First Class Stamp (5 page)

*****

Alex sat on the floor in the living room of his
grandparents’ apartment, legs spread wide and his money jar open between them.

“How much have you earned?” Gloria asked.

“Thirty-four dollars and eighteen cents,” he sighed.

“Well that’s fantastic!” encouraged Sophia. “Good for you!”

“It’s not enough,” he frowned. “I won’t have enough by the
time the season ends and then I won’t get to go.”

Sophia felt for her son. She knew he desperately wanted to
go to a Yankees game but they were expensive. She’d checked to see just how
much he was going to need. She was stunned as she saw the prices.

“Why can’t I just go with Ben? He offered to take me!”

“Offered to take you where?” asked Aldo as he entered the
apartment.

“All done?” Gloria asked.

“All locked up and done for the night. Who’s winning?” Aldo
nodded at the television…a Yankees away game being televised.

“We are,” Alex sighed. “Four to two. Top of the seventh.”

“Don’t be so glum,” chuckled his grandfather. “A win is a
good thing.”

“Ben said he’d take me. He said he had a box suite but mom
says I can’t go.”

“Ben?” Aldo asked.

“Mr. Lathem,” Alex replied.

“Oh! Nice young man.”

“See?” Alex swung to face his mother. “Grandpa says he’s a
good guy so why won’t you let me go?”

“I am
not
letting my son go on an outing with a man I
don’t know from Adam. He was just making conversation, anyway.” Sophia really
hoped he’d just forget the whole conversation.

“Hmph!” he pouted.

The next morning Alex was still irritated with his mother so
he spent a couple of hours with Aldo in the store, sitting on a stool, tossing
a baseball into the air and then catching it in his mitt. His father should
have picked him up by now for the weekend but, once again, he’d called to say
he was working. Alex told himself that his dad was the hardest working man he’d
ever known…even more so than his grandfather. But deep down he knew that his dad
just didn’t want to see him, he just preferred the former theory. Alex was
bored just sitting but he didn’t care. He
wasn’t
going back upstairs. He
didn’t offer to help his grandfather either. Not that there were many customers
on a Saturday morning, but still, he was in a bad mood and was having a tantrum
as only a twelve year old boy knows how.

He didn’t see Ben come in and pick up a loaf of bread and a
carton of milk. If it wasn’t for Aldo calling him by name, he would have come
and gone without Alex ever knowing.

“Thank you Mr. Lathem. Have a good weekend.”

“Ben!” Alex screamed and tore around the corner and almost
ran into Ben. “Hi!”

A big smile spread across Ben’s face. “Hey there. How ya
doin’?”

“Eh,” Alex shrugged. “I’m bored.”

“Not many customers, huh?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “Hey, were you serious the other
day? About the game? And the suite?”

Ben glanced at Aldo who was watching curiously at the
exchange. “Sure I was, but your mom…”

“But if mom said it was okay, would you
really
take
me?”

“If your mom said it was okay then…”

“Hold on!” Alex yelled and ran like a banshee through the
store and disappeared into the back.

“Did I say something wrong?” Ben asked Aldo.

“We’ll have to see,” Aldo shrugged.

They heard the thumping of footsteps down the stairs and
then Alex reappeared with his mother in tow. Sophia was in cut-off grey sweats,
a pink wife-beater tank top, a red floral apron and yellow rubber gloves. Her
black hair was hidden behind a bandana wrapped around her head. She was
sweating and her face was free of makeup, obviously in the middle of cleaning. Ben
thought she looked embarrassed as she looked up to see him standing there.

“He said he was serious, mom. And Grandpa says he’s a good
guy and I
really
want to go to a game. Please?”

Ben took a deep breath and was about to tell Alex that
perhaps it wasn’t such a great idea, when Alex looked up at him with those big
brown eyes and the image that popped into his head was Puss in Boots from
Shrek. It worked…like a charm and Ben knew that he couldn’t disappoint the boy.
The art of negotiation was what he was good at, so he figured he could make
this work.

