Mr. Paradise A Novel Read Online Free PDF

smiling at her but didn’t get up. Kelly had to lean in to kiss his cheek and felt his liver-spotted hand slip into her coat to close on her breast, the left one, inside a cotton sweatshirt. As she straightened he said, “What’re you wearing that sweater for?”
    “I have a cold,” Kelly said. “But, hey, it’s from the University of Michigan,” gave him a darling smile and said, “go blue.”
    Chloe sat on his rickety lap to kiss him on the mouth and he slipped both hands into her coat saying, “Here my little cheerleaders.”
    “If you’re a good boy,” Chloe said to him, “I’ll let you paint my M on.” She brought a blue Magic Marker out of her coat and put it in his hand. “Want to?”
    Kelly thinking, I’m gonna be sick.
    She was aware of Montez hanging back, not saying anything to the old man. Lloyd the houseman appeared, took their drink order and Montez followed him out of the room. He was back in a few minutes opening a bottle ofChristiania vodka; he freshened the old man’s drink and left the bottle in the ice bucket, on a table close by. Now he seemed to wander around, antsy. Kelly watched him go through the hallway to the foyer and stand by the front double doors with their etched-glass panels, pale rose in the dark wood.
    Mr. Paradise said, “There,” as he finished applying Chloe’s M, a crude letter below her perfect breasts. He turned his head and Kelly saw he was looking toward Montez in the foyer, Montez returning now to the living room.
    The old man said, “The hell you doing skulking around?”
    Montez gave him a dumb look, surprised, said, “Nothing,” and held up empty hands.
    Chloe said, “He’s pissed he had to pick us up.”
    The old man said, “No, no, it takes more than that to get under Mr. Montez Taylor’s skin. He has a great capacity for taking shit, knows how to accept it and grin. But I did find his pissed-off threshold. I was gonna give him this house, help him with his social acceptability. I don’t mean it as a racial thing, Indian Village is half colored anyway. No, what I’m saying is Mr. Taylor could put on the dog and be accepted as a colorful character—no pun intended. But, can he earn a living once I’m gone? Pay the taxes? Keep the place up? I realized the obligation would be too much for him. He’d sell the house and spend the money on having a good time. So my granddaughter Allegra will get it. Live here or sell the property and put her kids through college. I told Mr. Taylor I’d changed my mind, then watched his chagrin rise and boil over when I told him he’d be taken care of by my son Tony.Now Mr. Taylor was so pissed off he insults me by insulting my son.”
    Chloe said, “Oh, it can’t be that bad. You know yourself Tony Jr.’s not”—she hesitated, the old guy staring at her—“well, not as congenial as you are.”
    He said, “You’re close to getting in trouble yourself,” and moved his gaze to Montez. “You deny it?”
    Montez said, “Deny what?”
    And Kelly had to look at him; he sounded different, at ease now, in no hurry.
    “That you insulted my son.”
    “You insult me in your own way,” Montez said, “and it’s okay. Calling me Mr. Taylor. Meaning I’m uppity, have no business saying anything against your boy. Meaning I can’t say anything to you one man to another.”
    Still with the quiet tone, in no hurry.
    “Like you said to me this evening you’re watching your show. You said I forget who I am. Meaning, my place. Like I had talked back to you.”
    Kelly watched, surprised he could be so calm giving it back to his boss. She heard the old man say, “Montez,” and turned to see Mr. Paradiso raise his hand to wave Montez off, like telling him to forget it.
    “Okay, let’s say we were both pissed off—and I’m not supposed to let anything bother me, doctor’s orders. I know who you are, you’re my number one, Montez, my walking-around guy. Okay?”
    He let it hang there until Chloe said, “And