Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5

by Claudia Hall Christian

Teddy stopped talking. He went back to staring at the wall.

  “And?” Andy asked.

  “I should want to have sex with Noelle, but I don’t,” Teddy said. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “Why don’t you want to have sex with Noelle?” Andy asked.

  “I don’t know,” Teddy said. “It doesn’t seem right. She’s so sweet. I think of my mom and little sister and…”

  “Have you kissed her?” Andy asked.

  “Twice,” Teddy said.

  “Tongue?”

  Blushing bright red, Teddy shook his head.

  “How were the kisses?” Andy asked.

  “Really nice,” Teddy said.

  “Have you touched her breasts or…?” Andy asked.

  “No!” Teddy said. “I really like her. I feel great when she’s around. I like to hug her or sit close and the kissing was nice but anything more and I…”

  Teddy stopped talking again.

  “I guess I’m not much of a man,” Teddy said.

  Andy laughed.

  “Why is that funny?” Teddy asked.

  “Because you’re twelve!” Andy said. “You’re still a child. You’ve got your entire life to be a man. What’s the rush?”

  “I might lose Noelle to some sexy guy,” Teddy said.

  “Unlikely,” Andy smiled. “I’ve met Noelle. She’s very pretty. She looks very grown up but she isn’t. She’s just a little kid.”

  Teddy nodded.

  “You know what I think?” Andy asked.

  “That I’m a total loser?”

  “Well, that’s true,” Andy said.

  “You think I’m a total loser!?!”

  “Anyone who jacks a DOD satellite is a total loser,” Andy said. “Period.”

  “Oh,” Teddy said. He returned to staring at the wall. After a few minutes, he turned to Andy. “What about this other stuff?”

  “I don’t think you’re a loser because you haven’t jumped Noelle,” Andy said. “I think you’re not ready.”

  “What’s that mean?” Teddy asked.

  “It means that you’ve met a great girl who you care about,” Andy said. “You want to be careful and do it right. When you’re ready, you’ll know it. Noelle will know it. But for now, you’re just kids. Why not just enjoy that?”

  “And that’s okay?” Teddy asked.

  “Of course,” Andy said. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “I’m the oldest son of Zack the Stallion,” Teddy said.

  “I think we should ask Mrs. Alex or Mr. Max about Zack the Stallion,” Andy said. “They paint a fairly different picture of your father growing up. According to them, young Zack was pretty unsexy. I doubt he was much different than you.”

  “Really?” Teddy asked.

  “Let’s ask,” Andy said. “Now, off to bed with you. It’s been a full couple of days and you need to rest.”

  “But you don’t think I’m a loser for not wanting to have sex with Noelle?” Teddy asked.

  “I think all hackers are losers,” Andy thumped Teddy on the head. “Are you a hacker?”

  “No, sir,” Teddy said. “Not anymore.”

  “Good. As for the rest of this, I don’t believe you don’t want to have sex with Noelle,” Andy said. “I think you want to, you just know it’s not right, for her and for you. She means something to you, so you don’t want to screw it up. I bet if you asked Charlie, he had sex with someone he didn’t care about. That’s pretty different.”

  Teddy threw himself into the bodybuilder’s arms. Andy kissed the top of his head and herded him into his basement room. Feeling better, Teddy crawled into bed. Like he did when he lived with Sandy and Aden, he thought about the story Sandy was reading them and said good night to Nash, Charlie, Sissy and his Noelle. Just the thought of Noelle put a smile on his face. He fell asleep.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Two days later

  Friday afternoon — 1:10 P.M

  “It’s about time!” Maresol said to Seth as he ran down the front walk.

  “It’s a long drive in the pickup and the traffic was stiff,” Seth said. “How is she?”

  “She’d be better if she hadn’t run into Lizzie,” Maresol said. “She thought Lizzie was your wife. She would be gone if she hadn’t collapsed on the walk.”

  Seth followed Maresol into the house.

  “I paid the cab out of the household funds,” Maresol said. “So don’t complain if we come short this month.”

  Surprised, Seth stopped walking and stared at her.

  “When do I complain?” Seth asked.

