Gone Girl
Chapter 59 Unexpected Karma or Karma's a BitchA/N The rest of this story is going to go fast… (lol it was supposed to be fast but ended up over 300 pages and 14 more chapters Ooops!) It seems to me after writing it out, Steph and Ranger wanted to share every part of this last week with you. It does skip around to hit the highlights, and the parts that need to be covered before the end.
I want you to know that I started a whole family album for the Manoso's, naming everyone and giving them ages and occupations, as well as kids, but it started turning into this whole big thing that took away from the story. If you've read my other story you know I can do it. But it becomes this huge thing and drew too much attention away from Steph and Ranger. It also didn't add much to the story especially when I'm just trying to wrap things up and bring R & S together in a final way that completely resolves the story. It seemed right to take this all the way to the wedding so that is what I have done. It brings the right amount of commitment, emotion and closure to the story. So, I hope you enjoy it.
Also as I mentioned when I first started posting this story there are two more chapters left to write. But my life has been consumed with school work, which thankfully gets over this Sunday. I also started another 5-week writing class that got over this week. But to get my accreditation for the class I have about 40 to 50 hours of research and design to create a bunch of web pages and then take the exam for that class and it all has to be done in the next 3 weeks. So, I can't finish this story till I get those done. I'm sorry, because I would much rather be working on this story.
The point to all this is to let you know there are only two more days of daily updates. Today and tomorrow, and then I'm going to weekly posting on Fridays. Starting next Friday. I promise to get this story done as quickly as possible. I have eight chapters written, so that gives me eight weeks to finish up everything else and get the last two chapters written. Susan has been my most faithful Beta, finishing out this story with me; and I am so grateful. She has a super-fast turnaround time once they are written, so that won't delay anything. The problem is that I've been writing super long chapters – which I love, but they also take super long to write. So, stick with me and I will get it all done.
Super glad nobody loves Joyce cause she gets hers…. delivered by the bitch herself.
Chapter Fifty-nine
Monday April 21, 2014 - Day 160
Stephanie POV
Monday morning, we were getting ready to be driven to the airport. Everyone was packed and Manny was going to drive us out to Trenton Mercer where the corporate jet sat.
I sat there in the backseat holding Ranger's hand, as we had let Julie sit in the front seat. I think Ranger was trying to sit next to me to comfort me and make sure I was okay. Surprisingly I felt better than I thought I would. Well maybe better wasn't the right term. I guess I was still in shock. He was concerned because the confrontation this morning had gone terribly wrong, or terribly right. Maybe terribly real or terribly karmic was more accurate.
I had gone into that interrogation room alone and armed like I always was these days – two guns and a knife. Plus, I had scissors and a handheld mirror. Ranger at my request had reluctantly gone with Hector and Bobby into the observation room.
….
"Do you want it recorded?" He had asked me that morning while we laid in bed.
"Carlos I'm going to shoot her. I don't think we want that recorded. When is Hector going to take care of her?"
"Whenever you want. You are in charge of what happens to her."
"Good. I'm going to shoot her twice. I want her to sit there and suffer in pain for a few days, maybe the whole two weeks we are gone."
"I'll call Bobby. He can patch her up – (he saw my shocked face) so she doesn't bleed out. He won't give her any pain meds."
"Promise?" I asked.
"Promise," he assured me.
"After I shoot her, I want her unlocked. I want her hobbling around on her shot foot, holding her shot hand, and crying for her dead mommy. Probably by the time Hector gets around to doing her, it will be a relief for her to be put out of her pain and misery."
"Well I'll have Hector bring in a chain that she can be attached to. We need to keep her far enough away from the door that she can't attack or ambush who ever enters. Unless you want us to stop feeding her and letting her use the bathroom."
I thought about that for a moment. Joyce, shot and bleeding, starving with no food, having to pee and crap in the corner with no toilet paper to wipe with before she pulled up her black leather pants. I smiled; it made a sad, sad picture. But I couldn't do that to her. I want her to be in pain and suffer right up until the end, but I want her to have hope that somehow, some way, she is going to get away. All the while plotting her revenge. Until that last day when Hector enters smiling, with torture and death in his eyes.
"No, I'm not inhumane. I can't do that to her. Besides using the bathroom, will force her to hobble around on her shot foot and use her shot hand to pull up her pants. It will make the whole thing more painful," I added smiling "But I think I will do a few things."
