“I know I owe you some money, but—”
“Perhaps you’d like to get rid of that debt right now. It’ll only take a little while and you’ll be done for the day. Might even get some overtime at the restaurant.”
She scrambled for something else to say. “I could kiss you like before.”
“Good idea.” He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her, but kept his tongue to himself. Then he eased his hands to her backside. “But it’s going to take a little more than a kiss this time,” he said.
“But I don’t want to—”
He gently nudged her against the wall and kissed her again, this time with tongue, then lightly thrust his hips toward hers. His breathing quickened and he raised his hand up her side toward her breast. Yikes. This had the potential to get ugly. She pushed his hand aside. “I don’t want to do anything dirty.”
“Listen to me. I’ve been covering you for a whole month, without a legitimate commitment from you. This has to be a two-way street. I want something new and substantial.” He tapped her breast. “Starting right here.”
Instinctively, her arm shot upwards, pushed his hand away. He was lucky she didn’t knee his ’nads, but that probably wasn’t what Lorraine would have done.
“Which is it?” he asked, while facing her fridge-pen, “We’re either going to get it on right here or up in the mountains.”
Her heart bumped as a whirlwind of emotions rushed through her. This was as bad as the things Tio did to her when she was little and that made her want to run away. But the detective inside her wanted to bring down a perv. For the time being she had to set aside her own apprehensions and focus instead on the invisible women who didn’t even know they were counting on her. “If I let you touch me for a few seconds, can we say that’s enough for today?”
He sneered and shook his head. “A few lousy seconds? No way. If I’m letting you off the hook for the whole week, it’s going to take a lot more than that.” He reached for her breast again, but she scooted backwards and gazed into his eyes. His eyebrows were drawn down like Tio’s used to be.
“I have another idea,” she said with a feeble smile. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
He grabbed her arm and squeezed. “I don’t want no damn surprises. You know what I want.”
“I know, but you’ll like this. I promise. It’s in the bedroom.”
Dixon hesitated. “The bedroom, huh? Now we’re talking.” He loosened his grip slightly. “This better not be some stalling tactic ’cause I—”
She twisted out of his grip. “I’ll be right back,” she said as she bolted to the bedroom and locked the door. She grabbed both her small pistol and a thin wad of cash she’d scraped up by selling some of her clothes to a consignment store. She stuffed the gun in her panties and returned to the living room with the cash in hand to see that Dixon had taken off his shirt and shoes.
She held out the bills. “I can pay you a week’s rent. Then we don’t have to do anything until next week.”
Dixon gazed at the bills and wrinkled his brow. “Where the hell did you get money? How much do you have?”
“Almost two hundred. I pawned my grandma’s brooch. You can have it all for yourself. Just give me another week.”
He hesitated. Then, “You must think I’m stupid. You’re just trying to buy me off with money you’d owe us for rent in a few days anyway.”
“I know it seems like that, but that brooch was important to my family. I could have hidden that money from you but I didn’t. I have to get something extra out of it or I could never forgive myself.”
He grabbed the wad, slowly counted the money. “It’s only one-seventy.”
“I know, but it’s all I’ve got. Please take it. You deserve it.”
He thumbed the wad again. Then he threw it on the ground and stepped closer. “Naw. I want to play with your tits.”
OMG!!! She took a quick step toward the door but he grabbed for her wrist. “You ain’t going nowhere.”
Oh, yes she was. She spun around, twisted out of his grip and ran out the door. The stupid bastard was lucky she didn’t kill him.
Chapter Fifty-Six
It had been two days since Stump discovered that Dixon Browne was Maria’s biological father but he still couldn’t figure out what to do about it. No matter what he said or did there was a high probability that Maria would be deeply disappointed. It was all so damn confusing he felt as if he were living in the Penrose optical illusion where he’d walk up a flight of stairs, turn onto another flight, then another and another only to end up right back where he’d started. There was no progress and no way out.
Fortunately, he avoided his dilemma on Sunday because he and Myles spent the better part of the day at a Dodgers game, and getting in several more hours of practice driving, which left Stump just a few hours shy of qualifying for his full-blown license.
Then on Monday, right after school, Stump called Mr. Kraft as instructed, and was relieved to learn he no longer needed to wear the tattered clothes of the unemployed.
Mr. Kraft didn’t say why he changed his mind, but it was obvious to Stump that Dixon was behind the paint spill and Kraft probably suspected the same thing. Regardless, it was a delightful twist of justice to know that Dixon was the one on defense for a change.
But all of that was in the past and now, it was Tuesday, post-school. Most of the swelling and pain in Stump’s knee had subsided and he was anxious to get back to work. At Cal-Vista he hustled to Mr. Kraft’s office.
“Look who’s here,” Mr. Kraft said, his tone less upbeat than his words.
“Thank you again for giving me my job back. What do you want me to do today?”
“The first thing is to clean up those paint splatters. If the tenants think we don’t give a damn about this place, why should they?”
Made sense. Stump thought back to the time when he got caught stealing a pint of vodka and was sentenced to remove graffiti from a government building. “I’ve removed paint before,” he said, hoping he wouldn’t have to elaborate. “Is everything in the maintenance room?”
