Star Bright (7 page)

Carol laughed loudly,
“Where did you get him, high school?”

“
I dropped out
to be a male model.” He answered Carol. She looked at him in shock
before she blew up in a loud laughter. Dave found it funny. His
first impression of him was right, he was an idiot.

“
Amy, don’t
you know it’s illegal to sleep with minors, especially those who
are slow, like Brian?”

Amy pushed her nose up at
him, “He may be slow and a drop out, but he’s very talented in the
field that matters.” She said with a heinous smile.

She hoped that remark
would offend Dave, but it didn’t. He didn’t doubt his manhood one
bit. He and Amy used to go at it like rabbits and she had told him
on countless occasions how good of a lover he was, Elizabeth was
the end result of it.

“
That defense
wouldn’t hold up in court, but I’m sure the pedophile you’ll meet
in prison will most certainly agree with you.” Dave jeered with a
wide grin on his face.

Amy’s smile faded, she
froze for a moment before she grabbed Brian’s arm dragging him
away. He turned and waved goodbye to Carol and Dave. They waved
back, laughing. When they were gone, Dave turned his attention to
Carol. He wanted to show her gratitude, without crossing the
professional boundary.

He bent down and hugged
her, “Thank you, again.” He pulled away and stared down at
her.

“
You owe me
another thank you.” she said with a beaming smile.

“
Why?”

“
Elizabeth is
fed and sound asleep. How can someone so small have so much
energy?”

Dave bent down and kissed
her on the cheek, “Thank you.” He held out his hand for his key.
She opened the door for him, but kept the key.

“
This is mine,
yours is still on your desk.” She pushed the door open for him and
stepped away, “So when do we go out?”

Dave looked at her
pensive. He wanted to structure his answer without offending her.
After all she’d done for him, the last thing he wanted was to
alienate her, especially since it seemed he would need her help in
the future, to handle Amy, “When you stop working for me.” He
smiled at her and walked into his office closing the door behind
him. He walked to the pen to find Elizabeth wide awake playing with
her dolls.

She stood up and
stretched her arms towards him. Dave picked her up and sat in his
leather seat behind his desk. He’d spent the whole morning in court
and he’d won a big case, he was entitled to some down time with his
daughter. He stood up and picked up her play mat. He spread it on
the floor and poured all her building blocks on it. He set her down
and sat behind her and watched her put them together.

The door opened and
Dave’s boss walked in. Dave stood up with Elizabeth in his arm. If
he knew his boss was coming, he wouldn’t have littered the floor
with toys. “Mr. McKenzie.” Dave said nervously.

“
Hello Dave
and little one.” He took Elizabeth’s hand and shook it gently. She
laughed, clutching his finger in a final shake before her attention
was diverted back to the toy in her other hand, “Are you teaching
her the ropes?” he asked with a smile.

“
You could say
that.” Dave answered with a nervous chuckle.

“
You do know
we have a day care downstairs?” he asked with a raised brow. Dave
stared at him unable to answer. He did know, but with Amy back, he
wasn’t going to take her back there any time soon, “But you want to
keep her from her mother don’t you?”

Dave looked at him, not
at all surprised by his question. The man has eyes and ears all
over the building, “Yes and no.” he hoped the conversation wouldn’t
turn into a legal position that the firm wanted to
avoid.

“
Uhmm. You
need to fix your situation with your wife Dave. You are a lawyer,
pull a card from under your sleeve, I’ve done that a few
times.”

“
For your
clients?”

“
No. With my
three ex-wives,” he laughed, “congratulations on the big win.” He
turned, but stopped at the door, “the only reason I’m not giving
you a warning for this is because you are the best I have. And if
having your daughter around makes you a better lawyer, I’m willing
to compromise.” He left, immediately Carol rushed in.

Dave sat down, “A heads
up next time would be appreciated.”

“
I’m so sorry,
I wasn’t at my desk when he came, so what did he say?”

“
Congratulations.” Dave spoke, his eyes on his
daughter.

“
And?” Carol
prompted.

“
He said if
having my daughter around makes me better, he’ll
compromise.”

“
Yes!” she
yelled, jumping and punching the air, “We are getting a promotion!”
She danced around.

Dave looked at her
amused, “He didn’t say that.”

“
He implied
it. I’m getting a raise!”

“
You know that
means no date?” Dave humored.

“
I’ll take
comfort in the new hundreds on my pay check.” she danced out of the
office and closed the door behind her.

Dave laughed, glad that
situation had worked itself out. He wasn’t really up to getting
into another relationship after Amy. He had enough of women for
now, he may revisit that endeavour when Elizabeth was in high
school or off to college.

“
It’s just you
and me, baby girl.” he kissed the top of her head and went back to
watching her play.

Chapter Seven

Rumors had made its
rounds in Jacksonville until they were exhausted. Maria didn’t pay
much attention to them, she was determined to start a new life. She
walked down the streets unashamed, she worked in the diner unafraid
of what people would say to her, but she had gotten some surprising
reactions. Some women came up to her and whispered congratulations
on getting rid of the woman beater, others wished her well in her
freedom, others gave her fake condolences, but most asked her what
she did first, knock him out or set him on fire. It amused her how
people got a high out of gossip, but one thing she appreciated out
of the whole mess was that men had a new found respect or fear for
her. In the past few months no one dared grab her ass, or make
scummy remarks towards her. Those who did were quickly warned on
how she had burned her boyfriend alive for beating her.

But it got old and people
didn’t care anymore, Ricky was quickly forgotten and everything
that surrounded her went back to normal. The new talk was about
several burglaries around town. Maria was grateful they hadn’t hit
Jane’s house. Jane had insisted they move in, until their house was
reconstructed. She said it would be cheaper for all of them if they
lived together and shared the expenses. Maria felt awkward about it
at first, but with time she felt right at home. They were one big
happy family. Tom was enjoying himself too, and he didn’t have to
take double shifts anymore giving him more time to spend with his
family. It was working well for all of them.

