Where the Sun Sets (8 page)

“When are you coming back to school?”

“I don’t know, a couple of week’s maybe. They
have to take some pictures and do some tests. I will have to leave
school again in a few months for taping. Isn’t that great?”

“Take some pictures?”

“Yeah. I get to pretend I’m a model, isn’t
that cool?”

“Are they gonna be in a magazine or
something?”

“Gee, I don’t know. Hey you don’t sound all
that happy for me.”

“No, no I’m happy, it’s just that...”

“Wow, I wish you could have been there
Anthony.”

A man in his early twenties had tuned in to
the phone conversation. He was leaning against the wall about six
feet away, out of Josephine’s view, holding up a newspaper and
pretending to read it.

The operator interjected, “Time is up; please
insert another eighty five cents to continue your call...”

“Hey, I’ll call you later Anthony.”

“Joe?” the phone clicked dead.

“Ms. Ferrero, please, Ms. Ferrero.” Josephine
stopped in her tracks on the way up the stairs, back to her room.
She turned to greet the gentleman, following her. “Ms. Ferrero,
isn’t it?” Josephine smiled and raised an eyebrow in question. “I
couldn’t help but notice you. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind.
Could I have your autograph? Please?” Josephine was amazed, but
excited.

“You want my autograph? But why?”

“You are going to be in the next Irving film,
aren’t you? I thought you were. I mean, if you’re not you should
be.”

“How did you know that?”

“Oh, so it is true. I heard talk, you know,
around. Wow, could I, would you mind?” He extended a note pad out
to her. She obliged him whole heartedly. She couldn’t seem to
remove the smile from her face, as she handed him back his note
pad.

“Thank you,” he said as she turned to
continue up the stairs. She stopped and turned to watch him exit
the building. She let her eyes scan the lobby. She felt so proud,
so good about herself.

‘Imagine’, she thought to herself, ‘someone
wanted my autograph’ she smiled and turned to continue up the
stairs.

Her child’s mind replayed the scene, over
again. ‘Ms. Ferrero, Ms. Ferrero ma’am...’ the voice in her vision
had changed, from male to female.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Josephine was temporarily awakened from the
memory. Chloe, her maid, was standing above her bed. “The hospital
just called. About Ms. Dal Santo, Ms. Ferrero?”

Josephine rubbed her eyes. “And? What did
they say?”

“Ms. Dal Santo has come out of surgery and is
in recovery now. She is stable. They don’t expect any problems or
complications and you should be able to see her in a couple of
hours. Ma`am?” Josephine rolled over and drifted off once
again.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The mail had arrived, back at St. Agnes.
Josephine ran to see if anything had arrived for her. Sister
Patricia handed her a brown wrapped package addressed to her.
“Josephine, there is something for Antonia. Will you take it up to
her?” Sister asked holding up a single envelope. Josephine took
what she was handed, but her eyes never left her own package. As
she walked back to her room, she ripped open the wrapper. Inside
was a magazine. A piece of paper marked a page for her inspection.
She placed the wrapper and Antonia’s letter under her arm as she
opened the page. A photo of her. Ms. Josephine Ferrero. An up and
coming star. One to watch for in the future. There was a whole
article attached. An article on her, along with several more photos
and a brief biography. She raced to her room.

“Anthony, Anthony, guess what...” Josephine
barged into their room and threw herself on Antonia’s bed. Her
friend was lying back, reading a book.

“You finally got hair under your arms?”
Antonia responded, not looking up.

“Anthony, my picture is in a magazine. Here
look, they did a whole story on me.” Anthony glanced up at her
friend. Then, placing her book aside she sat up to look at the
magazine. Josephine read the article out loud. The article
explained where Josephine was born, where she lived at that moment
and how she got her big break. It explained her role in Louis
Irving’s newest release and how she was currently being considered
for a part in his next film.

“Can you believe it? Oh my God, Anthony, a
whole story on me!” Josephine bounced up and down on Anthony’s bed.
Both the wrapper and letter for Antonia fell to the floor.

Anthony stepped off the bed to pick them up
and said “Why did they have to mention where you live?”

