96 - Witchy Woman

Eight o’clock on a Sunday morning may have been too early to go calling, but Dorothea didn’t particularly care.  After a restless night spent alternating between disappointment and fury, she was tired, irritable and ready for some answers.  Breaching the boundaries of social visitation was way down on her list of things to give a damn about. 

Those two emotions had been divided pretty equally between both Tony and his parents.  For Tony, the two warred over the fact that he wouldn’t share what had happened and how it was affecting him.  He was going to find out in no uncertain terms that that shit wasn’t going to fly with her.  There were too many times that she’d gotten left out of the loop in Jon’s life.  Honestly, most of it she didn’t care about, but the little things had piled together to form an unspoken distance between them.  Things had been dramatically different with Tony thus far, and she wanted them to stay that way.

Then there was a different disappointment and fury at whatever his parents – his mother – had done to cause the whole thing.  Yes, while she was sure both of them had likely been present, Dorothea knew that it was Carol who had dealt the damaging blow.  John wouldn’t have disagreed with her, but he also wouldn’t have been the one who stirred the pot, as it were.

She could be wrong, but if Dorothea were a betting woman?  She’d bet the farm on it.

The car shifted easily to Park in front of her former in-laws’ home.  Or her children’s grandparents’ home.  Or maybe even her future in-laws’ home, at some fictitious point down the road.  Although…  she could probably qualify as clinically insane if she were to ever marry back into this family. 

Allowing the door of the luxury car to close, the polite slam echoed in the cold morning air.  Dorothea pulled her coat more tightly around her body in the glare of the deceptively bright sun, and she thought of the visible breath leaving her mouth as smoke.  It seemed appropriate since, chances were, she was going to turn into a fire-breathing dragon once inside.

Stomping her booted feet up the three steps to the front door, Dorothea rang the bell.  An SUV went down the street behind her, but other than that, everything was quiet in the residential neighborhood on this Sunday morning.

Surprise lit Carol Bongiovi’s face when she found who was waiting for her at the front door. The woman was impeccably groomed, as always, in a fashionable warm-up outfit suitable to the chilly temperatures. 

“Dottie!”  Carol plastered on an over bright smile, and Dorothea knew she was looking at the person responsible for Tony’s unfamiliar mood the last couple of days.  “What are you doing here?  Are the kids okay?”

She pasted on her own civil smile.  “Good morning Carol.  The kids are fine, I assume.  They’re at Jon’s.”  Shifting all of her weight to one foot, she burrowed a hand in the pocket of her wool coat and met the older woman’s shrewd eyes with her own shrewdness.  “I’d like to come in and talk to you for a minute, if you’re not too busy.”

The words were polite, as they should be, but they were uttered only out of social decorum.  She was going to talk to her former mother-in-law regardless of whether it was a good time for her or not.

The artificial smile faltered a bit, but Carol stepped back, saying, “Of course.  Come in.”

Mentally girding herself for battle, Dorothea followed Carol into the familiar interior and through the foyer to the living room.  She unbuttoned her coat and allowed herself to be guided toward one of the armchairs that flanked the sofa, while Carol seated herself in the other.   The long coffee table stretched out like a glass lake between them.

You want to keep some distance, huh?  That tells me even more.

“So…”  Tony’s mother fidgeted in her seat, under the guise of getting more comfortable.  She was the consummate poker player, trying her best to keep her unease at bay.  Fortunately, Dorothea had plenty of experience reading those poker moves, because Jon used many of the same ones.  “What brings you out so early?”

“Carol.”  She had no desire to prolong this, thereby cutting right to the chase.  “I understand that Tony told you we’re seeing each other.”

The older woman’s mouth tightened and Dorothea couldn’t help but wonder if she was literally biting her tongue. 

“He mentioned it, yes.”

“And your reaction to that was…?”

“I’m sure Anthony has already told you what my reaction was,” Carol all but sniffed haughtily.  “Is this really necessary?”

Dorothea narrowed her eyes, even as she smiled.  This was going to be interesting.

“Actually, he hasn’t told me anything other than it went ‘fine’.  Knowing Tony, he doesn’t want to burden me with the unpleasant details.” 

Through the years, she’d been involved in or privy to more Bongiovi family drama than she’d ever wanted to be.  Not knowing about Jon’s occasional indiscretions would have been easier, but somehow they always found their way to her.  The ugly financial battles that went on with his parents hadn’t been much better.  If Bongiovis knew how to do anything, it was fight – in private, of course. 

Dorothea laughed amiably with the knowledge that Carol was fully aware of the family secrets she carried.  “But you know me Carol.  Unpleasant details are something I’m accustomed to.”

At first, the older woman tucked her hair somewhat nervously behind her ear, eyes shifting uneasily around the room.  Then, she apparently won some type of internal debate with herself, because her spine straightened and she squared her shoulders.  Almost defiantly, she ignored the barb and informed Dorothea, “Honey, you know I love you.  You’re a wonderful mother to my grandchildren and you were a good wife to Jonny up until the point you chose to throw away your marriage.”

Let it go.  You’re not here to justify  a three year old decision.

“But, quite frankly, I think Anthony should find a woman his brother hasn’t already had.”

The air was sucked out of her lungs for an instant.  Quickly blinking her eyes, Dorothea cocked her head with incredulity.  Had Carol really just had the gall to say that to her face?

