Words Unsaid

by KG MacGregor

  “Can you believe it was just this morning we were eating breakfast in the Everglades? Feels like last week.”

  “And it feels like a month that Andy was gone.” She followed Lily into the bathroom where they readied for bed. “I was struck by something he said on the plane. ‘Us Latinos.’ I know he’s been teased about it at school, but it never once occurred to me what that really means. We need to have The Talk with our whole family.”

  “You mean like the one Black parents have with their kids? How they have to be hyper aware of what they say and do when it comes to the authorities.”

  “Exactly. And how they need to stay focused on one thing—doing whatever it takes to come home safe.” That her children’s wellbeing might be at risk from entrenched prejudice ignited a fury stronger than she’d ever known. “We dropped the ball on that, Lily.”

  “I agree. At least we get another chance. I noticed you were in his bedroom a long time with the door shut. Is that what you were talking about?”

  “That…plus he was telling me about one of the guards at Berks, some guy named Wayne. His little friend Ruben said Wayne followed all the little boys into the showers so he could look at them naked. I promised him we’d report it.”

  “Damn right we will,” Lily said. “And we can use that to try to get Ruben released to a caretaker right away while his father awaits his trial. Did you happen to mention the psychologist to Andy?”

  “I did…He didn’t think he needed one, but I convinced him to humor us. Then we went online and made an appointment at the DMV for him to take his driver’s test next Tuesday. He still needs twelve hours behind the wheel, but I promised him we’d knock those out this weekend.”

  “You’re quite the negotiator.” Lily stared back from the mirror, her mouth open and toothbrush in hand. “I bet he’s over the moon.”

  “Yeah, I’m proud of the way he handled himself. All this time I thought he wasn’t mature enough for the responsibility, but clearly I was wrong. And I told him that.”

  In return, Andy had promised never to do anything stupid or irresponsible. While she appreciated his commitment, she reminded herself that any sixteen-year-old was sure to have plenty of foolish mistakes ahead, no matter how sincere their promises.

  Anna stripped off her shirt and bra and turned away. “Scratch my back, would you?” As Lily complied, she moaned her approval. Sometimes a good back scratching was almost as good as—

  “We get to sleep in tomorrow,” Lily said. “I heard Serafina promise the boys she’d make them pancakes…though I doubt seriously Andy will be up before noon.”

  “Tomorrow’s Saturday. We’ve got tennis and STEM camp. And I need to take Andy driving.”

  Lily finished with a kiss between Anna’s shoulder blades. “Nope, all that’s canceled. Except some driving. Officially we’re still on vacation till Sunday, remember?”

  Anna shimmied into a satin nightshirt and finished her ablutions. She found the bedroom dark but for a flameless candle on each nightstand.

  Lily lay naked on her side, her hand smoothing the sheet. This was her superpower, the unfailing ability to make Anna forget work stress, family worries, even exhaustion, with just a soft pat on the bed. “Come be with me.”

  She fell into Lily’s arms and slid a knee between her legs, their bodies fitting together as perfectly as the tricolored wedding rings they wore. “I’m always with you, no matter where we are.”

  Epilogue

  June 2019

  As she set out plates and utensils for dinner, Lily overheard a squabble kicking up in the family room.

  “That’s my pencil, butthead,” Andy said sternly. “Stop taking my stuff.”

  Georgie replied, “I’m telling Ma you said a bathroom word.”

  “Good, then you might as well tell her I called you crap face too.”

  “Ma!”

  “Georgie, please come to the kitchen,” Lily called. Before he could tattle on Andy, she handed him a box dinner from the drive-thru at KFC. “Take this up to Serafina’s apartment. Knock on the door and wait for her to answer. And don’t stand around and talk. She has to study for her exam tomorrow, so we need to give her some peace and quiet.”

  “How come she gets to eat already and we don’t?”

  “Your mom will be here soon and we’ll have dinner together.”