  “You might start,” Maresol pointed her index finger at Seth. “Don’t start.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Seth said. “Where’s Ava?”

  “She’s in your bedroom,” Maresol said. “I gave her a bath. She’s asleep. My guess is that she’s starving. I have some broth and noodles ready for her. If she can keep that down, I’ll make sopapillas.”

  “Yum!” Seth said.

  “For Ava, not for you. To strengthen her soul,” Maresol pushed him toward the stairwell. “Go on. Sandy and the kids are going to be here at two.”

  He was halfway up the stairwell when Maresol said, “Seth?” Seth leaned over the stairwell to see her.

  “She saw my Bonita,” Maresol said in Spanish. Her eyes filled with tears. “Bonita and the boys. When she was at that horrible barn… She said they are safe and at peace. She said they are here. Every day. My Bonita, my baby boys, are here.”

  Maresol wiped her face, spun in place and moved out of sight. He was at the top of the stairs when she yelled, “I’m not crying,” in Spanish. He chuckled at his tough as nails, soft hearted mother-in-law. He leaned into the door to his bedroom. He heard movement on the other side of the door. Not sure what to expect, he opened the door a crack. After a second, he stepped in. Dressed only in one of his T-shirts and panties, Ava was rifling through his closet.

  “Hi,” Seth said.

  “Where is her stuff?” Ava asked. Her voice had the deep rasp usually associated with whiskey and cigarettes. Her bald head showed peach fuzz growth.

  “Who’s stuff?”

  “Your wife’s stuff,” Ava’s angry face turned to look at him. She had two black eyes, deep purple bruising on her cheeks and a series of stitches on her right cheek. “She must be pissed that I was in your bed every night the last month. Where was she then, huh? I don’t remember seeing her and I don’t do threesomes.”

  Ava flipped around to face him. He stepped up to her and held her tight. He kissed her neck.

  “I’m not married,” Seth whispered in her ear. “You met my daughter, Lizzie. Lizzie O’Malley?”

  Ava pushed him away from her.

  “You told me your daughters don’t have your name. Either you lied about them taking your name or you’re lying about having a wife,” Ava said. “Plus she said her name was Elizabethe or something like that.”

  “Lizzie and Julie Ann took back my name. I didn’t know until the Coroner’s meeting about Bonita and the boys,” Seth said. “It’s a long story. Julie Ann joined the Marines and her step-father threw her out. Lizzie… she…”

  Seth sighed.

  “Let’s get you back in bed,” Seth said. “You have enough sadness without dealing with this crap.”

  “No,” Ava shook him off her. “I want to hear it now.”

  “Lizzie’s named after my mother who was named Lizzie. Her mother was also named Lizzie as was her mother. The name goes back to old Ireland,” Seth shrugged. “It’s not very sophisticated but it’s on her birth certificate. “

  As if he was avoiding the topic, Ava raised an eyebrow at him.

  “She graduated from college and moved home last year,” Seth said. “For reasons I don’t understand, reasons she won’t explain to me, her father, she and her step-father had a sexual relationship behind her mother’s back. When she got pregnant, she told her mother. Her mother flew into a rage. She disowned Lizzie and threw all of her things onto the front la
wn, even her baby pictures.”

  “Your ex-wife is crazy,” Ava said.

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” Seth said. “Anyway, Lizzie talked Sandy into living at her condo so she had a place to stay. Sandy didn’t know she was pregnant. Lizzie has no money, no friends, and a baby on the way.”

  “That’s horrible,” Ava said. “Did he molest her as a child?”

  “She says no,” Seth said. “But you know how a man can groom a young girl. Julie Ann is a lesbian. That’s why she was disowned, according to Lizzie. She was of no use to him. The whole mess makes me crazy.”

  “The whole thing is gross,” Ava said.

  “Lizzie stayed here while I was gone so Maresol could pamper her. She hadn’t been to a doctor, didn’t have any clothing or… anything, really. Maresol’s been mothering her.”

  “She’s good at that,” Ava said.

  “Maresol’s the best,” Seth said. “Now back in bed. You should be in a hospital.”

  “Did you hear what happened?” Ava asked.

