The rumor around the town was that he'd blown up his school. The elementary school was destroyed and it was thought to have been him. But it couldn't have been. For one thing, he was only three, and he was asleep. But the truth was…his mother really had died in an explosion at the elementary school. No, it wasn't a bomb threat. Let me take you back about thirteen years ago.
"Daddy, Rico's asleep!" Rikki said, trying to locate her father. "He's snoring."
Rex picked up his four year old daughter. "Yes, now you shouldn't disturb him. Why don't you play with Celeste down the street?"
"She eated bad food and it make her tummy all yucky. Mama told me." Rikki responded, snuggling into her father's shirt. "I want to go to the park."
"Well we can't leave your brother, can we? He'd be all sad if he woke up and no one was there."
"We can come back when he is waked up."
"I don't think it works that way."
"Aww…can I play with the puppy? I won't hurt him."
"Of course, he's your puppy."
"Yay!" She wiggled out of her father's arms and walked to her parents' room. The puppy was in a fenced off circle, but she was allowed to crawl over it. The dog was to be trained to help her navigate. Their bigger dog was getting a bit old for the job, but lay down outside the fence for Rikki.
Rex smiled and continued cleaning. He and Rico had attempted to make a soda volcano and it sprayed everywhere, now he was scrubbing the counter down.
It was about three in the afternoon and Stella usually arrived home about half an hour after.
He thought he got the mess when he spotted the wet toaster. "Wow that was a pretty powerful volcano." He chuckled to himself.
The phone rang and he answered. "Hello?"
"Hey, honey." Stella's voice answered.
"Hi, Rico's taking a nap, Rikki's playing with the dog, and I'm cleaning a sticky mess. Are you on your way home?"
"Soon, but I'm picking up some cookies. The cafeteria made cookies and Talia offered to give me whatever's left. They're baking the last of the dough and I wanted to get cookies for the kids."
"That's sweet, though Rico's already had some candy today."
"Oh, I'm sure one cookie for dessert won't hurt."
"Okay, I've got to clean the toaster so I'll see you soon my dear."
"And no more indoor soda volcanoes, please."
"I promise, we'll do soda volcanoes outside."
"Preferably near my plants so they get wet."
"Haha, okay."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
He hung up and resumed cleaning the toaster.
He was finally done when he decided to watch television. There was a monster truck marathon that he was taping for Rico and on another channel were the Lunacorns. Rikki was slowly growing apart from it, but she still loved them. He flipped until he saw a flash of orange. He thought it was the History channel, but it was the news.
He shook his head sadly. He was about to switch channels when the camera zoomed in and he recognized part of a building. He had brought the kids a few times to visit their mother and he knew the place. He turned the volume up to hear.
"-as you can see behind me, the fire is still burning." The reporter was saying. "Back to Chuck Charles in the studio, do you have any new information on the event that occurred here?"
"Yes, Bonnie, I do." Chuck said. "New information has surfaced. Officials are saying the cause was an explosion in the cafeteria, but we're not quite sure how the events played out- Bonnie's coming in with eyewitness reports-"
"Hello, I'm here with Irwin Jackson." Bonnie said. "Mr. Jackson is the principal of this school. Can you tell us what happened? Was anyone hurt?"
"I'm not sure what happened quite yet. This happened when most of the students and staff had left. I am positive that whatever children were still here were in other parts of the school such as the library or grounds." Jackson said.
"Daddy." A small boy had rushed into the view and immediately blushed when he saw the camera.
"May I interview your son?" Bonnie asked.
"If he is willing to answer questions." Jackson said.
"Hello there, my name is Bonnie Chang." Bonnie said kindly. "Do you go to school here?"
"Yeah." The boy answered.
"What's your name, sweetie?"
"Terrence."
"Can you tell us what happened?"
"I was on the soccer field waiting for Dad. I felt the ground rumble and I saw a big bang fire come from the roof in the cafeteria."
"I see- hmm? I'm getting word from Chuck that they've gotten the fire nearly down and there are firefighters entering the building."
"Miss Chang, do you mind if I take my son home?" Mr. Jackson said.
"No problem, thank you both for answering this reporter's questions."
The two nodded and exited. The camera turned to Chuck.
"Other sources are saying the explosion originated from the kitchen of the cafeteria. Bonnie's telling me that they're removing people from the building."
Back to Bonnie. "Thank you, Chuck. A few people have been piled into ambulances. A total of five, I presume. Chuck is currently on his way to the hospital to find out more."
Rex was anxiously watching. He had gripped the edges of his chair so hard it started to tear. His heart pounded and a sweat began in his upper forehead.
Then it happened.
They released the names of the people.
Three of the five were hit by hot debris and were being treated for burns.
