Star Bright (10 page)

“
I’m not
giving this back to her, she’s making a mess and she’ll get a
cavity.” Elizabeth stretched out for her candy, but Dave held it
away. She looked at him, her face creasing in anger, “She looks so
cute when she does that, like...” he stopped, and then looked at
her, looking at the resemblance to Amy.

“
Like Amy.
Just because she’ll look like her, doesn’t mean she’ll be like
her,” Carol took the lollipop from Dave, wiped the stick then
wrapped a wet wipe around it, “And besides, you have dental.” she
said, with a smile handing the candy back to Elizabeth. She smiled
managing only to put half of it into her mouth.

Dave pointed at her
mouth, “See, I told you it’s too big.” He wrapped his fingers
around her hand, tried to pull the candy away from her mouth, but
she patted and pulled his hand away. He chuckled and left it alone,
he did have dental.

He walked into his
office, but walked back out, “Carol, ask Todd to see me on Monday,
tell him it’s about my divorce.”

Carol squealed, which
made Dave smile. He had expected her reaction to be that of
jubilation about his divorce, “Do you really want Todd to handle
that, he might screw it up, like he does everything
else?”

“
I’m not
stupid. I’m preparing the papers, he’s just going to sit and look
pretty at the mediation meetings.”

“
Why does he
still work here anyway, since he’s so useless and we have to fix
his messes?”

“
His last name
is McKenzie, which might have something to do with it.”

“
We are
wasting each other’s time here, I’m not giving you a divorce.” Amy
spoke cooly. She faced Dave across the conference table, a wicked
smile across her face. Dave had informed her about wanting a
divorce close to two months ago. She thought of it as one of his
silly threats, until he served her divorce papers. She was peeved
about it at first, begged a few times, tried to seduce him too,
when that didn’t work she convinced herself it was for the best. A
divorce would relieve her of her motherly and wifely duties which
she hadn’t performed in years and it would ensure a constant money
flow in alimony. She loved Dave, but hated him more for the fact
that he loved Elizabeth than he did her, and so her best revenge
would be milking him out of as much money as she possibly
could.

“
Why not?”
Dave answered with his professional voice.

“
Because you
won’t give me what I want.”

“
I’m not
giving you that much, so take what I’m offering.”

Amy leaned forward on the
table, “I’ll only take that if I have sole custody of
Elizabeth.”

Dave banged his fist hard
on the table that it made the glasses tip over, spilling the water.
Both their lawyers were startled by Dave’s anger and pulled back
away from the table, “Over my dead body!”

Amy leaned back, pleased
by his reaction, “Then give me what I want, or we can go to trail
and the judge will give us joint custody, and me half of everything
you own.”

Dave stared at her,
fighting back the urge to reach over the table and break her neck.
He knew Amy would be difficult about the divorce, yet he was still
hopeful they would settle it quick and out of court. He didn’t want
to go to court and expose how his wife really was, but they had
been at it for weeks and her demands were becoming more and more
insane.

“
You want to
go to trial? Okay then,” he spoke, his voice harsh and cool, “You
studied law and your lawyer can help refresh your memory. Todd
let’s go out for lunch while our guests watch a movie.” He
sauntered out of the room.

“
Dave,” Todd
called after him. He stopped and turned to him, “I’ll stay and wait
for their decision.” Dave stared at him so austerely that it made
Todd cringe. He knew why Todd wanted to stay and it had nothing to
with his professional obligation.

“
Do what you
want. Give them the pictures first, that should be an ice breaker,”
he turned, “I’ll be across the street.” He spoke as he walked
away.

He went to the day care
center and picked up Elizabeth, his daughter always had a calming
effect on him. He took her to the cafe and quietly ate his lunch as
he watched his daughter play on top of the table. He didn’t want to
go to court, not because he thought he would lose, but for his
daughter. Showing all his peers and the public that the mother of
his child was a slut was something he was trying to avoid. His
colleagues would have a new found respect for him if he could rip
his wife apart, he would surely do it with anyone else, but he
didn’t intend on being a laughing stalk for the rest of his legal
career.

“
Mama, are you
sure everything is alright?” Maria spoke to Edna on the phone in
the cafe kitchen. They talked everyday about Maria’s new life, Edna
and Ricky. Maria felt a little relieved confirming Ricky was still
in Mississippi, she didn’t even bother to ask her mother how she
knew that, and Edna wasn’t offering any explanations.

“
Everything is
fine. I moved back to my house yesterday, it looks better than it
did before.” Edna placed a beer in front of her guest before she
went back to the kitchen for the tray of sandwiches.

“
Won’t Ricky
go back there for you?” Maria asked in a panic.

“
No, he
wouldn’t dare. The sheriff has my house and Jane’s watched just in
case. For a law man he was really disappointed Ricky was still
alive.” she set the tray down and sat next to him. She turned to
face him, she hadn’t realized he had been watching her with so much
longing, and she knew why. She put the phone on speaker and moved
it in between them.

“
Everyone is
disappointed he’s still alive. Michael can’t know about it
mama.”

The man moved closer to
the receiver, his lips parted in a smile. Edna felt a warmth rush
through her when she saw how happy he was, “How is my little
Martinez, I’ve missed him.” Maria’s laugh made the man grin even
wider.

“
He goes by
Miguel these days, mama you made him idolize a man who is never
going to turn up,” the man’s grin shrunk. Edna was about to say
something, but he stopped her, “Anyway he should be here for lunch.
Call back in a few minutes, I’ll go get him.”

Edna looked at him, he
had a pained look on his face, “You didn’t have a
choice.”

“
Yes I did. I
should have stayed.” Miguel said out of frustration.