  “Not really,” Seth straightened the down comforter and fluffed her pillow.

  “I like your pillow,” Ava said. “So no wife?”

  He leaned over the bed to grab his pillow.

  “Not since Bonita.”

  After fluffing his pillow, he helped her into bed.

  “Seth?”

  “Yes, Ava,” Seth said.

  “You smell like cows,” she said.

  “That’s because I’ve spent the last two days with cattle,” Seth said.

  “Why?” Ava asked.

  “My family homesteaded outside of Granby,” Seth said. “The acreage is summer pasture for a couple of high country grass fed cattle ranches. Since I was off for a few days, and I couldn’t visit you in the hospital, the ranchers agreed to move the cattle yesterday and this morning.”

  “Do you have a cabin there?” Ava asked.

  “A house,” Seth said. “With a caretaker, his wife and a bunch of kids. I stay in the work house. There’s a piano there. I haven’t showered in a couple of days.”

  “You need to shower,” Ava said.

  “Yes. I do,” Seth said. “You were telling me about the hospital.”

  “So… you’re a cop, a composer and a cowboy?”

  “And crazy,” Seth smiled. “How’s that for irony?”

  She smiled.

  “Can I have a drink of water?” Ava asked.

  Seth nodded and retrieved a glass of water from the bathroom. He gave her the water and she drank it dry. He refilled it.

  “Sorry, my throat hurts,” Ava said. “I feel like I’m always thirsty.”

  “Why aren’t you in the hospital?”

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY

  Boob

  “I woke up this morning with these marks on my chest,” Ava pulled up her T-shirt to show faint black sharpie lines drawn on her chest. “My mother planned breast augmentation surgery! Today! For ME!”

  “I guess Maresol told me that,” Seth said. “I don’t really get it, Ava. How could she do that?”

  “She has a medical power of attorney,” Ava said. “See my face?”

  Seth nodded.

  “She had the plastic surgeon fix the bump in my nose,” Ava said. “You know. The bump in my nose that I got when Beth and I both broke our noses playing volleyball in high school? Mom hated that bump. She was always on me about the stupid bump. Well, while I was unconscious, she had the doctor who was fixing my cheek recreate my nose. She gave him a picture. This is the nose I had when I was twelve!”

  “But your breasts…?”

  “She and my sisters have fake boobs,” Ava said. “She says I look like a boy. With her power of attorney, she was going to boost me to a D! Today!”

  “Why is today significant?” Seth asked.

  “Because tomorrow is Beth’s funeral. If I had the surgery, I wouldn’t be able to go,” Ava hiccupped a sob. “They sold my car! They sold the condo! I…”

  A few renegade tears rolled down Ava’s cheek before her anger pushed them away.

  “The nurse, you know the one who was Sandy’s nurse?” Ava said. “She woke me up this morning because she didn’t like what was going on. I’ve been unconscious since I got there. She helped get me released. She had to give me clothes. ‘Do you have a place to go?’ she asked. ‘I’ll just go home,’ I said. We made sure I had the keys and all my prescriptions. She got me a cab and I went home. And…”

  “It had been sold,” Seth said.

  “I have no home! The locks were changed! The condo is empty. I looked in the window and there was nothing there,” Ava said. “My car? Sold. That stupid power of attorney wiped Beth right out of my life. Mom’s said it over and over again: ‘Ever since you met that girl, you’ve been off track. She’s a bad influence on you.’

  “So I called her.” Ava paused to catch her breath.

  “Beth?” Seth raised his eyebrows. His eyes worked to assess her mental state.

  “Mom!” Ava flicked her hands at him in frustration. “My mother told me I was being ridiculous. I should get back to the hospital and have the surgery. It was time for me to stop fooling around and get on with my life. What man would marry a girl like me? Did you know they sent my resignation to the captain? Tuesday morning. I was in surgery to repair my carotid arteries. And they sent a letter of resignation in for me. Power of attorney and all.”

  “I heard that,” Seth said. “Did you hear what the lead forensics officer said?”

  Ava shook her head.