Josephine stood up and stared in disbelief at
her friend. “Why can’t you ever be happy for me? Who cares what
they wrote anyway. Look at the pictures, Anthony, my face is in a
magazine.”

Anthony was looking down at the letter she
held in her hand. Bringing her right leg up under her, she sat on
her bed again. Josephine stopped talking and watched her friend’s
reaction.

Anthony looked scared. “It’s just a letter,
it can’t hurt you.” Josephine came back and sat next to her friend.
She noticed the big red prison stamp on the front of the envelope.
She hadn’t noticed it before. Anthony was looking blankly at the
letter. All the confidence and security she had managed to obtain
in the past few years had left her spirit. She knew she should have
just thrown the letter away. Her inner self told her not to open it
but she needed to know what he had written. Still she stared at the
letter.

“You don’t have to open it, you know.”
Josephine tried to help. Antonia did not respond. She needed family
contact. ‘Perhaps he was writing to apologize’, she thought.
Antonia carefully, slowly, opened the letter.

There was only a simple white piece of paper
with the words, ‘Looking good, love daddy’, along with a newspaper
clipping. Anthony just looked at it.

Josephine said, “Hey, is that you? When did
you get your picture in the paper? Why didn’t you tell me? July?
You made the paper in July?” Anthony was not listening as Josephine
read the article out loud. Antonia Dal Santo, this year’s spelling
bee winner for the tri-state area. Winning her claim to fame with
the word, “paleontologist.” Ms. Dal Santo beat out twenty five
other contestants from around the area, taking a prize of one
thousand dollars back to St. Agnes.

Josephine looked up at Antonia with both
jealousy and rage, but her anger slowed as she saw the color her
friends face had become. Antonia jumped up from her bed and dashed
down the hall to the rest room. Barely making it through the door,
she vomited painfully for several minutes before passing out on the
floor. Josephine followed, with both the letter and the article in
hand. Finding her friend, she stood stunned in the doorway. Sister
Ursula appeared and told Josephine to run and get Sister Margaret,
quickly. Josephine dropped the article and letter as she turned to
leave. Sister Ursula bent and retrieved them both. Placing them in
her pocket, she went to Antonia.

Chapter 7

The alarm clock sounded. The television went
on automatically, preprogrammed to the news channel. In the
bathroom another alarm sounded. Josephine cursed the sun as she
forced herself from her bed. She must have sat up too fast because
her head hurt. She put her hand to her head in an attempt to hold
back the pain and was quickly reminded of the previous night’s
events when her hand came into contact with a tender area.
Josephine got herself up and grabbed the bottle of pain pills the
nurse had given her the night before. Shutting off the alarm clock,
she walked to the bathroom, where she shut off the second alarm and
grabbed a glass of water. Tossing a pill into her mouth, she
chugged the glass of water. She looked at her reflection in the
mirror and noting the lump on her forehead, she told the
reflection, “She should have lumped you up years ago.”

After a quick shower she returned to her room
to hear all about the previous night’s events. The news station had
her house live, as a reporter gave the story from her front lawn.
“Jesus.” She muttered to herself. Josephine went in search of
Billy, only to find him dozing in a chair outside her bedroom
door.

“Hey, wake up dammit.” She batted him on the
shoulder. “Got reporters all over the grounds, hell they probably
showed me in the shower. What’s with you?” Billy jumped up and
wiped his face with his hands. He ran down the stairs to the foyer
where he picked up his phone and started barking out orders.

Josephine made her way to the kitchen where
her preprogrammed coffee maker had obediently done its job. She
poured herself a cup and proceeded to the back hall to retrieve her
morning paper. Chloe always placed it neatly on the back table for
her, so she didn’t have to venture outside to get it. She peeked
out the window and didn’t see anyone with a camera. She smiled to
herself, Billy must’ve been working extra hard at the moment. She
made her way back to the table and read the paper while having her
coffee.

Josephine picked up one of the many cordless
phones she had lying around her estate. One of Chloe’s many jobs
was to keep the phones fully charged. She dialed up her secretary.
The phone rang four times before he picked up.

