A/N: So sorry for not getting this updated in the last two days (might have to do a double update today then, eh?), but I have been swamped this week! I had had about four really long reading assignments, two quizzes, an essay, and an extra credit essay to complete by today and I still have another reading assignment, another quiz, and another essay due by Saturday. (Followed by even more stuff due by Monday…) My fingers are actually hurting from typing at this point. But on the bright side, I did get an essay I turned in last week returned today with 100%! Hell to the yes! Anyway, without further adieu, I hope this was worth the wait!

Turning Tables

The Father And The Mother To Be

"I'm preparing for a birthday. Do you have anything for birthdays?"

Ben studied the man on the other side of the counter: oval shaped face, green and black Hawaiian shirt, jeans, and a short beard. Something in the way the man stared at him – and something in his tone – made Ben hesitate. He looked sideways at Bunny, who he realized was glaring at him.

"Well aren't you going to help this gentleman?" She looked over the counter, smiling. "Mr…"

"Bob. Just call me Bob."

"Ben," the teenager returned, offering a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bob." Ben lifted one of the catering booklets and stepped out from behind the counter. "Would you like to go over there and sit down?" he asked, motioning towards the chairs. "Boykewich Butchers has several birthday catering options that might be of interest to you."

"Great!" Bob moved to the chairs and sat down beside Ben. His eyes shifted easily between the booklet and the teenager, which didn't go unnoticed by the latter.

"How big is your party?" Ben asked, trying not to squirm under Bob's gaze.

"I'm not sure yet…but if all goes well, most likely just a small family event."

"Right. Well…" Ben mulled over the menu page. "My dad might not appreciate this, but truthfully, you might not even need catering options with something so small. Maybe we could set you up with a nice barbeque bundle? Ribs, hamburgers, hotdogs, etc…"

"Yeah…" Bob mused. "I'm sorry, you said your father?"

"Uh, yeah, The Sausage King," Ben replied uncertainly. "He's the owner."

"I see his commercials and billboards all over the place," Bob said. "He's done very well for himself, hasn't he?"

"Built his business from the ground up!" Ben proudly responded.

"Sounds like a good man," Bob nodded. "Good, caring man."

"He is." Ben swallowed uncomfortably. "But back to your party-"

"You know what," Bob interrupted, rising from the chair. "I really appreciate your help, Ben. You've made some enlightening comments and I'd like to think them over if you don't mind. Pleasure to meet you, Ben."

"Likewise. I hope you'll be back."

"Oh, don't worry," Bob nodded, flashing a smile across the room at Bunny. "The options here are looking very appealing."

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Adrian maneuvered around the aisles, stopping occasionally to examine a binding or pick up a book from a shelf. She opened the ones she grabbed to random pages, read them, and then set them back and moved on. Her eyes flashed about the signs strewn around the store: Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Cooking, Biographies, Languages, Children's, Young Adult… She'd always done exceptionally well in English and writing, a massive part of which was reading, so the deduction was an easy one: "I could work here."

The Latina laid her hand on her stomach as she stepped out of the Romance section and headed towards the Medical section. It was cozy, it wasn't overcrowded, and it wasn't overly noisy either. Plus, it had a pretty good aroma that washed in from the Borders café near the front doors. "I wonder if you get employee discounts?" Her mind wandered, skipping ahead four years to her freshman year of college. "Could I get discounted textbooks if I worked here?" She spotted the help desk and tried to imagine herself there, studying class notes in between directing people to find the books they were looking for, and then at the end of the day returning home to a toddler who was really just a shapeless silhouette of a creature in her mind, that she couldn't put a face or name or even a sex to.

But the fantasy was brief and she promptly shook her thoughts away as she came upon the Medical section, where she had left Grace earlier. As expected, the blonde was still there, with her nose tucked into a book, oblivious to the tall scraggly haired brunette that was also in the aisle, sneaking peeks at her from the book he was pretending to read. In that moment, Grace reminded Adrian a bit of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, if only Belle was blonde. She bypassed the boy and slipped up beside Grace, leaning in to whisper, "Are you ignoring him or are you really that oblivious?"

