by Autumn Sand
“That bill didn’t pay for your questions. It paid for answers to mine.”
He pauses for a long, pregnant moment before answering. “He hooked up with some chick that lives about five blocks down. Not sure of her name.” He holds his hands out in front of his chest, imitating a woman’s breasts. “She got some fake tits that she bought in Mexico.” Grabbing his dirty rag, he wipes the counter again. “Loves the color pink, always wearing that fucking color.” He shakes his head from side to side. “Fucking color reminds me of Pepto-Bismol.”
A fake, big-breasted woman who loves the color pink. Yeah, that’s original. “Anything else?”
“Nah.” He holds his hand up. “That’s all I got. And I’ve a feeling I said more then I probably should’ve.”
I slide another hundred over to him. “This is for your trouble. And if you hear anything more that might be useful, here’s my card.”
He takes the bill and the card and nods. Tony and I turn to leave the place. Once outside, we glance at each other. “Looks like we have to find a lady in pink,” Tony says.
“Looks like.” We get in the car and zoom off.
Chapter 28
Give In To Me ~ Michael Jackson
Cyma
I’m still in the waiting room expecting further updates on Lelia’s condition. Anaya has come by and hasn’t left my side. She’s proving to be a good friend, trying to bring me comfort as we wait. I can see why Dante considers her his sister. She’s a very kind and warm person. Brenda brings me coffee and forces me to walk around every now and then. If only they would just let me see her.
I abruptly stand and start pacing the floor again, biting what’s left of my nails. Anaya stands and places an arm around my shoulders. “Lelia will be fine. I know it.”
“But how come they won’t let me see her?” My voice comes out shaky as my imagination runs rampant.
“Because they’re still running further tests. Brenda promised to give you more updates as she has them. Come on, take a seat.” She leads me back over to the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. These seats, in my opinion, are not made for people to sit for hours on end waiting for news on a loved one. “There, would you like anything?”
“No.” Anaya’s head jerks and I turn to face her, softening my expression. “Sorry. I’m just so worried.”
Giving me an understanding nod, she says, “No need to apologize. I get it.” We sit in silence for a while. “Tell me about how you met Tick.”
I know what she’s trying to do, but I guess it’s better than pacing and crying. “I was being mugged.”
Her hand rises to her mouth. “Oh, my goodness. Were you hurt?”
I shrug. “More so my pride than anything else.” I lift my hand to the cheek that the attacker slapped me on that day so many months ago. “Dante stepped in and stopped them.”
“That sounds like him.” She pauses for a moment longer before speaking again. “Did he tell you about his….” She looks unsure whether to finish her sentence.
“Fiancée?”
She nods and gives me a slight frown. “Yes.” Sitting back in her chair, she rests her head against the wall. “Well, it all makes sense.” She sees my mouth agape and pats my hand, shaking her head. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean any harm in my comment. You’re lovely and I see why he fell in love with you. You must, in a way, remind him of his fiancée, or at least you’re his second chance at rescuing her.”
“I’ve thought about that also.” But I believe in his absolute love and devotion to me and Lelia.
“I’m so happy he has found you. Has he ever told you about how much I would nag him every so often about settling down?” I shake my head at her. “Well, I did. I was just worried about him. Even though he is a bad ass Marine, he’s still that frightened young man at times.” She turns to me and smiles. “Just don’t tell him I said that.”
“Your secret is safe with me.” I lean my head against the wall, glad for the distraction of her conversation.
She rubs her elbows as she stares off into space.
Now it’s my turn to distract her from those disturbing memories. “So you met Dante through Tony?”
Her face relaxes as I snap her out of her thoughts. “Yes. Tony and I, like I told you before, have a strange past together. But in the end, we found each other, and that is all that matters.”
“He sounds like a wonderful man.”
Her smile is huge. “He is.” She pauses for a second. “And so is Tick. He loves you and your daughter deeply. I’ve never heard him speak about a woman the way he does you.”
“I love him too, and so does Lelia.” I choke at saying my daughter’s name.
