Chapter 181
Roshad and Jaedynn stayed in their hotel room together for several more hours before they finally came out to go site seeing with the kids, Nathan and Ada María. All the horrible awkwardness was gone and at last they could really enjoy the trip as a family. They were sad to go back home, but at the end of their week in Brazil, everyone got on a plane back to Seattle and used the last of their weekend to relax before Jaedynn had to take the kids back to the tribe so they could return to school. On Sunday when Jaedynn normally left for La Push with the children, Roshad came with them and stayed well into the evening until all the kids were tucked into bed. When the children were in bed, Roshad invited Jaedynn to go out for a walk on the beach together hand in hand. It was freezing outside but the moon was out and full and the sound of the tide was so relaxing.
"How long do you think it will take for you to find a rental?" Jaedynn asked Roshad after they'd been walking along the beach together for a few minutes.
"I'd have to see what the market is like down here," Roshad said. "It'll be a smaller house."
"That's fine," Jaedynn said. "The kids have gotten used to sharing one room so if it can only be a 2 bedroom house it's not the end of the world. They'll just be happy for us to be in the same house again."
"So will I," Roshad said with a smile and brought Jaedynn's hand to his lips to give it a kiss. "I'll need to go back to Seattle every day but I'll be home with you all by the time Kamron and Iman are out of school for the day. Then we can all go back home for the weekends."
"That'll make them happy," Jaedynn agreed and squeezed his hand.
They continued along the coast for a moment as Jaedynn rested her head against Roshad's shoulder lovingly. Roshad let go of Jaedynn's hand so he could wrap his arm around her waist while they walked. Eventually they reached a large log just off the shore at the bottom of a high bluff and they stopped there to be alone for a while. Jaedynn could hear the pack howling at one another further into the woods behind them but they weren't howls of distress: just communication with one another. The moon was out and almost full, the breeze was cool and soothing and when Jaedynn pressed a kiss to Roshad's cheek, he turned so they could kiss one another. It was so tempting to deepen the kiss, but they managed to refrain.
"Are we taking the children with for Levi's wedding?"
"I'd like to," Jaedynn said. "We'll need to be prepared for Maleek to cry most of the flight."
"We'll just have to comfort him. Either before we leave for London or before we come back home, we'll stop in New York so the kids can all visit," Roshad said and kissed Jaedynn's forehead. "Of course, you know maman would not mind in the least looking after the children while you and I enjoyed a long weekend together in London."
Jaedynn giggled, "I know she wouldn't. The wedding's not until summer. We have time to think it over. I don't even think they've sent out the save the dates yet."
"If the wedding's in London, they'd better send those out now," Roshad said.
"I suspect the wedding in London will be a lot smaller. They'll still have their wedding here."
"Ah yes," Roshad replied, "that will be much easier for most to attend. Are they planning to start a family right away or are they waiting?"
"I think they want to wait a little while before having kids; recover financially from the wedding a bit, you know?"
"That's understandable," Roshad said but then a thought came to mind. "Jaedynn," Roshad began, "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Jaedynn said.
"We haven't been taking any preventative measures," Roshad said and held Jaedynn a little tighter mostly for the sake of comfort before continuing with his train of thought. "Would you ever want to try again?" Jaedynn knew what he meant but she wasn't sure how to answer.
"I don't know if I can," Jaedynn finally said. "Are you saying you want to try again?" The two of them looked at each other for a moment while Roshad was briefly lost in thought. "We could never replace Nasir."
"Of course not," Roshad said comfortingly and took Jaedynn into his arms so they were looking into each other's eyes and holding one another. "Nasir will never be replaced. I don't want you to think that's what I was implying."
"I know it's not," Jaedynn said, "but that's how it would feel. At least to me that's how it would feel. It's too soon. I don't know when I'd be comfortable with having another child. I don't want to say I never will but it won't be any time soon." Roshad nodded his head gently with understanding and held Jaedynn tighter with her head tucked under his chin.
"If and when the time is right, we'll have another child," Roshad whispered to her soothingly. "In the meantime, we have our nine children to keep us busy."
Jaedynn smiled gently, "Indeed we do." She lifted her head so she was looking up at him. "I'll talk to Uncle Kyle about our options but knowing him, he'd suggest the rhythm method."
"As long as it works," Roshad said. "I'm sorry for bringing this up out of nowhere."