Grace jumped, dropping her book in the process, and clasped her hand to her chest. "Geeze, Adrian! You scared me half to death!" Her eyes crinkled around the edges. "Him who?" she suddenly asked, naive bewilderment on her creamy features.

"The guy giving you puppy faces," Adrian whispered.

"What?" Grace gasped, blushing almost immediately. "Where?" She instinctively reached down to straighten her denim mini skirt.

"Right behind us."

"Really?"

"Mhmm."

"Should I go talk to him? Is he…cute?"

Adrian wrinkled her nose. "Well, I'm not impressed, but to each their own."

Grace suddenly turned around and looked the boy up and down, then held out her hand. "I'm Grace!"

The boy stared at her, momentarily caught off guard, then awkwardly accepted the handshake. "Grant."

"Nice to meet you, Grant!"

Adrian watched in amusement as Grace's face turned a scarlet color.

"Well, we've gotta go! Bye!"

Adrian's brows knitted together as Grace walked, so the Latina quickly followed until they were safely out of the bookstore. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know!" Grace yelped. "Why did you let me do that? You should've stopped me!"

"I didn't know you were going to act like an idiot…although, given your history…"

"I'm serious!" Grace gasped, her cheeks still violently glowing with color. "I've never done that before!"

"You always go up to random people and introduce yourself."

"Yeah, but that's different!"

"How?"

"Well…they aren't cute. And…I always have something in mind to talk about. This time…I just went in cold and my mind just blanked! It was like when you're talking and then you just up and forget what you were talking about! How embarrassing!" Grace pressed her hand to her steaming face, shaking it helplessly. "Good Lord, I am so embarrassed!"

"We didn't even ask about the job applications," Adrian complained.

Grace frowned. "Please don't make me go back in there. You could go by yourself."

Adrian's stomach growled and she sighed. "No, never mind. I'm hungry anyway and I still have to drop you off so I can go meet up with Ricky, so we'll just come back some other time. I didn't see any help wanted signs while we were in there anyway."

"Doesn't mean they won't hire you."

"Always the optimist," Adrian rolled her eyes.

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"Perhapss we could sstudy together, ssometime?"

Ricky flashed his teeth. The girl walking beside him was pretty, with long ebony hair and flawlessly dark Eastern Indian skin which practically gave off an amber glow. "Maybe on a Saturday or Sunday?" he asked.

"I'm free next Ssaturday."

Ricky puckered his lips, trying not to grin. He liked the sound of her accent, especially when her words lingered on the S sound, so he was slyly trying to get her to say a few more S words. He alternated his band uniform from draping over one arm to the other and seamlessly took a step closer to the girl. He'd met her coming out of the counselor's office on his way back from band practice. "So, what made you want to transfer here in the middle of the year?" he asked casually.

"My father'ss company possition, we never sstay any place too long." She suddenly held her hand and waved, then graciously turned to Ricky. "It wass nice meeting you, Ricky."

"You too, Aamani. And uh, don't be a stranger, you know where to find me," he winked, relishing her slightly embarrassed giggle. Ricky watched her get into the passenger seat of her ride and then waved when he saw her hand motioning to him as the car pulled back onto the street. With a little skip in his step, he quickened his pace to the parking lot, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw his car and the back of the person inspecting it. The drummer's hand began to shake as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone, then hollered, "Hey!"

Bob spun around rather gleefully. "Long time, no see!"

Ricky's phone made a snapping noise as it captured Bob's face on the screen. The drummer clamped his hands around the base of the phone. "You're not supposed to be within three-hundred feet of me!"

"It's a nice car ya got there," Bob said, returning his attention to his car as if Ricky hadn't said anything at all. "Still, could be nicer." He moved around the car slowly. "Say, if it were red?"

Ricky suddenly dropped his uniform on the ground and curled his fist, raising it tall and fierce for Bob to see. "You stay away from her!"

Bob shrugged innocently. "Her who?"

"Adrian!"

"Adrian?" Bob circled Ricky's car again and then casually stopped at the rear end and leaned up against it, resting his elbow on the trunk. "Don't know her…but I'd like to. She a friend of yours?"