“You don’t know me,” he began, looking at Sophia, “and I get
that as a parent that would scare the sh…heck out of you. But I promise, I’m
not a bad guy,” he grinned. “Tell you what. Let me take you to dinner and you
can ask me every question under the sun and then maybe you’ll feel better about
Alex coming to a game with me. What’d’ya say?”

“You’re asking me out on a
date
?” Sophia was almost
speechless.

“Oh God, no!” Then he saw her face and realized that perhaps
it had been the wrong reaction to her question. “I mean…no…this wouldn’t be a
date. Just an opportunity for you to get to know me better.”

The hardness around her eyes softened and she said, “I can’t
leave my mom and…”

“Oh phooey!” Aldo chimed in. “Your mother is getting
stronger every day and her sister can come if she needs someone to take care of
her. Take a break! Go have dinner with the man.”

“Fine!” she scowled.

Aldo knew from where Alex got his sunny disposition.

They settled on lunch…the next day…Sunday. Alex was anxious
for them to get their acquaintance made so any obstacles in his path to Yankee
Stadium were annihilated. Ben couldn’t fault him, in fact, he kinda liked the
boy. But he felt somewhat guilty about not being at work and tackling the piles
still on his desk. And it was obvious from the moment Sophia entered the
restaurant that she didn’t want to be there either.

Dressed in black capris, a black and white striped cotton
shirt and black slip-on sandals, she nodded in Ben’s direction as the hostess
greeted her and made her way through the other diners to his table. Being a
gentleman, Ben stood and greeted her with a smile and then pulled her chair out
for her to sit across from him. She thanked him and sat, folding her arms across
her body, all but screaming her desire to be anywhere but with him.

Ben took her body language as a challenge and inwardly
grinned as he formulated his plan. He had no desire to win over Sophia, even
though he found her physically attractive. He liked tall women to match his six
foot two frame and she appeared to be close to five-ten, an unusual but
welcomed change in the women he dated. Ben immediately checked his thoughts. He
was definitely
not
dating Sophia and had no wish to do so but that
didn’t mean he couldn’t admire the woman in front of him. Her eyes were open
and bright, expressing emotions readily. Her nose was perfectly proportioned to
her face and her lips were full and dark pink…and currently pouting. Yes…he
could enjoy looking at her.

“I know this is the last place you want to be right now,” he
began, “but I need to apologize for opening my mouth and offering to take Alex
to a ball game without thinking. It was probably not the smartest thing for me
to do.”

“You think?” Sarcasm dripped off her tongue.

“Well, I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.”

“Yeah, well…” She didn’t have anything more to add, leaving
an awkward silence that persisted ‘til the waitress arrived with menus.

Ben graciously accepted the linen paper menu and made a
point of studying it for several minutes before glancing up at Sophia. “I eat
here quite a lot and I can vouch for pretty much everything on here. It’s all
really good.”

With an almost audible sigh, Sophia laid the menu across the
charger in front of her and took a long drink of water. “Okay,” she conceded.
“My dad tells me you appear to be an upstanding guy, and if you really do have
a box suite then you have plenty of money and can afford to take Alex to a
game.”

Ben couldn’t believe it was that easy! He hadn’t even begun
to mount his argument in defense of himself. He’d made a copy of his driver’s
license and had a business card stapled to the paper, all so she could run
background checks if she so desired. And that was just stage one!

“The thing,” she continued, “is that Alex’s father, we’re
divorced, promises things all the time and
never
follows through,
leaving Alex disappointed and…and feeling like he doesn’t count. And I’m sure
as hell not going to offer him up on a platter to another asshole who’s gonna
do the same damn thing.”

