Page 14 of One More Chance
Seven
“I’m sorry for everything.”
The words haunted Tony as he laid awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.
There was a current theme of regret and resentment ran through his veins and every R&B and hip-hop song made its way to the forefront:
First, it was Carl Thomas.I wish I never met her at all.
Then it was Keyshia Cole.I should’ve cheated.
Finally, it was Notorious B.I.G.I’m on some real fuck a bitch shit.
It was easier to stay mad at Krista and he would be lying if he didn’t think the anger gave him a bit of satisfaction. She moved onto numerous boyfriends and Tony…well, Tony moved on but not quite.
Siena.
He could easily visualize her smile and laughter, illuminating every room she was in. Her personality was infectious and those who encountered her, always remembered her. She was the true love of Tony’s life.
Feeling his stomach wrapped up in knots, Tony sat up in bed. His palms were sweaty, and his chest felt tight and constricted. Four words messed him up. Four words changed the rules.
Four words…changed his life.
Unable to sleep (and he wasn’t trying), Tony shot out of bed and quietly paced the plush carpeting of his bedroom. Fucking Krista and her fucking apology. Things were easier when he thought she was the scum of the earth. Her and Faye were two sides of the bitter cunt crew who tried to take down his family.
No, that wasn’t true. Krista wasn’t a bitter cunt. She was Tony’s everything.
The woman he loved, he’d always loved, and he’d never stopped loving was sleeping down the hall from him, while he stared hard at the ceiling and wrung his hands. Was giving her another chance even an option? Why was she at his home if that’s not what he had in mind? He could’ve easily declined her request to come over. Hell, he could’ve easily ignored her from the start.
He needed to talk to the only one who could possibly understand what it meant to forgive.
~~~~~
“I know it must be real urgent for you to make an appearance here,” Nicola D’Amato-Rodriguez sat down at her kitchen table.
Tony dug into his mother’s famous cheesecake and slightly moaned when he had the first bite. The chocolate chips melted in his mouth while the creaminess of the cake felt like an orgy. “I need advice on how to proceed.”
“With what?” Nicola blew on her too-hot cup of tea. Tony’d called her deep into the night, waking her up from her slumber, but it didn’t matter to Nicola. Whenever her sons needed her, she was available. “You didn’t kick her out and she’s still at your home, yes? You obviously forgive her.”
“I don’t know. Did I?” Tony asked between bites. “When she apologized, I didn’t do anything but workout.”
“Because you were in shock,” Nicola’s voice was smooth as honey, “you were used to be angry with Kris, you didn’t want to forgive her. People love to say it’s too late to apologize but it’s never too late. Now, itistoo late to keep anger built up inside you. How is that anger benefitting anyone? How is that anger benefittingyou?”
“She tried to ruin us, Ma.” Tony defended. “She and Faye were the ones who spread those horrible rumors.”
“I’m not justifying what she did, Antonio. I know she was wrong and so does Kris.” Nicola added. “But Antonio, it’s been two years. Eliodoro is making amends with Faye and you know that took a lot of him to do that.”
“Eli and Faye have children, though,” Tony pointed out, “they have to coparent together.”
“Not necessarily,” Nicola referred to her acrimonious divorce with her sons’ father, “if your brother wanted to destroy Faith’s life, he could’ve easily done it and take the kids away from her for good. He chose not to because he knew it wasn’t right no matter how much he thought he hated her.”
“Kris and I don’t have any children,” Tony replied, “so there’s that.”
“No, but you two have history and lot of it,” Nicola mentioned. “You two have known each other since you were 13, she 18. And yeah, it took some time for you two to get together, but once you did, you two were unstoppable. And I’ve never seen a woman love you the way she did, Antonio. And I’ve never seen you love a woman the way you loved Kris, including Ana, God rest her soul.” Nicola let out an emotional breath. “Now Kris is back in your life and for good reason, Antonio. You know that saying about love returning…”
“If you love someone, set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If not, it was not meant to be.” Tony recited. Krista came back to him and while he brushed off her attempt the first time, he extended the olive branch the second. “I guess you’re right.”
“It has nothing to do with being right,” Nicola reached over and grabbed her youngest son’s hand, “it has to do with love. It took me years being alone to find Art, and he’s everything I could ever want in a husband. But I suffered alone for many years, Antonio, and all of you know this. I don’t want you to go through what I went through. Your father chose to stay out of your lives for reasons only he knows. Kris is trying to come back into yours. Give her a chance. If it was a waste of time, you can come back and tell me, ‘told you so.’”
“And if it’s not?” Tony asked.
Nicola shrugged. “I guess I have to slim down enough for another wedding.”
Tony smiled. “She tried to ruin us, Ma.”
“Ruin? I’m not too sure about that. She tried but she didn’t. I think if Krista wanted to hurt you, she would’ve done a lot worse and she didn’t. I do believe she was caught up in what was going on between your brother and Faye, she didn’t see the forest for the trees.” Nicola reminded him, “the Bible says no weapons formed against you shall prosper. It didn’t say no weapons will form against you,period. From what I’ve understood, Krista was feeling remorse shortly after everything took place, but it was already too late. The damage had been done.”
Tony exhaled through his nose. He remembered things were so bad, he had to turn off comments from his IG page and went on a deleting spree on his Facebook account. The same people who wished him harm were now back to kissing his ass.Funny how life works.“How do we go back to where we were?” He questioned. “I can’t just pretend everything’s okay?”
“No one is asking you to,” Nicola replied, “but if you’re willing to forgive her – and I believe you already have – things will work out in the way they need to be in the order they should be. But for now, go home and talk to her, Antonio. That’s the very least you can do.”