“Yep. Picked it up this morning. Just read the label and don’t get too close to the fumes.” Mr. Kraft opened his desk drawer and handed Stump an envelope. “Here’s your paycheck.”
Cool. It couldn’t be a lot because Stump had missed quite a few days, but every bit helped. “Thanks. I needed this.”
“Nearly everybody does. By the way, you’ll have to be careful in the maintenance area. Yesterday morning somebody left an old Queen Anne bed frame by the dumpster so I had Manuel put it in there until we clean that area up. As soon as I’m feeling better I’m going to have an expert tell me if that bed’s worth repairing.”
“I’ll be careful. I promise.” As soon as Stump reached the maintenance room he stepped inside where a previously messy room had gotten worse. Several support boards leaned against the Queen Anne bed frame as if to make a giant M, which made Stump think of Maria.
He smiled as he opened the pay envelope. A miserable two hundred and five bucks. He couldn’t even pay all his bills off. He thought about his mom. She was always short of money too, even on payday. He shook his head, grabbed the paint-removing gel and some supplies and headed for the parking lot.
At the back of the lot, he spread some gel on the splatters and waited for it to agitate the paint. Then Maria showed up wearing the damn new-used bracelet that Dixon gave her. “Are you going to be able to see me when you get off work?” she asked. “I’d like to know how our investigation is going.”
This was a good chance to soften her up for the news about Dixon’s real role in her life. “I can talk with you for a moment while the paint loosens up,” he said. “I got through most of the notebook and found something interesting.”
She lifted to her tiptoes. “Really? Like what?”
“Mid-way through the pages, Dixon started pulling off more scams, and making a lot more money than he did previously. That’s wh
y he could buy that car of his.”
Maria ticked her teeth with her tongue. “I don’t care about that car. I want to know if he hurt people like he did Mama.”
“He hasn’t said anything like that, but I wasn’t done there. I had Juanita get me some names of former tenants. I figured they might know of some things he’s done.”
“And?”
“One lady, Erlinda Romero, wouldn’t tell me what happened between them, but I think she knows something along the lines you’re talking about. I’m going to check back with her later.”
Maria grinned and threw her arms around Stump’s neck. “I knew you could find something.”
Stump rubbed his hands on a rag. This was a good chance to eliminate one of his unanswered questions. “Before I get back to work, do you mind if I ask you about something completely different?”
“Of course not. You’re my boyfriend. You can ask me anything you want.”
Some boyfriend he was. Sooner or later he was going to have to disappoint her. “The other day, I was trying to remember what you said about your papa. What did you say his story was?”
She turned her head. “But I already told you.”
“So tell me again. You’re not ashamed of him, are you?”
She sighed. “Heck no. Mama said he was the bravest man in a big gunfight with the drug lords. He killed nine of them before they got him.”
“What if none of that is true? Would you be disappointed?”
“Of course it’s true. Why would Mama lie to me?”
“Have you ever seen any pictures of him, or newspaper articles about the gunfight?”
“No. I was just a baby. Mama said we had to run away or they were going to kill us too.”
“What about your papa’s family? Have you ever gotten any letters from them?”
“No. The bad guys killed them all.”
“But what if it turns out that your papa is somebody else or still alive, or something else?”
“That’s stupid. Mama wouldn’t lie to me.”
“She might be wrong. People make mistakes you know.”
Maria shook her head and put her hands on her hips like she did whenever she was aggravated. “Mama isn’t wrong.”
Stump hesitated, smiling. “I can tell you’re real proud of your papa.” He pointed at the ground. “I gotta get back to work. I’ll see you around six-thirty.”
Maria tapped his nose. “How would you like to buy us all a pizza for dinner?”
A whole pizza? For all three of them? That would cost at least twelve bucks, times three. He sighed. Why not? According to Dixon, Stump was a rich boy.
After Maria left, Stump lowered his head and worked hard until his shift ended. After he cleaned up, he went to see Juanita and Manuel. Juanita answered. “Come in. Manuel is over at Dixon’s but he should be right back.”
Stump filled her in on the leads she’d given him a few days earlier. “Most of them were glad to hear that Dixon was being investigated,” he said.
Juanita shrugged. “It might not matter after what Mr. Kraft’s doctor said.”
“What? Is he worse than we thought?”
“According to Dixon, Mr. Kraft only has a few months.”
One of Stump’s stomach boots kicked him. He hadn’t known Mr. Kraft very long, but the man had become one of his favorite people. “I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“He’ll be getting sicker and sicker. It’s supposed to be a secret.” Just then the door flew open. It was Manuel.
“That damn cabrón did it to us again.”
Stump’s mind was in a fog about Mr. Kraft, but he knew enough Spanish to know that somebody screwed Manuel over, and it wasn’t too difficult to guess who it might be.
“Why? What happened?” Juanita asked.