“Look, I don’t know the first thing about being a parent,
and I’m not going to sit here and pretend I do, but, all Alex wants to do is go
to a Yankees game. I have a box, well, my brother has a box, and I offered to
take him. Here,” he said as he pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. “This is
a list of the next few home games. You and Alex pick out a couple that he’d
like to see and I’ll find one that fits in my schedule. I occasionally travel
for work but there should be one in that list that will work for both of us.
That’s all I’m offering and I give you my word that I’ll take him and he’ll be
safe and have a good time. That’s it.”

Taking the paper from his hand, Sophia chewed on her bottom
lip for a few seconds and then nodded. “Okay. That sounds fair enough.”

Ben reached in his pocket again and pulled a business card
from his wallet, leaving the photocopy of his license folded and hidden.
“Here’s my card with my contact information on it. Have Alex give me a call
with his list.”

Once again, Sophia took the card he offered and laid it on
the table in front of her. “Okay. Thank you.”

Ben thought the words sounded genuine and was relieved that
she’d agreed to his idea. The thought of taking Alex to a game was actually
exciting to him. He had many fond memories of going to games with his brothers
and his dad when he was a boy. He was feeling happy that he would have the
opportunity to give someone else a cherished memory.

“Great! Now that the business is all settled, let’s eat,” he
grinned.

*****

Two days later, as Ben sat at his desk staring at a counter
offer they’d received on a building purchase in Atlantic City, his secretary
buzzed to say he had a visitor – an unscheduled visitor.

“What do they want?” he asked.

“Well, apparently it’s about the Yankees. I didn’t quite get
all of it. He speaks a mile a minute.”

“Who the hell is it?”

“Alex?”

Ben roared with laughter. “Send him in.”

Two seconds later, there stood Alex in his doorway. “Hi.”

“Hey there. Does your mom know you’re here?”

He shook his head. “But Grandpa does. Mom gave me your card
and said to call you with our list, but I told Grandpa is would be easier to
just come by.”

“Oh it is, is it?” Ben stifled his laugh.

“Yeah,” he nodded as he walked to the chairs in front of
Ben’s desk.

“Have a seat,” Ben offered.

“You have a really nice office. Are you like, the boss?”

“Something like that,” Ben said.

“Cool!”

“Yep,” grinned Ben. “So you have a list for me?”

“Oh, yeah I do. I can actually go to all of them. Even after
school starts cuz they’re either at night or on the weekends or at night on the
weekends, so…”

His eyes were huge and all Ben could see was Puss in Boots
standing before him. He opened up his calendar on his laptop. “Alright. Well,
I’m free for the game against the Red Sox on Friday and…”

“Awesome!” Alex shrieked. “That will be an awesome game.
This is gonna be
so
awesome! I can’t wait!”

“Awesome,” Ben grinned. “So Friday it is?”

“Three days! Just three days and I’m gonna go to a Yankees
game. AWESOME!!”

“I’ll come get you at your Grandpa’s store at three o’clock.
Can you be ready?”

“Sure I can and I hope I have enough money to buy a jersey!”

“Tell you what. You keep saving all your money and I’ll buy
you a jersey.”

“AWESOME!!!”

“Yep,” Ben chuckled. “It’s gonna be awesome.”

It was the Lathem boys’ day at the Yankees game. Matt had
brought his three year old son Christopher and his stepsons Adam and Tyler.
Mark and Derek were there along with Ben’s other brothers: Andrew, David, Tim
and Paul. Rory, Andrew’s husband stayed home – he wasn’t into sporting events.
He didn’t like using public restrooms. Even Peter, the Lathem patriarch, was in
attendance.

Ben introduced Alex to his family and Alex proudly showed
off his new jersey Ben had purchased for him on the way up to the suites. He
also got a ball cap and a sweatshirt. Ben had just enjoyed seeing excitement on
the boy’s face. It had made him feel so good, he figured he’d probably end up
dropping another couple of hundred bucks on the way out, too.

