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Oh, you dont have to do that. I live very far
away."
That doesnt matter," the doctor said. I dont have
much to go home for. You see, my wife died in childbirth recently "
You poor thing," Branwyn said, placing a hand on his
forearm.
Anyway, Eric, thats our boy, is usually asleep when
I get home, and theres a nanny there . . . and Im not very tired."
Branwyn was taken by the doctors handsome Nordic
features. He was blond and blue-eyed, and his smile was kind.
They drove down to Branwyns neighborhood near
Crenshaw. He parked his silver Mercedes in front of her apartment
building, and she said, Thank you so much, Doctor. You know, its a
long trip on that bus at night."
There was a moment when neither of them talked or
moved.
Are you hungry, Miss Beerman?"
Why . . . yes I am, Dr. Nolan."
She wasnt really, but the way the doctor asked the
question, she knew that he needed company. A man losing a wife like that
would be lost in the world, she knew.
There was an all-night place called the Rib Joint on
La Brea, run by a wild character named Fontanot. He was a six-foot-seven
Texan who smoked his ribs in the backyard of the restaurant and whose
great big laugh could be heard from a block away.
Fontanot had a long face and sad eyes. He was very
dark-skinned and powerful, in both his limbs and his will. At that time,
the Rib Joint was very popular with the Hollywood set. Movie stars,
directors, and big-time producers came there every night. They ordered
Fontanots ribs for their private functions and often invited him to
come along.
I aint got time for no parties," hed say, shunning
their invitations. Make hay while the sun shines, thats what my mama
always told me to do."
Fontanot did not fraternize much with the
muckety-mucks from Hollywood. He laughed if they told a good joke, and
he put ribs along with his homemade sauce on their tables.
When Minas and Branwyn came into the restaurant,
sometime just before midnight, there was a line of at least a dozen
parties waiting to be seated. Men and women were laughing and drinking
and trying to get their names put ahead on the list. Minas hunted up a
stool and put it against the jukebox so that Branwyn could get off her
feet.
When Fontanot saw this simple gesture from the tiny
window that looked out from his kitchen, he came out and shook hands
with the doctor.
Ira Fontanot," the restaurateur said.
My names Minas. Minas Nolan. And this is Miss
Beerman."
You two are in love," the sad-eyed giant informed
them.
Oh, no," they both said at the same time.
You might not know it yet," Fontanot announced, but
you are in love. Theres no helpin that. All I need to know is if
youre hungry or not."
Starving," Minas Nolan said with a deep feeling in
his tone that struck Branwyn.
Then come on back to my special table and I will
serve you some barbecue."
To be seated at the special table was the desire of
every powerful customer at the Rib Joint. That table was there for Iras
mother and for his new girlfriend.
Minda, Iras sainted mom, said that her sons
girlfriends were always new.
The lady hes seein might be with him for one
birthday, but shell never see two," Minda would say through her coarse
smokers rasp.
Other than that, the special table, set in the corner
of Iras kitchen, usually went empty. When a famous director like
Heurick Roberts would ask Ivy, the hostess, to give him that table,
shed grin, showing her gold tooth, and say, If I was to sit you in
there with Fontanot hed skin ya and clean ya and slather yo ribs wit
sauce."
Copyright © 2006 by Walter Mosley
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