“Jim Deloryan, how may I help you?”

“Morning Jim, what’s on the agenda for
today?”

“Josephine, how are you feeling this morning?
You sound well.”

“Perhaps you did not hear me, I believe I
said, Morning Jim, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Meeting in Ohio at two this afternoon,
followed by dinner with Leon Tune’s leading lady.”

“Reschedule both for next week at the
earliest. Cancel all appointments for the next two days and get
your ass out to the Paper Mill and grab a copy of everything
printed in the last twenty-four. Take them and your little self
over to my attorney’s office and read everything.”

“Joseph...” She clicked the phone off before
waiting for his response.

Jim got under her skin. He felt powerful in
his position. He felt some sort of invisible bond with Josephine
and she wanted him replaced badly. Anthony was supposed to take
care of it for her.

She sat thoughtfully at the table with her
coffee in both hands. Anthony took care of a lot of things for her.
When had it become Anthony’s job to do anything for Josephine. It
was just easier for her to ask Anthony. That way it was sure to get
done. Anthony never questioned, or rolled her eyes the way some of
Josephine’s paid employees did. Employee. Josephine wondered if
Anthony felt she was an employee.

Anthony did live free of charge in the
estate. She never wanted for anything. Chloe always kept the house
well stocked of food and beverage. The laundry was always clean and
replaced as needed.

Anthony only needed to purchase what she
wore. Josephine never inquired as to how Anthony paid for anything.
Anthony had been selling stories and articles for most of her life
to various magazines. She had a nice size savings before she ever
left school. She wondered if Anthony felt obligated to do her
bidding because she was living free of charge. It was Josephine who
had begged for her to stay. Anthony never wanted to live in any of
Josephine’s homes. She had offered to stay in a hotel. She claimed
it wasn’t the type of living suited to a missionary’s life.
Josephine remembered how angry she had become at this offer,
thinking of how this would make her look. She had made Anthony feel
so guilty, she had no choice but to move in with her. Josephine sat
at her kitchen table and felt absolutely disgusted with
herself.

Billy entered the kitchen. “Will you be
needing a ride to the hospital?”

“No, I think I will drive myself over this
morning, thanks anyway.”

Billy looked as though he might want to
object, but thought better of it. He grabbed himself a cup of
coffee

“Why don’t you get some rest?” Josephine
offered. Billy looked up startled. “I am sure the local P.D. can
handle whatever might come up today. And you were up late last
night. Not any good to me if you’re tired. Besides, I doubt anyone
will be back. It was probably just some crazed fan, probably got
scared off from all the attention.” Billy nodded his head in
response as he lifted his cup and headed down the hall to his room.
Both Billy and Chloe lived on location with Josephine all year. It
was one of the job duties.

Next Josephine dialed up the hospital. She
spoke with the answering service and was put through to the Chief
of Staff. “Morning, Ms. Ferrero, Doctor Luke here, what can I do
for you this morning?”

“Dr. Luke? You’re the Chief of Staff?”

“Small hospital, lot of duty.”

“You must be exhausted.”

“Ms. Dal Santo has given me a shot of
adrenaline this morning, or so it seems. She pulled through her
surgery and recovery with amazing strength. She was awake this
morning for a bit. She asked for you, wanted to know if you were
OK, didn’t ask about the baby or herself, just you. I assured her
you were just fine and I told her we had to throw you out last
night so you could get some rest. You did get some rest, didn’t
you?”

The baby, why did he have to bring up the
baby? “Yes, I did sleep some. And now? Is she awake now?”

“She is off and on; she will probably sleep
real well today. But she is up for minutes at a time. I am certain
that if you were present for thirty minutes today, she will be up
for fifteen of them.”

“And security, how are you set up for
security?”

“Are you asking this for yourself or for Ms.
Dal Santo? Because I am sure you are aware, we have security on
duty twenty-four/seven here, walking the grounds and parking area.
If you are concerned, you can just call in to the desk and let them
know you are arriving. We can have someone go out to your car and
meet you if you’d like.”