by Jenny Wood
“You don’t have to do that,” I say. There was no sense in him staying really. We’d do what we needed to do here and then be on our way back home. I assumed that since Mateo didn’t want to stay at the house with Mamá, he’d be coming back with me. I hoped so; I kind of liked having the little shit around.
“I want to. I mean, if you don’t want me to be here, if you think it’s too much too soon or something, I can understand that. If you want time with your family; but I don’t want to leave you guys alone here. I want to help.” He tells me, curling deeper into my side.
“You’re helping more than you realize, I think,” I tell him, honestly. Just being here, for Mateo and me, I feel like just his calming voice and strength has kept us calm and together.
“Its what boyfriends do.” He teased, his eyes sparkling with something like mischief and confidence.
“I kind of like this boyfriend thing,” I confess in the quiet room. Very new, very surprising concept; I never thought I’d be in that place where I’d be comfortable enough with myself or with my family to have an actual boyfriend. I felt extremely lucky to have him in that moment. Leaning down to kiss his smiling lips, I tucked him back into me, and it didn’t take either of us long to drift back to sleep.
“I just kind of ran away.” I hear softly from behind me. When I opened my eyes, I was facing the window with my back to the room. I could tell I was in bed alone because I didn’t have Murphy pinned to the bed and I would’ve had he been here. Man, that guy put up with a lot, I thought to myself and smiled.
“You didn’t run away; you needed time, and that’s understandable. You’ll go back today, strong and together and you’ll help your mom the best you can. She’ll probably need to lean on you a bit in the next few days.” Murphy assured my brother, giving him advice that I should be giving. Another reason I was lucky to have him.
“Maybe after a while, the two of you can go for a walk. Get her out of the house for a little bit. Just a small break; like you needed last night. It might help.” He suggests.
“She’s called me five times this morning. I think maybe she doesn’t know what to do from here.” Mateo says.
“We can talk to your brother about it, and you guys can talk to your mom. I’m sure she has a plan; sometimes it’s just hard to set it in motion, ya know?” Murphy suggests.
“I’m sorry she treated you guys like she did yesterday.” Mateo apologizes. “It’s nothing personal against you. I don’t even think it’s personal against Michael. She just… for him, she’s always been on his side to keep him happy, but I know she loves Michael. She doesn’t care who he’s with; she just tried to keep the peace, you know?”
“It’s okay. I understood where she was coming from. I was kind of thrust on her yesterday when she had bigger things to worry about, ya know?” Murphy scoffed, and I heard Teo make a sound of agreement.
“I think she’ll like you. She’ll like you for Michael.”
“Yeah? Ya think?” Murphy asks, I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Yeah. He’s been alone a long time. Since he left; she worries about him.” Mateo says, sadly. I knew he didn’t like it when I left. I doubt anyone explained it in any healthy way why I was gone all of the sudden. To his young mind at the time, he probably thought I’d just up and left him; coming back only every once in a blue moon.
“He’s got great friends, you’ve met them. Maybe you could tell her that, stop her from worrying so much?” Murphy suggests. Giving my brother peace of mind as well as trying to help my mother, even though she was rude to him.
“Yeah.” Mateo agreed.
Once they were quiet for a couple of minutes, I use that as my chance to wake up without disturbing their conversation. I didn’t want them to think I was eavesdropping on them, though I kind of was.
“About time you woke up,” Mateo complains with a grin, though it only stays on his face for a second. “Can we go to Mamá’s soon?”
“Yeah, just let me get dressed,” I say, throwing the blanket back and hopping from the bed. None of us had clean clothes, and the dusty, dirty clothes from our go-kart were feeling stiff and disgusting. I had to get back home today, even if just to get clean clothes and take a shower.
“I’m going to drop you off at Mama’s and then head back home to get some things. You need anything besides clothes from the house?” I ask him, pulling on my jeans.
“Yeah, just an outfit or two. I have my dress clothes at Mama’s.” Mateo answers.
“Alright.”