“Listen, Tick and Tony will find your ex-husband. Don’t you worry about that. Your daughter will be home playing in a few weeks. You mark my words.” She pats my arm in a reassuring way.
“I wish I could believe that.”
“But you have to believe it. That little girl of yours is fighting for her life. Don’t you dare give up on her.”
“I’m not giving up on her. It seems that as soon as I find happiness, something bad happens.”
I swallow back the tears that are threatening to make an appearance. My life is full of ups and downs, but mostly the downs. My mother refused to leave my abusive father because she loved him. When he finally passed, I thought what a relief it was that she could find peace. But then she was diagnosed with breast cancer and I had to watch her die. I thought I’d found someone who could love me always and married my now ex-husband. He turned out to be selfish and abusive. Basically, I married my father. The only good thing from my marriage was Lelia, and then she was diagnosed with leukemia. I just don’t know how much more I can take. I will never give up on my daughter, but I have just simply given up on being happy. I don’t think I remember how to be.
“I used to feel that way. Just lean on Tick in the times that you feel you can’t go on. The two of you as a team will make each other stronger.”
“That’s the way it is with you and Tony?”
She smiles at me. “Absolutely.”
Brenda comes over to us. “Lelia is stabilized. You can go in to see her for a few minutes.”
Standing quickly, I look at Anaya, who nods. “Go on. I’ll wait here for you.”
Running to my daughter’s room, I wipe away my tears and open the door. I’m instantly hit with the additional equipment and how her small frame seems even frailer. I choke back a sob. She is awake but her complexion has grown paler.
“Hey, sweetie. Mommy loves you.”
She’s too weak to answer as she tries to reach for my hand. Taking her tiny hand into mine, I kiss it. “Dante loves you too. We both want you to keep fighting, sweetie. You’re going to get better soon.”
“Tired, Mommy.” Her voice is barely audible and I have to strain to hear her.
“I know, baby. I know.” I sing her favorite lullaby until she drifts off to sleep. Back in the waiting room, I sit with Anaya again. “I don’t know how much more she can take.” Or better yet, I don’t know how much of watching my daughter suffer I can take anymore either.
Chapter 29
Papa Was A Rolling Stone ~ The Temptations
Tick
Tony and I arrive in the area where the bartender told us Ryan’s girlfriend lives. Tony takes one side of the street and I take the other, hoping to spot her in a store. According the bartender, she should be fairly easy to spot. As I step into the very last store on my side of the block, Tony comes over to meet me.
“No luck on my end,” he says as he scans the store.
“Yeah, same here.” Back outside, we stand, scanning the street. “Guess we can hang out for a while. If she still lives here, she’s bound to show up.”
He tips his chin to the left. “Maybe not.” I turn my attention to see what he’s referring to. A white Toyota Camry with pink fuzzy dice dangling from the mirror parks in front of the pizzeria. Out steps a woman fitting the bartender’s description.
Her extremely fake boobs were obviously done on the cheap. She’s wearing skintight blue jeans, a pink sweater, and pink boots.
“I was really hoping he was exaggerating about the pink and boob job.” I shake my head in amazement of the eyesore of a woman. “He didn’t do her enough justice.” She appears to be in her fifties trying to pass for twenty. Ryan must be with her for a roof over his head. How could he leave a woman like Cyma for this? Talk about an extreme downgrade.
Tony and I stroll casually over to the woman, who is admiring herself in a store window reflection. He tries not to laugh at the middle-aged woman who’s clearly delusional about her looks.
“Excuse me, darling. I couldn’t help but to notice you from across the street,” I say to her from behind. She turns and smiles. Her bright pink lipstick gives her the appearance of a clown.
“I bet,” she says in a flirtatious voice as she glances at me and Tony. She smooths her hands down her too-tight jeans.
“Can we buy you a drink?” Tony asks as he steps in closer, giving her a smile and a wink.
She winks back at him. “Bar across the street?”