"You low life fucking bastard! I have your photograph and I can prove you broke the restraining order-"

"Now, now," Bob yawned, moving his hands up and down in a patronizing fashion. "There's no need for profanity. I just wanted to let you know that I was back in town. Can't a father just want to see his son?"

"I only have one father and his name is Sanjay Shakur!"

Bob merely smiled. "It's been good to see you too, Ricky." He pushed up from Ricky's car and moved a few parking spaces down to a lime green vehicle with black striping and silver painted side mirrors. He climbed into his car and revved the engine as though he was preparing for a race, then swung the car around and stopped it behind Ricky's car and rolled down his window. "Oh, just one other thing, an observation: you look like your havin' a bad day, son." He revved the engine again. "It's hard to be a man in the world, isn't it?" He winked, then drove off in a storm of dust, gravel, and exhaust fumes.

Ricky felt the veins in his neck swell and even thought they might well burst at one point. So much anger, so much rage was bolting through his veins. He found himself staring at Bob's smug smile on his cell phone and then, without thinking, pounded his fist into the trunk of his car, where Bob had been leaning. The metal dented in as though it had been smacked with a knee sized rock.

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"So how was your first day, son?"

"Bunny didn't already tell you?"

"We talked," Leo nodded. "But I wanted to hear it from you." The limo began to move. "I made reservations at Geoff's so we could discuss things. How does that sound?"

Ben nodded, though his mind was elsewhere. "Dad?" he asked suddenly. "You didn't happen to get in contact with anyone named 'Bob' today, did you?"

Leo scratched his forehead. "No, why? Should I have?"

The teenager shook his head. "Just…no."

"Something on your mind?"

"It's just…I don't know. I guess I just had a strange first day. Maybe it's just going to take some getting used to?" He stared out the window for a beat. "Did you ever get oddball customers when you first started working?"

"First started?" Leo laughed. "We work with the public, Ben! We're always going to have oddball customers. In fact, that's likely to be your customer base. They can be a riot sometimes, others not so much, but you just have to take the good with the bad and move on. Why? Was there someone who really jumped out at you today?"

"I – I guess not, no." He tugged at the seatbelt to stop it from rubbing at the tender skin of his neck. "Just first day jitters, I guess. Nothing, really. Forget I even said anything."

Leo leaned over to pat his son on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it in time. It just takes practice and continued people skills."

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It started out as an annoying vibration shortly after she left Grace's house, on her way to the mall. Soon it became a thumping noise that eventually began to distract her from the radio. It was rhythmic and persistent, every few moments, then it became a frustrating thump – thump. Disgruntled – and beginning to become worried – Adrian finally pulled off onto the side of the road. A few cars whizzed by, but there weren't many on that particular stretch of highway, so she waited for them to pass before getting out and inspecting her car. When she got around to the back, she noticed that her right rear tire was flat, accounting for the thuds. Upon closer inspection, she realized it had a nail embedded into it.

"What the fuck?" she hissed in frustration. "These are brand new all season tires!" Frustrated, she kicked the tire with the toe of her shoe and reached for the cell phone in her pocket, which was hidden by the silver and lavender baby doll top she was wearing. Just as she grabbed the edge of the baby doll top hem to lift it up for access to her pocket, another car – an unassuming little beige thing – pulled off behind her. She didn't recognize the man inside, but saw him wave to her and she stiffened a little and wiggled her fingers back uncertainly.

The man's window came down. "What's the problem?"

Adrian hovered her hand over her pocket. "Just a flat, I'm fine, thanks! I've got a spare."

"You need any help changing anything?" The man pushed the door open and climbed out. He looked harmless enough, with sandy blonde hair in a typical pair of blue jeans and a crew neck t-shirt. If he'd had a summer tan, he could've passed for a stereotypical surfing beach boy.

Adrian quickly shook her head. "Nope! Again, thanks, but no thanks. Not all women are incapable in a crisis."

The man ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry," he laughed. "Didn't mean to come off like a sexist jerk."