"It's alright. We needed to talk about it," Jaedynn said. "Ashti won't be disappointed will she?"
"She'll understand," Roshad said. "We've given her 9 grand children and if we assume they'll adhere to the national average of 2.5 children per household, we can safely expect 22.5 great grandchildren for maman."
Jaedynn started giggling, "Let's worry about getting them through school, on their own and married before we demand grandchildren, Roshad."
"I suppose that's fair," Roshad joked and gave Jaedynn a tender kiss.
Roshad returned to Seattle that night but was at work bright and early the next morning looking into rental properties in Forks starting with reaching out to Edward to find out the names and numbers of some realtors in that area. Rashida was over that day as were a number of people in need of English lessons. Some came down to the prayer room to buy saffron or place an order to have something delivered from Iran. Later in the afternoon, Diyanna came downstairs with Yusef in her arms. When she saw Roshad, the difference in him was well and truly noticeable. He wore a natural, resting smile on his face when before he'd always looked so sad.
"How did you enjoy Brazil?" Diyanna asked Roshad so he'd look up at her.
"Absolutely beautiful," Roshad smiled. "We all went to the beach almost every day and played soccer and we took the kids hiking to see the wildlife."
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Diyanna said. "How are things between you and Jaedynn?" Roshad's brightening smile said it all and Diyanna almost giggled.
"Better than ever," Roshad answered.
"I'm so happy to hear it. I'm sorry again for giving Jaedynn the wrong impression," she said.
"It's not your fault," Roshad said. "What matters is everything's finally back to normal."
"That's good," Diyanna said. "Is Jaedynn back in Forks with the kids?"
"Yes, she is," Roshad said. "I don't know how long it'll be before we can send our children to school in Seattle so they need to go to the Tribal school until then. I've reached out to my wife's grandfather to help me find rentals in town so we have a place of our own. I'll be here through the weekday so if you or anyone needs anything I'll still be here. I'll just be returning to Forks in the afternoon."
"Good, you had me worried we'd lose your connections," Diyanna teased. "Will Jaedynn and the children stay in Forks once you find a place?"
"No, we'll come back on weekends," Roshad said, "so if Yusef and Maleek want to play together, we can all get together."
"That would be nice," Diyanna smiled. "Maybe we can all have dinner together again sometime soon. We haven't don't that in a while."
"Most definitely," Roshad said.
The search for a rental house turned out to be a much longer one than Roshad was hoping for. A month went by of nothing being available and for a time Roshad was tempted to just enlist Embry's help to build a new house but then a house finally came to the market. It wasn't a rental; rather it was for sale, but Roshad leapt at the opportunity and went to see the house. When Roshad arrived, there was a truck outside parked on the street so Roshad took the spot in the driveway. It was a single car driveway and a 1 car garage. His first concern was whether or not Jaedynn's car would fit in the garage but once he'd gotten closer and had a chance to gage the size of the garage door, he was confident it would.
The front of the house was very cozy looking. The snow looked more like slush and any plants that were normally there were dead for the winter but the bushes of flowers that would bloom in the spring were a nice addition. He could see the willow tree in the backyard from where he stood out front. It would be absolutely beautiful in the summer. It was two stories but he recalled the realtor saying the house had a basement as well. While he was staring, he heard Jaedynn's car and turned around just as she was parking by the curb. Roshad smiled and walked around to the driver's side door and opened it for her right after she'd turned off the car.
"You weren't waiting long were you?" Jaedynn asked as she got out of the car.
"Not at all. I just got her a few minutes ago," Roshad said and gave her a kiss. After their lips parted, he took Jaedynn's hand and led her around the car to the front yard. "First impressions?"
"It's a cute house," Jaedynn said. "I was shocked when you told me this was the house we'd be looking at. Back in October, the kids went out Trick-o-treating and this house was decorated to the nines. You should've seen it. I already love that I can see the willow tree from here."
"I was just picturing how beautiful that'll be in the spring," Roshad agreed and then guided Jaedynn with him to the front door. They knocked and a few moments later, a man opened the door wearing a suit and a smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Javadi," he said to Roshad then to Jaedynn, "Mrs. Javadi." He shook both their hands then stepped aside so they could come in. "Can I get either of you something to drink?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Jaedynn said and Roshad also politely refused.
