by Emerson Rose
“I thank you for that, too, but Mom?”
“Yes.”
“If you ever get a bad feeling again will you please tell me?”
“There isn’t going to be an again but yes, I’ll be honest about my hunches from now on. I’m always right anyway.”
Of course she is, she’s my mother. I hope Grayson will think the same of me someday when he’s older.
“We are on our way, be there in about an hour.”
“Drive carefully, don’t think about anything, turn on your music and sing. And no love songs, definitely no country, listen to rap.”
This time I do laugh. “Okay, Mom, rap, gotcha.”
We hang up but I don’t turn on the radio. I don’t feel like listening to music. I don’t feel like anything, I’m numb.
Thirty minutes into my drive, I notice a white SUV has been following me for a while. I switch lanes, they switch lanes. I speed up, they speed up – it’s making me nervous. I slow down so much that the vehicle has to pass me and I glance over to see the driver.
I have to look a second time to be sure but I’m right. It’s Caleb, what the hell? He sees me and waves for me to pull over. I’m so surprised that I take the next exit to see what he wants.
It’s a rest stop, so I pull into a parking spot and he takes the one on my left next to me. We both get out at the same time and he rounds what I now recognize to be a brand new Audi Q7 Quattro. What the hell? That’s a fifty-five-thousand-dollar vehicle, how can he afford that?
“What are you doing? Why are you following me? And where the hell did you get money for a car like that?” He looks at me surprised, “What, this?” he says pointing at his car like he just noticed it. “I got it for the baby. I wanted to have plenty of room in back for him and all his stuff, and it’s safe.”
I don’t believe him but whatever. I’m more interested in knowing why he asked me to pull over on the highway.
“What are you doing out here?”
“You’re not answering your phone.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “So. I don’t want to talk to anybody, what’s it to you?”
“Whoa there,” he says holding up his hands palms out. “You don’t have to get defensive. You didn’t show up at lunch so I went by the house and Garcia was there. He said you were going to see your mother but something felt off and when you didn’t answer your phone I got worried. I was lucky to catch up with you.”
“He told you I was going to my mom’s house?”
“Yeah, that is where you’re going, isn’t it? I mean you’re over halfway there.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, the bright sun is starting to make my head hurt and I still don’t understand why he’s following me.
“Yes, but…” I shade my eyes and find him peering into the window at Grayson.
“Can I hold him?” He turns to me and I see every bit of fatherly love that I’d hoped to see the day I told him I was pregnant. Where was all this ten months ago?
“Sure, yeah, I guess.”
He opens the back door and slides in next to the car seat that’s facing the rear in the center spot.
“How do I get him out of this thing?” He’s looking at the seatbelts like they are a total mystery and I realize just how uneducated on babies he is.
“Just a minute, I’ll show you.” I walk around to the other side of the car and get in. Without looking at him, I start to teach him how to take a baby out of a car seat. “First, you release the clip between his legs like this. There are two parts that come out of it, see?” I say. “Then, you unclasp the clip on his chest and tuck the belts to the side so you can get him out without getting his arms hooked up in them.”
I demonstrate and then re-buckle Grayson into the seat. “Your turn.”
He looks at me and smiles, “What?”
“You’re so good at this stuff.”
“It’s a seatbelt, Caleb, not rocket science. And you kind of have to know how to do it if you want to go anywhere, including home from the hospital.”
“You’re still funny, too.” He’s never told me I was funny before. I don’t recognize this Caleb. It’s like a different man has taken over my ex-husband’s body.
He unbuckles Grayson with no problems and I have him buckle and unbuckle him one more time to make sure he gets the hang of it.
“Now how do I get him out?”
“You really don’t know anything about babies, do you?”
“Nope, but I’m a sponge ready to soak up everything you can teach me.”
Definitely not the Caleb I know.
I slide my hands under his armpits and lift him out supporting his head with the tips of my fingers. “Just like that. The most important part is that you support his head, he can’t hold it up by himself yet.”
“Why? Is there something wrong with him?”
I laugh and shake my head. He looks genuinely worried. “No, all babies are born that way, you were, too. I’ll bring him around so you can hold him.” I carry Grayson around the car to Caleb’s open door and place him in his arms. “Like this,” I say adjusting him in his stiff arms.
I never had to show Julián how to hold a baby. If anything he was more comfortable with him than I was the first couple of days. He’s a natural.
Thinking about him makes my heart ache so I push the thought away and concentrate on Caleb. He looks uncomfortable, like holding a baby hurts. Maybe he needs some reassurance. “You’re doing great, he likes you.”
“He does? How do you know?” he asks never taking his eyes off of Grayson.
“Well, for starters he’s not screaming.”
“Does he do that a lot?”
“Yes, he’s a baby, they scream a lot.”
“That sounds awful.”
“Yes, it does actually. He can scream so loud you’re deaf for a couple minutes.”
“Okay, you can take him back now. I don’t want to…”
“You don’t want to what, Caleb? He won’t break, I mean, not unless you drop him on his head. That might do some permanent damage. Otherwise, babies are pretty durable.”
“You’re better at this stuff than I am.”
