Star Bright (21 page)

Maria looked at him,
blinking back the tears that hadn’t already spilled over, he didn’t
know Ricky was alive and it was going to stay that way. She wasn’t
going to chance Michael finding out, “Well that part of my life is
over and I would really appreciate it if you don’t bring it up
again, especially around Michael.” She wiped her eyes and cheeks
dry with the back of her hand as she walked away from
him.

“
What did he
do to you to make you so closed off?” He asked, following
her.

The question brought back
the nightmare her life once was. The images of Ricky, her
unconscious son, her blood, the sounds of her bones breaking with
each blow, her cries, please and his angry voice rang in her ears.
She could feel his hands on her and it made her shake in
fear.

Dave saw her eyes darken
with fear and dread, she wrapped her hands around her shaking body
tight. Dave didn’t need her to say anything, the sight of her was
answer enough. He could see she was reliving the abuse she went
through, and it broke Dave’s heart. He wanted to take all the pain
away and shield her from the torment she was going through.
Instinctively he rushed to her and held her tight against
him.

“
Get off me!”
Maria screamed, struggling to get out of his hold. She hadn’t seen
Dave, all she could see was Ricky’s disfigured face twisted in a
half sadistic smile, “Ricky, no please!” she punched and kicked
him, struggling to get out of his tight grip on her.

“
Maria, it’s
me Dave!” Dave shook her, ignoring the pain from her beating,
“Maria!” he yelled louder.

She stiffened, his voice
bringing her out of her trance. She hugged him, crying in relief.
She hadn’t felt that kind of fear in a long time, the new joy in
her life had managed to keep most of them at bay, but his prying
into her life opened the flood gates and they all came rushing
back, suffocating her. Dave held her tight, he wanted to wrap
himself around her and just keep her safe.

Izzy’s shrilly laugh made
her pull away. She picked her up and sat on the couch holding her
tight, she wanted to soak up some of the joy Izzy always had in
abundance. She wanted to forget the pain and the nightmares again,
close the box Dave had opened.

Dave took off his tie and
opened the top buttons of his white shirt. He touched the sting on
his neck where Maria had scratched him. The scratches weren’t so
bad, but they drew out some blood. He sat down next to her to
relieve the ache in his legs, his chest felt tight where she’d
punched him. For a tiny girl she hit very hard.

Maria looked at him wide
eyed. He had long scratch marks along his neck and there was blood
on his collar. He had a pained look on his face as he massaged his
chest. Maria stood up with Izzy and walked across the room where
the toys were and placed her down, “Play with your toys sweetie
I’ll be right back.” she smiled down at her, then put a few legos
in her tiny hands. Satisfied that Izzy was distracted enough, she
rushed to the bathroom and came back out with a first aid
box.

“
I didn’t know
I had that.” Dave said amazed, unbuttoning his shirt down
further.

“
You have a
lot of things. I’ll give you a grand tour of your office later.”
she joked dubbing the scratches. Dave cringed away and hissed in
pain, “I’m so sorry.” Maria said guiltily.

“
Don’t worry
about it. You hit like a boy.” Dave said with a laugh.

“
Just because
I’m small doesn’t mean I’m weak.” she went to the mini fridge and
got some ice. She looked around the room trying to find a cloth to
wrap them in.

Dave took off his stained
shirt and offered it to her, “Use this.”

Maria looked at him,
appreciating his physic. He wasn’t very muscular or broad compared
to Ricky, he was perfect, but Dave held his own and his wide chest
was appealing to her.

Dave saw how differently
she looked at him, and he liked it. He grinned sheepishly at the
attention, glad she found him attractive, “Maria,” he called out to
her, breaking her daze.

She took his shirt and
wrapped the ice in it, then carefully placed it on the spot he was
rubbing, which was beginning to change shades, “You bruise easily.”
She felt her throat dry out being very close to him while he was
half nude. She was attracted to him more than she
thought.