“Ladies first,” I say as I offer her my arm. Linking her arm with mine, we cross the street and into yet another seedy bar. At least this one looks like maybe we won’t catch anything by breathing in the air. Taking a seat at a table, we quickly order a round of drinks.
“So what exactly are you two here for? The two of you don’t seem as if you belong around here.” She cuts straight to the chase as she sips her beer.
“Ryan Sawyer,” Tony says in a matter of fact tone. “We need to speak to him.”
Placing her drink on the table, and then rolls her eyes. “Oh, God, what is he into now?”
“His daughter needs him,” I say as I take in her reaction.
Her eyes widen at my comment. “His daughter? He told me his kid died. Said his wife left him after the kid died.” She reaches in her purse for her mirror.
“His daughter, Lelia, is very much alive,” I say as I watch the woman touch up her already badly applied makeup.
Snapping her compact mirror shut, she closes her eyes and shakes her head. “That son of a bitch, should’ve known. He’s such a deadbeat.”
“Does he still stay with you?” I ask.
“No.” She shakes her head and picks up her beer again. “Got rid of him a while back. But I do know how to reach him.”
“Good. How?”
She narrows her eyes at us. “You’re serious about his kid?”
“Yes. She’s sick and needs him.”
Her eyebrows furrow together in thought. The sound of the game playing on the television set echoes through the room. Chewing on her bottom lip, she looks over to me. “Fine.” She pulls out her cellphone and dials a number. “Hey, I need to see you.” Pause. “Come on, baby. I just came into a little bit of cash, bought a bottle of your favorite rye.” Pause. “Okay, see you in thirty minutes.”
She hangs up the phone. “Okay, he’ll be at my place in thirty minutes.” I offer her a couple of hundreds but she refuses, saying that the son of a bitch deserves whatever he gets. Ryan shows up, not thirty minutes, but an hour later. Tony and I are waiting in front of her building inside the car. She described him to us and we’re able to spot him quickly. We get out of the car and grab him. He tries to fight, but he’s no match for the two of us as we restrain him and throw him in the backseat of the car. Tony drives as I sit in the back with the asshole.
“What the fuck is going on?” he asks us as he tries to straighten his clothes. Not that it would do any good. He has that classic dumpster diving appearance.
“Lelia,” is all I say, and his face contorts.
“What about her?” he tries to say in a nonchalant voice.
“She needs a bone marrow transplant. You’re her match. We need you to come in and have the operation.”
He throws back his head in laughter. “That bitch of an ex-wife of mine sent you, didn’t she?”
I want to punch him in his face, but I count to twenty to keep my temper in check. “That so-called bitch of an ex-wife is my woman,” I say through gritted teeth.
His eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, so she’s dating a gangster now?”
My muscles strain as my fist itches to connect with his face. This time, I can’t control my anger as I slug him. I feel the crunch of his nose as blood shoots out. Taking a handkerchief out, I wipe the dirtbag’s blood off my hand and throw it at him. He catches it and holds it to his most-likely broken nose.
“What the fuck?” he says as he holds his nose. “I think you broke it.”
“Not the only thing I’m going to break,” I say through gritted teeth while holding my fist back, ready for a slam to his temple. Tony swerves the car into an alley and stops.
“We need him healthy,” Tony reminds me.
Ryan, the dirtbag, looks at Tony and then back at me. “Yeah, asshole, you need me healthy.”
I hold my fist up again and he flinches. Shaking my head, I place my hand on my lap. I feel my blood pumping as I try to regain control. “Your daughter’s dying. She needs your bone marrow.”
“How much?” Still holding his nose, which is most likely broken, and he wants to negotiate? That’s rich.
“What?”
“You heard me. How much? The two of you must have money. What’s it worth to you?” His eyes shift from me to Tony and back to me again. I briefly consider putting a bullet in him, but quickly dismiss the idea.
“Nothing should be worth more than saving your kid’s life, fuckhead.” I shake my head in disgust for this pathetic excuse for a human being.
