Joaquim walks off the dock toward me, and we decide to walk to the plaza and find a cafe for dinner. It’s late March, and the burned statues from Las Fallas (St. Joseph’s Day) are still smoldering. As we pass several burned Ninots from the festival, I notice one in the image of Donald Trump. It’s been nice these eighteen years being in a place that’s calm, relaxing and safe. Spring is a beautiful time here in Valencia. The delicate smells from the orange blossoms fill the air, and the ocean is more enjoyable. We sit at a table outside at Taverna La Mora. I look at Joaquim and say,“Estoy muy orgullosa de ti.” I love you and I’m so proud of you.”
“Gracias, Mama.”
“Es hora de decirte algo muy importante sobre tu vida y tu futuro.” “It’s time to tell you something very important about your life and your future.”
“Si, Mama.”
“Todo lo que he hecho en mi vida ha sido protegerte. Everything I’ve ever done has been to protect you. Ahora que cumples 18 anos, te confieso algo que podra determina tu futuro. Haz con ello lo creas oportuno. Now that you will turn eighteen in a few weeks, you will take this information and use it wisely to decide your future. Te voy a contar mi historia verdadera, en ingles. I’m going to tell you my story in English.”
The phones were always ringing, I was always busy, but the best kind of busy. New York City never sleeps and a lot of the time neither did I. I worked for Jack Kent, Jr, as his personal assistant right before and during the time he started his political and pop culture magazine, The American Spirit. I did everything from plan his private wedding on a secluded island off the coast of Georgia, to telling him when to write a Thank you note. I was best friends with his wife Kaitlyn, as well as Mark, who was his right- hand man and co-founder of the magazine. The press, fans, and crazies were always following him and tracking his every move. I had to answer phone calls from people trying to find him and open letters from crazy stalkers. I protected him as much as I could. Kaitlyn hated the press and the lack of privacy more than anything in the world. But Jack had grown up in the spotlight, he was used to it, it was part of who he was and a staple in his life.
When I met him, I was a secretary, but after I had worked for him for two and a half years, I became much more important. I loved being able to get into the hottest restaurants in New York, wear the best clothes, and work for one of the most famous and adored men in the world. He was American royalty and adored by most. But some say his family had a curse. His father had been murdered as well as one of his uncles.
Six months after he and Kaitlyn were married, she hired extra security whenever they were together. It was her way of trying her best to deal with the press, publicity and cameras. One evening Jack stayed late to work at the office with some of the staff, and Kaitlyn had the entire security follow her home. Alone in the apartment, she began making dinner and asked one of the guards to help her open something. A sniper bullet came through the large window in the kitchen, hitting the guard in the ear, but the bullet ended up lodged in Kaitlyn’s head. She collapsed, and the guards went into action, calling in the police, closing the blinds and turning off all the lights.
Jack was on his way home when he got the call, and I met him at the hospital. Kaitlyn was in a coma, and one of the doctors realized she was six weeks pregnant. No one knew about the pregnancy. Jack told me that they had not planned to tell anyone, including family for another two months. The doctor suggested they fly Kaitlyn to Sweden to a special hospital, where he knew they could save the baby. The grave news about not being able to save Kaitlyn but at least save the baby had us all on the verge of hysterics. Jack said he didn’t want anyone to know about the baby, and he didn’t want anyone to know we were going to Sweden. The press had already gathered outside the hospital, and the news reports on TV were saying Kaitlyn had been shot by a sniper bullet meant for Jack. There had been no other news, and no one was going to leak anything to the press. The floor we were on was locked down and heavily guarded, so no one knew what was happening but us.
At three in the morning, a helicopter landed on the roof of the hospital, and Jack, I, two doctors and a nurse helped wheel Kaitlyn into the helicopter. We flew to Washington DC and boarded a special Air Force plane to Sweden. We flew directly to the hospital, where a staff of doctors and nurses rushed Kaitlyn into a secure room. The doctor in charge met us in the hallway and took us to a private room to talk. He explained that he had done womb transplants that were successful, and in order to save the baby a surrogate would be needed. A healthy woman who had never had children would be pumped with hormones to shock her body into thinking it was pregnant. After seventy-two hours of IV drugs, a surgical procedure would take place to implant the fetus into the donor. The surrogate would have to remain in the hospital until the child was born. Jack told me I needed to be the surrogate.
“We know Kaitlyn won’t recover. We will have to make a tough decision at some point. The baby needs to be saved by any means possible.”
Jack broke down and cried. When he hit the floor, a nurse helped him up and sat him in a chair next to me. I leaned down in front of him. I knew what I needed to do and what I needed to say to Jack.
“Of course. I will do it. I will be the surrogate. I will help save your baby.”
Joaquim has tears running down his cheeks, and I move my chair over and put my arms around him and hold him tight. I continue my story.