  Eleanor appeared in the doorway, a longhaired tortie kitten literally on her heels in pursuit of a dangling shoestring. “Silly Hedy. Rafa chases her and she chases me.”

  Rafa was Georgie’s all-black kitten, named for tennis player Rafael Nadal. They were loads of fun but kittens came with only two gears—park and turbo.

  “Sweetie, go with Georgie and take Serafina this piece of lemon cake. But first, tie your shoe. And be careful not to let the kitties out.”

  Anna had texted that she was on her way home, so Lily went ahead and set the food out in the breakfast nook. “Andy, would you come in here please?”

  He sauntered in and sank into his usual seat at the table without looking up from his phone. Though he’d been home for half an hour, he still wore his much despised school uniform but with his tie hanging loose and his shirttail out. Lily was surprised he hadn’t stripped it off in the car since this was their last day of school.

  “That’s two bucks for the bad word jar, young man.” She unscrewed the top off the plastic jug and set it in front of him.

  “Aw, I was hoping you didn’t hear that. When Georgie gets back I’m going to kick his buttered biscuit, that little crafty boy.”

  “Why, you little smartas—a whip kid. Just for that, I’m going to assault you.” She bopped his head several times with an empty paper towel roll until he wrested it from her in a fit of laughter.

  Since Andy’s release from detention three months ago, he’d been noticeably happier and more engaged with the family, his verbal jousts with Georgie notwithstanding. In fact, Anna thought all of them had drawn especially close after saying their sad goodbyes to Martine last month. It was as if her passing, heartbreaking though it was, had released them from the cloud of dread.

  Andy drew the covered bucket of chicken closer and inhaled. “Mom better get here soon. I’m not going to last much longer.”

  Lily tugged it away as she joined him at the table. “There was an article in The New York Times today about the detention center at Homestead. They’re talking about closing it down. I’ll send it to you if you want to read it.”

  “Heck yeah! Somebody ought to burn it to the ground. What are they going to do with all the kids there?”

  “Let’s hope the idea is to stop taking them in. They made a mess and now they don’t know what to do with it. Mark my words, when it’s all said and done they’re going to have loads of kids without parents because nobody’s kept up with them.”

  “No sh—no kidding. They didn’t even have my name right. And these little kids, some of them don’t even know their parents’ names or where they’re from.”

  “That’s another thing…your friend Ruben and his father. Tony called me today.” Tony had taken on Miguel Ibarra’s criminal case, which proved thornier than usual. ICE was claiming the assault occurred in the lavatory at the detention center, away from security cameras and other witnesses. “The assault case came down to his father’s word against that of two ICE officers. You know how hard it is to prove your innocence when law enforcement testifies against you.”

  “Because they lie and the judge always believes them. It sucks.”

  “Yeah, sometimes it really does. Ruben’s dad decided not to take his chances in court. He was facing the possibility of eight years in prison for assault, and they were going to hold Ruben at Berks the whole time. Tony got them to offer a deal instead—plead guilty to disorderly conduct instead of assault. Instead of sending him to jail now and deporting both him and Ruben when he got out, they’re deporting them now.” In fact, Ruben was on his way back to Phoenix today so ICE could dump them at the Mexican border togethe
r.

  “But that’s not fair. He didn’t assault anybody. He should have fought it in court.”

  “Honey, that’s a huge roll of the dice when the system’s stacked against you. Can you imagine Ruben having to stay at Berks until he’s fifteen years old?”

  “But it’s blackmail.”

  More like extortion or coercion, she wanted to say. Prosecutors did it all the time to extract guilty pleas, even from people who weren’t guilty.

  Andy folded his arms on the table and rested his head in the crook of his elbow. “Poor Ruben. He’s going to think I let him down.”

  “I’m sure his dad will tell him you tried to help. You did all you could do. One good thing happened though. Remember that one guard Ruben said was looking at him in the shower? Tony got him transferred out of there. He’s at the adult prison now. That was the best he could do without concrete evidence.”

  “At least it’s something.”