After that, they went on with the tour of the house starting with the first floor. It was an open layout with the living room, dining area and kitchen all within view of the front door. Past the kitchen and living room area was a long hallway with a single door on the right towards the end of the hallway and a set of double doors on the left. The single door was a powder room and the double doors opened up to the washer and dryer. At the very end of the hallway were two sets of stairs. One set went down and the other went up.
The realtor took them to the basement first where there was a set of French doors that went out to the backyard. It wasn't a very large backyard but it was large enough to have room for the children to play and the willow tree was indeed a very nice compliment to the area. There was a full bath in the basement complete with a walk in shower so it could be used as a bedroom according to the realtor. They returned upstairs then went up the second flight of stairs to reach the top floor of the house. The common area at the top of the stairs was small but had a window that looked out onto the backyard and the neighbor's house. It was a three bedroom house which would allow the boys to have one room and Iman and Sherry to have another room while the master bedroom was right across the hall from what would be the children's rooms.
The realtor brought them into the master bedroom and it was slightly larger than the other bedrooms and did have a bathroom with a walk in shower but no tub. The other upstairs bathroom had a tub, though, so Roshad and Jaedynn agreed that would work but Roshad also made a mental note to contact Embry about remodeling to accommodate theirs and their children's needs. Jaedynn agreed they should make an offer on the house and Roshad took over from there. He used the inspector the realtor recommended and also requested Embry to inspect the house right after. Thankfully there was nothing serious; just minor repairs needed that the previous homeowner was willing to pay for. Once the house was officially in his and Jaedynn's possession, Embry had a team in Forks working on remodeling the master bathroom so there would be a tub and shower.
They weren't able to move in until March, but it was just in time for Kamron's birthday. Of course, they invited Gloria to come to Washington with Raphael, but they sadly couldn't come but Gloria did make sure to send a gift, although she didn't get into why she couldn't come. She really didn't want to. She was, however, able to get time off during the summer so the kids could all visit one another. The plan was for Jaedynn and Roshad to come to New York with the kids and give them a week together, go to London for the wedding, and then they'd stay in New York again for a long weekend so the kids could visit one another again. Gloria was desperate for it given most recent events. She didn't tell Jaedynn and Roshad about it because she just wanted to forget it had happened, but she was still shaken up and if she took Raphael away for a long weekend, it would only make things worse.
In the midst of Roshad and Jaedynn buying a house in Forks so they could all live together again, Raphael returned to school from winter break. Gloria refused to bother Roshad about the payments for the private school so she was terrified that, in light of what Roshad and Jaedynn were going through and him being away in Iran, the payments to the school might stop but they never did. Same with the child support. Raphael's wellbeing was never overlooked and for that, Gloria was immensely grateful. It was more than she could say for Alex. He popped in without warning no matter how many times she told him he could see Raphael on the weekend, and he'd become ruthless since finding out what school Raphael was going to.
"Where the fuck are you getting the money to pay for that?" he demanded.
"I've been making more money at work and my parents and sisters have been helping out a lot," Gloria lied. Her parents and sister Daniella were happy to back up the claim. What had resulted from that was a huge argument over Alex's contributions, or lack thereof, and Alex getting extremely defensive. Then it got even worse. Towards the end of December, Gloria went to the PO Box so she could collect her mail, specifically the child support, and she noticed the PO box looked….messy. It looked like there were scratches on the lock.
"Excuse me, miss," Gloria said to an employee, "I noticed my PO box had scratches on it."
"What box is it?" the employee asked and when Gloria told him, the employee gave her a knowing look then asked her to give him a moment to go get a manager.
"You are Miss Lopez?"
"Yes," Gloria said.
"First of all, please allow me to apologize for not notifying you about this sooner; we've notified the police of the situation and the case is ongoing. This morning, a man came into the post office and one of our employees caught him trying to break into your PO box." Gloria's eyes went wide. "We've released the video to the police as well."
"Do you have a copy? I may know who it is," Gloria said.
"I was informed to give you the officer's name and recommend you go to the police station," the manager said, "but I also wanted to offer you a key to a different box which we'll use for you going forward."
"Yes, please," Gloria said.
She exchanged the keys and the manager gave her the mail she'd had in the box before the attempted break in and with the officer's name in mind, Gloria went to the police. They showed her the video and, just as she thought, Alex was indeed the one who attempted to break into her PO box. She was seeing red and filed a police report although she wasn't sure what would come of it. At that point, she didn't care. After she left the police station, Gloria returned to the apartment letting herself in. Raphael was on the floor sitting at his grandpa's feet watching the news but he turned to look at Gloria and smiled.