An hour later, while Ella was making us breakfast Ranger, Hector, Bobby and I trooped down the hall towards the interrogation room.
When we'd gotten back from Russia, Ranger had given me a new small Glock 26 to carry; stating it was better for my smaller hands. It was still a 9mm pistol and it held an impressive 10 rounds. Which he liked, because he said if I got into a fire fight; you can never have too many rounds. I had strapped my .22 to my ankle and was wearing my Glock on my hip; as I proudly prepared to enter the interrogation room to harass and put a hurtin' on Joyce. I had borrowed scissors and a hand-held mirror from Ella, promising to return them at breakfast time.
Ranger used the key to unlock the door, leaned in to give me a quick peck on my lips as Joyce cried, "Ranger, the man. The biggest, badass, best man. Come in here and-" The door slammed shut on her commentary. Then the cold air hit me and goose bumps popped up on my arms and my breasts pebbled in my bra. I wanted to rub my arms to keep them warm. She must be miserable being so cold and not even able to rub herself to warm up. I gave her a sickly smile.
"What the hell do you want?" She bitched at me.
"I came to give you a mirror, so you can see how bad you look." I offered her the hand held mirror.
She took it from me. "You need me to look bad so you don't have any competition. If I had my make-up and hair done you couldn't compete, with your frumpy t-shirt and blue jeans, your unmanageable hair, frizzed out all over the place; looking like you never learned how to put make-up on."
I didn't say anything, I just walked behind her, grabbed her hair piece, and yanked it forcefully out of her hair.
"Owww! What the hell!"
I grabbed a large handful of the hair on top of her head and 'Wack! Wack' chopped it off.
"Wait! What the hell are you doing?" She screeched.
I dropped the hair on the table, grabbed another hunk from the back and 'Wack Wack', chopped it too.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! DON'T CUT OFF MY HAIR!"
'Wack Wack' another chunk off the right side. I was dropping the hair on her locked-up hands and covering the mirror she was watching me in. She was grasping at the hunks as if she could salvage them somehow and stick them back on her head.
"You Bitch! You have to make me look bad-"
'Wack Wack' I was chopping off in random spots at 1/2-inch to 1-inch lengths trying to make her look as ridiculous as possible.
"Stop! Stop! I'll pay you! I'm a millionaire!"
She started whipping her head sideways from shoulder to shoulder so I couldn't keep going. I got right behind her, reached out to the right side and grabbed a clump of hair. I pulled the hair so hard her head was pulled back with the force of it.
"Oww, Oww, Oww."
'Wack Wack'
"I understand now, Stephanie you need to make me look as ugly as possible so you can compete," She whined.
'Wack Wack'
"You pathetic bitch! You know your man would choose me, so you're trying to make me uglier than you are," Joyce cried.
"You wish! Ranger wouldn't touch your diseased ass with a ten-foot pole!"
'Wack Wack'
She started rolling her head around on her neck. I just grabbed another hunk and pulled it tight.
"OOOooowwwww!"
'Wack Wack'
"You can't do this to me! I'm going to sue your poor ass into the ground!"
'Wack Wack Wack' I dropped the huge handful right in front of her eyes.
"I'll own your ass, and every dime you're going to make for the next 20 years!"
'Wack Wack' She was mostly bald by now with little tuffs sticking out between the big chunks and hunks I had cut off. Her hands were covered with enough hair to make a beautiful red wig. I paused for a moment to survey my handiwork. I hadn't really got her bangs, so I grabbed her chin and pulled her head back and 'Wack' 'Wack' 'Wack' her bangs were gone!
"I'm done!" I sang out and she started sputtering.
"You bitch you're not going to get away with this! You can't keep me here forever and when you let me go, I'm going to ruin you!" She bitched dropping the mirror so she didn't have to keep looking at what I had done. I set the scissors down on the far corner of the table.
I ignored her rant and started talking calmly to her. "I watched the video of your interview the other day and I came to tell you, he's mine! He will never be yours. You should have stuck to the diseased rat scum you are used to fucking."
I had an idea and pulled out my knife. Hector had a lot of fun with his knives and I thought, why not? A few deep cuts won't hurt her.
I placed my knife against her left forearm.
"You have always been a bitch to me." I said and slid my knife against her arm till blood flowed out of a two-inch gash.
