Zander moved in to the brownstone. It did not take long, as he had so few possessions. Fortunately, it was a furnished place.
He liked it. It was better than a room over Jakes, and even better than a fancy hotel room. Having to share a kitchen was an improvement for him, because he'd never had one at all.
His new neighbor, Taggart, had looked surprised.
"Coming up in the world, Smith," he had said.
"Yeah," Zander said. "Looks like I'm equal with you."
Then there was the surprise neighbor that he had not been planning on. He knew Carly would be there a lot, it was the reason for his moving in there.
He saw his own name on one of the mailboxes in the entry hallway. Bobbie had already fixed that for him, he realized.
He saw Carly's also, with Bobbie's. He guessed Carly got mail there, because she might have lived there with her mother once.
"Hi Zanner!" he heard. He looked up to see Carly and Michael coming in the main door.
"Hey, policeman Michael. Caught any criminals lately?"
"Ess," Michael said. "I'm a wobber. I stealed da money. Come and west me, Zanner."
Zander obliged, running after the giggling Michael in the hallway for a little while, and then picking him up. "I have you now and I am taking you off to jail," he said.
"So you're here," Carly smiled.
"Yeah. Are you visiting your mother?"
"I'm staying with my mother."
"For long?"
"Indefinitely. Michael, go in," she said.
"I've been kicked out again," Carly said. "I'm tired of that. I'm not going back."
"Going to make Sonny sweat it, eh?" Zander said. "Wow, that's brave."
"If I'm not there, he can't kick me out."
"True. How often does he come to beg you to go back?"
"Only once."
"Do you feel all right?" he asked, seeing she was a little puffy around the eyes.
"All right for my condition," she said. "Why, are you worried about your kid already?"
She smiled as she said it. Zander wondered how it could be that she was friendly again. But it was not a bad thing.
"No," he answered. "Just thought I'd ask. Figuring your condition could have an effect on how you feel."
"OK," she smiled again. "See you," she said, going into Bobbie's part of the house.
"Very interesting," Brenda said. She came over after he called her to invite her to see the place. "Wonder if Sonny knows you're the father by now."
"Why?"
"That's why he kicked her out this time."
"Could be," Zander said. "I'll ask her. No, on the other hand I won't. It's not my problem."
"It is better for you. Not having Sonny as stepfather."
"I guess that's true. Though I can hardly imagine Carly picking any guy who won't be a bad choice for stepfather. For me, anyway."
"Anybody else at least would start out neutral with you, though."
"And maybe not be a criminal. I wonder if she can manage that. Though how do I talk when I have a criminal record."
"Because it isn't the same."
"When you thought you were going to marry him, Brenda, did you think you were going to be happy as the wife of the mob boss?"
"Must have. I always thought I could get him down to the island, deep down. He has this island in the tropics where he goes when he's hiding out. I must've been figuring we'd end up there for good. I don't know what I was thinking. Stupid move, that. Entirely."
"I know how you feel. I make stupid moves, too." He went over and hugged her.
She was surprised, pleasantly so. She hugged him back. "It must be awful to be one of those people who don't," she said, looking up and brushing his hair back. "They must realize they are insufferable to the rest of us."
"Insufferable! Good one! You mean Dad, I guess, and Sonny."
"Yeah," she grinned. "Those guys."
"Can't really include Carly," he observed. "She's one of us."
"I'll have to come over here a lot," Brenda reflected, playfully, "Keep her away from you."
"Thanks for saying that, but you have no need to come over, at least, not for that reason."
"If she's really finally sick of him," Brenda started saying.
"This is as temporary as the rest," he interrupted. "And if you got him back, Carly would still be a big pain forever. She'd still be around, pestering you and scolding you and - well, – well, make him go to that island first."
"Oh, no. I'm not leaving you here with Carly!"
He cooked dinner for her, getting her a glass of wine. She stayed in the kitchen talking to him instead of going back into the living room to relax, which he had told her she should do.
"You need more salt in that."
"Critics out!"
"OK," she giggled. "I'm sure it will all work out."
"You're nervous about my cooking."
"Yes, very. When was the last time you cooked anything?"
"You can thank Carly for some things. She showed me a couple of things over at the house she had when I worked for her."
"Oh, I'm glad she taught you a couple of things in a room other than the bedroom."
"Some stuff there, too," he grinned. "Which will also prove to be to your benefit."
"I never thought I'd find Carly useful, but maybe I can," Brenda said. "Can't wait to find out."
Brenda lay on her back on his bed, her feet still on the floor.
Her blouse was still on, and her skirt was still on, but he had taken her underwear. His mouth went up her thigh and then met up with her crotch. She wasn't sure where his hands were, she could only stare at the ceiling, moaning softly, then longer, then louder. She felt like she was off on some other planet, where there was nothing, only intense, keen waves that rolled through inside her.
She finally came back to consciousness, and noticed he pulled her up to lay more comfortably, and was beside her.
She felt she ought to make some smart-aleck remark, but couldn't. She only felt speechless. Serious, even. She reached for him and then kissed him.
They lay kissing for awhile. It got totally dark.
"Stay here," he said. "It's late."
She didn't object. He undressed her with a little help from her.
In the morning she woke up first, and noticed he was still dressed. Had never gotten undressed.
She got up and looked around in his closet, borrowing a robe.
She hesitated to go into the kitchen, knowing it was shared, but then thought, what the heck, who cares if I run into Taggart? I don't care if he knows.
Humming as she looked for things, she looked up to see Zander. "Whoah!" she laughed. "I was sure you were Taggart!"
"You don't want him to see you?" he grinned.
"I was only now just thinking I don't care if he does."
Zander came over to her and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back, turning to him and holding his forearms. She felt his tongue push her lips open and she opened her mouth and pushed hers forward. Her hands went up his forearms and then around his neck.
"I'm cooking you breakfast," she said, turning back toward the counter, when she had come back up for air, "don't argue."
Brenda went to take a shower after Zander left for work. She was drying off when she heard knocking at the door.
She hesitated. She didn't care who knew she was there, but it was Zander's place. She went to the door. The brownstone was so old fashioned, there was no peephole.
She sighed, then decided not to answer it. Zander wasn't home, anyway.
As she came out onto the front steps she saw Carly and Michael. "Hi Brenna," Michael said. "You wanna go play at the park?"
"She can't just now, Michael," Carly said. "She's on her way to work, like big people do."
"Oh, where Zanner is," Michael said. "We went to get 'im, Brenna, but he's not home."
"He will be later," Brenda said, "He'll be glad to see you, Michael."
"I'm a pweece," Michael said.
"OK, pardner," Brenda said. "You catch those bad guys today, while I go to work, OK?"
"OK!"
Brenda started walking down the street. "See you later," she said.
Letitia came finally, going off with Michael. Carly went off to go to Deception, the company Sonny had bought for her. She rarely went in. It was when she was not with Sonny that she went in the most.
On the way, she worried about seeing that witch at the brownstone like that. Was there no escaping her?
Surely, she would find some other guy, one with a lot of money, and leave Zander alone. Carly was only amazed that Brenda had even spent the night there at the brownstone.
How could that relationship amount to anything?
In fact, Carly realized, it was all over as soon as that bitch found out she wasn't living with Sonny.
Carly had not thought before about this development.
But she soon recovered.
"Screw Sonny," she thought to herself. "The bitch can have him. I'm sick of worrying about that, too. I'm sick of him and his kicking me out when everything doesn't go his way, and I'm not going to drive myself nuts about her any more, either."
She had arrived at Deception, resolve angrily intact.