"Mama!" Raphael said and ran to give her a hug. It was just the thing she needed and she lifted Raphael into her arms to hug him.
"How was school today, mijo?" Gloria asked after pressing a few kisses to Raphael's cheek.
"It was okay," he said.
"What did you learn today?"
"Not much," Raphael said.
"Not much? You'd better have learned more than that," Gloria smiled and kissed his head again before putting him back down. "Sorry about coming home so late; I had to go to the police station."
"Why?" Margarita and Ramon both asked with alarm.
"We'll talk about it later," Gloria said as she took a deep and calming breath.
Now that Gloria was home, they all sat down together for dinner and Gloria was finally starting to calm down at least a little from what happened that day. She'd half expected Alex to come to the apartment unannounced or call, but he didn't. She finally told her parents what happened after she'd tucked Raphael in for the night but she asked them to drop it saying she'd filed a police report and she didn't want this being brought up again. Least of all in front of Raphael.
The next morning, her parents had already left for work and she made sure Raphael was dressed and fed before making the trek to the school. Once they arrived, Gloria took a moment to straighten Raphael's shirt then gave him a kiss before patting his back. Raphael ran to his teacher and classmates, they retreated inside and Gloria hailed a taxi to take her to the salon. Margarita would pick him up after school since she'd be off work by then and Gloria focused on her work. Then three o'clock rolled around and the teachers came outside so the parents could come collect their children. The teacher stood at the bottom of the stairs with all the kids and released the children when their parents arrived. Raphael was looking around for his grandma but instead he saw Alex and his eyes lit up.
"Papa!" Raphael said and ran to Alex. Alex smiled and kneeled down so he could take Raphael in his arms while the teacher approached anxiously. She'd only heard from the other teachers about Raphael's father and how the family had been adamant Raphael not be released to this man.
"How's my little man?" Alex asked Raphael.
"Good," Raphael said and, finally, the teacher came up to them.
"Excuse me sir," the teacher said and Alex looked at her with a charming smile. It threw her off a little but she quickly regained her composure. "Are you Raphael's father? Mr. Alex Vayez?"
"Guilty as charged," Alex answered with an amused smile. "I just came to pick up Raphael."
"I apologize, sir, but I can't release him to you," the teacher said. "We have strict instructions that only three people are authorized to pick Raphael up from school and we've been expressly forbade from allowing him to be released to you."
"Why?" Alex asked calmly while continuing to hold Raphael.
"We aren't given the details, sir. We have strict protocol and I'm just enforcing it," the teacher answered.
"Got it," Alex said but he didn't put Raphael down. "Look, I get it: you're just doing your job. Good on you for it. But the truth of the matter is Gloria's been less than cooperative with me from the beginning. She hardly lets me see him and when she does, it's on her terms, she never lets me just take him to the park or something: bottom line is she won't let me be a father."
"Mr. Vayez, I apologize, but what's going on between you and Miss Lopez does not change-"
"I'm sorry, I never caught your name," Alex interrupted her and he continued to smile charmingly at her. The teacher needed to take a moment to clear her throat when she realized Alex had dazzled her.
"Carrie Rockwell, sir," she said.
"Nice to meet you, Carrie," Alex said and offered a hand to her so they could shake. She accepted his hand briefly while he continued to smile at her. Then he released her hand and looked at Raphael. "Is Miss Carrie a good teacher, mijo?"
Raphael nodded innocently, "Yes!" Carrie smiled a little but she was still really anxious trying to get Raphael back without causing a commotion or issue. Raphael started talking to Alex in Spanish and Alex listened but he kept glancing at Carrie during the whole thing.
"Raphael says you're new?"
"I took over for Mrs. Chapman after she had her baby," Carrie answered. "Mr. Vayez, please, if you wish to spend time with Raphael while we wait for his grandma, that is absolutely fine but I can't allow you to take him." Alex averted his eyes for a moment and then looked at her again but this time he seemed like he was pleading with her.
"Can you really blame me for wanting to spend time with my son?" Alex asked. "You're right: what's going on between me and Gloria is between us but she doesn't keep it between us. She puts Raphael in the middle of it and that's not fair to him, you know what I mean? I just want to be a father to my son and the only time I can really do that is when Gloria isn't coming between Raphael and I."