Before they’d left Aldo’s Market, Sophia had reminded Alex
about every social requirement Ben had heard of; say please and thank you; stay
close to Ben; remember to hold the door for ladies; no running inside; stay
close to Ben at
all
times; don’t eat too much; don’t burp in public;
wash your hands often; use your foot to push the toilet flushing lever; don’t
talk to strangers; stay close to Ben; stay close to Ben; stay close to Ben. To
Ben she’d said, “Please don’t let him out of your sight.” Ben understood. He
wasn’t supposed to lose Alex.

Christopher wasn’t at all interested in the game. He was
busy playing cars on the floor so Alex sat with him until the game started.
Christopher instantly adored him.

“So…” said David. “What’s up with Alex?”

Ben quickly told the abbreviated version of the invitation
to which he got frowns and scrunched up faces.

“Oh man!” cried Mark. “You’re lucky you made it out of that
conversation alive.”

“Well, if looks could kill, I’d be dead,” he replied.

“I think it’s commendable,” offered Peter. “A wonderful
gesture. Every kid who loves baseball should get to see a game. Good for you.”

“Thanks,” Ben smiled. “I thought I was being nice. I didn’t
realize I’d have to deal with the lioness.”

“Yeah, well,” said Matt. “There’s nothing a mother won’t do
to protect her child. I’m amazed she let him come.”

“Well let’s make sure he gets him home in one piece,”
grinned David.

The game started and Alex ran to the front seat and hung
over the railing, totally enthralled from the first pitch of the first inning
to the very last at the bottom of the ninth. When it was time to leave the
stadium, Ben had to all but pry the boy’s hands away from the chair. On their
way out, Ben walked him into the apparel store and offered him anything he
wanted.

“No thank you,” Alex smiled. “This is more than I could have
ever hoped for. I don’t need anything else.”

So Ben took him home, back to the waiting arms of his
mother.

*****

Crystal Towers was now only about two-thirds leased. Maria
knew it wasn’t any reflection on her, or her ability to perform her job duties.
In fact, New York had told her they were pleased that it was as full as it was
under the circumstances, but it didn’t really make her feel much better. The
janitorial contract had been modified and she assumed that a few people had
lost their jobs with fewer offices to be cleaned. Security had been increased,
as the protestors had gained in strength and their physical presence was being
felt closer and closer. So far, however, they were still safe.

Luca continued to accompany his mother to work. School was
out for two more weeks and then it would be back to the usual routine. School
then soccer then to the neighbor’s house ‘til his mother returned home from
work. In some ways he was looking forward to it, but he was enjoying the
carefree existence at the Towers. He had the run of the management suite; the
conference room was all his, the break room was mostly all his with all the
snacks and drinks he could want. Life was pretty good.

Maria sat in her office opening mail. A nondescript envelope
was next in the pile and as she read the letter inside, her heart stopped for a
split second.

‘You are part of the problem. You Americans with all your
money. You think you can buy us? You think you can use your money to stop us?
You are wrong. You have been warned.’

She had no idea what to make of the veiled reference of a
threat but she called the security company and increased manpower and
surveillance anyway. Then she faxed the letter to New York.

*****

“
Please
take off the jersey so I can wash it,”
pleaded Sophia.

“Do I have to?” was Alex’s reply.

“Yes! You have to.”

Alex pulled the Yankees jersey over his head and threw it at
his mom standing in his bedroom doorway with a basket of dirty laundry. She
caught the offensive garment and stuffed it under her arm. “I’ll have it back
to you in a couple of hours and then you can wear if for another week,” she
chuckled.

It had been exactly one week since the Yankees Red Sox game
and Alex was still floating high. He wore his ball cap everywhere and Sophia
knew once it was cool enough the sweatshirt would be on his torso twenty-four seven.
But he was deliriously happy with the whole experience so she could only smile
as she threw the jersey in the washing machine.

