The Beast (23 page)

“But I don’t want to break up with her. That would be a total lie.”

“So you lie.”

“Why would I break both of our hearts for no reason?”

Sohala looked at him as if he were an errant child. “You are famous pianist who stars in a movie, no?”

“No, I am not famous. I’m just a heartsick guy who loves your daughter.”

Sohala tried again. “Well some piano players are famous.”

“Most are not.”

“But it’s what you want to do, yes?”

Gabe regarded her. “Yes, it’s what I want to do. It’s very satisfying.”

“People pay money to hear you play so you have to be very good, right?”

He wondered where she was going. “Right.”

“And to play for people, you must travel?”

“Of course.”

“All over,” she said. “Like to many countries.”

“I hope so.”

“You travel how much during the year?”

“About two months during the school year . . . more in the summer when there are a lot of music festivals.”

“And after you graduate, you travel more, no? You can travel for very long time.”

Gabe felt his stomach drop. “Not a long time.” A fib. “A couple of months.”

“Or maybe more, no?”

Gabe was quiet. This wasn’t leading to a good place.

“Gabriel, Yasmine is sixteen. She is a child. Even when she turns eighteen and goes to college . . . even if she goes away to college . . . just what is she supposed to do when you’re away so long? Sit in a
room, waiting for you to come back only to go away again? And while you go after your dream, is it fair to ask her to miss out on her life? Is it fair to ask her to be lonely while everyone around her is out having fun?”

For the first time since this afternoon, he began to squirm. “I can do other things.”

“Like what?”

“I can teach, you know.” The words sounded empty even to his ears.

“And that is what you want? To be a piano teacher.”

The room was silent.

“I don’t ask Rina and the lieutenant for their opinions, but they know I’m right.” She leaned forward. “Let her fly, Gabriel. Let her meet friends, let her go to parties, let her live a normal young life.”

“I never told her she can’t go to parties. I want her to have fun!”

“She won’t do anything as long as you are around. You need to give her chance to develop. If you truly love her, you see that I am right.”

Gabe felt his eyes watering up. “This isn’t fair.”

“And it’s fair for you to have her wait for months until you come back to her?”

“She can do anything she wants,” Gabe said. “I’ve always told her that.”

“What she wants is to be with you all the time. To pack your bags and travel with you and be your little house pet. She is a brilliant girl. Give her a chance to truly sing.”

Gabe didn’t say anything and neither did Sohala. He turned to Rina. “This isn’t fair.” He looked pleadingly at Decker. “This is so
not
fair.”

Neither one of them said anything.

Gabe said, “And you agree with her right?” His eyes darted between Decker and Rina. “Really. I want to hear what you think.”

Decker went first, “I know you love her, Gabe. But Sohala is making a good point.”

“So what do you want me to do?” The boy folded his arms across
his chest. “Tell her I don’t love her anymore? I’m not going to do that.”

“No, I don’t think you do that,” Sohala said. “It wouldn’t be true and it would be hurtful. Still, you must tell her to date other people. If it’s meant to be, you two will go back together.” She swallowed hard. “If she dates other boys and decides she still loves you, I promise I will accept you in my family if you convert.”

Gabe stared at her. “You expect me to tell her to date other guys? Forget it!”

Sohala’s eyes watered up. “Sometimes in life, you must do hard things. If she comes back to you after she tries others, I will support whatever she wants. Just give her a chance to grow up. You’ll love her more as a woman instead of a little girl who idolizes you and can’t see in front of her nose.”

Again Gabe wiped his eyes. “I’ll . . .
talk
to her, okay. But no guarantees.”

“Good—”

“
And
with one condition.” He looked at Sohala. “You got to get her to take singing lessons again. You
can’t
stand in her way if she wants to perform.”

Sohala narrowed her eyes. “I give her singing lessons again, hokay?”

“That’s not what I said,” Gabe told her. “If she wants to study opera, you have to help her do that.”

The woman folded her arms across her chest. “That’s not fair.”

Rina interceded. “You can either both compromise or you can continue to battle.” She stood up. “I’m going to clear the dishes.”

“I’ll help you,” Decker said.

Gabe said, “If you agree to let her do whatever
she
wants, then I’ll agree to what you ask.”