This time, Carrie couldn't seem to muster the same adamant refusal as before. The way he was looking at her made her feel so bad for him. Her boss and Mrs. Chapman never explained why Raphael's father wasn't allowed to take him and she'd heard of many instances where fathers were given the short end of the stick and even personally knew a man who's life had been ruined because his ex was bitter and wouldn't let him see his children. She started to feel bad for Alex and Alex, knowing the instant he'd won this young woman over, leaned forward just enough that he wasn't too close but close enough that their exchange was more personal.
"It'll be our little secret, okay Carrie?" Alex said pleasantly and with a charming, appreciative smile. "Just this once, can you cut me a break and let me pick my son up from school?" Alex kept looking at Carrie with the same charming smile and she glanced around as if seeing if there was anyone present that might see. She started blushing a little and that's when Alex said, "Thanks Carrie. You're really doing me a huge favor."
Alex told Raphael to say goodbye to Miss Rockwell and walked away with Raphael still in his arms. Once Alex was gone, Carrie rushed to the other children so she could help them and a few minutes later, Margarita walked up to her but quickly noticed Raphael wasn't with her. When she saw Raphael's grandma, Carrie realized she didn't know what she'd planned to tell this woman and she started getting nervous.
"Where is Raphael?" Margarita asked.
Carrie licked her lips nervously and said, "A man came to pick him up. Mr. Alex Vayez."
"What?!" Margarita screamed. "You let Alex take him?!"
"Is there something wrong?" another teacher asked as she walked up to Carrie and Margarita.
"She released my grandson to his father!" Margarita continued to yell and now she was beginning to cry.
"Wait, Carrie, did you?" the teacher asked, now just as alarmed.
"He said he just wanted to-"
"When did this happen?" the other teacher demanded.
"He left about five minutes ago," Carrie answered. By now, Margarita was crying and looking around as if she might spot Raphael and the other teacher brought Margarita inside so they could call the police and then call Gloria. While the office receptionist was on the phone with the police and while Margarita was sobbing in the waiting room, the other teacher pulled Carrie aside.
"Carrie, what were you thinking?! You know not to release Raphael to his father!"
"I'm sorry," Carrie said as she was trying very hard to remain composed, "he was so kind and he said Raphael's mother doesn't let Mr. Vayez see Raphael and I felt so bad for him."
"Carrie, the man's a conman! He served time for assaulting an ex while she was pregnant!" Carrie went wide eyed having never been given this information. "Regardless, you cannot release a child to an unauthorized person! It's against policy and puts children in danger!"
"I'm sorry," Carrie answered while trying very hard not to cry. Margarita was still crying in the waiting area and they all looked at her when she started crying for the receptionist to call her daughter immediately. The receptionist assured they would but pleaded with Margarita to give as much information about Alex as possible so the police could start looking.
"What's the problem?" the principle asked when he stepped into the common area of the office seeing Margarita in tears and all the teachers looking pale as ghosts.
"One of the students was released to an unauthorized person," the other teacher answered.
"Which student? Who was he or she released to?" the principle pressed.
"It was Raphael Vayez, sir. He was released to Mr. Alex Vayez," Carrie admitted and a tear finally fell. "I'm so sorry, sir."
"You released a student to an unauthorized person?" the principle demanded and Carrie nodded her head shamefully. "My office," he said firmly, "now."
Up in Harlem at the Beauty Shop, Gloria had a client in the chair she was finishing up. She'd just gotten a perm and Gloria was working on styling the curls when the phone up front rang and the receptionist answered it. Gloria was making small talk with her client when the receptionist walked over to her chair.
"Gloria? Raphael's school is on the line asking to talk to you," she said and Gloria turned off the hair dryer, apologized to her client asking for a moment and then accepted the phone and went closer to the front desk so the cord wasn't stretching across the room.
"Hello?"
"Miss Lopez? This is Principle Jacobs with East Avenue Private School. It's been brought to my attention that Raphael was released to Mr. Vayez." Gloria went rigid. "Rest assured, Miss Lopez, we have notified the police and the teacher responsible has been suspended."
"What about my son?!" Gloria yelled. She didn't notice everyone in the salon was now staring at her.
"We have notified the police and they are searching for your son," he answered.
"Tell them they need to search in Harlem," Gloria pleaded, "I don't know where he lives exactly, but I know it's in Harlem."
"Your mother did make that clear to the officer, Miss Lopez," the principle said, "and I'm very sorry again that this has happened."