He shrugs at my comment. “I prefer to think of it as quid pro quo.” I may have to reevaluate putting a bullet in him after all.
Tony and I exchange a glance between us. I can’t believe Cyma, one of the most generous people that I’ve ever met, was married to this asshole. Before I get a chance to say anything, Tony responds. “Fifty large.”
Ryan’s eyes brighten. “I’ll take seventy-five.”
“You’ll take fifty and keep your teeth,” I say to him, getting ready to punch him again.
“Fine, seventy-five,” Tony says quickly.
Ryan sits back in the car seat, contemplating. “Well, I don’t like hospitals and being operated on. Fuck, is the kid really dying?”
Neither of us respond to his question. He closes his eyes for a moment more. “I left when she was diagnosed.” He takes the handkerchief down from his nose and twists it around in his hand. “Told Cyma I couldn’t stand to watch her die.” He pauses for a moment to stare out the window. “But to tell you the truth, that wasn’t the reason why I left. I was just tired of being a family guy. It was bad enough to have a wife and kid, but to be tied down to a wife and a sick kid is worse.”
Can this fucker sink any lower on the scumbag Richter scale?
“Look, I need a day to think.”
“She may not have a day,” I say through gritted teeth as I’m losing more patience.
“Then a few hours. Give me your number. I promise to call.”
“Like you’re known for keeping your word. You couldn’t even make your wedding vows stick.” I can’t help throwing that out there.
He doesn’t even flinch at my last comment. “Hey, it’s the only choice you got. It’s not like you can drag me into the hospital kicking and screaming. If I don’t go willingly, they won’t operate and you know it. So give me a few hours.”
Tony nods at me. “Fine.” I give him my card. “Call me in a few hours.”
He takes the card and stares at it before opening the door and stepping out. “If I decide to do it, you’ll be paying cash?”
“Yes, cash,” Tony says in an exasperated voice.
“Fine, then it’ll be half upfront and the other half when it’s done.”
“Deal.”
“Okay, I’ll let you know what I decide.” He closes the door and slithers off.
“How the fu
ck did she end up with that loser?” Tony asks as I move out of the backseat and over to the front passenger seat.
“Beats the fuck out of me. He’s a real piece of work.” Just hope the son of a bitch is greedy enough to call.
Chapter 30
Imagine That ~ L.L. Cool J.
Cyma
Anaya has gone to the cafeteria to get us yet another cup of coffee as we wait. I’ve lost count of the hours that I’ve been sitting in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. Lelia is still resting, but I want to be here when she wakes up again. Brenda stops by to check on me every now and then. She insists I should go home, but I refuse. Standing up, I stretch my legs.
“Cyma.” I hear Dante’s voice behind me. I turn around and he appears just as tired as I feel. Running over to him, I jump into his arms and he kisses me.
“Did you find him?”
“Yes. He said he’ll have to think about it. He’ll call us in a few hours.”
“Yeah, that was after we had to bribe the asshole with seventy-five thousand dollars,” Tony says as he approaches us. “Hi, I’m Tony. We didn’t really get a chance to meet when you came to the club a little while ago. Sorry to meet you under these circumstances.” I glance at Anaya’s husband, who has the most brilliant topaz eyes I’ve ever seen.
“Thank you.”
He gives me a kiss on the cheek. “No need to thank me. We protect our own.” He glances around the waiting room. “Where’s Anaya?”
“She went to get us a cup of coffee. She should be back any minute.”
He nods and takes a seat.
“You must be exhausted.” I say to Dante.
“You must be too. How is she?”
“She’s resting. They have her stabilized.” His posture relaxes. His eyes droop from all the running he and Tony must’ve been doing. “You need a shave.”
He rubs his hands down his chin. “Yeah. That I do.”
“Want something to eat?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you?” He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about me. Just want to make sure our girl is okay.”
I love the way he says ‘our girl.’ My heart does a leap of joy. He has accepted Lelia as his own and I couldn’t be happier about it. Hand in hand, we take a seat. He lets out a breath as he tries to adjust his large frame in the chair.