Two were pronounced dead at the scene: Talia Harrison and Stella Blue.
THUD
Rex had slid from his chair and shook on the ground. His hands were clutched into fists and hot tears spilled out of his eyes.
"No…no it can't…it can't be…please…no…just…"
He looked up to see two pictures of Talia and the other of his wife. Stella looked so beautiful. It was a staff photo taken right before Rico had puked on her shirt…he remembered…
"STELLA!" He screamed. It was a heart wrenching scream. He took out his phone and pounded 'recent calls'. "Please pick up…please pick up! Stella, pick up! It's not you, I know it's not!"
It went straight to an automated voice saying the number has been disconnected. He didn't want to listen, the phone dropped from his shaking hands and tears blurred his vision. Blood pounded in his ears.
"S-Stella…" he gasped.
He barely registered the tiny figures of his children in the hall. Of course he had woken Rico and probably frightened Rikki.
He looked right at them and broke down again. They both had the exact same shade of dark black hair and the facial features of their mother. He reached out a hand for them as if asking for help.
Rico pulled Rikki to their dad.
Rico glanced at the television and gasped. "Mama." He said. "Mama TV."
"Mom's on the TV?" Rikki said. "Why-?"
"-Reports now indicate that the explosion was caused by a broken propane tank and a hot oven open for a minute as well as a stove flame heating a boiling pot of water. Officials believe that it was an accident that killed these two-"
"KILLED?!" Rikki shrieked.
Rico looked his dad in the eyes. He knew that his dad would never cry like this unless-
"Mom?" He asked.
Rex pulled his two children into a hug.
Then they began crying as they realized she was never coming back.
Rico and Rikki took it as confirmation that their mother was killed. They had been told what it meant when their oldest dog had to be put down because it was in so much pain. They knew he was never coming back and now-
"MAMA!" Rico screamed, his throat hurting under the strain. His throat could never take too much and he had always had a quiet voice. "Mama…mama…" his voice was raspy.
"MOMMY!" Rikki sobbed, pressing her face into her father's shaking chest.
He didn't know how long he held them there. He didn't even know when he turned off the television. All he knew was that his children had become silent. He looked down to find that they'd cried themselves to sleep.
The dog, named Gracie, had walked in at some point and lay near her master's side.
Rex patted her and carried his children to bed. Rico had woken up for a moment to crawl into a better position before falling asleep again. Rikki's face was hard to take. She had the same expression and tear stained face and it broke his heart. He hated seeing his children so sad. He stroked her hair to find it wet. He supposed he must have cried into their hair as Rico's was a little wet too.
He blindly walked into the living room where Gracie was obediently waiting with the phone in her mouth.
"Smart dog…" He mumbled. He dialed the phone and held it to his ear.
"I heard." The voice at the other end said.
"I need you…I need your help…"
"I'm on my way."
"So smart…"
"Rex, listen to me. I will be there and I will help you."
"Okay."
"I'll be right there."
"Thanks Mom."
He hung up to find the dog's head resting in his lap.
"Could you watch Rico and Rikki for me?" He asked.
The dog licked his hand and proceeded to the kids' room.
Ten minutes later, he opened the door to his mother, Mary. She wordlessly guided him to the couch and sat next to him.
They sat in silence for a long time until they heard a small creak. A few seconds later, Rico came out with his hand on the dog. His eyes were red, puffy, and misty with tears and Gracie was guiding him out to the couch. She didn't bark at the newcomer or growl when Rico had accidently stepped on her. She was very patient with the kids.
Once Gracie had passed Rico to her master, she returned to the bedroom where Rikki was.
Rico climbed into his father's lap and grabbed his grandmother's hand. He noticed tears on her face as well. He remembered a time when she had cried before, but it was happy. It was when she got a photo album of him, Rikki, and their parents. But now the tears were bitter and unhappy. He had only seen those bitter tears once, but it was a long time ago. He was one and his grandfather had died. But he didn't know that at the time.
Stella's parents never lived to see their grandchildren. They didn't even live to see Stella's senior year. They had died a few days after she completed eleventh grade. She lived with a friend until she got an apartment.
Rico didn't know what to do and simply held his father for comfort.
"DADDY!" Rikki screamed, followed by a bark from the dog.
The dog only barked if the puppy was being noisy or if the kids were in danger.
Mary entered the room to find Rikki sitting up in bed with the dog's face buried in her chest. She cried into Gracie's fur.
"Daddy?" Rikki said.
"It's Grandma, sweetie." Mary answered.
Rikki held her arms up and was scooped into a hug by her grandmother. Mary took the child into the living room and placed her next to her brother and father. Rikki held her father's arm and cried into her brother's shirt. Rico didn't care at all that his shirt was getting wet.