As JJ was walking out of
the diner, “Jane and Maria, you two are closing up tonight.” Maria
stared after him as he walked away, irritated by his
arrogance.

Maria picked up the basin
and walked around the empty booths filling it with dirty dishes.
“Would it hurt if he asked once in a while? All he has to say is
Jane and Maria would you please lock up today?”

Jane followed Maria,
wiping the tables she had cleared, “JJ polite, that’s like
expecting a cow to milk itself.”

Maria turned to face her,
“Thanks, for everything and for letting us stay in your
house.”

“
No biggie,
that’s what best friends...” Jane stopped, interrupted by a noise
in the kitchen. They turned to face the kitchen door, neither of
them making a move. Jane took a step and stood next to Maria, her
eyes glued to the kitchen door, “I need to call Tom,” she put her
hand in her apron pocket and pulled it out cursing quietly, “I left
my phone behind the counter.”

Maria moved forward,
“I’ll go get it.” Jane pulled her back.

“
Are you
crazy? Let’s just get out of here!”

“
What if they
are covering all the exists? Let’s just call Tom and the Sheriff.”
Maria pulled her hand out of Jane’s hold and walked quietly to the
counter. She crouched down and searched for Jane’s
phone.

“
Maria!” Jane
yelled. The fear in her voice made Maria freeze. She felt her heart
race and her throat dry out. She hadn’t felt that kind of fear
since Ricky died. She stood up and slowly turned to the shadow next
to her.

“
Hello honey,
did you miss me?”

Maria’s heart raced
faster and her body tightened. She fought the urge to curl up on
the floor and cry desperately. She thought she had rid herself of
this nightmare. She was right the first time, nothing could save
her from him, not even death.

“
You did this
to me.” He hissed out pointing to his face with a disfigured
finger. Maria hadn’t bothered to really look at him. When she heard
his voice, the same scary, angry face popped into her head, but now
she really looked at him.

The left side of his face
and neck was burnt and the skin was folded up. The edge of his lips
and his left eye were drooped down. His arms were covered, but his
fingers exposed more burn marks. He let his hair grow out to cover
his forehead and his ear. Maria looked at him sickened, all she
could think about was the character Two-face in the Batman
movie.

Moving closer to Maria,
“I disgust you, don’t I?” She moved back and bumped into the
counter. There was nowhere to go, “Answer me, do I disgust you?” He
roared louder. Maria looked at him, the familiar fear creeping
inside her. She jumped on the counter, but Ricky pulled her down
before she could get over it. She fell back, crushing into the
glasses and the liquor bottles behind her.

Jane watched Ricky for a
moment, shocked that the dead man was still alive. He had been
laying low for three months, healing and planning his revenge. She
should have known, evil people are usually harder to kill. When
Maria went crushing into the glasses, she picked up a stool and
knock Ricky over the head with it. He fell over Maria like a ton of
bricks. Maria screamed, pushing Ricky off her with her bleeding
hands, Jane grabbed her phone and her purse and followed Maria out
of the diner.

Maria got in the car and
opened the driver’s door for Jane. She felt dizzy, but she wasn’t
going to allow herself to pass out. She lifted her bloody fingers
and touched the throb at the back of her head. It stung and she
pulled her hand away, her hand wet with blood. She turned and
looked at Jane rapping on the phone as she drove like a maniac. She
hung up and dialed again, it was Tom. She didn’t have to say much,
she uttered his name with so much emotion, tears running down her
cheeks, and then she nodded and hung up. Maria felt guilty, she’d
brought her nightmare into her friend’s home. She placed her head
on her knees and cried, frustrated that she got only a few months
of freedom and happiness. When something felt too good to be true,
it usually is.

Jane looked at her crying
friend and felt sorry for her. She had finally started living a
scared free life only to be robbed of it again. She brushed her
hand over her hair. She felt the sticky liquid and lifted her hand,
her palm was red. Jane panicked when she seen the blood all over
the back of Maria’s shirt. She drove faster, pushing the car hard,
feeling the urgency to get home fast.

She pulled into her drive
way, Tom and Edna was waiting for them, their faces anxious. Jane
got out of the car and ran to Maria’s side, “She’s bleeding all
over.” She pulled the door open and carefully pulled out the crying
Maria.

Edna rushed to her
daughter and supported her. She seen the blood on her t-shirt, her
legs and arms. She felt a rage build inside her as she saw her
daughter bleeding and crying in pain- both physical and emotional.
She was going to make that call again, this time Ricky was going to
stay dead. She got her into the house and put her on the couch.
Jane brought the first aid kit and helped treat her cuts. When she
took Maria’s shirt off, she saw more cuts on her back glass inside
some of the cuts. While Jane tended to those on her feet and arms,
she carefully pulled out the glass in her back and tended to the
deep cut on her head. When they were done, Edna dressed Maria in a
loose shirt. They wiped the blood off her body as she sat there in
a daze.

Tom walked into the room
with the phone in his hand and a gun tucked in his belt, “Nate is
coming to get you out of here.”

Frightened, Maria jolted
out of her daze, “No, we can’t do that!” They’d tried leaving,
they’d tried killing Ricky and he still came back.

“
We have to,
this time he will kill you.” Tom spoke directly keeping his voice
gentle.

Standing up and going to
Tom, “He’ll find us.”

Jane stood up and faced
her friend, she looked like she would go to pieces in any second,
“If you stay you are going to make it even easier for him to kill
you.”

The phone rang making
Maria jump, Tom touched her gently on her shoulder and walked into
the kitchen to answer it.