“Hokay.” Sohala wiped her eyes. “If you tell her good-bye, I agree.”

First, calm Mom down. Gabe said, “And . . . for the record . . . I see your point. It’s unfair to let her wait around for me.” How the hell was he going to get around this? “I’ll tell her to date other guys
as long as you agree to encourage her as a singer. Do we have a deal?”

“You also have to tell her you date other girls.”

“But I don’t want to date other girls. What I do is my business.”

“She won’t agree to date other boys unless you date other girls. And you should date other girls. You tell her you go out with other girls and then I do everything with the singing, hokay?”

The ideas started to coalesce into a plan. He said, “Okay.”

Sohala looked at him with suspicion. “I don’t know if I trust you.”

Good call, lady
. Gabe said, “Mrs. Nourmand, I know we can’t be together until you accept me. So we have a deal, right?”

“Hokay.” Sohala was still not convinced, but what could she do. The boy was a snake in the grass. A very cute snake—she understood why Yasmine was blinded—but that wasn’t the point. “Hokay, I bring her here so you can talk to her. She’s waiting for me in the car.”

“You mean I have to do this
now
?”

“Yes, now.”

His heart started beating. “Can’t you give me a day or two to think about it?”

“Gabriel, you change your mind if I give you chance to think. I know that. Set her free. It is the right thing to do.”

He was antsy and edgy. He wanted to work out the details, but now there was no time. He had no choice but to hope for the best. “Okay. I’ll talk to her now.”

Sohala got up and tried to compose herself. “It is like our sages tell us, if not now, when?”

Gabe didn’t answer.

Screw the sages.

G
ABE THOUGHT SHE’D
be despondent. Instead, Yasmine was furious. She sat opposite him, balled up in a navy blue hoodie, her arms folded across her chest. She glared at her mother and looked at him with suspicion. At that moment Decker walked in, turned around, and went back to the kitchen. To Rina, he said, “Want to go for a ride?”

“It’s that bad?”

“Yasmine is now in the picture, and it looks like the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. Ride? Yes or no?”

Rina put away the last of the dinner dishes. “Shouldn’t one of us stay to make sure the house isn’t burned down?”

“Good point,” Decker conceded. “I’ll be in the bedroom if anyone needs CPR.”

“Maybe you should go out and act as a moderator to the parties involved.”

“No, my dear, I’m done with domestics. If you need the police, call 911.”

After he left, Rina steeled herself and ambled into the living room. Someone had to be the adult. She sat down on the couch.

Sohala began by directing the players. “You talk to her, Gabriel. You tell her what we talked about.”

Gabe felt sick. He didn’t dare look at Yasmine. “Your mother thinks we should break up . . . for a while.”

Yasmine said, “I know what
she
thinks. Is that what
you
think?”

“Hear me out.” Gabe felt a tic in his eyelids. “Just . . .
listen
.” Yasmine was silent. “There is this girl that I know in New York—”

Yasmine had heard enough. She jumped up. “I hate you!” She glared at her mother. “I hate you, too. I hate all of you!” She picked up her purse and stormed out of the house.

Gabe leaped up and so did Sohala. He clenched his jaw and said, “Will you let me handle this?”

“I see how you handle it. You break her heart.”

Rina really should have taken that ride. Instead, she said, “Gabe, take it easy.”

The boy didn’t heed her. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t interfered!”

“Of course, I interfere. You were in a motel with my daughter!”

“Fuck it!” Gabe ran after her, slamming the door behind him. She was already halfway down the block. “Yasmine!”

“Go away. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“Yasmine, will you listen—”

“No.”

He caught up with her and took her arm. It had stopped raining, but there was a fine mist. He had run out without his jacket and it was cold. “Yasmine—”

“Do you tell her you love her when you’re with her like you do with me?” She yanked her arm away. “Do you tell her that, Gabe?
Do you?
” She hit him with her purse and marched off for a couple of steps. “
Avazi!
” Then she turned around and threw her purse at his head. “You . . . schmuck!”

He caught the purse with his left hand. “There is no other girl—”

“Liar!” She reversed directions, intercepting her mother. “Go away and leave me alone for once in my life!”

