Only Love (13 page)

Cindy faked a frown and rubbed a finger across Rissa’s hand. “It’s fine. I just had high hopes she’d take to me right away like she did to Adam. He said she was all smiles from day one.” She went right into talking softly to Rissa while I dwelled on her statement about Adam. It tugged on my heartstrings that he wasn’t put off by what most men would’ve considered to be baggage—having a young child, taking care of Gabby, working and going to school as much as I did. He accepted me. All of me.

“I have a packet of paperwork for you to fill out and bring with you in the morning. Adam explained you’re in a bit of a crunch, so she’s fine for today. No biggy,” Cindy said, smiling.

I accepted the folder from her hand. “You don’t know how much I appreciate you all keeping her on such short notice. You have no idea what a relief it’ll be to not have to worry about paying for childcare.”

Cindy rubbed my arm. “Oh, honey, that’s what we’re here for. You don’t have to thank me. And I’m sure Marissa will love our program. It’s not all fun and games,” she smiled. “We have a pretty good child development program that gets our little ones ready for school.”

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard about this program before. And I couldn’t believe there were only about eight kids here besides Rissa. Adam did mention that his moms were trying to get their numbers up, so I figured they’d be growing soon.

Rissa wriggled in my arms when she spotted a tiny kitchen set, complete with stove and sink. I set her down and she walked right over to it without looking back. Seeing her relax some eased my mind about having to leave her. Not only that, but Adam’s moms would be here and I trusted that they’d take good care of her.

“You and Joan started this program on your own, or did the church recruit you two to operate it?” I asked.

Cindy perched her hands on her hips while Joan continued to entertain the children. “Well, we’ve been members here for about ten years now and this church has enriched our lives so much; they were so loving and accepting of me and Joan when we joined. No one judged us or talked behind our backs like some of the other places we’d visited. Warmed our hearts so much that we wanted to find some way to give back, showing this church the same love they showed us. Just being in the area you start to hear some of what the people in the community are lacking. One of the major issues it seems like a lot of parents face is not being able to find quality childcare that’s affordable. So, Joan and I did some research, found some information on grants that would basically support all of our expenses, and… well… here we are! Been doing this for about two years now and we plan to stick around until old age tells us we can’t anymore,” she beamed, giving me the impression she really enjoyed her work here. That made the last of my doubts about leaving Rissa someplace new completely disappear.

I decided to get on the road before I was late—couldn’t afford to lose my job. “Thanks again for taking her.”

Cindy waved me off. “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be an angel.”

I smiled, glanced at Rissa banging a plastic pan on the pretend stove, and then left before she’d have a chance to see me and protest.

The church wasn’t too far out of my way, so I made it to the call center at a decent time. I greeted a few of my coworkers on the way to my seat, and had barely gotten comfortable when a light tap on my shoulder stole my attention away from the computer screen.

“Good morning, Aubrey. May I have a quick word with you in my office?” Christina Carmine, our HR director asked.

I frowned, wondering what she could possibly have to discuss with me, but followed her without question. We passed through the semi-crowded hallway and she tried to make small talk with me, but I was only giving short, one-word answers, still trying to figure out what this was about.

Once inside her office, Ms. Carmine shut the door and motioned for me to have a seat. She rested across from me and pushed her glasses further up her nose as she examined a document. I tried unsuccessfully to read her stoic expression.

“Okay, Ms. Phillips. I received a judgment against you yesterday afternoon and—”

“Wait, a
what?
Judgment? What kind of judgment?” My heart beat wildly inside my chest because, no matter what answer this woman gave, it wouldn’t mean anything good for me. I just had a feeling.

She took a deep breath and removed her glasses, sitting back further into her chair. “It’s a judgment to garnish your wages for an unpaid debt of some sort.” She gathered a few papers and then handed them over. “I’ve taken the liberty of making copies of the information that I have so you can contest it if you’d like, but there, unfortunately, isn’t anything we can do on our end. When these sorts of things come in, we have to comply.”

I felt sick, like I’d black out. Already, I was in dire straits and now this.

“There’s contact information for you to get in touch with the collector for more information,” Ms. Carmine added.

I held the papers, stared at them, but wasn’t paying attention to a single letter printed on the page. “When does this start coming out of my check?” I asked, only now zeroing in on the amount they’d be taking each week. A fresh wave of nausea came over me as I finally read some of the information, revealing that this judgment was for a credit card in my name that I’d never even applied for. Never even saw or touched a day in my life.

Ms. Carmine cleared her throat as I met her gaze with tears in my eyes. “I’m very sorry, Aubrey, but… the garnishment is effective immediately. The money will be deducted from this week’s check.”

And just like that… my world crumbled just a little more.

A knock hit my door and I was grateful for the distraction from the nightly news. Tonight had been unusual in the sense that the broadcast had basically been dead air in regards to Manuel Lopez’s case. That might have been interpreted as a good thing, but no news at all almost made me more uneasy. That same silence had been at the precinct as well since Don and I had been questioned a few days ago. It was very much a waiting game at this point and that had me on edge more than constant updates on television, whether they be good or bad.

The knock hit again and I clicked off the TV trying not to dwell on the lack of news as I stood. The easy path to the door reminded me that I needed to thank Caroline again for her help the other night. I asked her over to talk, more like pleaded in the state that I had been in, and while she was here she of course started breaking down moving boxes and putting things away for me. I hated I used her as a crutch that night as I had in the past, but damn, did I need her. She was one of few people that understood my situation and had gotten me through a lot of tough times because of the fact. We understood each other, which was why she volunteered to help me the way she had. She’d gotten herself together and she wanted to make sure I stayed that way too.