“Only because I’ve had a few weeks to get used to it. You’ll do fine once you’ve had some time.”
He looks up at me. “Why are you really going to your mom’s, Kimmie?”
“To visit. I haven’t seen her for a few days.”
“Your mom wouldn’t make you trek clear out here alone with her grandson. She would come to you. Tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”
I look away and blink back tears. I may as well tell him, he’s going to find out eventually. “I left him, I’m going to stay with my mother for a while.”
“You left him? Why? I thought you guys were crazy about each other. Is it the baby? Did he change his mind about wanting to father another man’s son?”
I scrunch up my nose and frown. “No, it’s nothing like that. He loves Grayson and we still love each other it’s just…”
“Just what? If you still love each other and he loves the baby what’s the problem?”
“His family has a bad reputation.” That’s putting it mildly but I feel like I’m betraying Julián talking to Caleb about this behind his back.
“Like they’re trashy or broke or a bunch of addicts, what? I don’t get why that has anything to do with you two. Why don’t you just stay away from them?”
“It’s not that easy. You know who Manuel Jesus Garcia is, don’t you?”
His mouth falls open and he stares at me. “The drug lord?”
I nod, “Yeah, he’s Julián’s father.”
“Holy shit. They’re like the Mexican Mob or something. I saw something on the news last week about a big DEA bust that went down in Miami. They arrested somebody big, like really big, maybe the old man himself.”
His father was arrested? Why haven’t I heard anything about that? Maybe because I don’t watch television and I rarely spend any time on the inter
net other than to work on Tiana’s house.
“Are you sure?”
“If it was his father? No, but it was somebody high up. Shit, Kimmie, you almost married into the Mob. You could have been like Adrianna from The Sopranos.”
He thinks this is funny or fictional but I know better. Julián was scared to tell me the truth because he had good reason to be. Those people are ruthless killers.
“That’s the Italian Mob and it isn’t a joke.”
“I’m sorry, I know, it’s just so unbelievable.”
Grayson is squirming so I take him from Caleb. He looks relieved to be free of him and again I’m reminded that I never felt that way about Julián.
He stands up and stretches like he’s been holding his son for hours and then he steps in close to me and places his hand on the outside of my shoulder.
“Kimmie, come home with me.” I open my mouth to tell him no way but he stops me with his finger on my lips like he used to do when we were married. “Don’t say no right away, hear me out. You need a place to stay, right?”
I nod reluctantly.
“And I need time with my son. What better way then to have him living under my roof. I help you out and you help me. You can have your own bedroom, I don’t expect anything in return, just be there with me and teach me how to be a father.”
Teach him how to be a father. That sounds so… so wrong. I can’t teach him how to be a father any more than he can teach me how to be a mother. But I do need a place to stay and my mother’s is a long way from Tiana’s brother’s house and the renovations are scheduled to start next week.
It’s insane after all he’s put me through but I agree to take him up on his offer.
“Okay.”
He drops his hand and steps away with a look of shock on his face. “Okay? You’ll move in with me?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t think you would agree to it. I was going out on a ledge.” His face erupts in a huge smile and he wraps his arms around Grayson and me in a bear hug.
Grayson lets out a yowl and Caleb jumps back. “Shit, sorry, little buddy. I didn’t mean to squish you. You’re coming to live at daddy’s house with mommy, what do you think about that?”
He squirms and grunts until I feel a rumble under my hand. Gas, that’s what he thinks of living with his daddy. I wonder if he has his grandmother’s intuition, maybe I shouldn’t do this after all? I never thought I’d have to speak to Caleb again for the rest of my life when he didn’t answer my call from the hospital. And now, I’m standing in a rest stop agreeing to live with him. I’ve lost my mind.
“No second thoughts, let me help you buckle him in and you can follow me home.” He takes me by the arm and practically pushes Grayson and me into the backseat. His newfound enthusiasm for fatherhood makes my head spin.
I may never get to the bottom of why he has had such a change of heart but I shouldn’t complain. He’s being attentive and interested and that’s all I ever wanted.
Isn’t it?
Chapter 28
Garcia
I’m no quitter but enough is enough. I’ve dialed Kimber’s number over a hundred times, literally. I tried to count the attempts but lost track. If she doesn’t want to talk to me I can’t force her.
I wish she would at least text me and tell me she’s okay. I know where she’s at now so I’m not as concerned about her physical well-being as I am her emotional state. India called to tell me she’s coming to stay with her for a while. She hinted around trying to figure out what happened between us but I didn’t say anything. If Kimber wants her to know she will tell her.
The house was too quiet without my family so I’m hanging out at Drake and Tiana’s across the street. We ordered pizza, it’s the only kind of takeout we have in Jewel Falls but it doesn’t matter to me, I can’t taste anything anyway.
I’ve had three beers but Tiana cut me off. She says drinking won’t make my problems go away and that it’s better to feel the feelings and get past the hurt. She’s seen too many therapists since her brother went to prison. She’s starting to sound like one.
“Have you heard from her yet?” Drake asks and Tiana shoots him a dirty look as if he could see it. “Oh stop, he’s a big boy, I’m not going to hurt his feelings or anything am I, Garcia?”