  She rose to stand beside him and hug him to her chest. “I’m really sorry, honey. It was good of you to try to help. In case I haven’t told you lately, I’m really proud of the young man you’ve become. I can’t think of a better feeling for a mom than to know her kid’s grown up to be a good person.”

  The tips of his ears burned red as he hugged her waist tightly. Their sweet moment was shattered when the twins burst through the back door and ran to chase the kittens. Behind them the back gate opened to Anna, who sauntered across the patio with her suit jacket slung over her shoulder.

  “There’s your mom. Go wash your hands so we can eat.”

  Anna entered the kitchen with the broadest grin Lily had seen in quite some time. Instead of a hug, she lifted Lily off her feet and swung her around.

  “Someone’s in a good mood. I take it Hal said yes?”

  “You should have seen him. I think he’s even more excited than we are. But they want to do their Puget Sound trip first.”

  “I don’t blame them. They deserve some time to relax.”

  “That means we can start work in July. We’re going to love this, Lily. All of us.”

  After weeks of soul searching, Anna had decided to pass on the opportunity with Helios. As stimulating as it would have been to break new ground in automotive technology, she couldn’t see herself working for someone else. Instead, they were going to use the proceeds from the sale to launch a new enterprise—the Kaklis Family Foundation—to help fund some of the causes they cared about. Legal aid for immigrants, Alzheimer’s care, STEM for girls. They’d look for opportunities where small grants could make a big difference.

  “It’ll be a wonderful legacy, Anna. I’m surprised you didn’t want to go out to Empyre’s to celebrate.” Their biggest events were usually marked with a big family dinner at their favorite Greek restaurant.

  “I sort of wanted tonight to be just us,” Anna said.

  Since the ordeal with Andy they’d spent more time with their kids, enjoying games and movies at home, and fun outings like the Santa Monica Pier. Even camping at Malibu Creek with Sandy and Suzanne. The first time Andy went out with his friends, he’d texted all through the evening to set their minds at ease. Even so, Anna had spent the whole time in the alcove in their bedroom watching the driveway for his return.

  “Hi, Mom.” Andy returned from washing his hands and rose on tiptoes to kiss her cheek.

  “Mommm!”

  As Anna stooped to hug the twins, Georgie excitedly shared news of his practice with Coach Bobby and Eleanor related the latest antics of Hedy and Rafa. It was a poignant moment for Lily, the realization that these childhood moments would be behind them all too soon as the kids grew too cool to hug their moms and too secretive to talk about their days. They’d be adults in eight short years—no time at all.

  “I’ve got some news,” Anna said, rubbing her hands as she took her seat at the table. “You know the Schumacher house? Across the street, two doors down. Aunt Kim and Uncle Hal bought it. They’re going to be our neighbors.”

  “Wow!” Andy said.

  Eleanor clapped with glee. “Yay, this means I can see Alice whenever I want.”

  “And we can play ping-pong,” George added.

  “That’s wonderful news,” Lily said. “I bet they’re excited about having their own place again. What did George decide about the Big House? It’s too much for him by himself.”

  Anna’s feelings about the old mansion were decidedly mixed, she’d told Lily a couple of nights ago. Wonderful memories, and now sad ones too. It had been in her family for over seventy years but was in dire need of major repairs and renovations. “Dad’s putting it on the market. Kim’s going to help him find a place to rent for a year or so until he figures out where he wants to be. I think it’s the right thing to do but it’s bittersweet.”

  “Maybe now your sister will stop trying to steal this house out from under us.”

  “Let’s hope. But wait, there’s more,” Anna said, doing a cheesy imitation of a late-night TV huckster. “I signed all the papers this afternoon to sell the dealerships to Pinnacle…all twenty-one of them.”

  Lily winked at her as they watched Andy’s face for a reaction. He was too busy fishing through the chicken bucket to find a drumstick.

  Only Eleanor caught the slip. “There’s supposed to be twenty-two.”

  “Right, I decided we ought to keep the BMW dealership in Beverly Hills. That was your grandpa’s idea. He was worried Andy and I might not know what to do with ourselves if I sold it.”