“Yasmini—”

“Can you just let us break up without spying on me? You go through my mail, you go through my phone, you go through my computer, you go through my diary. For God’s sake, Mommy, can you give me a little privacy for
once
in my entire life?”

Sohala was wounded. “I give you privacy. You have your own room.”

“Oh, please!” She shook her head. “Just forget it! Let’s go home!”

“Can I please talk to you?” Gabe implored. He turned to Sohala. “Could you please leave us alone for a few minutes?”

Rina had come out. “This is my house, guys. Take it inside or everyone goes home.”

No one moved.

Yasmine lowered her voice. “Give me a few minutes, Mommy.
Alone!
”

Rina took Sohala’s arm. “We’ll wait in the house. Keep it down or I’ll call the police. Nobody wants Peter out here, right?”

Silence.

Sohala said, “Don’t be long.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be long.” She glared at Gabe. “I hate you!” She opened the door to her mother’s Mercedes and sat in the passenger seat. “You know what? Go away! I’m done with you.” She slammed the door and locked it.

Gabe knocked on the window, trying to keep his voice down. “Can you open the door? I’m cold.”

“Freeze to death for all I care.”

Gabe showed her the handbag. “I’ve still got your purse.”

“Go away!”

“Fine.” He began to walk toward the house. “Suit yourself.”

She opened the car door. “Give me back my purse, you . . . !” When he kept walking, she said, “Gabriel, I’m serious!”

He heard the tears in her voice. He came back to the car and spoke through a closed window. “Can we talk now?”

“Give me my purse first.”

Gabe clenched his jaw. “Fine.”

She rolled down the passenger window. He thought about sticking
his hand in the open window and trying to force open the lock, but in her frame of mind, she’d probably roll up the glass up on his fingers. He threw her handbag onto the driver’s seat and waited.

A moment passed. Then she grabbed her purse, unlocked the door, and he went inside, hitting his knee on the steering wheel. “Ouch!” He pushed the seat back. “Your mother must be a dwarf or something.”

“I hate you!”

His teeth were chattering. “Yasmine, there is no other girl.”

“You told me your dad’s a compulsive liar. You’re a liar, too!”

“I’ve been faithful to you, body and soul. There is no other girl.”

She turned to him. “Then why say such an awful, hurtful thing to me?”

“Yasmine, your mom sprung this breakup thing on me and I had to think of something. That’s why I told you to hear me out. You didn’t let me finish. Man, you have a temper!” He raised his eyebrows. “I like it!”

She hit him again with her purse.

“Stop it! There is no other girl!”

“Then why did you say that to me,
especially
after this afternoon.” She started to cry. “Why did you
say
that?”

“Because I wanted to get your mom off my back. I was trying to convince her that I was breaking up with you. I could tell she was suspicious. I knew she’d be more likely to believe me if there was someone else waiting in the wings. She insists that both of us date other people. Not just you. Me, too.”

“
Is
there someone else?”

“No! No one! When your mom popped this on me, I came up with an idea. It might not be the best idea, but considering I had about two minutes, it was the only thing I could think of.”

“So the other girl is a total lie?”

“As a girlfriend, yes, it’s a lie. I’ll explain my idea if you’ll listen.” No response. Gabe blew out air. “Remember a girl named Anna Benton? You met her—”

“The blond, blue-eyed pianist with the long legs who swears like
an HBO program. She must be about twenty, twenty-one by now.”

“Twenty-one.” Gabe was amazed. “Boy, you remembered everything. That was like two years ago.”

“You don’t forget someone that gorgeous who was giving me the stink-eye.”

“She was not.”

“Yes, she was.” She squinted at Gabe. “You told me she’s a lesbian.”

“She is.” When Yasmine gave him
that
look, he said, “Can I go on?”

“Not really.” A pause. “
What
?”

“Look, Yasmine, Anna is a good friend of mine but she’s crazy. She’s on more psychotropic medicine than my entire class at Juilliard, and that’s saying something because we’re all on something. She’s bipolar. For real. She’s mostly manic. When she doesn’t take her lithium, she’s totally out of control. Even when she does take her medicine, sometimes instead of making her calm, she falls into a deep depression.”