“How’d you know she gave you a look?” I ask.
“I know her. And I can still see a little movement in my peripheral; she just whipped her head so hard I’m surprised she didn’t break her neck.”
I chuckle and pick up my empty beer bottle. “One more? Please?” I ask her dragging out my please. She sighs and goes to the kitchen to get my forth beer in a little over an hour.
It’s hardly enough to make me drunk, I’m a big guy and if I really wanted to drown my sorrows I’d just go home and drink my own beer.
She rolls her eyes and hands me the open bottle. “You’re a great hostess, T, thanks.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Drake arches one eyebrow high. “You two are sure getting along great.”
“My fiancé left me with my baby today. What’s your excuse?” I ask her.
“I’m sorry, I know this must be miserable but she will be back. She loves you and she knows how much you love her. There has to be a way around this family thing. I refuse to believe it’s over between you two.”
“I’m glad you’re so optimistic but you don’t know her like I do. She’s fiercely protective of Grayson. She’s one of those moms that would step in front of a train for her kid, ya know?”
Both of them are quiet. Do they know? I should know better than to assume they had wonderful loving mothers, I sure as hell didn’t. I know Tiana’s brother killed their parents in a house fire in the UK when she was a little kid. Drake has never mentioned his.
“Speaking of mothers, you should try to call Kimber’s mom and check on her,” Tiana says after the long awkward pause.
“Yeah, she should be settled in by now, good idea.” I drag myself out of Drake’s comfortable recliner and step out onto their deck to make the call. It rings twice before I remember it’s after nine o’clock. They might already be in bed, especially after a long day like today.
India picks up, “Julián? It’s late, is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry, yes, everything’s fine I just wanted to check on Kimber and Grayson. She still won’t return my calls.”
She doesn’t say anything for so long I think we have been disconnected. “India? You still there?”
She heaves a deep sigh. “Julián, I don’t know what’s going on between you two and I won’t ask for details. But whatever it is has driven her back to Caleb. She never made it here, he intercepted and they’re staying at his house.”
“Wait, what? Kimber, my Kimber and Grayson are living at Caleb’s house?”
“Yes, son, they are. I don’t like it either but that’s where she chose to go and that’s where they will probably stay unless you do something about it.”
“Oh, I’ll do something about it alright. Call you tomorrow, India, thanks.”
I hang up and nearly crush my phone in my hand. That weasel took advantage of Kimber’s weakened state and got her back, unbelievable!
I’m not going back into the house. I don’t want to talk about this to anyone, the time for talk is over, now it’s time for some action. I take the deck stairs and walk around the house and across the street to our house.
Our house, they belong here with me not at that mini Taj Mahal Caleb calls home. I open the front door when my phone buzzes in my hand. My first thought is finally, she’s calling me back.
But it’s not a call, it’s a text and it’s from a number that isn’t in my contact list. Curious I open it up and find a picture of my family, my world, curled up on a couch together sleeping.
I don’t recognize the furniture or the surroundings but after talking to India I assume it’s Caleb’s house. Kimber’s dark hair is spread out over a cream colored pillow and she has one
arm around Grayson and the other above her head. They look like angels sleeping on a white cloud.
A message follows the photograph.
Thanks for taking care of them for me. I really appreciate it, man. But they’re home now, where they belong and as you can see they’re happy. Go find your own family. Oh, and thanks for the bruises on my neck, I’ll be showing them to the authorities. Don’t try to deny it either, there were at least fifteen people in that diner watching you try to kill me today. Have a nice life! Oh, I almost forgot, you should really turn on the news and check out what’s happening with your real family.
I lay the phone on the kitchen counter and back away so I don’t throw it across the room against the wall. That evil son-of-a-bitch isn’t taking my family. He tossed them aside and I took care of them. I loved them and built my world around them, I wasn’t the fucking babysitter watching them until he decided to get his shit together.
He’s the same man he was ten months ago, greedy, selfish, and shady. He’s living in a house of cards and one of these days it’s going to all come crashing down around him. He’s a fraud and I’m going to find out what he’s up to if it kills me.
I have no idea why he wants me to watch the news but I go into the den where we keep our only television and turn it on to the twenty-four-hour news channel. Standing in the room with my arms crossed over my chest, I watch the ticker on the bottom of the screen scroll by. Garcia family compound taken down by DEA today after a two-year undercover investigation reveals a billion-dollar drug and human trafficking ring based out of Manuel Jesus Garcia’s home. Manuel Jesus Garcia was taken into custody last week by authorities and is being held on multiple charges including murder, drug trafficking, racketeering, and human trafficking to name a few. Authorities say Mr. Garcia gave up his family in exchange for dropping some of the charges. Family members in custody now are Camilla Garcia charged with drug trafficking, Isa Garcia charged with racketeering and money laundering, Adriana Garcia-Leon charged with procuring and prostitution. Family members still at large are Sebastian Garcia wanted for murder drug and human trafficking and Diego Garcia wanted for murder and drug trafficking. Julián Garcia, another of Manuel’s sons, is wanted for questioning in relation to his family, although, not charged with any criminal activity.