I didn’t go in when we dropped off Mateo, but I promised I’d be back in a couple of hours. After stopping for coffee and breakfast, Murphy and I were back in Madison within the hour.
“I really appreciate you being with us this weekend,” I tell Murphy honestly as we sit idling in the truck in front of his house. It was going to be rough facing all this shit the next few days without him, but he had a life to get back to here, work especially. His job was important, he couldn’t just up and leave the county with all the cases he had going on.
“Of course. Call me later?” He asks, looking hopeful.
“Always do,” I reply. Was it true that it had only been a little over a week of our nightly calls? It felt like I’d always been doing it.
“K, drive back safely.” He instructs me, leaning over the console to kiss me- slimy morning tongue and all. I watched him slide out of the truck and kept my eyes on him until he was safely inside his house. Only then did I pull away, feeling like I was leaving something really important behind.
Murphy
Eating, showering and changing into something less dirty, and stiff; I settled in, in front of the TV and waited for Cruz to call. I had case files to go over for the week and laundry that I’d neglected since spending the weekend with Cruz, but none of that seemed to matter at the moment. I’d started missing him the second he’d left. Probably the clinginess in me, but I didn’t care. I felt like they needed me and I hated not being there for them; both of them.
Hearing my phone ringing a little after 8, I jumped up from the couch and ran to where it was charging just a few feet away on the end table, hoping it was Cruz. My hopes were dashed when I saw Donetta’s name on my display. It wasn’t unusual for her to call me on Sunday night, especially if we had something to go over on Monday morning and she wanted me to be prepared for it.
“Hey, Donetta.” I greeted, knowing whatever it is she called about, she’d start with.
“I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” She explained. That didn’t sound good.
“Okay, what’s up?” I asked, muting the television and grabbing the small pad of paper and ink pen I left on the table.
“Well, Rebecca McClaren’s mother was arrested tonight for driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. She was heavily impaired by what I’ll guess was some sort of a downer, because she didn’t have alcohol in her system but Sheriff. Thomas was on scene and said with the way she was slurring and not able to keep her eyes open for more than a minute; he’d have guessed she was on something heavy.”
“Oh my goodness. Poor Rebecca.” I sighed.
“She’s at the hospital getting blood work done; I want to find out what she was on,” Donetta sneered, “I already called Monroe, he’s meeting with us first thing in the morning. Good news is, I’ve spoken with Diane, and they’re interested in staying her fosters until they’re qualified to adopt. It’ll take a while, it’s an expensive process as you know and they were set on just being fosters. Now, they want Rebecca to stay, and I have to say, I think it’s best for Rebecca.”
“I do too; she’s happy there. But wow, it’s going to suck telling her about her mother. I’ll call Diane tomorrow and see how she wants to handle it. I’ll help in any way I can.” I offer. I knew Donetta would too. She might be no-nonsense and straight to the point, but she had a soft spot for all the kids that came and went through our doors.
“Alright, other than that, nothing pressing until
tomorrow.” She sighed.
“In that case, I might need a few days off. Do you think we can rearrange some things until next week?” I ask her; she knew my schedule better than I did.
“Other than Rebecca, you mean?” She asks.
“Yeah, I’ll meet with the judge in the morning and get that taken care of, at least for now. I’ll need to get Diane and her husband in to sign off on a longer placement, but it’s good for now.” I confirm.
“Alright, I’ll check out your schedule tonight and see what can be moved around. I can do home visit’s myself, and De Marco came on Friday last time, so I’ll be here if he stops in for his screen.” She informs me.
“Actually…” I try to think of the best way to broach the subject. “Mateo De Marco had a death in the family; he’s in Holton County for the time being. He’s with Sheriff Cruz, so I doubt he’ll be getting in any trouble.”
“And how do you know this?” She asks, knowingly. Shit.
“Because I’m seeing his brother and I might’ve spent the weekend with them.” I can feel myself blushing, though I suspect she already knew. Small town and all.