Although nothing could make up for the absentee father
Willis had become, Sophia knew that Ben had achieved what she’d never be able
to do as Alex’s mom. He’d spent time with the boy, shared in his love of
baseball, and showered him with meaningful gifts. She acknowledged that it
must’ve cost a fortune too – money she
certainly
didn’t have to spend.
She was grateful to Ben, even if she refused to admit it out loud.

After adding detergent, Sophia turned the dial and water
started pouring into the machine. She closed the lid and headed downstairs.
She’d offered to man the store for a couple of hours so her parents could enjoy
dinner together. Gloria was able to shower by herself now and walk around the
house without being totally winded. There were small improvements every day and
for that Sophia was grateful and relieved.

“I’m all good now,” she smiled at her dad as she entered the
store. “Dinner is in the oven. All you have to do is serve. Mom’s even set the
table.”

“You are too good to us,” Aldo smiled. He kissed his
daughter as she joined him behind the counter.

“Nonsense!” she scoffed. “Parents take care of their children
when they are young and children take care of their parents when they are old.”

“Who you calling old?” Aldo chuckled. “Thanks sweetheart,”
and he disappeared through the back door and up the stairs.

*****

At eight forty-five, Ben exited the high-rise that housed
MEL Holdings and started the four block walk home. He was tired after a long
week and looked forward to a weekend at home…alone…doing nothing. Of course
Ben’s idea of doing nothing was working out at the gym, including swimming some
laps and then spending hours on his couch or at the dining table working with a
ball game on. Football, baseball, basketball…he wasn’t fussy. He’d order in
dinner on Saturday and eat the leftovers on Sunday, after church and dinner
with his parents and family. So doing nothing wasn’t really
nothing
at
all.

By the time he’d walked three blocks he was craving
something sweet; chocolate, ice cream, cookies. He didn’t care what, he just
needed some sugar.
My blood sugar must be low
, he thought grinning. That
was his father’s excuse every time him mother caught him with a treat. She’d
just frown, shake her head and mutter, “Blood sugar? Your blood sugar hasn’t
been low the entire time I’ve known you.”

Aldo’s market was still open so he opened the door and
headed straight for the snack aisle. Twinkies, Kit Kats, M & M’s stood
before him so he picked up all three before looking for ice cream. Vanilla ice
cream and a Kit Kat had been a childhood favorite that he’d never outgrown.
Instead of going for the quart container, Ben pulled the half gallon from the
freezer and headed for the cash register. He didn’t see Sophia until he’d
dumped his sugar binge on the counter.

“PMS?”

“Huh?” he asked.

“It looks like you’re shopping for someone with PMS,” she
explained.

“Huh?” he said again, obviously confused.

“Never mind,” she chuckled. “Twelve fifty-eight.”

Ben pulled his wallet from his rear trouser pocket and
looked around. “Where’s Alex?”

“Moping upstairs.”

“Why?”

“I made him take off the Yankee jersey to wash it,” she
laughed.

Ben laughed with her. “If he’s not here, I can use cash,
and
get to keep the change.”

“Huh?” It was her turn to look confused.

“Never mind,” he grinned.

Sophia bagged up his groceries in a white plastic sack but
before handing it to him said, “I want to thank you for taking Alex last week.
He had such a good time.”

“Oh, my pleasure. In fact, if he wants to go again I’d be
happy to take him.”

“Really?”

“For sure. Have him pick out a game, or two, and I’ll make
it work.”

Sophia smiled, a real smile that almost took Ben’s breath
away. “I’ll do that.”

Ben took the bag and left…quickly.

*****

Luca sat at the table and wrote his weekly letter to Ben.
School was starting the next day and he was happy to be going. At least that’s
what he wrote to Ben. The truth was he wasn’t really excited about the school
part. Well, that wasn’t entirely true either. He liked school, he just didn’t
like a couple of the boys that always seemed to find him on the playground or
in the bathroom. They hadn’t hurt him…yet. They just called him names and said
mean things about his mother. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t have a dad. He
tried to explain that he lived in America but they didn’t want to listen.
Sometimes he’d speak to them in English so they knew he was smarter than them
but that just made them madder.