  “When Amelie wants to quit, she can do it to my face. The Coroner threatened to take the entire mess to the Denver Post. Your parents backed down,” he said. “You know, if you resigned you wouldn’t have medical insurance, sick leave, or vacation. That’s an expensive hospital bill not to mention the Medivac bill. How many surgeries did you have?”

  “Four,” Ava’s face reflected her rage. “Three for my neck and throat and one with the plastic surgeon. The doc who released me said I’ll need a couple more surgeries depending on how my throat heals.”

  “Without medical insurance, that’s a lot,” Seth said. “Your union rep has been working with the hospital and the insurance company so you’re covered. But if you quit? You’d be screwed.”

  “My parents want me to do what they say,” Ava crossed her arms over her chest. “But I didn’t face down the Devil to be dependent on anyone.”

  “That’s my girl,” Seth said.

  “Even you,” Ava said.

  “All right then,” Seth said. “Listen, Sandy’s coming over at two. Rachel came home this morning. She’s bringing the baby over for my Rachel time. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days. The older kids only work half days on Friday and they want to play in the pool. Sissy should hear if she made the summer troupe this afternoon. Why don’t you join us? It would be good for you to have something else to think about.”

  “Around the kids?” Ava gasped. “They’d laugh at me! Have you seen what I look like? My face is one big purple bruise and I’m bald!”

  “You’re beautiful,” Seth said. “Plus, these are really sweet kids. They know what it’s like to go through hell. You probably don’t remember but they were there at the barn. They’ve asked about you. I know they’d love to see you.”

  “I don’t have anything to wear,” Ava said.

  “We bought all of your things from the guy who purchased your condo,” Seth said.

  “You did?”

  “Of course,” Seth said. “I found her boyfriend, you know, Dale? He was standing outside your condo. He had nowhere to go. He’s just destroyed. Hadn’t slept since he found her. God knows, I’ve been there, so I invited him to live here.”

  “My car?” Ava asked.

  Seth shook his head.

  “I’m sorry,” Seth said. “Your parents sold your Golf for two thousand dollars. I was able to buy your personal belongings from the guy who bought it but not the car. He got a great deal. And honestly, h
e needs the car. He has a baby and a job in Littleton. Are you disappointed?”

  “Oh no, Seth. No. Thank you for all you’ve done,” Ava held out her arms and they hugged. After a moment, she pushed him back, “Shower?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Seth said. “I’ll be right out. Think about joining the kids. Sandy will probably make something yummy. Maresol warmed some soup for you.”

  Seth took a fast shower. Drying off, he came out to find Ava was crying. He held out his arms and she cried on his shoulder.

  “I have no one,” Ava said. “Nothing and nowhere to go.”

  “You have me,” Seth said. “And my odd family. For as long as you want or need to, you have a home here. There’s plenty of space. You can have your own room or a dozen rooms in the house. Dale’s moved into the apartment over the carriage house. There’s an extra room there if you prefer that.”

  “Will you go with me tomorrow?” Ava asked.

  “To the funeral?” Seth asked. “If you’d like me to go, I’m happy to go. I thought you didn’t want your parents to know about us.”

  “I don’t,” Ava said. “At this rate, they’ll probably sue you for… whatever they can think of.”

  “Stealing their daughter from right under the plastic surgeon’s knife,” Seth smiled.

  “Do you think I need them?” Ava asked.

  “Who?”

  “Big boobs,” Ava said.

  “I don’t,” Seth said.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Big boobs only attract other ignorant and foolish people…”

  “Boobs?”

  “Yes, big boobs attract other boobs. It’s a ‘like attracts like’ thing.”

  Shaking her head at Seth, she had to smile.

  “You need some boobs in your life?” Seth asked.

  “Only you,” Ava said.

  “Then I don’t think you need them,” Seth said. “How about if we try to enjoy the afternoon and let all these tomorrows work themselves out?”

  Ava nodded.

  “Would you like to join us on the patio?” Seth asked. “We’re having burgers and hot dogs. Aden bought a gas grill as a thank you to me for something, I’m not sure what. You can rest in a lounger. I got your big bug glasses from your car. They’ll hide some of the bruises.”