marveled at the large oval copper tub.  They took the other staircase down the hall and found a library, an office, a large bathroom with a bathtub an open shower which seemed odd to them off by itself like that.  Then they turned down another hall, the bottom of the “L," and at the end of the hall was a door that led outside and across the cobblestone driveway was a garage and next to that a stable and Royce’s eyes lit up, and Joy hoped he’d fill it with horses. 

Now that they’d walked the house Jameson thought this might be a problem, all the bedrooms were upstairs and he didn’t want to be that close to the family.  He had things he needed kept private,
yeah like listening to them fuck
came to mind, he smirked at himself and pursed his lips.  The place was just like he remembered, still beautiful but he would have to find a place to set up without worrying if someone could just walk in on him, but for tonight he needed to sleep. 

Even though he was tired he walked the perimeter; the mountains loomed darkly behind him as he shined his flashlight and walked,
man its dark as hell out here
, it was dark in South Africa too, but inside the compound it was well lit, but here it was dark inside an outside the walls.  There were two lights by the archway and a small porch light and nothing else,
I’ll have to do something about that
, he thought.

The next day they woke to a glorious day eager to check out their surroundings and found themselves right smack dab inside a picture.  They couldn’t believe how beautiful it was, blue mountains right outside their window, and fields and fields of yellow, red, blue and purple wildflowers spread for miles behind them, and down below was a little picturesque village.  

The village was old and nestled at the base of the Appennino Mountains and had sprung up around a convent called Sisters of Holy Mercy.  The sisters were great healers a few hundred years ago so the people came for their wondrous healing power and a village was born.  It was old too, cobblestone streets, old and inlaid with little tufts of grass growing through, a huge old fountain of a winged angel, beautiful in its mild decay was in the center square.  All the buildings showed mild decay and their longevity too, some were so old you could see repairs of old and new.  The view was spectacular.  It was like they were up high in a beautiful fertile valley; the mountains behind and when you looked down you saw all of Italy.  You could see miles and miles of green rolling hills and winding roads and it was breathtaking. 

Valle ai Piedi Delle Montagne was inland, far from a beach, but there was a lake back off in the mountains that provided the fresh stream of water the villagers lived off of.  Like Spain the residents walked, rode vespers or bikes.  There were a few cars and trucks owned by those who had to transport up and down the mountain.

Oh this is nice
, Joy thought and  heard bells towing, and saw wispy smoke from chimneys and knew people were up and going about their daily lives.  She dressed quickly and went downstairs and into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, and to her surprise it was stocked.  She saw eggs, a slab of bacon, a pitcher of milk and another that looked like lemonade, there were fresh greens, peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and fruit. 
Oh wow, that’s nice
, and she opened the pantry and found it full too and she wanted to cry; there were bags of rice, sugar, flour, a large canister of coffee, a huge bottle of olive oil and she did wipe a tear,
who did this?

Royce and Jameson came down together.  “What’s the matter?”  Royce asked concerned when he saw her so emotional. “Oh baby look, somebody stocked the kitchen for us, I thought I was going to have to do this, but look,” she said with tears in her eyes, showing him the full pantry. “Oh that’s nice,” Royce said. “It’s so thoughtful,” and Jameson said, “I thought it was needed, ma’am, so I instructed the landlord on what to do, I just didn’t want it to be like South Africa and we woke up famished,” and she could see he was uncomfortable. 

“Oh Jameson,” she went to him and hugged him tight, “You’re the best, I don’t know how you do it, but you take such good care of us,” and he blushed from ear to ear, but Royce could see his discomfort and smiled and pat him on the back.  Joy released him and kissed his cheek and caressed his face but she knew he was at his limit of being praised and didn’t like too much affection, “I’ll leave you alone now,” she said and walked away, “But I really appreciate what you do and have done for us.”

Thanks ma’am, I’ll check the grounds,” and Joy smiled knowing he couldn’t wait to get out of there, Royce smiled too. “I hope I didn’t scare him,” Jameson heard her say as he walked off, and Royce laughed, “You probably did.”

Jameson smiled too, y
es you do scare me, scare me into thinking I’ll give myself away that’s all.  I only did it for her, I didn’t want her like last time having to deal with hungry kids and not knowing her surroundings.

Joy went to fixing breakfast, and she marveled at how he got everything right, she took out the coffee and found the coffee maker and ground some coffee, something she’d been doing since Spain, and brewed a pot.  “Ummm that smells good babe,” Royce loved the smell of fresh coffee, “I’ll go outside and check the place out in the light of day,” he went straight to the stables, and even though Joy was in this beautiful place and felt safe, as she made breakfast thoughts of what happened in South Africa plagued her.