“
No, you just
hit harder than most men I know, you should teach Michael how to
fight.”

“
Why? Do you
think he’ll get bullied in school?” She asked anxiously.

“
No he won’t,”
he pushed her hair behind her shoulder forcing her to look up at
him, “Every boy should know how to use his fist.”

“
As long as he
isn’t using it to hurt anyone.” she said softly.

“
Getting beat
up is a rite of passage.” He put his hand on her neck and caressed
her cheek with his thumb.

“
Excuse you?”
Maria snapped at him pushing his hand away, “My son is never going
to get beaten up, neither is he going to raise his hand against any
one.” she added angrily.

Dave noticed the mistake
he made with his choice of words, “Maria, I didn’t mean it that
way, I just meant boys fight, which is normal.”

“
I don’t care
how you meant it.” she stood up and walked to his closet. She took
out a blue shirt and threw it at him, “There is nothing normal
about getting beat up.” she walked to the other side of the room
and picked up Izzy, “I know how hard to hit because I’ve been used
as a punching bag long enough to measure the amount of force needed
for the worst hit, that isn’t normal.” She opened the door and
walked out, leaving it wide open.

“
Maria wait!”
Dave chased after her, but stopped at the corridor when he realized
he was half naked, “Damn it!” He turned to find Carol holding the
blue shirt up for him, “The firm has rules about nudity.” She
joked, “Your office is like a tiny apartment. Clothes in the
closet, first aid kits, and a mini fridge full of leftovers, the
only thing missing is a bed.”

“
The couch is
a sofa bed. All Maria’s doing.” she personally furnished the room
because she wanted to make sure he was comfortable when he ended up
sleeping in the office. Dave snatched the shirt from her and walked
back to his office. His annoyance and temper rose when he found
Todd standing in his office with a shy look on his face, “Let me
guess, you screwed up the little work I gave you?”

“
I was hoping
to get you in a better mood.” Todd spoke, a little
frightened.

“
Better luck
next time.” he walked to his desk buttoning his shirt, “Did you
bring the files with you?”

“
Yes.” he
said, taking a seat, “You were in less of a bad mood when Paula or
Maria, whatever her name is wasn’t around, in fact...” he stopped
dead in the middle of his sentence when he noticed the lethal,
cold, angry glare Dave was giving him, “How about we just go back
to work?”

“
That’s the
most intelligent thing you’ve said all day.”

Maria cleared the tables
at the cafe in a surly mood, she had been like that the whole
afternoon. She felt silly for over reacting, but irate that Dave
went digging in her past, which he had no right to. She thought
after spending so much time together he trusted her, but she was
sure he did it more out of curiosity than the need to feel secure.
Dave liked mysteries, and her jumpy, scared, private self must have
spiked his interest.

She was relieved that the
truth was out, but she would have preferred to be the one to open
that door on her own terms, but Dave just had to do things his way.
His private investigator must have stood out like a sore thumb,
there was no way he could have gone unnoticed.

Maria froze as the
reality of what Dave had done dawned on her. She felt her chest
tighten and her air waves close off as the fear wrapped around her
tight. The PI stood out like a sore thumb, everyone in the town
would have known he was there, asked questions and found out what
he was looking for.

Maria felt like curling
up on the floor and crying hysterically. Her whole world was
crushing in on her again, and as much as she knew she wasn’t caged
in like before, she couldn’t help but feel despair, knowing what
would come if she didn’t run now. Michael would be devastated, he
just started school and he wouldn’t be able to let go of the little
family he had created. She would rather have him disappointed than
dead.

She rushed into the
kitchen and picked up the phone. She dialed Edna’s number and
waited anxiously for her to pick up, when she didn’t, she called
Jane, and felt a few knots in her body loosen when she heard her
best friend’s voice.

“
Hi Jane.” She
faked joy so as not to alarm her friend, “How’s everyone
doing?”