“Mmmhmm.” She snickers. “He’s cute; you could do far worse.”
“Whatever, I’m hanging up. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I scoff and end the call, only for it to immediately start ringing; this time it’s the call I was waiting for.
“Hey,” I answer softly, turning off the tv and making sure the house is locked up before heading to my bed.
“Hey, baby.” Cruz let’s out a breath.
“How’s it going? How’s Teo?” I ask.
“Teo is….being strong for Mamá, but it’s wearing thin. Mamá acts like this has happened to someone else. She’s cooking and cleaning like crazy; bossing people around, making calls. She’s hardly said two words to me. I’m back at the hotel.” He explains, he sounds weary and exhausted.
“I’m sorry. I wish there were something I could do to help.” I tell him. I’d already made up my mind that I was going back tomorrow, even if just to hang out at the hotel and be there for him when he got back. I didn’t want to leave him alone.
“You’re doing it.” He sighs once again.
“You sound tired,” I note, earning a yawn.
“It’s exhausting being here. Tia Gloria glared at me most of the day.” He snorted, though not amused.
“She sounds like a jerk,” I grumble, knowing why she’d glare. His family seemed ridiculous, and I didn’t understand why people acted that way. So openly hostile over things that didn’t concern or affect them in any way. It was absurd.
“She kind of is.” Cruz chuckled through the line. It was a nice sound, and it made me miss him. He yawned again, this time longer and louder.
“You should try to rest up. Do you know when the funeral will be?” I ask, wondering how long he’d have to stay in Holton.
“Thursday. A viewing service is set for Wednesday at the church, but the memorial and burial is Thursday, just family.” He scoffs again, sounding aggravated.
“Okay, do you need me to do anything? Call anyone?”
“I called Wade, I took a couple of vacation days but was off Wednesday and Friday anyway. He was cool about it. What do I need to do about Teo and his check-in? Can I do it from here or something?” He asks.
“He’s okay. He can come in next week, and I’ll note his chart with what’s going on. He won’t get into trouble. Do you want me to call Gannon and tell him that he won’t be in for a few days?” I offer. I didn’t figure Mateo would be thinking that far ahead, just yet.
“Fuck, yeah, could you? I don’t know when we’ll be back, maybe Thursday; maybe Friday depending on how mama is handling things.
“Ok. I’ll do it right now. You should go rest. Call me if you need anything?” I make sure. I want him to know that I’m here for him, even though I can’t be there.
“I will, baby. Thank you.” He yawns again, and I tell him goodnight. Gannon’s number is easy enough to find. Everything is on the internet these days; I’m not sure people even get phone books anymore.
“Gannon Tucker.” He greets, voice deep as fuck. It kind of threw me for a second.
“Hey, Gannon, this is Murphy Kinzer. I’m calling for Mateo-“ I start to say, but I’m interrupted.
“His dad.” He guessed.
“His dad passed away last night, and he’s back home for a few days. The funeral is on Thursday, so he’s not going to be able to make it in. I just wanted to let you know, in case he didn’t think about it.” I inform him. He sounded sorry for Mateo, and I guessed that Teo had kept him up to date on what had been going on.
“He tried to call earlier, but I was in a class. I hadn’t called back yet. Is he doing okay?” Gannon asks, sounding incredibly sincere. I decided I liked Gannon Tucker.
“As far as I know. I think he’ll be okay, though.” I try to assure him, hoping I’m right.
“He’s a good kid. Got a good head on his shoulders, but the weight of the world there too.” He comments, and I can hear in his voice, his concern.
“Things are just hard right now; they’ll get better.” I try; again, hoping I’m right.
“Hope they do. If you talk to him, will you tell him that the guys are thinking about him and we’ll be here when he’s ready to come back? Tell him to call if he needs anything; we’re here for him.” He tells me, and I’m reassured that I like Gannon Tucker. I tell him that I’ll pass the message along and do just that, via text when we ended the call. I didn’t want to disturb Cruz in case he was asleep, but I figured he’d see the text and tell Teo when he could.
