Superbia (Book One of the Superbia Series) (17 page)

“Hi.
 
It’s Beth.”

“Hey sweetie.
 
Is everything okay?”

“Ask her what’s wrong?”

“I will!
 
Just give me a second.”

Beth leaned
forward to read the first thing Vic had written.
 
“I….have a problem and don’t know what to
do.”

“What is it, hon?”

“I’ve got a sore
in my mouth and I think it’s from the last time I slept over.”

A pause.
 

Vic held his
breath.
 

The voice
returned, but quieter,
“What do you
mean?”

“From the game we
play at bedtime where I kiss you there.
 
The stuff that came out of it left a sore in my gums.”

Mrs. Lamia’s eyes
were wide and red, and her hand was shaking against her mouth.

Another
pause.
 

“That’s impossible, sweetheart.”

Vic snapped his
fingers and held up his finger to keep Beth from talking.

“There’s no way that could happen.”

“But it did!
 
It hurts really bad and my mom saw it and
asked me what happened.
 
What am I
supposed to tell her?”

“Tell her you did it brushing your teeth.”

“She won’t
believe me.
 
I don’t want to tell her
about us, but I need to tell her something.
 
I think she’s taking me to the doctor tomorrow.”
  

“Oh my God…Okay…listen.
 
There is no way you could have a sore on your
gums from me.
 
It doesn’t work like
that.
 
It must have been something you
ate.”

There was nothing
else written on the notepad.
 
Beth looked
up at Vic and he frowned for a moment, then he leaned forward and scribbled
something on the paper.
 
Beth stared at
it, then back up at him in confusion.

Vic tapped the
paper and gave her the thumbs up.

Beth read the
line on the page and said, “Do you think I might be pregnant?”

“What?
 
What are you talking about?”

“Can I get
pregnant from that?
 
Suzie Berkman said
that’s how girls get pregnant.”

“No, silly goose.
 
It has to go in somewhere else for you to get
pregnant.
 
You’re fine.”

Vic gave Beth two
thumbs up and nodded, signaling for her to end the phone call.

“Okay, Uncle
Petey.”
 

“Hey.
 
I want to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me.
 
Are you alone right now?”

Beth looked up at
Vic.
 
He shrugged.

“Honey?
 
Is someone else listening to this?”

“Yeah.”

A pause.
 
“Who?”

“The police are,
you dirty piece of crap!
 
I’m sending you
to jail!”

Vic hit the
terminate button on his recorder and ended the phone call.
 
He started chuckling to himself as he made
notes about the call.
 
“How did I do?”

“Amazing,” Vic
said.

“I’m sorry I said
a bad word.”

Vic smiled at her.
 
“Sometimes I say them too.”
 

***

Frank looked up
as Vic returned with Beth and her mother.
 
“Where were you two?” Paul said.
 

Mrs. Lamia put
her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and set her jaw, taking a deep breath
before she said, “We called Pete.
 
Beth
talked to him and I heard every word.
 
It’s all true, Paul.
 
He did this
to her.”

“No,” Paul said,
shaking his head.
 
“No, there’s a
misunderstanding that these bastards are twisting around to make it sound like
something it isn’t.
 
Why did you do
that?” he whined.
 
“I wanted to talk to
the two of you first so that we could sit down as a family and figure out what
to do.”
 
There was betrayal in his eyes,
lashing his wife like whips.
 

Vic turned to
Mrs. Lamia and said, “We’re all done for now.
 
How about you take Beth outside and wait, so I can talk to your husband
for a minute, okay?”
 
Vic put his hand on
Beth’s head and said, “I’ll see you soon kiddo.”
 

He waited for
them to leave, then shut the door.
 
Paul
Lamia was sitting on the table with his arms folded.
 
Petulant.
 
Injured.
 
“You people are sick,”
he hissed.
 
“You forced a little girl to
set up an old man who probably won’t live another two years.”
 

Vic ran his hands
through his hair, feeling the sweat gathering on his brow.
 
“I’ve seen some amazing things on this job, Mr.
Lamia, but you take the cake.”
 

“I want to know
what you’re going to do now.”

“I’m not going to
tell you.”

“I demand you
give me an answer!”

Vic smiled
malevolently and said, “Too bad.”

Paul got up and
headed for the door when Vic shot his hand out in front of him and said,
“There’s a surveillance unit at Uncle Petey’s house, and we’re tapping his
phones.
 
If you try to alert him in any
way to this investigation, I will arrest you for obstruction. Do you understand
me?”

Paul Lamia
grunted and pushed his way past, following after his wife and daughter at a
near-run.
 
“Think he bought it?” Frank
said.

Vic shrugged and
said, “Don’t know.
 
Don’t care.
 
We’re arresting Uncle Petey tonight either
way.”
 
He looked at his watch and said,
“I have to go take care of something for a little while.
 
Can you get started on the criminal complaint
and when I get back, we’ll get the warrant?”

“Sure.
 
Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s
fine. I just need to go see somebody.”

***

There was a light
on inside the house.
 
Through the
curtains he could make out the shape of a small figure sitting at the dining
room table.
 
He reached for the door
handle, thought better of it, and decided to knock.
 
Fast footfalls of tiny feet came racing
across the floor.
 

“Who is it?”

“I’ll give you a
hint,” Vic said.
 
“I’m the guy that loves
you more than anybody else does on the whole planet.”