"AAAAAAAAgggggghhhh!" She screamed.
"That is for the time you moved into my apartment and wouldn't leave."
I put the knife against her right forearm. "This is for blackmailing me to get that stupid key so you could make money." I cut her again as she screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Shit she just kept screaming and screaming; as blood flowed freely from both arms. I realized how strong a constitution Hector had, to be able to torture people with knives. Two cuts and I couldn't take anymore. She was blubbering and crying, begging me to not hurt her anymore. She looked so sad and pathetic with all her hair laying on the table, with little scruffy puffs sticking out from her mostly bald head. Tears pricked my eyes, and I turned around and faced the observation room. I put my hands on my hips, took a deep breath, and tried to build myself back up with my inner monologue.
She wanted to kill me. She wants Ranger and she's going to remove any obstacles to getting him. Specifically, me. She's not going to stop until someone stops her. Right now, Hector had volunteered. They are all in there watching me be a wimp. I'm not even going to kill her, I talked to myself, just cause her some pain for her blowing up my car. That ignited the spark inside me. My car, my beautiful brand-new car! I had barely had it a few weeks. I loved that car and I should be able to hurt the person that blew it up. Maybe I can shoot her once. If it was only going to be once, I had to shoot her in the foot. That would be the most painful and hurt her every time she had to stand and walk.
Okay, I can do this. She was crying and whimpering behind me. Then she started thrashing around in her restraints blood splattering off both arms as she shook and thrashed about. I took a step back but she just kept thrashing and thrashing, screaming at the top of her lungs. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
I stepped all the way back against the wall. This was just stupid, wanna-be Joyce. Who always tries to be something she's not. She wants to be liked, admired, desired, successful, rich, and have all the men fawn over her. But except for the skip, that got blown up from the bomb that had been strapped to my chest, she had NEVER been able to bring in a high bond skip. She'd sleep with Vinnie, he'd give her some files, she gets all dressed up and then nothing but failure.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
She was screaming at the top of her lungs until she ran out of breath. Taking in a big breath and then starting to scream again. I couldn't take it anymore and opened the door and walked out into the hall. Relieved at the silence that engulfed me, as soon as the door clicked close.
Tears pricked my eyes and I became angry with myself. This bitch tried to kill me! This bitch got a guy to put a bomb on my car that only by luck didn't kill me and it destroyed my $200,000 car. Poof! Gone. This bitch is after Ranger, and that made me doubt him and her. He has been honest enough to tell me he loves me, all of me and has for several years. That I ruined him for all other women. Since he slept with me; he has never felt right sleeping with other women, even when I was with Joe. But obviously he did or at least tried. He has been honest enough to tell me in his life he used to sleep with beautiful women. I was sure they had big boobs and a small butt. Women like Joyce. Who men think looks like a porn star. I huffed. This was getting me nowhere. Either I go in there and shoot her or we just get ready to leave. I knew if I didn't shoot her; I would be mad at myself forever. I turned to go back in there and Carlos came out and took me in his arms.
"Babe, you don't have to do this." He whispered into my ear.
"Carlos if I don't go in there and shoot her, I will regret it forever. I have to do this for me. She blew up my car, the least I can do is shoot her at least once." I took a deep breath. "Let me back in there." I asked him, and without another word he opened the door, and I walked in.
She was sitting there quietly, sullen, staring at the floor doing her best to look pathetic.
"You blew up my car the least I owe you is a bullet!" I said unholstering my gun.
"I didn't know anything about the bomb!" She defended, "that was all Stanley because he didn't want to go back to jail."
I pointed my gun at her, "Shut up! Shut up! Everything you say is one big lie. Your whole life is a big fat lie. Trying to prove your husband cheated, while sleeping around all over town yourself. You have no morals. You'll sleep with anything and do anyone that would have you." I spat.
I aimed at her feet that were so cold they were blue and she tried to curl them in on themselves. I fired once at the floor just to make her jump.
"You are a fucking cunt ass bitch who screws over every person in your life and uses sex to seduce, manipulate and control all the men around you. You're sad and pathetic because you've never been loved. Hell, you don't even know what love is."