Getting up and getting myself ready for bed, I packed a small bag with a few outfits, just in case and got ready for tomorrow. I’d be back with my guys just as soon as I could.
“Your Honor, I spoke with Ms. McClaren this morning, and she’s agreed that the best place for Rebecca is with the Sorenson’s. She’s signed temporary guardianship over to them, though pending her trial, she’s willing to make it permanent. The Sorenson’s wish to adopt, though they’re only certified foster parents, so they’re starting the process of adoption as soon as possible. For now, I’ve filed everything with Jenny, and she assures me that she’ll let me know if anything else is needed.” I inform the judge after a really hectic morning. “The toxicology report won’t be back for a couple of weeks, but Ms. McClaren admitted to the triage nurse at the emergency room that she had taken several “bars” of Xanax as well as “a couple” methadone tablets. I have Mrs. Judith Conner’s statement here as well.”
I handed the file to the bailiff, and he passed it on to the judge. I could tell he wasn’t happy, and I knew why. His concern was mainly for Rebecca. Her mother had made her own bed, and as an adult, she was going to be forced to lie in it.
“Thank you, Mr. Kinzer.” Judge Monroe took a moment to study the contents of the file and then ruled in favor of Rebecca and the Sorenson’s and asked me to keep him updated. Because I’d seen him at least once a week for the last several months, I promised I would. He let me go, and that was that.
By the time I’d gotten back to the office and updated Donetta on everything, I wasn’t surprised that she told me to get out of there. Anyone that didn’t know me as well as she did, probably wouldn’t be able to tell but I was distracted as hell, and I just wanted to be back with Cruz and Mateo. Having gotten Rebecca taken care of, Donetta promised she’d call the Sorenson’s and let them know that everything was going as planned, I got in my car and was on the road in no time.
Getting back to the hotel, I’d told the front desk that I’d left my key in the room. Luckily, as they’d seen me the night we’d checked in, they had no problem letting me in. The room was empty but I wasn’t surprised, I knew the guys were likely still with their mother for the day. I pulled out my laptop and answered emails and paid a few bills while I had some time to kill. A lot of time to kill, actually; I ended up ordering pizza and falling asleep smack in the middle of the bed before anyo
ne had gotten back.
Cruz
“Disgraceful if you ask me.” I’d overheard for the sixth time, Jose’s sister Gloria mumbling her shit talk under her breath. I ignored it for my family’s sake, but it was getting harder to do. I gave her a wide berth but she never failed to get her digs in when she could.
“Mijo, can you gather the dishes for me and bring them to the sink?” Mama asked me, looking tired and well passed worn down. I didn’t argue; I went to gather the half-empty glasses and saucers from everyone who’d stopped in today to pay their respects and check on Mama and Teo.
“You’ve been a very big help for me, Michael. Thank you.” She murmured, leaning her body into me for just a moment. This was the mother that I remembered; affectionate and motherly. My heart hurt for her, but I didn’t know what else to do.
I missed Murphy; I couldn’t believe in such a short time, he’d become to mean so much to me. Being here for Teo and me, calling and checking in, asking us every time he called if there was anything he could do to help us? Those little things were so appreciated, I wish he knew. I couldn’t wait to get back and call him tonight, as like yesterday after a shitty day with Jose’s judgmental family, I just needed to hear his voice. His voice alone made everything better.
“Mano, who is that?” Mateo asks, pointing an older version of Jose. I believed it was his Uncle, but I couldn’t be sure.
“I think his name is Miguel, though I’m not positive. He was your father’s uncle.” I tell him.
“He’s about to lose his teeth,” Teo growls and stalks away. I turn to catch up with him and grab his arm to halt his jerky movements.
“What’s going on? Is someone giving you trouble?” I ask, ready to take out Uncle Miguel if he causes mi hermano any trouble.
“No, not me. You!” He barks at me, causing everyone to cease talking and stare.