Star Bright (9 page)

Michael stopped at the
kitchen counter and climbed onto the stool. Maria moved and sat
next to him, anxiously waiting for his answer.

“
It’s okay.
It’s kind of small compared to our home, but it’s nice.” He spoke
softly with a smile.

Maria pushed his hair
back. She was worried he was just saying that for her benefit, “Are
you sure you are okay with this?”

“
Yes, and it’s
a good thing grandma didn’t come, we can’t all fit here,” he jumped
off the stool and rushed to the living room. He dove on the seat
and turned the TV on, “Can we have pizza for super?”

Maria looked at him, she
could see he was doing it again, putting on a front for her sake.
She couldn’t help but think he had figured it out, why they moved,
she just hoped his little genius mind didn’t figure out that Ricky
was still alive, “Sure.” she smiled gently and picked up the
phone.

It crushed her seeing
Michael pretend to be alright with everything when he evidently
wasn’t. She wanted to protect him, but she wasn’t going to let him
be miserable, he’d had enough misery in his short life. Michael was
a four year old who did everything that he thought Maria wanted
because he wanted to make her happy, to make her life easy and
stress free. Maria had seen how normal four year olds were
annoying, loud, and stubborn and a constant temptation to murder,
but Michael wasn’t like that and it broke her heart.

He was going to have a
normal childhood, even if it meant she forced one on him. She put
down the phone and picked up their jackets, “How about we go
exploring. It’s only midday and we can get pizza on our way
back.”

“
I’m watching
this.” he mumbled his eyes glued to the screen. Maria turned to the
TV, there was a documentary on fish. She turned off the TV and
began tickling him. She almost cried when Michael’s shrilly laugh
filled her ears. It was loud, pure and honest she couldn’t detect
any fake to it. She picked him up and held him against her, and
then she planted numerous kisses on his face. He fidgeted, trying
to dodge them, but Maria had him locked in place, “Mama, stop!” he
said between giggles.

“
I’ll stop
when you say yes.”

“
Yes, yes!”
Maria stopped. Michael kissed her nose before she put him down. She
put his jacket on and they walked to the door. Maria looked around
before she let Michael shoot out of the apartment. As much as she
wanted normal, the paranoia was never going to leave
her.

They got into a tour bus
that went around the Big Apple. Michael got excited as he pointed
out to the tall buildings, the big screens and flashing lights.
Maria let her guard down and enjoyed the scenery, as excited as
Michael. New York to her was like a whole other world, noisy, busy
and vast, a complete new experience for her. They got off the bus
when Michael spotted a parking building next to an equally tall
building. He wanted to see the cars and get to the top of the
building, and of course, eat.

When they got to the huge
glass doors, they were stopped by a tall, huge bellied man. Maria
pulled Michael behind her and greeted the man with one of her
fake-waitress smiles, “I’m sorry, but you can’t come in
here.”

Maria looked him over
again, his voice didn’t match his physic. He looked intimidating
while his soft voice was welcoming, “It’s just that my son wants to
go to the top, he’s never seen a building this tall, neither have
I.” She confessed.

The man’s lips parted in
a smile, “It’s the weekend, and I can’t let anyone in without an
appointment card,” he crouched down and looked at Michael, whose
face was partly hidden behind Maria’s long legs, “Come back on
Monday and I’ll take you up,” he looked up at Maria, “After I get
permission from my boss and your mother.”

Michael moved from behind
Maria, a huge grin on his face, “Mama please!” he
begged.

Maria looked at him, her
guard up. She was suspicious of the man and his offer, all she
could think of was that he wanted something, they always want
something, “No, I don’t want to inconvenience you.” she said
politely.

The man stood up and he
was back to towering over her, “It will be no problem we have a
number of tourists who tour the building. The owner says its free
advertising, I’m sure they don’t have buildings this tall in
Mexico,” Maria was taken aback by the comment she thought her
accent would give away where she was from, “I’m Leo, if you change
your mind, I’ll be here on Monday.” He extended his
hand.

Maria hesitated from a
moment before she took his hand, “I’m Paula, and I’ll let you know
on Monday. Thank you for the offer and I might take you up on it.”
She smiled before she turned and walked away, pulling Michael
behind her.

“
Mama, why did
you lie?” Michael asked concerned.

Maria hadn’t bothered to
consider his reaction, she had unconsciously lied to the man. As
pleasant as he might have sounded, she still didn’t want him to
know anything about her, he was a complete stranger and she knew
more than to trust only what she saw, “I thought it sounded more
Mexican.” She beamed a smile down at him.

Michael
giggled, “We really do look like Grandpa Miguel.” He pushed open
the
Cafe Rose’s
door and walked in.

Maria was always
uncomfortable when Michael put grandpa before Miguel. All he knew
about him were the stories Edna told him, and she was annoyed at
Edna for filling his head just as she did hers. Michael spoke
excitedly about him sometimes like they’d met, she was once like
that when she was young, then she grew up and got tired of waiting
for him and the constant excuses Edna would give and once she met
Ricky, she prayed he would never come back. She didn’t want her son
to face another disappointment.

“
Mama, here.”
Michael held out a paper at Maria.

“
What’s this?”
She took it and read the caption at the top. It was an employment
contract, “Michael...” she stopped when she didn’t see him in front
of her anymore. She looked around the cafe, slowly rising into a
panic.

“
Mama.”

She followed his voice to
find him on a table waving at her. He had a chocolate milk shake on
the table in front of him, a smiling blond waitress in a white,
long sleeved shirt and a short black skirt next to him. Maria liked
the uniform already.

She walked to the table
and rubbed her knuckles on Michael’s head, he winced but went back
to drinking his shake. She turned to the waitress with a smile,
“Hi, are you hiring or did my son wrestle the form from
you?”