“
Hi Maria,
everyone’s good.” she responded happily.

“
That’s nice.”
she bit her lip impatiently, “How’s work?” adding more pleasantries
before she got to what she really wanted to ask.

“
You know how
work is at JJ’s.” she sounded down before her voice picked up, “but
I’m getting a new job soon.”

“
That’s
great.” Maria said, faking excitement. She felt like she was going
to burst, “So anything new in Jacksonville?”

“
No, not
much.” and then her voice lowered, “Maria, Ricky hasn’t been around
here since the day you left.”

“
That’s
great.” she felt nervous, suddenly wishing he had been in
Jacksonville where people could see him and be sure he was there
and not anywhere close to her, “But I really just wanted to know if
there was anything different, keep up with the news at
home.”

“
There is a
journalist here from some big newspaper. He’s writing some story
about the town or something.”

Maria breathed a sigh of
relief, grateful Dave’s man had the sensibility to have a cover
story, but she was curious how her mother came to find out about
him, “Jane, how’s my mom doing, she didn’t answer her phone when I
called?”

Jane paused for a moment
before she answered. Edna didn’t want her knowing that her father
was back, she wanted to break that news to her daughter herself,
“She’s fine. She took Denise out.”

She leaned against the
wall and forced herself to relax, “Okay, it was nice talking to
you, I really needed to hear a friendly voice.”

“
Don’t worry,
Ricky will never be able to find you.”

“
I hope you
are right.” Maria said with a nervous laugh. She knew what would
happen, just imagining it scared her to death.

Chapter
Thirteen

Maria stood by the car
and waited for Michael to come out of the school building. She was
so excited to see him after his first day she came twenty minutes
early. She looked into the car to make sure Izzy was alright before
she turned back to the huge metal gates. She had managed to talk
herself calm, but she needed to see Michael to be completely calm.
She pulled out the phone Dave had gotten her to check the time
again, there were five minutes left and several text and voice
messages from Dave.

She hadn’t bothered to
call him back, she was sure once he heard her voice he would know
she wasn’t okay, the man picked up emotions like a canine police
unit picked up scents. She was going to call him back, right after
she felt calm enough to, right after Michael was safe in her
arms.

The building’s wooden
doors opened and kids began to rush out. Maria felt giddy and happy
when she spotted Michael laughing and talking with three other
boys. He was so unlike her, capable of making friends so fast. She
was a little surprised when she saw a man in a grey suit walk out
behind them. He stopped at the gate and waved at her when he
spotted her, Maria laughed realizing that Dave had gone overboard
with keeping Michael safe, but she appreciated it, making her like
him even more.

“
Mama!”
Michael yelled, running to her open waiting arms. She hugged him
tight, all the fear and anxiety slipping away.

“
So how was
your first day?” She opened the door and put him in next to Izzy.
She shrieked happily when she saw him.

“
It was great.
I missed you too.” hugging her.

Maria rushed to the
driver’s side and got in. She handed Michael the phone before she
pulled the car out of the parking lot, “Call Dave and tell him we
are on our way home.”

“
Hello Maria.”
Dave jumped from his seat, unable to contain his relief, he had
thought something bad had happened to her and Izzy.

“
Hi, mama says
to tell you we are on our way home.” Michael sang out.

Dave smiled, he was glad
to hear his voice, but he would have preferred to hear Maria’s. He
needed to know if she was still mad at him, and the fact it was
Michael who called only meant she was, “Tell her she doesn’t have
to cook. I’m bringing pizza to celebrate your great day at
school.”

“
How did you
know I had fun?”

“
I’m psychic.
See you soon.” He hung up, then picked up his briefcase and walked
out of the office. He still had a lot of work to do, but he needed
to get home, Michael would definitely want to talk about his first
day and he needed to fix things with Maria. Besides, he had spent
too much time in his office and very little at home, he needed to
make time for his family.