Gloria was in a panic and asked to speak to her mother but the conversation didn't last long. Margarita had spoken with the police and, despite the principle's assurances the police had been notified and would be looking for Raphael, it was clear the police weren't going to do anything since it was his father and therefore it 'wasn't kidnapping'. Gloria told her boss what happened and that she needed to leave and another stylist helped Gloria's client and she told that woman not to worry about paying and left the salon to begin searching for Raphael herself. Meanwhile, Alex took Raphael onto the train to go to Harlem never putting Raphael down even if something caught the boy's attention or if he wanted to stand on his own. Eventually they made it back to Alex's apartment and by then, Raphael had gotten really tired and fallen asleep in Alex's arms. Once he stepped into the apartment, Rita was sitting on the couch sorting through some stolen goods.
"Mijo," Alex said and gently bounced Raphael so he'd wake up, "we're home." Raphael started rubbing his eyes a little as he groaned. Rita was focused on what she was doing not looking up at Alex or Raphael. "Jesus, Rita, first time you're meeting your grandson and you can't even spare a glance?"
"Papa," Raphael said, "I'm hungry."
"Shit," Alex muttered and glanced at the fridge in his kitchen he already knew was completely empty same with the pantry, "I'll need to go to the store."
"Just take him hunting, stupid," Rita said.
"He doesn't drink blood, Rita," Alex said and put Raphael down on the couch right beside Rita. "I'm going to run to the store and get you something, okay mijo? Rita, look after him while I'm gone."
"Alex, I'm busy; I don't have time to amuse a child," Rita said.
"You don't have to amuse him, Rita; just keep him out of trouble. Christ, you're acting like I'm asking you to perform open heart surgery," Alex said as he checked to see how much money he had in his wallet at that moment. "I'll be right back, mijo." Alex ruffled Raphael's black hair then left the apartment leaving him alone with Rita. Raphael looked at Rita who was currently ignoring him as she was sorting through everything. Raphael looked around trying to find something to play with but there was nothing. There was a TV so he left the couch and went to it to turn it on and try to find something.
"Turn that down," Rita said in an authoritative voice.
She was harsh and loud and it made Raphael jump and turn the volume impossibly lower but he was no longer paying attention to what channel was currently showing. He was staring at Rita who, by contrast, had returned to ignoring him. Raphael stared at Rita for several seconds before she looked at him again visibly annoyed with him.
"What?"
"You're scary," Raphael said.
"Then why are you staring?" Rita demanded coldly.
Rather than answer, Raphael scurried out of site going into the tiny bathroom and closing the door behind him. Raphael stayed in the bathroom sitting on the floor rocking back and forth with his knees up to his chest until he heard the front door open. He peaked out and saw Alex come back into the apartment with a bag in hand and rushed out to meet him and hugged him mostly trying to hide from Rita.
"What's the matter, little man?" Alex asked.
"She's scary," Raphael whimpered and made himself invisible behind Alex.
"What the hell did you do?" Alex asked Rita.
"I told him to turn down the TV and he scurried away like a cockroach caught red-handed," Rita answered back dismissively.
Alex rolled his eyes then said to Raphael, "Don't let her scare you, little man. The bitch is all bark and no bite."
Rita didn't say anything. Rather she glared at Alex briefly but quickly returned her attention to the pilfered jewelry she was cleaning and getting ready for selling. Alex went to the tiny kitchen and took out a bowl, a sauce pot, a bottle of ketchup and a bag of gold fish. All the while, Raphael stayed very close to Alex while he filled the sauce pot with water then put that over the stove to heat up the water.
"I can't move, mijo; you need to let go of my leg," Alex said and made Raphael let go of him. Raphael stared at Alex then at Rita once again becoming scared, especially when she stared at him meanly with her freshly bright red eyes. Alex looked at Raphael then at Rita and released an aggravated groan before kneeling down to pick up Raphael. Once Alex was holding him, Raphael clutched onto Alex and started sucking his thumb and making sure not to look at Rita. "Please, Rita, I know you're excited to see your grandson but try to contain yourself," Alex said sarcastically.
"It's your child and your problem, Alejandro," Rita bit back and put all the jewelry into a large tote then stood from the couch. "This is all ready to sell. Maybe you should take him with to Brooklyn. 'Take your child to work' day or whatever the fuck parents do these days."