I’m immediately hooked up to IV’s, and drugs are pumped into my system. After seventy-two hours, I’m prepped for surgery. As soon as the baby is transplanted into my womb, Kaitlyn, the two doctors, the nurse and Jack board a private plane back to Washington D.C. where they will get on a helicopter back to the hospital in New York. No one knows they left, and the American press has gotten little word except that Kaitlyn has been in a coma for several days. Jack tells me he will be back as soon as he can. I tell him not to worry about anything. He leaves and I never see him again. Their plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia. The bodies of Jack, Kaitlyn, the doctor and nurse are found. I am never found. My body reportedly is lost at sea or eaten by sharks.
I give birth to a beautiful healthy boy. I name him Jackson, close to the name of his father. The doctors take care of the birth certificate and document all the procedures that were done to save this precious baby. The information is stored in a secure locked waterproof box. The baby, the secure box with important papers and I are whisked away to a monastery in the north part of Spain. After six years, I am reunited with a second cousin named Carmen Tous, and you know the rest of the story. Joaquim has stopped crying and asks, “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”
“I wanted you to be old enough to make your own decisions. I couldn’t go back to New York. The press and the lifestyle I would have led there would have been too much for me to handle. I had no way of knowing if the sniper had been caught. I didn’t want to live in fear for my life or for yours. I wanted only to keep you safe and protected. I wanted to be able to tell you when you were old enough to decide for yourself what you want to do with the information. I have all the proper documentation from the doctors in Stockholm. You can now choose to go to America, find your aunts, uncles, and cousins. Share with them what you know and who you really are, or you can keep it a secret forever. You look so much like your father.”
“Mama vamos a la Iglesia, y hablemos con Don Jose, para que nos ayude decidir sobre el futuro. Come with me to church now, Mama. Let’s find Don Jose, he will know how to guide me about deciding the future. Quiero hablarle sobre el camino despues de la graduacion. I want to know what path to take after my graduation.”
We leave the cafe and walk to Catedral de Valencia. We light candles, and we begin to pray.
It takes me two hours to write the story. I re-read and double check for any misspelled words. I check the word count and it is over 1,000 so it falls into the range for the assignment. I save my document and turn off my computer. I fall asleep dreaming about working at a famous magazine publishi
ng house in New York.
The next morning my phone rings me awake. I pop up, grab my phone off the nightstand and notice it’s Lane calling me. I answer with a sleepy sounding…“Hey you.”
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“I just woke up when the phone rang.”
“Good for you, sleeping in today.”
“I stayed up really late writing my paper. Have you finished yours?”
“No, I need to get started on that. I’m sorry I was so short with you on the phone yesterday. I had just gotten to the house here in Aspen after the plane ride and an almost four hour car ride. I was totally beat.”
“I understand. I was so tired yesterday that I slept almost all day. Then I wasn’t tired last night so I ended up flipping through channels on TV and saw something that gave me an idea for a story. I wrote it in about two hours.”
“That’s awesome, Bex.”
“I want you to read it first before I submit it, just to get your opinion, especially since you’re an English major.”
I hear Lane laugh. “Email it to me today. I’ll read it tonight. I’m about to hit the ski slopes, but I wanted to talk to you first. It’s still fairly early here, a few hours behind Atlanta time.”
After we hang up, I open my computer and email him my story file just as Lauren barges into my room.
“Good, you’re awake.” She hands me the sports section of the newspaper. She points to a photo. I begin reading.
“Alabama to play Oklahoma in the College Football National Championship Game in New Orleans on January first.”
“Yay.” I squeal. “I need to call Bella.”
“Mom just got off the phone with Bella’s mom about the plans to go down there. She said we’ll leave here on the 27th and stay at their house until the 30th. Bella checks into the hotel at 2:00 that day. The game is set for 7 p.m. on the 1st, and we’re staying at a hotel near where the band and the team will stay called Hotel Monteleone. Mom said that Bella’s parents are staying at that same hotel. Two nights at their house and three nights at the hotel.”
“That sounds perfect. Thanks for the update, but I’m still calling Bella.”
Bella doesn’t answer, so I leave her a voice mail. I go down to the basement and pop my DVD into the Xbox and practice my routine for an hour. When my phone rings, I notice it’s Bella. The first thing she says to me is, “You and Lane met Migos?”
“We got to meet them at a party with one of his fraternity brothers. It was really cool.”
Before hanging up, we talk about what she’s been doing the past few days of Christmas vacation and how excited we are about the National Championship game.
Lauren comes down to the basement and asks if I want to see a movie at Phipps Plaza with her and Brian.
“Sure.” I ask, “Which one?”
“We want to see the new Star Wars movie at 6:30, but we want to do a little more Christmas shopping first, if that’s okay. We’ll go to Brian’s house and ride to Phipps with him. He told me to come by around 3:00.”
We pull up to Brian’s beautiful house in Buckhead. Brian’s Mom answers the door and ushers us into the kitchen for some drinks and snacks. Brian pops in and gives Lauren a hug. I’m thrilled that they’re still into each other after meeting randomly on Cumberland Island last month. We leave in Brian’s car, and it’s a short drive to Phipps Plaza from his house. Brian says something to me about meeting Migos, and I act cool.