She jumped in. "Love is for stupid people! Love never lasts. You're just jealous because I'm hotter and more beautiful than you. I can get any man, to do anything I want. One blowjob from my magic hot lips and I will be out of here. You know you keep sending men down here four times a day and soon I will get one of them. I almost had the big blond one yesterday. That's all it will take! One blow job from my hot magic golden tongue and I will be out of here and then I am going to get my lawyer and sue you into oblivion! I will own you and I will seduce Ranger and he will be mine! We all know he has killed for you; well I will get him to take care of several people for me. To take out my trash! One taste of my hot pussy and he will be worshiping at my feet. He will do anything I want him to. I'm so hot he won't be able to get enough of me!"
I pointed my gun at her head. "Shut up! Shut up! He would never fall for a skank ass whore like you. You are trash and he would never scoop that low to fuck you."
"Prove you're better than me. Call him in here and give him the best blow job you are capable of. Then I will take his flaccid cock and suck him so hard with my magic golden tongue. He will get hard again and then I will blow him so good it will blow his mind, and from that moment he will throw you away and he will be mine! He is destined to be mine it is practically written in the stars. So call him in here – I dare you!"
"I have nothing to prove to you and I'm sure as hell not going to blow him in front of you."
"I don't need you to blow him at all, just call him in here and let me work him with my magic golden tongue! He will be mine! I dare you! I know you won't because you know it's true. I have a magic tongue that no man can say no to! I dare you-"
In that instant I was going to prove something to her, that I was more his woman than her because I was going to remove that magic golden tongue and we would see how good her blowjobs were with a bleeding stump. In less than a second, I holstered my gun. Grabbed up the scissors, I had set on the far corner of the table, and ran around the table and attacked. I tried to grab her tongue only to realize I couldn't hold onto it. I grabbed her lower jaw and holding it open started trying to cut that nasty tongue out of her head. She leaned back as far as she could and tried to pull her jaw out of my hand but I would not be deterred. I wedged myself between her and the table, pushing her locked arms over, forcing my leg between her knees and jerked her head down. I began snapping with the scissors and blood started spurting out of the side of her tongue. She started screaming again.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Then she was gurgling as her mouth filled with blood. I knew I had only gotten a good nick or two in. I had to really get a good cut or two in till I would be satisfied. I could admit to myself that I would never be able to cut her tongue out with these scissors. But if I can cut her tongue deeply enough it would hurt her constantly and burn and bleed every time she ate. And she sure as hell wouldn't be giving any blow job to anyone, because even if she could get through the pain; no man is going to stick his dick in a bleeding mouth. A bloody blow job is not sexy. I went in for another cut and she dropped her head all the way back. I decided I would turn her head all the way to the side and pin it there until I got done. I wedged myself back out from in between her and the table to stand at her side and in the same moment Carlos came rushing in the room and "BANG!" my gun fired.
I looked down in shock, to see my gun in her left-hand tilt downward and fall to the floor. My brain registered her shock, at being shot in the chest. I realized in that instant that she had grabbed my gun with her left hand, and turned her hand to aim at where I had been standing. I moved as she fired, and she shot herself in the right chest and lung. Blood poured out of her mouth as she looked down to see blood start pouring out of her chest. She struggled to breathe in but air was blowing bloody bubbles, whistling out of her chest as her right lung collapsed.
Ranger pulled me away from her, took the bloody scissors from my hand and set them on the edge of the table. Then he took me into his arms holding me securely. "I saw her grab your gun and I couldn't get in here fast enough. Babe if you hadn't moved in that fraction of a second; she would have shot you in the back, and we would be rushing you to the hospital." He clung to me as he talked, silently assuring himself that I was in one piece.
I pulled away to look at her again and blood was covering her chest as it poured out of the hole. She finally lifted her head and looked at me and I could see it in her eyes. She knew she was going to die. That right now the life force was flowing out of her and she was dying.
Ranger let go of me to walk around her and retrieve my gun. He took my hand and began pulling me out of the room. I stopped in my tracks and pointed back at her. He turned me away from her again and spoke sternly to me.
"I'm not taking her to the hospital! That is the second time she tried to kill you. I'm not going to save her so she can try again. But Babe I've seen such chest wounds. She is in a bad place. Her lung will collapse and fill with blood. It may start filling her left lung. But she is not bleeding enough to bleed to death. She will struggle to breathe but with one good lung she should keep getting enough oxygen to stay alive. If we laid her down and she stayed on her back, she would eventually drown in her blood and fluids. But sitting there like that she could last for hours, maybe even days, and I don't think you want to leave her like that. The kindest thing we can do is call in Hector, and let him put her out of her misery."