One day when he’d come home and asked Maria what a whore
was, she’d dropped the glass she’d been holding and it smashed all over the
floor. She never did answer his question. Luca guessed it must be a bad word
that meant something not very nice so he didn’t ask her again.

He finished up his letter to Ben informing him that he did
indeed now have a passport and that his mom was hoping to have enough money to
bring him to New York City when she came for the conference. Then he put it in
an envelope and licked it closed. As promised, he pulled out the clothes he
would wear to school the next morning and laid them on the chair next to his
bed. The he brushed his teeth, and changed into his pajamas. After saying
prayers with his mother, Luca climbed into bed and fell asleep.

*****

Lindsey Lathem, David’s wife and Ben’s sister-in-law, left
the dining table for the second time. Maureen, Ben’s mother, stood up and
followed her up two flights of stairs to a bathroom off one of the guest rooms.

“Honey?” she called through the door. “Are you okay?” After
a moment or two, Maureen heard the door being unlocked but it didn’t open. “I’m
coming in Lindsey.”

Opening the door, Maureen was greeted with Lindsey, lying on
the floor, head lying on the toilet seat, looking positively green.

“Oh my,” Maureen said. “That look says food poisoning or
pregnant.”

“Pregnant, I think,” sighed Lindsey. “But please don’t say a
word. I haven’t told David yet.”

Maureen nodded and stepped over Lindsey’s body to sit on the
edge of the tub. She pulled a wash cloth from the basket on the shelf above the
Jacuzzi tub and soaked it under the faucet. Wringing it out, she gathered
Lindsey’s long hair and placed the cool cloth on the back of her neck. Then she
pulled off a strip of toilet paper and handed it to Lindsey to wipe her mouth.

“I don’t want him to be disappointed like last time,”
Lindsey finally spoke. “He was devastated when we lost the baby.”

“So were you,” Maureen added.

“I know, but he felt so…so…I don’t know.”

“Shhh,” Maureen soothed. “I know.”

David and Lindsey had announced they were expecting a baby
in seven months on a Sunday at their weekly family dinner just like today. The
following weekend she’d miscarried. It took her several weeks before she could
come back to the house for dinner. Now, eight months later, Maureen could see
the fear in her daughter-in-law’s eyes.

“You need to tell him, sweetheart,” Maureen stroked her hair
and pulled the cloth to re-wet it, this time gently wiping her forehead. “You
need him. He needs to be with here with you.”

“I know,” she sighed.

“Go and lie down. I’m going to go and get him, okay?”

“Okay,” she smiled. “Maureen?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

Half an hour later, Janie asked where Lindsey and David had
gone.

“They had to go. Lindsey had a crisis to attend do,” Maureen
said.

“Now she has four restaurants there’s always gonna be a
crisis somewhere,” Rory added.

Maureen dished up dessert, apple pie with ice cream, and
thought about her daughter-in-law, praying silently that this time all would be
well.

Ben took seconds and Maureen was shocked. “You hardly ever
even eat dessert let alone have second helpings!”

“Yeah well,” he shrugged.

“What is it?” asked Nic, Paul’s wife. “I always go for sugar
when I’m depressed, but you can’t be depressed. You’re Ben Lathem!
International symbol for happy bachelors.”

Most of the family chuckled at her spot-on assessment. Ben,
however, was not amused.

“Ha ha,” he muttered while shoveling pie into his mouth.

He drove home, thinking about Nic’s words. What a croc they
were! He enjoyed being a bachelor, that was true, but he certainly wasn’t any
poster boy.
Maybe I am depressed
.

He’d only been home for a few minutes when his doorman
buzzed. “There’s a young man here by the name of Alex. Says he’s a friend of
yours.”