“Yeah, Lane has fraternity brothers here in Atlanta and one of them has family with connections to Migos.” I’m super nonchalant about it, and he drops the topic.
I love going to Phipps. It’s such a treat to see all the fancy stores. Something catches my eye when we walk past the Gucci store.
“Hey, guys, do you mind if we pop in here?”
I see a scarf that might be nice for Lane. I also notice some loafers that look similar to the one’s I’ve seen him wear. I look at the price tag $530.00.
“Wow,” I utter a little too loudly, and Lauren and Brian turn and look at me.
“Are you looking for something for Lane?”
“I think he would like this scarf,” I say, picking it up off the shelf.
“It’s over $200.00. That’s a lot to spend, but it’s your money.”
“I know, but I have a pet sitting job for the next four days, and I’ll make it back. I’m going to get it and see if they’ll wrap it.”
After our shopping spree, we go to the movie then back to Brian’s house. We follow him to his basement. It’s really cool, with exposed brick walls and floors. He and Lauren plop down onto a large leather sofa and get snuggly. Brian turns on the stereo speakers and asks us what music we want to listen to. He chooses John Mayer. I decide to sit at the bar and scroll through my Instagram. After about an hour, I am bored. “Hey guys, it’s late and probably time for us to go.”
Brian and Lauren look over at me. Lauren eventually says, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Brian stands. “I’ll walk you guys upstairs.”
He pulls Lauren up with him and walks us upstairs to the front door.
I tell Brian bye, walk out and sit in the car while Lauren spends the next ten minutes saying goodbye.
31
#Christmas
On Christmas Eve, we go to church for a special candlelight service and enjoy dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with our grandparents. When we get home, Mom asks Lauren and me about plans for the morning.
“Do you girls want to sleep late?”
I look at Lauren. She looks back at me and says, “Bex, do you want to sleep in the basement and watch Hallmark Christmas movies?”
“Christmas movies, hot chocolate, popcorn, and let’s plan on sleeping in tomorrow. It’s Christmas Pj time,” I say, running up the stairs to change.
Lauren and I make popcorn and hot chocolate then look at Netflix for the first Christmas movie we want to watch. Just before the movie starts my phone rings. I answer and tell Lauren to pause the movie. She makes an annoyed sound and starts texting with someone.
“Hey, babe,” Lane says when I answer.
“Hey, sweetie,” I reply back.
“What are you doing?”
“Lauren and I are just about to watch some Christmas movies. We made popcorn and hot chocolate.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun. We’ve got a full house with some munchkins waiting on Santa to arrive. We’re hoping they’re settled in for the night. I’ll have to go up and help set gifts under the tree in a little while, but first I wanted to call you.”
“I’m so glad you did. Merry Christmas Eve.”
“Merry Christmas Eve to you, too. I read your paper last night, and its good. It’s got one heck of a cliff hanger.”
“Yeah, I wanted to leave a little mystery.”
“It sounds like you wrote about JFK, Jr., his wife and his magazine, but changed all the names.”
“Wow, how did you figure that out? You are super smart.” He laughs.
“Do you remember the day we met? I mentioned that I read a lot of history.”
“I remember. How could I forget meeting you? I tripped over you. Do you think it’s good enough to submit for the assignment?”
“Yes, definitely. I have to finish mine soon. I’ve started but need to finish up.”
“What’s your story about?”
“It’s about a boy who goes sailing without permission, gets caught in a storm and is rescued by the coast guard.”
“Oh, wow, is it a true story?”
“Yes, actually it is.”
“Sounds scary.”
“It was at the time.”
“Uh, oh, were you the boy who went sailing without permission and had to be rescued?”
“Guilty,” Lane says. I laugh.
“I hear my aunt and my mom coming down here to find me. They’re probably ready to start putting all the gifts under the tree. I should go.”
“Wait just a sec. I guess you saw that Alaba
ma is playing in the National Championship game?”
“Yes, two of my cousins are going to fly down with me. Where did you book your hotel?”
“Hotel Monteleone, it’s close to where the team and band will stay. We’ll be at Bella’s house for two nights, then three nights at the hotel.”
“I’ll see if I can get a reservation there, too. Merry Christmas, baby.”
Christmas is my favorite. Not that we’re kids anymore, but just being home with family and all that entails feels magical. Lauren and I fall asleep after watching two Christmas movies.
We wake up around 10:00 a.m. and run upstairs finding Mom and Dad in the kitchen making pancakes and bacon.
“Merry Christmas, girls,” Dad says, putting pancakes onto a plate. “How many pancakes do you want?” he asks.
Lauren and I make faces on our pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream like we did when we were little. After breakfast we move to the living room to open gifts. Dad hands us our stockings to open first. I take out a small box with a bow and open it. Inside is a key to a car. I scream and jump up off the couch. Mom and Dad are smiling at me.
“It’s in the driveway.” Mom and Dad start walking toward the door.
Lauren and I run out to see a red Mazda 3 hatchback. I get inside, and it smells wonderful. I love the new car smell.
Walking the Crimson Road Page 19