THE BLUE STALKER (30 page)

             
“Ella, I’m used to spend…”  Susan stopped in mid sentence. 

             
“What were you going to say Susan?”  Ella questioned. 

             
“Nothing Ella.”  Susan said shying away.

             
Ella knew what Susan was about to say she was going to say she was used to merchandising in up scale stores.

             
“Susan, the sky is the limit for decorating this store.  Let’s see some of your decorating juices flow.  You’ve got a blank canvas to work with and a blank check.”  Ella said.

             
“Okay, Ella if you’re sure.” Susan’s eyes twinkled.  Susan was ready to show some of her talent in merchandising.

             
“Alicia feeling left out announced.  “Ella we are going to need a lot of Christmas designing materials, too.

             
”You purchase whatever you think we need.  Just remember we have to store what we don’t use and old materials are not fun to work with.  But you also have a blank check.”  Ella said giving Alicia a big smile.

             
Ella headed out the door leaving Ron and the ladies to tend to the shop.  She headed for the ‘do it yourself’ car wash.  Good deal, she thought, this place isn’t busy.  A gentleman was drying off his car and another man was vacuuming his vehicle.  Ella dropped four quarters in the machine and the water nozzle flip flopped all over the ground spraying water in every direction.  The gentleman drying off his car came running to Ella’s rescue.  He grabbed the hot pipe protruding from the hose nozzle. 

             
“Here you go ma’am.”  The soaked man side as he handed Ella the nozzle. “These things have a lot of pressure and when you turn it on you need to have the nozzle in your control.”  He said with a nice smile.
             

             
“Thank you, Sir.”  Ella said as she put her hand out in a friendly gesture.  “Ella, Ella Smith.”  She said introducing herself.

             
“Larry Walters.”  Drying his wet hand on his pants he put his hand out to make her acquaintance.

             
“I’m sorry about the shower.  I probably got your car wet too.”

             
“That’s not a problem.  I was afraid the hot water was going to hit you.  There’s a lot of water pressure and it would hurt anyone it hit.”  Larry said drying off with his chamois.

             
“Driving a station wagon you must have a few kids.”  He inquired.

             
“No, actually no kids and I’m not married.  How abut you?”  Ella asked.

             
Larry was a little shocked at Ella’s upfront bluntness.  He stammered though his words as he said, “I’m not married and but I have a daughter.”

They both laughed at the awkwardness of the situation.  He handed Ella the nozzle and made his way back to drying his car.

             
The water stopped spraying.  Ella took a dollar bill from her wallet.  She made her way over to the change machine and put the dollar in the slot just as she looked over to the next stall.  There was the green van.  Ella’s heart jumped to her throat.  Her hands were trembling.  The dollar bill came back at her.  She felt the presence of someone at her back.  Shaking she tried again.

             
“Here let me help you.”  She turned to see the ‘beast’ at her back. It was the guy in the drop-house. The man kicking the defenseless Mexican man. He took the bill from Ella’s grip and inserted it in the changer.  Luckily the changer accepted the dollar dropping Ella four quarters.

             
Ella thanked the man and went about washing her car.  The Mexican man continued to stand back and watch every move she made. Larry noticed the situation and walked over to Ella.

             
“Honey, you want to meet me at Joe’s Coffee House for lunch?”

             
“Sure, I’ll be there as soon as I get this wagon rinsed and dried off.”  Ella said her voice trembling with fright.

             
“I’ll help you, throw me a towel.”  Larry said as he smiled at the man with something not so good on his mind.  Something that probably wasn’t in Ella’s best interest.

             
The green van pulled out and Ella was relieved.

             
“Thank you for coming to my rescue. That guy made me nervous.”  Ella said as she as she leaned against her car.

             
“Ella, that guy was not up to any good.  You could see it in his eyes.  Are we still on for lunch?”  Larry asked.

“I’ll meet you there.”  Ella said with a smile.

             
Larry opened the door for Ella.  The hostess showed them to a booth next to the window. 

             
“Will this booth be okay with you Larry.  The hostess asked. 

“Is this booth okay with you, Ella?”  Larry said as he checked with his lunch date.

Ella nodded yes and slide across the vinyl seat.

             
“This is fine.”  Larry said to the hostess.

             
Ella ordered a Caesar Salad and Larry asked the waitress to make it two.  They talked for over an hour.  Larry shared he opened the Drug Store twenty years ago right out of college.  His wife left him for the big city taking their baby daughter.  She didn’t like living the simple life.  She was a good woman we just didn’t have the same ideas and I suppose we married too soon out of college.  Larry confided.