I looked back at her. "Like a wounded animal?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"Like a wounded animal," He repeated firmly.
"Come on, Babe there is nothing to be done," he said as he pulled me from the room. I looked back and saw her big pleading eyes looking at me; as her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to talk and just couldn't.
Hector was out in the hallway waiting for us.
"Take care of it," Ranger said.
"Si" Was all I heard as he disappeared inside.
Ranger had dragged me down the hall to the bathroom. I had blood all over my hands, up and down my arms and splatter all over my right half from the lung wound. I washed up as best I could and Ranger took me upstairs where Julie was waiting to have breakfast. I had to take a hot shower again, scrubbing myself repeatedly, because no matter how hard I scrubbed I still felt like I was covered in blood. Finally, Ranger got me out and got me dried off and dressed. Carlos was being Ranger, the detached mercenary that dealt with death and destruction and just kept everything moving.
I didn't know what to say, but I didn't have any appetite to eat. I apologized to Ella for leaving her mirror and scissors downstairs. Ranger told her he would have Hector return them to her later.
….
Now we were sitting in the back of the SUV, on the way to the airport. I gave Ranger a wane smile and told him I was okay. I was okay. I was not the one shot. I was stunned that she tried to kill me and shot herself. That was Karma coming around to serve up justice in a very real way. We weren't discussing it but I obviously really fucked up to have my gun where she could get it and shoot me with it. I knew that lecture/discussion would come when I was doing better. I took a deep breath. There was nothing for me to do but put her out of my mind and focus on the vacation ahead. I had to let it go and I forced a real smile to my face.
I had to let it go before Julie realized there was something really wrong with me. Because there wasn't, I was going to shoot her and she ended up being shot. She was no longer a concern in my life. She definitely wasn't going to take Carlos now. So, I wasn't going to spend any more time worrying about her. She got what she deserved. She dished out her own justice. I took a deep breath and let it go. Putting it out of my mind and giving Carlos a real smile.
"I'm okay. What happened was what was supposed to happen and now we move on in our lives," I assured him.
"Good," he said and he gave me a little kiss.
On the plane Julie wanted me to sit by her so I did. I was still in a daze, but I turned my mind back to our busy weekend. Ella had come up and helped us pack on Saturday, telling us anything else we needed could be bought in Florida. And that we were better off buying in Florida because we would find a better selection of tropical clothes down there. Ella packed Ranger's duffle for him saying she knew he didn't need much because he had a whole closet of clothes in the Florida house.
I noticed that the main thing he packed was three guns. Even after telling me that we were on vacation, and only needed to carry one gun each, and only when we were out of the house. When we were in his gated house; we were safe and didn't need to carry.
But I was aware that this morning he still strapped on two guns and a knife and so I packed two guns but after Joyce only strapped one on. We were supposed to be on vacation anyway.
I focused my mind on remembering yesterday - all day Sunday had been a Manoso event. After breakfast Carlos had taken us to meet his parents. Or so he said. When we got there, kids were running all over the place and adults were strewn all throughout the house. Carlos insisted this was just his immediate family. Julie and I listened to him telling us about a much younger brother, four sisters, four brothers' in law and whatever girl his brother brought. It seemed that each girl was just his flavor of the week – that he brought a different woman most every time he came. When we arrived, we met Carlos's parents and his Grandma Rosa.
His mother had been thrilled that we both spoke Spanish, because as a general rule they all spoke Spanish in the household. They took us on a tour through the house meeting everyone. We were introduced to nine adults and twelve children of whose names I couldn't remember five minutes later, but I was content to settle in the kitchen where a feast was being prepared.
Grandma Rosa hugged Julie deeply and told her she hadn't seen her since she was a baby. She welcomed her back into the family and told her to go play with her cousins. When she said she didn't know any of her cousins, Grandma Rosa said to go play referee and jokingly told her to keep them from killing each other. When they were gone, we had a deep heartfelt conversation. I remember the conversation was in Spanish but when I think about it, I think in English. Anyway, I remember her addressing me.
"You are Carlos's heart. You have come back to him and brought him back to us."
"Really I didn't. He just said we needed to come meet the family," I insisted.
