The Mayor of Lexington Avenue

Thirty-nine

Jack had a big house but he only had four bedrooms. So when Maria Lopez, Dick Radek and Joaquin Sanchez moved in, he and Pat decided that she should move all her things from one of the guest rooms into Jack’s master bedroom.

“We’re not actually living together; we’re just sharing the same bedroom,” he said with a matter-of-fact look on his face.

“I agree. It’s just out of necessity and it’s only temporary. It’s not a commitment.”

“Right,” he agreed. “And it’s not like we haven’t been sleeping together every night anyway.”

“And taking showers together to save water.”

“Right again,” he said, beginning to lose it. “We’re just doing this for the team.” And then they both burst out laughing.

Joaquin brought his boat over from the other side of the lake and kept it in the extra slip at Jack’s dock so he could go fishing. He and Dick worked out a schedule that allowed Joaquin to fish from six to nine in the morning. One of them would then escort Jack and Maria to work while the other stayed home with Pat. Joaquin slept during the day while Dick watched the house. Joaquin was a runner, so he ran with Jack and Pat at night, a small.22 pistol tucked inside his running shorts.

The arrangement worked out well for the first three weeks until Pat tried to start a mutiny.

“Is this around-the-clock security all that necessary?” she asked one morning at breakfast when they all happened to be present. “I mean, Dick, I love you and you too, Joaquin, but do I need you guys shopping with me for underwear? The only time I feel alone anymore is when I take a shower in the morning after Jack and Maria have gone to work.”

Dick and Joaquin stared straight down at their breakfast. They both were experienced enough to recognize a domestic dispute when they saw it. These questions were for Jack to answer.

“I don’t know what to tell you, honey,” Jack began. He knew it was hardest on her because she didn’t have the luxury of escaping into the normal routine of the office like Maria and he could. “The only way we can ensure that nobody else gets killed is to account for all of our whereabouts day and night. You’re in danger because you’re close to me. If you go out of town-say if you went to New York for a couple of weeks-you’d be fine. I don’t think anybody would follow you there. So if you’re feeling a little penned in, just take a trip. Anybody else have any other thoughts?”

Dick and Joaquin didn’t look up from their plates.

“Sounds good to me,” Dick said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Me too,” mumbled Joaquin from behind his coffee cup.

Jack made the mistake of trying to add a little levity.

“Poor Maria has to ride with me to work every morning and have lunch with me every day.” The “Poor Maria” line did not go over too well with Pat. Maria knew it right away and knew how to save the situation better than Jack.

“The people in the office are starting to talk,” she said. “And you don’t help the situation, Jack, when you have your arm around me every time we walk in and out the front door.” They all knew that was part of the plan-to make it common knowledge that Jack and Maria were together at all times. The people who were watching needed to get that message. “But don’t worry, Pat, I don’t like gringos.”

Pat smiled and came back with a zinger of her own. “We’ve all noticed,” she said with a waggle of her eyebrows, which made everyone laugh except Joaquin, who turned a little red. Sometime during the first two weeks, he and Maria had bonded. During the third week, he abruptly stopped his morning fishing routine. Everyone assumed he had simply decided to sleep in, until he emerged from Maria’s bedroom one morning. Nobody said anything until a few days later at breakfast. Jack and Pat had their heads together, and Maria and Joaquin were sneaking glances across the table when Dick suddenly blurted out, “I feel like a fifth wheel around here.”

Jack almost spit his oatmeal out he started laughing so hard.

“I can set you up with Dolly at the Pelican,” Pat offered. “I hear she’s available.” She had taken to dragging Dick to breakfast at the Pelican whenever the others left early for the office.

“I don’t know if I could take her asking me if I wanted the usual every night,” Dick shot back, bringing them all almost to tears.

They were laughing again now, but the problem had not been resolved.

“Do you want to take a vacation? Get out of here for a few weeks?” Jack suggested again.

Pat hesitated. “I don’t think so. You’re all dealing with the circumstances, so I guess I can too. But Jack, when is it going to end? What I really mean is, when is it going to start?”

“As soon as I have an opportunity, Pat, I promise you. As soon as I have an opportunity.” Pat nodded. She knew he was doing his best, although she didn’t quite understand what he meant by an opportunity. There were certain things Jack kept to himself.

“All right,” she sighed. “But when this is over, you’re going to take me to Europe.”

“Hell, when this is over, I’ll take us all to Europe.”