“Well, you know,” Dorothea chuckled apologetically, after regaining her faculties.  “It isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Jon has always been an overachiever.”

Carol’s face flushed red with the pointed insult of her favored son.  She tended to pretend that her dear Jonny had been a saint, even when Jon freely admitted he hadn’t.  Refusing to acknowledge the well-placed barb, she flapped her hand carelessly in the air.  “Anthony has spent his entire life trying to live up to Jonny.  After so long, a mother can’t take the disappointment any longer.  I’d like for Anthony to do something original for a change.  Something he thought of himself.”

Sweet Mary, Mother of God.  I’ve spent thirty years riding the waves, but this woman is about to capsize the entire boat.  I hope she’s wearing a life jacket.

“Carol, I’ve known you for most of my life.”  Swallowing back her rage, she fought to keep a congenial tone.  “We’ve always gotten along, and I’d like to keep it that way, if for no other reason than because of your grandchildren.”

Don’t go off on the woman.  It doesn’t do any good.

“But I can’t let this go by and not point out just exactly how wrong you are.  You’ve raised your sons into admirable men.  But make no mistake…  There are three of them, each distinct and successful in his own way.  Despite your best efforts, it’s not Jon and two clones.  Do you even know the difference in your children?”

“Of course I do!” Carol huffed indignantly.

Dorothea shook her head sadly.  “I don’t think you do, but I’m going to tell you.”  She rested her forearms against her knees and leaned forward compellingly.  “Tony loves me in a way that I'm not sure Jon is even capable of.  His girlfriend may prove me wrong, and I hope she does, but you’ve convinced him believe his own press to the point he isn’t compelled to give anyone as much as he expects in return.” 

“Jonny has a girlfriend?” 

Clearly this was news to Mama Bongiovi, and Dot felt neither the inclination nor obligation to fill her in.  Jon could deal with it himself.  Instead, she raised her hands in a defensive gesture, her smile demure.

“I loved Jon for a long time and part of me always will, but he didn’t do for me in twenty years what Tony has done for me in one.  The son that you’re belittling is one of the sweetest, most selfless, loving men I’ve ever known.”

“Dottie –“

A warning finger lifted and pointed ominously.  “Let me finish.”

Carol harrumphed, but ultimately nodded with pursed lips.

“What you see as lack of an original idea is actually Tony’s selflessness.  I remember way back when.  Jonny wanted to be cutting edge and move into more live video production.  And what did Tony do?  He learned everything there was to know, just to help his brother.  Now he trains good people to do music video better than anyone else so that Jon looks good on tour.  He’s not trying to live up to Jonny, he’s trying to help Jonny live the life he wants.”

“Jonny’s wife should be doing that,” Carol pointed out snarkily.

Rolling her eyes, Dorothea gave the snark right back to her.  “Maybe his next one will.”

Heavy silence hung in the room as the women engaged in a standoff.  After a full minute had passed, Dorothea decided that if Carol had nothing else to say, she was going to finish her piece.

“Jon is no longer my concern.  Tony’s my concern now, and I want to remind you that we’re well beyond the age of consent.  If you don’t like us seeing each other, that’s a personal problem you need to deal with, because we will be together for as long as we see fit.”

Scarlet tipped nails tapped on folded arms as Carol glowered at her, clearly peeved.  “Well, you can do whatever you want.  I don’t have to like it.”

“No,” she agreed affably, smiling that barely civil smile again.  “But you do have to act like you do.  That is, if you want to see your grandchildren.  I won’t allow you to poison their minds with your skewed perception of reality.”

Piercing blue eyes narrowed, and she took her opportunity to make Dorothea ‘see reason’.  “You’re effectively denying him any children of his own.  You realize that, don’t you?  Is that something you can live with?”

She inhaled deeply, smile firmly tacked in place.  It wasn’t something they’d talked about, and she didn’t honestly know how Tony felt about it, but Carol was right.  She wasn’t going to be having any more babies. 

“That’s a personal matter between Tony and me.  I’m not discussing it with you.”

Some of the starch went out of Carol’s sails as she tried a different tact.  “Dottie, you’re a mother.  You have to understand how I feel.  What would you do in my position?”

“Me?”  Dorothea laughed mirthlessly through the perma-grin she had adopted.  “I would , and do, want my children to be happy.  All of my children.”

She pushed to her feet, tired of this.  Carol had her reality and it only intersected everyone else’s reality outside of Jon’s golden aura.  The woman would feel the way she wanted to feel, but Dorothea was okay with that.  Carol knew how she felt, and what she would tolerate as acceptable behavior.  There was nothing else to be done.

“Does Jonny even know?  Or are you keeping it hidden from him?” the Bongiovi matriarch demanded.

“Carol, you know me better than that,” she sighed, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her coat.  “He was the first one we told.  I think that was about the same time he fell in love with Petey, so why don’t you ask him how he feels about it?  I'm pretty sure he couldn't care less.  If he can accept it, you sure as hell should.”

With that, she strode out of the room and out the front door.

She played nice with Carol for thirty years.  She didn’t have to do it anymore.

Not unless you and Tony stay together permanently.

She would worry about that later, Dorothea decided as the storm door closed behind her and she descended the steps.  Because if Carol didn’t start showing her younger sons some respect, Dorothea saw no reason to show Carol any.