"Do not doubt that if you had not come back, we would not have him home and in such a good place. His heart and his mind are settled. This you do for him. Bring him peace; make his heart whole again." She suggested that somehow, I was making him whole, when I had never seen him as damaged.
I shook my head at her, and she waved her hand toward the front of the house. "Come, come, come with me." She led me out of the kitchen into a family room where there were kids of all ages playing. She wandered through them and removed a large photo album from the bookshelf. She showed me pictures of the family in the past few years, and said, "Do you see Carlos?"
And I couldn't find him anywhere. So, she showed me the several times he had been back home during his Army career. And she said," Look, look at him."
I did and he didn't look happy. He looked blank faced at the cameras even as he stood amongst family. Once Tank had come with him and even Tank had a happier expression on his face than Carlos did.
"He loves his family but when he divorced Rachel and went back to the Army, we lost him. Lost a part of him. His visits became fewer and fewer and he became more and more withdrawn. The darkness that he sees as a soldier began to seep within his soul, and his heart became dark. Then you entered his life. We kept hearing from Lester about this curly haired, blue-eyed girl who makes Carlos smile. We heard about you blowing up his car and that he laughed. We heard about you hiding out in his apartment and that he locked you in and you stunned one of the men to escape. We heard all the crazy stories and when Carlos would come there was hope. He would smile a little bit and he would laugh on occasion. But still he has avoided his family and today we are here at his request to meet you and welcome you into this family. Today, he has finally come home. His heart and his soul – you heal these and make him want to come home and be around his family again." She looked at me with glistening eyes and put her hand on my arm. "You heal him and bring him home and for this I am grateful and say to you, welcome my long-lost granddaughter into our family. You are one of us now and there will always be a place for you here in this home and in our hearts." The tears she had been holding back spilled gleefully down her wrinkled cheeks and she put down the photo album, hugging me like she never wanted to let me go. After several minutes of her clinging to me again; she told me thank you and dragged me back into the kitchen.
The kitchen was the heart of this home as everyone wandered in to pick at the snacks that had been put out and sit around and talk to Mamma – that she insisted I call her - who was cooking a feast. Carlos had told them in advance that we were engaged but I had to tell them – Mamma, Abuela Rosa and all his sisters – the whole story of the engagement.
Well, I left out him asking me in bed and just told them that in the car I said I thought he didn't do anything stupid like marriage and children and he said he was being an idiot and he was going to put a ring on my finger. That the next day he took me to a jeweler's and bought me this ring. Which got the appropriate oooo's and aaaw's.
I told them about the Empire State building proposal and as he knew they were not impressed. I added that it was just the warm up because then he took me and bought me a dress, shoes and jewelry and took me to the Rainbow room – which I learned was where two of his sisters were proposed to also – and went on about the dancing and singing and that he got down in the middle of the room in front of everyone and asked me again in Spanish; telling them the proposal word for word and everyone went crazy. All talking at once and Mamma came over and kissed me on the cheek and told me I was officially one of her daughters now. Then she made me promise I would not get married unless the family – mainly her and Abuela were there to see it happen.
The talk went on and on and it seemed the men stayed in the den watching television while the women all gathered in the kitchen to talk. Then at 2 pm the house exploded.
Mamma's three sisters and three brothers – all of Rosa's children - came with their spouses and children and grandchildren. Papa's one brother and Ella – Papa's sister came with their spouses and children and more grandchildren. At that point I lost track of everyone and just followed along with the constant traffic that was moving through the kitchen.
At 3 o'clock "dinner" for some ninety plus people was served on folding tables, all out on the back patio, filled to capacity, with food and people. Carlos had been wandering around, wanting to be near me but not able to drag me out of the kitchen, and every time he came in the kitchen the women folk began badgering him about setting a wedding date. Mamma had even gotten out her calendar and demanded he pick a day before Christmas. Even offering to host a wedding on Thanksgiving Day when the whole family would be there.
Carlos declined, saying that was a regular time for the whole family to gather and that the day he got married, would be his, and would be very special. He and I would decide when that time would be. Still, they didn't bother me and would repeatedly badger him. The one thing she demanded from him is that she be there the next time he got married because he married Rachel without even telling them until it was all over and they were unhappy because they would have come for the special event.