Later that night she went to Royce, “What did he mean Royce that
you’re the rich American’s son and I stole you.  
I don’t understand?”  And Royce looked at her.  How was he going to tell her his father was behind this?  He dreaded having to say those words out loud; the pain of the truth unbearable his insides shook and quivered and he began to cry.  He was scared too, scared of what she would do when she found out.  She might leave him and his heart and soul couldn’t bear it, he would die if that happened.  He did the only thing he knew would save him he reached for his salvation and took her in his arms and cried and poured his love out to her, “Baby I love you, I love you so much.  Please don’t forget that.  Please understand that, remember that, hear that, think of that,” and Joy began to cry and soothe him her heart breaking at his pain, “Baby don’t cry, please don’t cry.  I love you too baby, talk to me, what’s this all about?” 

He held her with everything in him and said the words, “It’s my father baby, my father is behind this,” and Royce saw the shock register full on her face.  “What Royce?”   Joy stood up and stared at him in disbelief, “Are you sure Royce?  Your father! This is crazy, just crazy!”  She burst into tears, “But why?  I don’t even know him Royce!  I never even met him!”  She cried and sobbed and Royce went to her and took her in his arms and held on tight and they cried together. 

Royce was barely hanging on himself finally realizing the truth, but Joy needed him.  She cried off and on all day and at night she clung to him and often lamented, “I don’t understand baby, I don’t know him,” and Royce knew that was his fault, he should have taken her to meet his family, but he thought his father would embarrass him and offend Joy by calling her a
negra
and he didn’t want her to know that’s where he came from, and then she’d know he use to think that way too.  This was tearing him apart and there was no more denial.  Finding out it was his father hurt him to the deepest part of his soul so he went to the only thing he knew to assuage that ache, horses. 

“I want to buy horses,” he told Jameson. “Okay sir, but please as you did in Espana go under a different name, I still don’t know how far the search will reach.  Let’s not give them anything,” he emphasized.  “Si comprisco, I understand,” and he chose the name Roberto Fennini and Jameson went by Jarrett Unger and they went out to find horses. 

While Royce was out looking for horses Joy couldn’t stop crying, this was all her fault she knew and she had to get out the villa, so she walked.  The bells she heard were from a large convent on the other side of town.  The town thrived around a small tourism trade, it was mostly rustic people, people who lived off the land and worked at the convent or at a business that helped the town function, like restaurants and cafés, small hotels for travelers who still came to see the sisters for their healing and prayers and candle makers who made the altar candles, spas, stores that carried all things of the modern world, like toilet paper and toothpaste.  Italy was known for fashion and the village kept up with a few boutiques and it did have a young population who wanted to be fashionable.  There was an open market where the people sold fresh produce, meats, fish from the mountain lake, and knick knacks like rosaries, little figurines of saints and mementos of the village. 

She walked down to the market square to browse, but her thoughts tormented her.  She didn’t understand why his father would do this, she knew why Tammy hated her she thought she’d stolen her husband.  It was her who only went to Royce at The
Club, it was her who didn’t wear a condom, it was her who had his child, it was her who kept butting in their lives, she didn’t do it on purpose.  If Tammy could have only understood that, understood that Royce needed her help.  She thought about him throwing away all the baby’s milk, and Justin crying uncontrollably and he came to her and she held him in her arms he was so upset,
I was only helping, he needed me.  I’m Justin’s mother too, I couldn’t just hand him over to his father and say, 'Here, good luck.' Why couldn’t she and Michael understand Royce needed her help?  If Tammy had understood and
loved him for trying he wouldn’t have left her
, that’s all she did. 

She loved him for trying, he was trying so hard and messing up so badly, but she loved him for it,
if only Michael and Tammy understood it was just her way of helping that’s all
.  She didn’t know any other way to help, if they’d just understood that none of this would be happening.  She made her way to the scenic look out with her thoughts.  Royce would still be married to Tammy and she’d still be with Michael,
but you wouldn’t know how good it feels to be loved so well and to love so deep and admit it, you loved spending time with him.  He was so easy and comforting, he didn’t demand anything of you except yourself and you loved it. 
She cried knowing she did take what she needed from him too.  He made her feel good. She stood at the look out and stared at the beauty of Italy.  She knew Royce loved her in ways Michael never could and she loved him with every part of her soul.  She would have denied herself that if she’d stayed with Michael,
but we wouldn’t be going through this and his father wouldn’t be trying to kill me either.  I didn’t mean to come between a man and his wife, I didn’t!  And what could Tammy have said to convince his father to keep this up, to finish this? 
She wondered in disbelief.  Royce wouldn’t even let her meet his parents, he kept putting it off, and she didn’t press it because she remembered what her mother said, “When you marry, you marry into the family too and they have to accept you,” and she was worried they wouldn’t accept her and Royce not taking her proved that so she didn’t ask and she thought she had time, and now she knew she was right,
they don’t accept me,
and her tears flowed,
they hate me!