day.â
âOf course, heâs busy. He runs that whole department, and he has a wonderful practice and two gorgeous, gorgeous children.â
âAnd a wife you canât always stand.â
Hattie shrugged, âMaybe not my cup of tea two or three days a week, but sheâs been a good mother to those gorgeous little children.â
âWho are not so little and, frankly, not necessarily so gorgeous.â
âTheyâre still my grandchildren.â
âSo are Zoey and Max,â he reminded her. âBut my brotherâs children can do no wrong. And my sisterâs children are royalty.â
âI never said anything of the kind. But when was the last time your children came to stay with their grandmother? In fact, when was the last time you came to stay with your mother?â
âIâm here with you now.â
âNo, youâre in some fancy place and you schlep me over to see you. Could it hurt to come and see me?â
He sighed in exasperation. âMother, we canât keep going round and round with this. Right now, your money . . . your shares in the company . . . are not safe. If I blow this deal, you could lose a lot of money. We both could. So weâre putting your shares, your money, into another company. Iâm protecting you.â He begged, âMother, please, sign the damn papers.â
She gave him an angry look, then said to Bobby, âGive me a pen,â and showed her total disdain by mumbling as she signed.
âThank you.â Zeke leaned over and tried to kiss his mother.
She moved away. âSo now what? I live on my social security?â
Bobby put his hand on Hattieâs arm. âI promise you, everything is the same. Nothing has changed. You have nothing to worry about.â
âOf course not.â She stood up. âBecause my daughter and her husband and my other son will always look after me, no matter what.â
âYouâre right, mother.â He stood up too, and signaled to a valet standing on the verandah that his mother needed her car. âAs long as your daughter and her husband and your other son . . . the doctor . . . if they can remember your phone number, Iâm sure theyâll do what they can for you.â
She started walking toward the main house.
Zeke hurried up to her and took her arm. They walked like that, not speaking, through the house and out to the front driveway.
A Mercedes was already there with a chauffeur holding open the rear door.
Zeke leaned over and kissed her. âI love you. Iâll talk to you tomorrow. And . . . I love you.â
She nodded and got into the car.
He gave her a little wave.
Just as the chauffeur was closing the door, she reminded him, âJay Leno would never do this to his mother.â
Bobby walked up to Zeke and waved at Hattie as the car pulled away. âCall your sister. Maybe your mother will believe her.â
âI refuse to cater to her bullshit. Iâve got to go. Thanks for handling this.â
âThatâs what lawyers are for.â
âI wish sheâd understand.â
âMothers donât understand. They accept.â
Zeke sighed and nodded. âSpeaking of accepting . . . when do we hear back on the Sovereign Shields buyout?â
âItâs only now about numbers. Theyâre close.â
âI hope it doesnât get in the way of this other thing. Deals coming from two different directions meet in the middle and . . . boom.â
âStop worrying.â
âIâm my motherâs son.â
Sometime after Zeke and Bobby started putting together the complex deal that could take Z from being just another big agency into the stratosphere as a global entertainment industry powerhouse, Zeke had been in negotiations to buy the Sovereign Shields Sports Agency, the last vestige of the once-famous Gerald Shieldsâ sports empire.
Forty years ago, Shields had been a visionary, much
Learning to Kill: Stories