Lester showed up about four knowing what a mad house it would be. He, it turned out, was one of Mamma's sister's sons. Her sister married a green eyed blond European man and produced four stunning children. Actually, Grandma Rosa had been stunning in her day and she had married a handsome Cuban man. They produced four beautiful children and the line just continued. It was why Carlos was such a handsome man but didn't think anything of it. Because everyone in their family was above average good looking.
At six pm Carlos told everyone that we had to go. We were leaving for Florida the next day and we needed to head back so we could get some rest. Everyone had to hug and kiss us goodbye. In my family, I couldn't wait to get away, but with Ranger's family I actually felt bad about leaving because everyone had been so wonderful. Abuela Rosa walked me out to the car and gave me a small book.
"This is mine and it is most recent. All my family is in this." She opened it up and it was a small 5x7 photo album. Have Carlos teach you all the names. It will take a while for you to know everyone but start one picture at a time and next time you will do better."
She hugged me tightly, and said, "Don't get married without us."
With that, she toddled back into the house and we drove away.
RSRSRSRSRS
We were sitting quietly on a plane that could easily seat fifty people. There were two seats on each side of the aisle and the rows were twelve or fifteen seats long. I just took in the tasteful grey and blue décor and Carlos showed us the small kitchen where we each got a drink. We weren't hungry yet as we had just eaten breakfast before we left.
Julie had been sitting next to me, leaned back in her chair, playing on her phone, when she brought me back to the present. "So, when do you want to marry Dad?"
I thought about it for a minute. The dress shopping, the flowers, the cake, the invitations, the whole expensive mess was just too draining to imagine. There would be brides' maids, a maid of honor, the wedding, and the reception. It all seemed like one big nightmare especially if my mother got involved. Then she would involve Sally Sweet the wedding planner and the three-ringed circus would begin.
"The Wednesday after never," I said snidely, having no interest in starting that endless nightmare. I could still see my mother with the seating chart trying to figure out where everyone needed to go.
"Wait, you don't want to marry Dad?" She sat up suddenly, shocked out of her mind.
"No, I do. I desperately do. I want to be married to Carlos. It's just that I want it all to be over and just get to the being married part. The whole process of getting married is one big nightmare that I would rather avoid," I admitted honestly.
"So just go to the County clerk's office and get married," she offered easily, hoping we would just do it.
"My parents would be mad, but Mamma and Papa and the whole family would be very upset if Carlos got married again without them. Maybe we should just do what Mamma said and have them throw a big family party and invite my family. But that wouldn't include my friends like Mary Lou and Lula. So, I don't know what to do," I sighed and wanted to put the mess out of my mind but once stuck there I ruminated on it.
I thought about it, and remembered what Joe and his woman had decided to do. They were just going to have a little family wedding in the backyard, and then having a big public party to celebrate it.
Neither Carlos nor I had gotten annulments so there was no getting married in the church for either of us. Rachel's family had been really religious, Carlos had told me, and so even though they didn't have a big church wedding; they were still married by a priest at her parent's insistence. They could have gotten an annulment because they never lived as husband and wife. As soon as they were married; he went back to the army. But it was something he had never pursued and now it had been so long he didn't want to bother.
Besides neither of us were really religious nor active in church. It wasn't going to matter to either one of us where we were married as long as it happened soon. I didn't want to wait months, and I didn't want it to be a big process. I knew my mother would feel bad if left out of the planning. She wasn't good at solving the problems in my life, but planning a party was something she loved.
By lunchtime we were laying out by the pool in our bathing suits working on our tans. Well, I was working on my tan, because I was a little white girl from the burg and had to work to be tanned. Julie was several shades darker than me having a natural tan thing going on.
Funny thing is that she is more anal about sunscreen than I am, because skin cancer for Floridians is a real concern. She was raised to always wear at least a 30 SPF sunscreen when she lays out where I only put it on if I think I am going to be out all day and in danger of burning.
After we had arrived, Carlos gave a quick tour of the kitchen, dining room, living room, den, his office, and the upstairs bedrooms. Julie's is the first bedroom on the right and ours is at the end of the hall. As we carried our bags up, and did a little exploring, what was most surprising was that there were already clothes in my closet. They were new, and all in my size. Carlos explained that his housekeeper always tries to outdo Ella, so she had done some shopping for me.