I’d be forever grateful.

I opened the door and a neighbor in house slippers and a nightcap met my eyes. She wasn’t necessarily my direct neighbor but I had seen her around the building on occasion. Normally, she’d frown at me before escaping my gaze—most people did that around me so I didn’t take offense. But tonight, she wasn’t frowning. In fact, she seemed worried for some reason.

“Officer,” she said, her hands clasped in front of her.

I nodded, holding onto the door. “Ma’am. Can I help you with something?”

“I don’t like to bother you about this, but there’s some noise coming from the apartment next door to mine. Kind of loud and I wondered if you could check it and make sure everything is okay.”

“That’s not a problem, ma’am,” I assured her. “Thank you for telling me, and I’m sorry about the issue.”

“I normally wouldn’t say anything. Noise don’t bother me much, but that girl always so quiet. I couldn’t go to sleep knowing something might be wrong over there.”

I smiled. “That’s very kind of you. What apartment number?” I wanted to make sure I had the right place in case the volume dwindled before I got up there. In which case, I’d give a polite warning for the future.

“I’m in 4D. It’s to the right of me.”

By process of elimination, I figured out very quickly the apartment she was referring to, and as soon as I had, acidic bile inched up my throat. Dampening my mouth, I managed to confirm the apartment number with the woman who complained about the noise by her neighbor, the noise that seemed unusual, as her neighbor had always been quiet. She did always keep to herself, which was why this complaint scared the hell out of me.

I heard her voice before I even made it down the entire flight of stairs, and with as quick as I left my apartment, I knew I traveled unarmed. That was okay. I’d use my hands if I had to and take them as far as I had to go to end what was happening in Aubrey’s apartment.

To make sure she was safe.

I made it to her door and banged on the wood immediately, but she didn’t come. I could only assume she couldn’t even hear me. She was yelling so loud. Honestly, I barely heard the knock myself over the volume inside. I banged again, my heart racing inside my chest. “Aubrey,” I called. “Aubrey, it’s Adam. Can you open the door please?”

“No!” she shrieked, but she wasn’t talking to me. “I’m not going to do this. Javi, I can’t. I… You can’t do this to me anymore. I can’t deal with this. How could you? That’s food out of Rissa’s mouth. Diapers… How dare you! No more. No!”

Javi? Was that Marissa’s father? He was here... and in there with her? I rattled the wood of the door with my fist again. “Aubrey, I need you to open this door now. I need to know you’re okay. Talk to me goddammit.”

But she didn’t, and when she continued to yell and scream I quickly gathered something. Hers was the only voice in there I heard. No return voice whatsoever. No male voice whatsoever.

I rested my hand on the door, opening my ears for the first time, listening. I heard a gasp next, and her watery voice followed after a long silence.

“It’s not right,” she kept saying over and over. “I trusted you. I held faith in you. In your promises… I can’t anymore, Javi. I just can’t. It’s not fair to Marissa. It’s not fair to me...”

She continued to refuse what he was telling her, not budging in the least, and the next thing I knew there was silence and my heart raced even more. Her voice boomed in again and it managed to pump a beat even quicker inside my chest.

“No, don’t call anymore! I won’t answer,” she threatened. “I won’t. Not until I can think.”

A sudden drop hit the floor and I blinked, listening more. When I didn’t hear any more words, I poised my hand, knocking softer this time. The tone matched the dwindling pace of my heart. “Aubrey?” I spoke lightly. “Aubrey, are you there?”

I knew she was, but what I was really asking was could she let me in. I meant that in more ways than one. Latches sounded behind the door. It breezed open ahead of me and the disarray of the apartment caught my attention immediately. She had items strew across the floor. Shoe boxes. They were men’s shoes, sneakers to be more specific, and they all had the tags still on them. The same went with the basketball jerseys. They hung off the lamps and on the back of the sofa as well as in piles on the floor, many other items of clothing amongst them. Again, they were all men’s. There was jewelry as well. Gold chains and various things tossed on the floor. There was just so much stuff, and in the pile, was Rissa. She played with a glittering, silver bracelet. One I felt like I’d seen before. On Aubrey maybe? I wasn’t sure. Near Rissa was a cellphone, the screen cracked. I assumed that was the noise I heard hitting the floor.

“Adam…”

I gazed down. Aubrey. She stood there stiff in front of me, her head down with papers clasped in tight fists at her sides. They were strips of paper that looked like receipts. I put my hands on her upper arms, squeezing. “Aubrey?”

Slowly, she lifted her head. I never thought I’d see Aubrey cry. Ever. She put on such a tough shell, one I thought was so hard to crack. I supposed it wasn’t so hard after all. She blinked and her dark eyes became glassier than they already were. She shook her head, nothing but a wretched expression lining her beautiful face as she opened her mouth. “I’m just so… so…”

I pushed my finger under her eye, catching the first fallen tear. “You’re just so what, Aubrey?”

She shook her head she was trying so hard not to cry, and then she didn’t even bother. The tears came over her lower lids freely. “I’m just so tired,” she said.

She laid her head on my chest, her shoulders shaking as she gasped to catch her breath, and I brought my arms around her. If I hadn’t, she would have collapsed to the floor in her tears.