  Andy’s eyes went wide with delight. With half a biscuit in his mouth, he managed, “Are you theriouth?”

  “Yeth, I’m theriouth. What do you think of that?”

  He pounded the table with excitement before taking a drink to wash down his food. “I think it’s fan—frickin’—tastic!” He whipped out his wallet and tossed a five-dollar bill on the table. “That’s in case frickin’s a bathroom word. What made you change your mind?”

  “It’s in my blood, I guess. I figure as long as there’s a Kaklis who wants to sell cars, we should keep the doors open.”

  Lily spoke up, “But if you get to college and decide you want to…oh, I don’t know…go to law school? All bets are off.”

  After his release from detention, he’d talked vaguely about the possibility of becoming an attorney like Arturo. Not like his ma, Lily noted. She and Anna had been pleased to hear that he was open to other venues after all, though they doubted anything could tear him away from his love of cars.

  Andy was practically bouncing with excitement. “Does this mean I get to run the dealership some day?”

  “What about me?” Eleanor asked pointedly.

  “You don’t know anything about cars,” he replied, punctuating his remark with an eye roll.

  “I know how to calculate engine displacement. That’s how much air gets pushed out when the pistons go down. The higher the engine displacement, the more power a car has.”

  Andy stared at her, mouth agape, then turned to Anna with a questioning look.

  “She’s right, pal.”

  Having secured her automotive engineering bona fides, Eleanor took mercy on her brother. “It’s okay, Andy. I want to be a scientist. But you can call me if you ever need any help figuring out stuff like that.”

  Lily had never seen him quite so flabbergasted, as if downright embarrassed that his ten-year-old sister had schooled him on something he should have known.

  “You’re sweet to offer, Ellie,” Anna said, “but I was kind of hoping Andy would take me up on a job offer now that school’s out. That would give him a chance to learn the business from the ground up.”

  “A job?”

  “You know, that thing where you show up for work every day at a certain time and do whatever your supervisor tells you to do till it’s time to go home.”

  He gave Anna a tentative look. “A real job? Like…would I get paid?”

  Anna helped herself to a chicken wing and a biscuit. “Of course. You’d be an official tax
-paying employee. Fingerprints, credit check, the whole nine yards. What I wanted was for you to work with Javier doing routine service.” She addressed the twins. “That’s oil and filter changes, tire rotation, fluid top-off.”

  “A grease monkey,” Georgie proclaimed.

  “That would be so cool!” Eleanor said, causing Lily to laugh. It was scary how much like Anna she was.

  Anna turned to Andy again. “But our insurance won’t let you work in the shop till you’re eighteen. I gave that job to your friend Santos instead. He turns eighteen next week. I’m pairing you with Megan this summer so you can learn how we price trade-ins. Sound like fun?”

  “Yeah…yeah, it actually does. How much will I make?”

  “Personally, I’d pay you in M&Ms but California insists on twelve bucks an hour as minimum wage. I expect you to work your tail off for that.”

  Georgie looked up from his plate, which was loaded with mac and cheese. “How come tail isn’t a bathroom word but B-U-T-T is?”

  Lily chuckled. “Good question, honey. Your mom and I will discuss that later. What time does Andy have to be at work?”

  “Megan starts at seven, so…”

  Andy wrinkled his nose. “That’s pretty early. You don’t usually go in till nine. Can’t I go then?”

  Anna shook her head. “Sorry, pal. It’s called paying your dues. But I guess we should talk about getting you a car so I won’t have to drop you off at that ungodly hour. You think you’re ready for that responsibility?”

  His eyes widened with excitement. “Totes!”

  Lily laughed at Anna’s bewildered look. “That’s short for totally.”

  “Ahh. I didn’t realize totally was so labor intensive. Anyway pal, getting your own car means following all the traffic rules. Seat belts, speed limits, all that. No showing off, no clowning around, no losing your temper behind the wheel.”