“He only paid me half of what he owed us for the last paint job. He said I took too long and he had to teach me a lesson.” Manuel threw some money on the table. “One of these days, somebody’s going to teach that cabrón a lesson of his own.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
The next day, Delores was hoping that Dixon had cooled off. She’d always known that making a case against him would be both difficult and dangerous. Men like him and Tio could be very intimidating. Many rape victims, even full-blown citizens, didn’t want to talk about what happened to them for concern they’d be ridiculed and told they’d essentially asked for it.
As far as her case was concerned, no one victim was willing to be the first to speak out against Dixon, so Delores reasoned it was best to set up a team-like situation in which they could speak collectively.
To do that, she needed some additional players and she had a couple ideas that she’d not yet acted upon. But before she could go in that direction, she needed to employ her alter ego, Lorraine Martinez, to return to Cal-Vista, tail between legs, and patch things up with the grabaholic.
She removed her makeup and drove to her usual parking spot a few blocks from Cal-Vista. She waited for the bus to go by to imply that she’d just gotten home from her job at the restaurant before she slipped into Lorraine’s apartment.
As expected, the wad of money that Dixon previously eschewed was long gone. In the bedroom, her clothes and bedding were disheveled, indicating he’d rummaged through it all. Back in the kitchen, her pen was still in its place. Then a note on the counter caught her eye:
I want to talk to you.
D
Good. She wanted to talk with him too. As she moved through the courtyard toward his apartment she thought about men who could steal a woman’s innocence without giving a damn that afterwards those victims found it difficult to sleep, difficult to trust good men and difficult to experience real love.
At Dixon’s apartment the curtains were wide open. A TV was on. As soon as he saw her he sprang to the door and swung it inward. “Come in, Lorraine,” he said with a smile. “I was expecting you.”
She forced a faint smile of her own and stepped inside, while he closed the curtains. “You’re looking beautiful tonight,” he said softly.
Delores cautiously eased into a side chair where there was no room for him to wiggle next to her. “My money is gone,” she said.
He sat on the couch. “Let’s be honest, Lorraine. We both know you’re here because you need me.” He leaned forward. “That’s why I keep urging you to move in with me. It will make everything easier for you.”
This was exactly the temperament she had hoped for. He was calmer but still motivated to advance the relationship. “To be honest,” she said, “I’ve thought about it, but I shouldn’t have to do anything right now. You have my money. That should take care of everything for a week or so.”
Dixon shifted his teeth and shook his head. “Even if I let you get away with it this time, the next rent cycle begins in two days and you’re going to be right back in this same boat. Then what? Have you thought about that?”
She paused a second and then lowered her head just enough to feign shame. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Look, Lorraine,” he said. “You have to accept the fact that I know what’s best for you. I’ve seen these situations before. I know how they play out. You need something permanent. That’s why we should get married. Six months will fly by and this problem of yours will never come up again.”
She waited before answering, then, “I guess I don’t have much choice.”
His eyes lit up. “Now you’re talking. Let’s get your things and you can move in right now.”
“But I can’t. We’re not married yet.”
“That’s just a minor detail. First you have to show me you’re serious–as a good faith gesture—then we can make it official.”
The detective hiding inside Lorraine almost smiled. Dixon may have been an excellent poker player, but when it came to the possibility of making love with Lorraine Martinez, he had a major tell of his own: He wanted a lot more than a one-time fling and that sexual appetite could be used against him. “But I don’t want
to do it that way. I promised my mama that I would never do anything like that until I got married. Then we can do it.”
“Do you know how juvenile that sounds?” he asked. “None of the other women I’ve done this with were like that.”
“I’m sorry but I want the papers first. I don’t want to do it if we’re not married.”
He scoffed. “Alright. Alright. I’ve got a friend at the County Clerk’s office. If I take you there, and we get the damn license, that’s it, right?”
“Except for one thing. The rent isn’t due for a couple days. I might still be able to get the money.”
“We already went through that. I’ll call my buddy. He can have the papers ready by Thursday morning. Then we’ll go make it official. You just tell your boss you need the day off.”
Yeah. She could do that, all right. In fact, she was looking forward to finding out how Dixon persuaded his wives that he could streamline their paths to citizenship. Just as importantly she wanted that information without giving him anything in return. The best way to do that was to round up some rent money. She needed a loan.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
The previous evening Stump shared a pizza with Maria and her mama, who actually helped Stump get over his gloominess regarding Mr. Kraft’s health. She even lit the candle that Stump gave Maria and made sure Stump got half the pizza. It might have been a perfect evening if Maria hadn’t been wearing that stupid bracelet that Dixon gave her.
Before leaving Stump thanked Maria’s mom, then he and Maria stepped out in the hall. “Can I ask you something?” he said. “Does your fondness for that bracelet mean you’re willing to give Dixon the benefit of the doubt and drop the investigation?”
“Heck no,” she’d said. “I just wear it because it’s pretty.”
As before, Stump ended that evening unsure whether he should say anything about Dixon being her biological dad or not.
Now, Stump was busy fixing a couple lounge chairs by the pool when Dixon approached. “Just so you know,” Dixon said, “I’m still thinking about calling the cops about your escapades in the boss’s office.”
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