“
And get
arrested and put in for life? You didn’t have a choice,” Edna stood
up and walked to the kitchen. She didn’t want to get into an
argument about it, she had the same argument with Maria for over
ten years.

“
Then I should
have taken you with me.” he followed her, continuing the
argument.

“
You didn’t
want us to be on the run.” Edna went back to the living
room.

“
There is no
excuse for what I did! My daughter got roped up with a low life and
she’s now on the run, and you want to tell me it’s not my fault!”
Miguel yelled, frustrated.

“
You should
start with that when it’s time to bond with your daughter, that’s
something you both take one side on,” Edna sat down and held the
phone out to him, “now just wait a few minutes and then call your
grandson.”

Maria walked out of the
kitchen to the dining area. It was her turn to get the kids for
lunch while Jane held down the fort. She passed a man eating
quietly, his daughter playing with the salt shaker on top of the
table. She smiled, he looked so peaceful watching her, that’s how
fathers were supposed to be. She didn’t get far before Michael and
Julie came rushing through the door.

“
I told you to
wait for me, what if something happened?” Maria spoke to the kids.
Julie smiled up at her before she disappeared into the kitchen,
Michael looked at her with the same amusement he always had,
watching Maria make an effort of scolding him.

“
We were fine,
Leo was watching us.” He said with a smile.

Leo, Maria was glad she
was wrong not to trust him. He had turned out to be a good friend
to them and Michael was very fond of him. He was her personal
security guard, making sure Michael didn’t walk out the building
with any strangers, or alone at any time before and after lunch. He
watched them cross the street and sometimes he brought them over
himself. It made Maria even more relaxed worrying less about
Michael. She still hadn’t garnered up the courage to tell him their
real names, she felt embarrassed about it.

“
Make sure you
carry some cake for him, right now go to the kitchen, your grandma
will be calling soon.”

“
Grandma!”
Michael yelled, running to the kitchen.

Maria watched him,
laughing. If she wasn’t sure he loved her more, she would have been
very jealous of Edna. A woman marched past her, bumping her and
almost tipping her over. When she got her footing she stared at the
lady, peeved, she was about to go to her and give her a piece of
her mind when the lady slapped the man who was sitting with his
daughter. The man didn’t even look unsettled. He brushed his hand
over the cheek she had hit and smiled up at her proudly. Maria
watched them confused, if she had done that to Ricky, she would
have been on the floor bleeding and crying.

“
I should have
expected this from you!” Amy yelled, her voice venomous.

“
Which did you
like best, the pictures or the movie?” He placed his hand on
Elizabeth’s foot, she didn’t look at all stirred by the commotion
her parents were causing.

Amy lowered her voice to
a dangerous whisper when she noticed several eyes on them. “That’s
invasion of privacy!”

“
For the
pictures, you were spread out on the lawn, and the video, you were
in my house. What were you doing in law school Amy? Probably what
you are doing in my house.” He spoke directly, the amusement gone
from his voice.

“
I’m going to
get you for this Dave!”

Dave pulled Elizabeth
closer to him. She laughed as she skidded across the table. “Take
the deal and get out of our lives.”

“
Will you shut
up!” Amy yelled at Elizabeth. The child went quiet, all the joy
wiped from her face. She looked scared and close to tears. Maria
got the urge to hit her for yelling at the baby, but she was sure
the man would do much worse when she saw his face turn red, she
could practically see the steam coming from his ears.

Dave shot off his chair
and grabbed Amy’s arm. He could feel his blood boil and his temper
rising fast. He pulled her back and stared down at her, forcefully
restraining himself from knocking the daylights out of her. Amy
stared up at him petrified, she had never seen Dave so red with
anger.

Maria shifted her gaze
between them. She felt her heart tighten as her breath shortened in
a panic, more for herself than the woman. She could feel his anger
from where she was standing, and the next thing she expected was a
beating. She wanted to run out of the cafe, but she couldn’t leave
the woman alone, so she held onto the chair next to her tight, and
prayed someone would stop the fight before the man began
swinging.

“
No deal.”
Dave hissed out before he dragged Amy out of the cafe, away from
the intrigued eyes. Amy’s scratching at his hand didn’t make him
loosen the killer grip he had on her, instead it made him tighten
it even more. He couldn’t bring himself to hit a woman, but he was
going to take the little physical pain he was causing
her.

Maria stood there
dumbfounded, as her heart got back its rhythm, not because of the
rage she seen in the man, she was used to anger, but at the
restraint he showed. If that woman was a man he most certainly
would have hit her, and if he was Ricky’s type, without a shadow of
a doubt she would have been black and blue. Maria watched them go
at it from the window. The man had placed a considerable amount of
distance between them, more restraint.

Maria’s attention was
attracted by the crying child they had left on top of the table.
She went to her, picked her up and soothed her until she was quiet.
It didn’t take long before she got distracted by the pendant Maria
had on around her neck. Maria danced around with her, something
Michael always loved when he was that tiny. The little girl’s face
lit up and her beautiful laughter filled the room once more, Maria
could see why the man was at peace when he was around his daughter,
her smile and laugh were infectious.

She looked out the window
again, the couple was gone. Maria was shocked, she would never
leave her child alone like that, especially in a public place, but
they just did. She walked out and looked around the street, they
were gone. She went back in, holding the bubbling girl, wondering
what she was going to do with her.

“
Mama, where
did you get her?” Michael asked pointing at the girl. He made funny
faces at her, provoking a whole new train of bubbly
laughs.

Maria placed her hand on
his head and turned him around, “Don’t worry, we aren’t keeping
her. Let’s go to the kitchen, I’ll get you something to
eat.”

“
I wouldn’t
mind a little sister,” Michael said candidly, as he drove his
imaginary car into the kitchen.