Plus, the kitchen was full of food. Fresh food and already prepared dishes in the freezer and fridge. Enough for a whole week if we didn't want to cook, but honestly Julie and I had gotten to like cooking a little bit and at some poin; I wanted to show off my infantile cooking skills to Carlos. Well, infantile compared to cooks like his mother or Ella but compared to what I use to be, I was an awesome chef. Of course, my major cooking skills were in the baking department.
I remember a while ago being very certain that a career in baking may be calling me and going to my mother's to bake a chocolate cake. I bought all the ingredients and baked it from scratch. It had been a good cake everyone had praised my efforts, but I realized that baking wasn't something that I was ever going to love.
Until Julie. Baking with Julie was fun. We enjoyed trying new recipes together. She had such joy and enthusiasm to try new things and for doing everything she had never been able to do before. She loved sweets as much as me, but she wasn't messy like me. I loved getting my fingers involved and licking everything - even my fork and maybe my plate if no one was looking. Julie would always use a fork and wipe everything down with a napkin when she was done. Regardless, we loved our sweets, and I didn't see any in the fridge, so I was going to suggest instead of a game night tonight we would bake.
I rolled over to look at Julie who had her eyes closed and looked totally relaxed.
"What if we had a baking night tonight?" I suggested.
Her eyes popped open in delight, and said, "Yes, I'd love to. I want chocolate cake. We haven't made a chocolate cake since before we left the Dominican Republic."
Well, I had only been back for a week and we hadn't had any baking time since I had gotten back, but it hadn't been a problem, because Ella had been making treats for us every night. But like a good mother she moderated it. She only brought up two bowls of pudding or two slices of cake or six cookies – like we could only ever eat three each. When we made cookies, we made six dozen. We ate one dozen that night and packed the rest up to eat throughout the week.
"Stephanie?" Julie asked. I was surprised at her use of my name. She only called me that when she was trying to be serious or it was really important.
"What, baby girl?" I was trying to sound comforting and reassuring.
"I want you to marry my dad soon. Like really soon." She confessed and she looked really worried.
"I guess we could. Why, what's up?" Obviously, something was on her mind.
"Well, I don't know how to say this right but it's really bothering me," She looked concerned.
"Just spit it out Julie you're not going to offend me," I assured her.
"You're my mom in every way that matters, and I have been calling you mom for months," Julie started.
"Yeah babe, I'm your mom for life," I tried to reassure her.
"Well, for the last four months we've had fake ID's and our last names matched. Plus, people didn't know us well, so they didn't know better. But now we are living in a place where everybody knows you and Dad. They know I'm not your daughter and they look at me funny when I call you Mom. So, I want you to marry my dad, sooner rather than later, so you can really be my mom again and people won't look at me funny." As I watched her face, I could see that this was really bothering her and honestly it would start bothering me too.
Julie had become as much my daughter as Carlos's, and I wanted; heck I had just expected her to still call me mom. Anything else would just be too weird. I know my mom looked at her funny when she called me mom, but I ignored her. As a general rule I ignore the stupid stuff that comes spouting out of my mom.
Of course, honestly, I think my mom is happier with my life now – being engaged and with a potential granddaughter – than she has been in a long while. She isn't thrilled with me working in that building full of men but at least she accepts that its safer, than when I was being a bounty hunter. The fact that I am engaged to the boss elevates the job in a way that seems to be more acceptable to her.
But Julie had an important point. Now that we were in a place where everybody knew me; they would begin to ask questions. I hadn't noticed the looks so much, but when we were in the mall two people asked me when I had a love child. I told them that I loved Julie in every way that mattered, and she was my child, but I secretly wished them to go to hell and take their snotty attitudes with them.
Maybe, just maybe, we could get married while we we're on this two-week vacation. I wasn't sure how we could work it out because we both promised Carlos's mother and grandmother that we would get married in front of them. Maybe if we did the backyard thing and we found somebody who could marry us.
I know it would piss my mom off to not be invited, and it would aggravate her to no end to be invited someplace everybody is speaking Spanish. She would feel excluded from the conversations, and I sure as heck wasn't going to follow her around to translate everything for her.
I didn't know how this could work, but I would ask Carlos and see what ideas he had for solving this problem.
"Julie, you know I love you right?" I wanted to reassure her.
"Yeah, Mom," she replied easily.
"Well, you let me and your dad worry about how we can pull this off. We have two weeks, maybe he can think of some way to do this that will make everybody happy."
To be continued…
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