The Latina relaxed a bit and allowed herself a chuckle. "You can never be too careful these days."

"No you can't," he agreed. "Speaking of…you want me to wait to make sure you've got everything under control before I leave?"

"I think I can handle it." Adrian nodded and watched the man go back to his car, but he didn't actually leave. Frustrated, she popped her trunk and moved around the back, where she began to struggle to pull out the spare tire.

A moment later he called out again, "You sure you don't need help with that?"

"Will it get you to leave?" Adrian bit back.

"It might!"

Adrian rolled her eyes tthe flirty sound of his voice. "Fine!" she hollered back. "Come play Hercules and then let me be on my way." She stepped back to the side of her convertible as the man up and added, "My boyfriend's expecting me."

"Lucky guy," the man commented as he reached into her trunk and pulled out the spare. He stepped around to the car and laid the tire on the ground, then returned to the trunk and retrieved the car jack.

"Thanks, I really appreciate-" It was only at that moment that she realized the man was suddenly wearing thin see-through plastic gloves, like the disposable ones a cook would use to chop up onions or the like. She sucked in her breath while simultaneously feeling the rate of her heartbeat increase tenfold and turned to run, but she felt him grab her by her flying hair. Just as easily, her hair slipped between his gloves a moment after it was caught, but the panic in being grabbed for even that second distracted her enough to make her misstep and fall.

Adrian immediately moved to roll over, planning to kick and punch and bite and spit, whatever she had to do to get free, but before she could, she suddenly felt a weight on her back, pinning her to the ground. Her mind screamed as she felt her stomach being shoved against the dirt, tears springing to her eyes as she felt the rocks and gravel beginning to embed themselves into her flesh. Then she felt her head violently yanked back, once again by her hair. As she opened her mouth to scream, a soft, wet cloth enveloped her nose and mouth and when she inhaled, all she could smell was a faint, sweet chemical smell, then her eyelids began to grow heavy and everything inside of her calmed to a relaxing lull until she couldn't remember where she was, what she was doing, or even who she was anymore.

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Ben barely crawled into bed – and it was early, he never went to bed before nine, let alone at seven – and his head just hit the pillow when his phone began to vibrate on his desk. Rolling over with an extended groan, he flipped it open without bothering to look at the caller I.D. "Hello?"

"Ben, it's Ricky."

Something in the other boy's voice made Ben's eyes shoot open. "How did you get my number?"

"You dad gave it to me last month, when we had that meeting between all three of our families to talk about…everything."

"So…why are you calling me?" He sat up and nervously pushed his covers off, suddenly feeling hot and uneasy. "Did something happen with the baby?"

"No – I – no." There was silence, then Ricky said quietly, "I was supposed to meet her. Tonight. At the mall. Have you seen her?"

"Not since school."

"We were supposed to meet at six, but it's already seven. She said she was hanging out with Grace after school and I tried to call Grace, but Grace hasn't answered her phone. And Adrian's keeps going straight to voicemail."

"Have you tried her house?"

"Answering machine."

"Well maybe-"

"I'm worried."

Ben drew his knees up under his chin, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. He'd never heard Ricky sound like that before, he didn't even know it was possible for Ricky to sound like that: tiny, terrified, and maybe even ready to cry. "W-why?" he finally dared to ask.

"I saw my father today," Ricky replied, barely audible. "My biological father. He didn't say it, not outright, but I think he knows about Adrian…and there's something she doesn't know about him. Something that she should know. Something that you should know too."

"Wh-at?" Ben asked, choking on the word like it was a long Top Raman noodle caught halfway down the back of his throat. But his question coincided with the opening of his bedroom door and the look on his face literally raised bumps on his skin. "Dad!"

Leo looked white, like the face of a porcelain doll. In one hand he held a torn envelope and in the other he held a letter. "Ben-"

Without even thinking about what he was doing, Ben snatched up the letter from his father's hands and scanned it over, his eyes growing out of their sockets as Ricky's voice on the line mingled with his own thoughts. It was overwhelming; he was overheating like a low quality laptop.

"…child molester."

"It's a ransom note!"