She chuckled, “We are
hiring, and your son is very convincing. He would make a perfect
lawyer. I’m Jane.” Maria could feel her smile fade, the name of her
best friend gave her a chest pain. It had only been a day and she
missed her like crazy, “You are Paula, your son already did your
interview on your behalf.”

Michael looked up at
Maria and winked before he went back to his shake. Maria chuckled,
“It’s nice to meet you Jane. Is there anything else, any part of
the interview my son hasn’t covered yet?”

“
Miguel
covered everything, just fill out the form and you can start work
on Monday.”

Maria’s eyebrow rose in
amusement. Her son was more like a con artist than a lawyer,
actually what was the difference? “I can’t start so soon, I have to
find a school for my son.”

“
It’s a few
weeks to summer, schools are about to close for the holidays, but
there is a day care across the street, my daughter goes there. I’ll
just fix that up for you on Monday. I’ll bring you your food.” She
turned and left.

Maria sat down
opposite Michael, “
Miguel?
We only got separated for half a minute and you
have a job, a day care and a whole new identity for us, are you
sure you aren’t an old man in a four year old body?”

Michael waited until his
glass was completely empty before he spoke, “If you have a code
name I don’t see why I shouldn’t. And anyway, I saw the for hire
sign, and I want to see the building across the street.” He pushed
the glass away to make space for the plate full of burger and fries
that Jane brought. She had that familiar waitress smile on her
face.

Maria looked at Michael,
this was one of the times she felt like she was talking to an adult
and not a child, “Please go back to being a baby, you scare me when
you act so mature like that.”

“
I haven’t
been a baby since I was three,” he whispered. His face darkened for
a while before it lit up again, “but starting today, I’m going to
be a baby, promise.” He picked up a few fries and stuffed them in
his mouth.

Maria looked at him, she
felt so guilty when she saw the shadow that crept over his face. It
was her fault he felt the need to grow up so fast. He was going to
have his childhood and never find out about Ricky, ever.

Chapter Eight

“
Carol, please
bring Elizabeth in here.” Dave put down the receiver and closed the
files on his desk. He folded his hands behind his head and leaned
back. He felt exhausted and annoyed that he had to work on a
Saturday. He had hoped to take Elizabeth to the zoo or to the fair,
but he had to take over Todd’s client because he couldn’t deliver.
Being considered the best did have its disadvantages.

Carol walked in with
Elizabeth on her hip, “There is someone here to see you.” she
stepped aside and let the man in.

Dave sat up straight and
looked at the trio. He waved to his daughter as the door closed,
leaving him and his visitor alone. He pointed to the seat opposite
him, inviting his guest to sit down. Dave looked him over and
smiled. He had a habit of assessing the people he met. His guest
was short and plump, his cheeks were chubby and he was balding in
the middle of his head. He was dressed in black with heavy gold
jewelery. He looked conspicuous, underhanded, and greedy, a person
who made business deals in dark allies. Exactly the type of person
he needed for what he wanted.

“
If you are
here it means you have what I need?” Dave asked him directly, his
voice stern. He’d waited weeks for the tape. Since he had called
Amy out on her teenage boyfriend, she had avoided bringing him into
the house, Dave wasn’t even sure she was still with him. But he
didn’t care who she was with, the end result was what he wanted,
and it was finally here.

The man put a compact
disk on Dave’s desk with a wide naughty grin on his face. Dave
didn’t have to ask to know he had watched it, probably kept a copy.
He pulled the disk closer to him, opened his drawer, took out a wad
of cash and put it on his desk in front of his visitor.

His grin widening, he
pointed to the screen mounted on Dave’s office wall, “Aren’t you
going to watch it?”

Dave felt disgusted by
his perverted look. He might not love Amy anymore, nor respect her
in the least bit, but he didn’t appreciate other men looking at her
in a pornographic light. That bothered him more than her affairs,
she was still the mother of his daughter. “I hope you didn’t make
copies, because if you did...” he gave him a harsh grin, “I don’t
think I have to say more than that.”

The man’s grin faded and
he stood up, discomforted by the silent threat. He knew what Dave
would do, everyone knew Dave and his reputation, he was the
defender criminals were willing to pay anything for and feared more
to face in court than the District Attorney. “No, you don’t. You
have a beautiful daughter.” He walked to the door.

Dave stood up and looked
at him, his posture and face stern and harsh. The man reached for
the door and rushed out of it scared by the impressionable stance
of Dave. He didn’t take the threats lightly, especially the harsh
one that countered his implied threat to his daughter. As much as
he liked watching Dave’s wife and her young lover, he had to get
rid of the copy he made, if he intended on staying a free man, or a
live one.

Dave followed him out his
door and watched him leave. The implied threat on his daughter had
angered him, if it was under other circumstances, he wouldn’t have
let it slide, but he wasn’t going to provoke the little pervert
into uploading the video of his wife on the internet. But he would
have to keep an eye on him, a closer one on Elizabeth.

He felt a sticky palm on
his cheek and heard a shrilly laugh in his ear that melted all his
anger away. He turned to look at her tiny face. She had her bright
smile on, her blue eyes were lit up excitedly. He looked at her and
laughed, she looked very sticky and pink. She waved a big pink
lollipop in his face, and then stretched out her hands for
him.

He took her from Carol,
but held her hands away from him, “Really Carol?”

“
What, her
teeth are going to fall out anyway.” She took a wet wipe from her
desk and wiped his sticky cheek.

“
So you
thought you’d help them along? This is too big for her mouth.” Dave
pulled the lollipop from her hand. She looked at him, the smile
gone, her eyes shifting between the candy and her
father.

Wiping Elizabeth’s sticky
hands and face, “She’s going to blow Dave.”