The door flew
open and Vic’s daughter Penelope smiled so brightly at him it shined.
 
He scooped her up into his arms and kissed
her on the face.
 
She kissed him back and
they made silly noises at one another with their noses until Vic saw his wife
come out of the kitchen.
 
“What are you
doing here?”

“I came to see my
little girl,” Vic said.
 
“Is that so
wrong?”

“You didn’t
call,” she said.
 
“You’re supposed to
call first before you come over.”

Vic bounced
Penelope in his arms and said, “Daddy knocked though, didn’t he?
 
That should count for something.
 
I didn’t just come in, right?”

“Did you bring
that hundred dollars?”

“Jesus, can I walk
in the door first before you start hitting me up for things?”
 
He put his daughter down and said, “No, I
didn’t.
 
I don’t get my overtime check
until next week.
 
I’ll give you what I
can then.”

“I need that
money for her school, Vic.
 
I can’t
afford to pay for the things you’re supposed to take care of.”

“I give you three
hundred a week, Danni!
 
I’ve barely got
enough to live off of after I’m done paying the bills.
 
Why can’t you take it out of that?”

Danni grunted and
said, “Maybe you should have thought of that before.”
 

Vic looked at her
for a moment, and then bent down to Penelope and said, “I missed you.
 
That’s why I came over.”

The little girl
took his hand in hers and led him toward the table, “Want to see what I was
drawing?”

Vic looked at the
swirl of colors on the paper and gasped, “That is the most beautiful drawing
I’ve ever seen.”

“I made it for
you.”

Vic picked it up
and pressed it to his chest, “I will hang it up on my refrigerator the second I
get home.”

“What are you
doing Friday night?” Danni said.

“Probably
working.”
 

“I need you to
watch the kids.”

“So you can go
out?”

“I have things to
do.”

“I work five days
a week and have the kids every weekend, Danni.
 
Somehow, I still manage to get things done.”

“Weekends are my
me-time,” she said.

“When do I get
me-time?”

“You lost that
when you decided to abandon your children, Vic.”

He snatched her
by the arm and pulled her around the corner into the kitchen.
 
She punched at his hand and yelled, “Get off
of me!
 
If I have any bruises so help me
God I will call the cops on you.”

He let go of her
arm and said, “Good!
 
Call them!
 
And if I get locked up, I lose my benefits
and money and so do you and the kids, genius.”
 

“You are a piece
of shit!”

He leveled a
finger at her face and said, “Don’t say I abandoned my kids one more time. Not
one more time.”

“Or else what,
Vic?”

He put his hand
down and said, “Just don’t do it.
 
It
isn’t true, and it isn’t fair.
 
I have
them almost as much as you do.
 
You asked
me to leave.
 
I didn’t abandon them.”

“Get out.”

Vic walked over
to where his daughter was coloring and kissed the top of her head.
 
He told her he loved her and would see her in
two days.
 
“Where’s Jason?”

“He’s outside
with his friends,” Danni said.
  

“I’ll go find
him.”

Danni followed
him to the door, “If you don’t have that money, I’m not letting you take the
kids this weekend.”

He stopped at the
door and turned toward her, keeping his voice low when he said, “If you ever
try to keep them from me, your money stops, and I will hire an attorney to
fight you for full custody.”

“Ha, as if you
would get custody.”

He walked outside
and said, “Let me know when you want to go to court, Danni.”
 
The door slammed shut behind him.
 
There were kids playing on the next block,
and he headed for them.
 
“Jason?” he
called out, waving his hand.
 
“Hey,
Jason!”

The boy waved to
his friends and ran up the street toward him.
 
They hugged and Vic kissed him on his head.
 
“What are you doing here, Pop?”

“I came to see
you guys.
 
Were you busy with your
friends?
 
I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Nah, we were
just playing.
 
It’s almost dinner time.”

Vic held out his
hand, and the boy took it.
 
He was only
eleven, and that wasn’t yet old enough that’s he’d be hesitant to hold hands
with his old man in front of his friends.
 
Maybe next year,
Vic
thought.
 
“I’m glad you’re going
home.
 
Mom got pretty upset with me.”

Jason shook his
head and said, “She just gets like that.
 
Don’t worry about it.”

“Does she say bad
things about me to you guys?”

“No.
 
Not at all.”

“Okay, good.
 
She’s a good mom.”

“Yep.”

“Am I a good
dad?”

Jason looked at
him and rolled his eyes, “Come
on
,
Dad.”

Vic shrugged and
said, “Okay.
 
I just want to make
sure.
 
If I’m ever not doing it right,
you let me know.
 
That’s your job.”

Jason shrugged
and said, “So far so good.”

11.
 
Pete Lamia’s house was a modest split-level
with a well-maintained lawn. It was the same design as all the other houses in
the neighborhood.
 
A stained glass
picture of Jesus filled the living room’s bay window.
 

There was a light
on upstairs and television light flickering in the den downstairs.
 
Vic knocked on the door several times and
rang the doorbell.
 
An old man lumbered
up the steps, grimacing as he braced his hand against his knees.
 
He had on a flannel shirt that was tucked
into his sweatpants.
 
He wore orthopedic
shoes.
 
Peter Lamia opened the door and
looked at Vic and Frank in amazement.
 
“Can I help you gentlemen?”

Vic laughed
sharply and said, “Yeah, I think so, Mr. Lamia.
 
Grab your coat.
 
You’re coming
with us.”