The phone rang and was answered by Mary. "No, this is Mary Blue…no, I'm her mother in law…my son and grandchildren are present…yes I saw the news…that is the description…thank you for calling…" She looked over at Rex. "Would you like to speak to them?"
Rex nodded. Rico and Rikki sat on the couch while their father took the phone into the other room.
"Grandma?" Rikki said.
"Hmm?"
"Do we have to see her?"
"At the funeral, yes. But you don't have to see her body…well, you're blind in any case."
"I see." Rico said.
"No darling, you're a child-"
"My mom." He said fiercely.
"I know, but-"
"Please." He said.
Mary looked at her grandson. He had a look on his face of determination. Rico looked more mature than three years old.
They stared into each other's eyes. Rico didn't break contact like a three year old would.
"Alright, but I'm going to hold you." Mary said.
"Fine." Rico said with a smile.
"I want to be there too. I know I can't see her, but she sees me." Rikki said. "If she can't see me then she'll be sad."
Mary chuckled lightly at the four year old logic. "Alright, dear."
A week later, the funeral was held for Stella.
The open casket viewing took place a few hours prior to the burial.
Rex held Rikki and Mary held Rico as they approached the casket. Stella looked like she'd fallen asleep after getting sunburned. They did a nice job of dressing her wounds and covering her burns. She looked paler in death and strange because she usually didn't wear a lot of makeup. She had to be covered in it because her face was burned as well.
"Bye mom." Rikki whispered. Rex had turned Rikki's head in the direction of Stella's face.
Rico stared at her. Mary allowed him to touch her.
Rico felt her cold face and touched her arm. He squeezed it for a second as if hoping to find a pulse and then he let go. His expression was hard to read. He looked down at his own hand to find some of the makeup had come off onto it; he smiled and closed his hand.
"Bye." He said hoarsely.
A very kind priest had come up to say a few words, not that Rico and Rikki understood.
Afterwards, the kids were near the fountain outside while Rex and Mary spoke to different people.
Rico wandered back inside the church and found a bowl of water. He was about to dip his hand in when someone grabbed his wrist. It was the priest.
"We don't want to spill the Holy water, do we?" He said. He wasn't angry, he seemed amused.
"Sorry." Rico said.
"That's quite alright, young man. This water is not for playing, but the fountain is alright to touch as long as you don't fall in."
Rico smiled and ran back out to join his sister. He decided to put his hands in the fountain instead.
As the years passed, Rex attempted to work and raise his children with some help from Talia's son who was a close friend of the family. Although they never had that much money, they tried their best to compensate.
Once they had caught wind of Talia's sister dying, the Blue family sadly let him go. He came back as often as he could, but had to find support since the only family he had left were Rex, Rico, Rikki, and Mary.
Rex eventually found another wife, though he never loved her quite the same as he'd loved Stella and she was alright with that. She was frightened of Rico. She hadn't thought he killed his mother, but thought that he would act out aggressions towards the family. And he had once, but it was for good reason. Some of the kids had insulted his mother. The only one who stood up for him were Rikki and a kid named Rodney Jackson who had been the son of the former principal. The main duo who insulted and threw things at Rikki were a set of identical twins: The Vesuvius twins.
Rico had snapped one day and pummeled one of the twins.
His stepmother never looked at him the same way again. She almost left when an incident happened about a month before Rico came to New York.
She had found Rico licking a knife. Without processing anything in her brain, she screamed and called the police.
They weren't amused to find that he'd been spreading ketchup on his hamburger.
She had him undergo an expensive psychology test which showed that he had higher aggression levels than most kids his age. She also noticed some strange things which the doctor dismissed as part of being a teenager with mixed feelings being raised without his birth mother. To this day, only Rex and Rikki knew the importance of some things Rico kept.
Rico always kept the sock that his mother had been wearing that day and a shell in it. The shell was plain and uninteresting, but it meant the world to Rico. It was the memory of the last time she'd taken him to the beach. Rikki and Rex were having a father-daughter day and Stella wanted to take Rico somewhere special.
She took him to a carnival and then to the beach. They'd spent more money than they needed, but Stella had always thought it was worth it to have fun with her baby. Rico had eaten a whole mess of junk food and nutritional food, but never threw up. She told him he would be amazing and that one day everyone would see Rico as he was.
Rico never wanted to let her go.
A/N: Stella Blue was a wonderful woman who always had a smile ready when you felt down. Just in case it wasn't clear, Talia's son traveled between his aunt in New York and his mother in Missouri. He refused to leave New York even after his mother and aunt's deaths. His role in the story will be more prominent later; I just hope you remember who Talia Harrison was.