             
Ella told Larry she was the owner of the new flower shop.

             
“I know I was at the opening Friday night.” He said with a grin. 

             
“So you knew who I was before we met at the car wash?”  Ella said.

             
“I wanted to meet you Friday night at your Grand Opening but you were so busy greeting everyone.”  Larry told her.

             
Ella told Larry she had been married but it didn’t work out and it wasn’t her husbands fault.

             
“It just wasn’t right.”  She told him.

             
“I need to get back to the store.  I have prescriptions to fill. It’s been nice talking with you.” Larry said as he picked up the check.

             
“Thank you for lunch and for helping a lady in distress.”  Ella said as she scooted from the booth.

             
“My pleasure young lady.”  Larry said with a smile.

             
Ella drove past the house on Ninth Street and the van was in the drive.

             
“Dang, why hasn’t the FBI rescued the Mexican men?”  She said aloud.

             
Ella drove back to the shop.  She made her way to her makeshift desk in the corner and called her attorney’s in San Francisco.  She told them she wanted to sponsor one more person.  They told her they would send her the paperwork and to get it right back to them.  There shouldn’t be any problems.

             
Her next call was to Juanita.  A lady with a heavy south of the border accent answered the phone.

             
“Is this Juanita.”  Ella asked.

             
“No, Juanita here.”  The lady said. 

I must have written down the wrong number she thought to herself.

             
“I’m sorry to bother you.”  Ella said as she started to hang up.

             
“Wait!” She heard on the other end of the line. 

             
“Do you want to speak with Juanita Garcia?”  The lady asked.

             
“Yes, Juanita Garcia.”  Ella said with excitement in her voice.

             
“Juanita lives next door I will get her for you.”  The lady said as she dropped the phone.

Minutes later Juanita came to the phone.  Ella introduced herself. Juanita started to cry. 

“Thank you for taking care of my Maria and her baby.” She said between sobs. 

             
“You are welcome, but they take care of me.”  Ella said.

Ella asked Juanita if she ever thought of living in the United States.

             
“Oh yes, but I could never get there.”  She said.

             
“What if I told you you could come to the states legally and live at my house with your daughter, Jose and Juan?”  Ella asked

             
“I would think your are an angel sent from heaven.”  Juanita said.

             
“Okay, can you move to the states around Christmas Eve?”  Ella asked.

Juanita was speechless for a moment.

             
“How would I get there?”  She asked.

             
“Is there someone there that can take you to Mexico City to the airport?”  Ella asked.

             
“Yes, there’s a bus that goes to Mexico City once a week.  But I can’t pay for the ride.”  She said.

             
“What is the name of the bus company?”  I will make arrangements.  I will get you on the last bus leaving your village before Christmas.  Everything will be paid.  You just get on the bus and the bus will take you to the airport.”  Ella told her. 

             
“Do you understand what I am telling you?”  Ella asked knowing Juanita’s English wasn’t too good.

             
“Someone will meet you and take you to your airplane.  When you get off the airplane someone will be there to meet you.”  Ella explained.

             
“Do you understand everything?”  Ella asked again.

             
“Si, gracias.”  Juanita said.

             
“I have things to take care of here and when I have everything taken care of I will call you.”  Ella said.

Please don’t tell Maria you are coming.  This will be her Christmas present.”  Ella said.

             
“Do you have a pencil to write my shop number down?”  Ella asked.

             
“Yes, I do.”

Ella gave her the shop number.

             
“If you need to call me use this number.  Call between eight and five in the afternoon.  Don’t call the home number asking for me.  Maria will figure out our secret.”  Ella cautioned her.

TWENTY-THREE

             
Maria looked out the kitchen window to see Juan mowing the lawn with the new riding lawnmower.  He looked like he was enjoying doing his chores.  Maria fixed a big pitcher of iced tea.  She and Jose carried a glass of iced tea out to Juan.

             
“How about a glass of iced tea?”  Maria called to Juan.

             
“That would be nice.  Thank you, Maria.”  Juan said as he gave her a big hug and a kiss.  Juan took a big drank and handed the glass back to Maria. He took Jose from Maria’s arms and held him high above his head.

             
“Jose you’re getting to be a big boy.”  Juan said with much pride.

             
“Juan, Jose started crawling this morning.  I laid him on the carpet and he rolled over trying to get to his toy.  I put the toy in front of him and he rocked on his hand and knees and fell forward.  Before long he was crawling to it.”  Maria excitedly shared with Juan.

             
“His growing up so fast.  I wish my mom could see him.”  Maria said with tears filling her beautiful brown eyes.