Page 107 of Beni

Her parents loved Beni, no questions asked. She bet it was because really, she didn’t bring guys home to meet them—ever. He was the first man to ever walk over her parents’ threshold, holding her hand, with an almost shy smile—that was a sight, to be sure—as she introduced him to her mom and dad.

It was enough to say he was important.

Serious.

Something good.

So, her parents fell in line, welcomed him into their home, and tried not to ask too many questions. Except a few fell out here and there, like now.

She heard her father’s question from the dining room as she helped her mother plate the fried chicken, and gather the potato salad and greens.

“And when did you two meet?” Cameron asked.

Beni didn’t miss a beat. “When she came to Chicago.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re from.”

“Canada, actually. Toronto, but my mother grew up in Chicago, and I moved there a few months ago for work.”

“What kind of work?”

“Daddy!”

Ada gave August a look. “Hush, you.”

“Ma.”

Her mother just gave August that look again. One that said, child, you will quiet your mouth. Everyone’s mother had that goddamn look, and while it might vary from woman to woman, the meaning and intention was still the same. It didn’t matter at all that she was an adult.

“I do a lot of things,” Beni said, clearly careful about choosing his words before he added, “but mostly I answer to Tommas Rossi at the end of the day.”

“Do you now?”

“Yes.”

“And does that make you connected to the business Tommas has in Chicago?”

God.

“Ma, tell him to knock it off.”

Ada shook her head, and took her time pulling sliced cucumbers from the fridge. “I will not. You brought a man home, and didn’t think he was going to ask questions? Come on now, I know you to be a smarter girl than that, August.”

“But—”

“That’s dangerous business,” her father said.

Beni cleared his throat. “Only if we let it be, yeah.”

“I trust that my daughter isn’t getting mixed up in any of it, right?”

“On my life,” Beni returned.

“I’ll hold you to that, young man.”

“I would hope so, Mr. Rivera.”

“Call me Cameron, Beni. I only like being addressed as Mr. in court.”