"It can wait," Alex said and then bounced Raphael a little. "Maybe we can go to Coney Island. How does that sound? I'll get you a garbage plate and we'll go on all the rides together."
"Don't put it off too long," Rita said and then walked out of the apartment.
"Papa, I don't like her," Raphael whimpered once Rita was gone.
"I hear you, mijo. I hear you," Alex answered. Once the water was steaming, he turned off the burner and grabbed the bottle of ketchup popping open the cap and squeezing but nothing came out. "What the fuck," Alex mumbled and only then noticed the nozzle was blocked by some paper so using one hand he removed the cap, tore off the paper, put the cap back on then poured a bunch of ketchup into the water and twirled the sauce pot so the ketchup would fully dissolve in the water. He poured that into the bowl, tossed a plastic spoon into the bowl and brought that to the tiny coffee table by the couch and placed Raphael on the couch. Then he brought the bag of gold fish to the coffee table tearing it open and tilting it so Raphael could grab the crackers by the handful.
Raphael didn't start eating right away just poking the soup with the spoon while Alex started playing with the knobs on the TV trying to find something. Meanwhile, Gloria was going up and down Harlem trying to find Raphael. She started by going to the apartment she'd known Alex had lived and worked her way out. She was searching for nearly two and a half hours before she finally caught a glimpse of Rita stepping out of an apartment complex in her heavy coat, a hat and sunglasses as she walked away. Gloria waited until she was further away before crossing the street going to the apartment complex and letting herself in. Once she was in the building, she started crying out for Raphael. When Alex heard Gloria screaming from the first floor of the building, he sighed heavily and went to the front door opening it and poking his head out.
"Relax, Gloria, he's up here," Alex called out and the moment Gloria heard him, she bolted up the stairs at breakneck speed and once she was on the right floor, she barged into the apartment and went straight to Raphael.
"Raphael? Mijo, are you okay?" Gloria asked, crying profusely by now as she checked him to make sure he was okay.
"He's fine; I just picked him up from school," Alex said. "I don't know why you're making such a big fucking deal about this."
Gloria stood up and approached Alex seeing red, "Don't you EVER take Raphael without my permission again!"
"He's my son. I don't need your permission to pick him up from school," Alex said. "I don't know why you're sending him to that school anyway. It's not like it's any better than a public school."
"Where I send my son to go to school is none of your fucking business!" Gloria screamed.
"He's my son too, Gloria! Whether you like it or not, you have no business trying to limit my time with him!"
"If you actually acted like a father and learned to respect boundaries, I wouldn't have to!"
Alex shoved Gloria causing her to fall back hitting her side against the couch as Alex yelled, "You shouldn't be putting those boundaries up in the first fucking place!" The whole time the two of them were yelling at one another, Raphael was still there watching them cowering behind the couch. "I don't need your permission to see my son and I don't need your permission to be a part of his life! And if you think you can fucking undermine me as a father by taking money from Jaedynn's golden goose you've got another fucking thing coming!"
At this point, Gloria saw the signs that Alex was going to get violent again. She stood up from the floor slowly and kept her eyes on him while she moved closer to Raphael on the other side of the couch so she could grab him and get out. Once she finally made it to Raphael, she picked him up still never taking her eyes off Alex and was doing her best to walk out of the apartment while staying as far away from Alex as possible.
"You could let him finish his dinner at least, Gloria," Alex said aggressively.
"We're done with this discussion, Alex," Gloria said and was almost at the front door. "I don't want you coming over on Saturday, do you understand?"
"I'll be at your place on Saturday," Alex snapped back. "You will not tell me when I can and can't see my son."
"No, Alex," Gloria said sternly and grabbed the doorknob to turn it and opened the door.
Once the door was open, she rushed out of the apartment going downstairs with Raphael. She could hear Alex chasing after her and he was yelling at her to put Raphael down but she didn't listen and continued to run even once she was outside and Alex had stopped chasing after her. She was able to hail a taxi and asked the driver to take them back to her place while still holding Raphael close to her. Once she made it home, she paid the driver and then rushed upstairs to her apartment. She locked the door behind her even putting the deadlock in before going to the phone to call the school assuming her mother was still there.
Margarita was indeed still at the school so Gloria let her know she'd found Raphael and they were both finally home. The school called the police to relay the news Raphael had been located and Gloria asked for the name and direct number to one of the officers in the hopes of preventing this from ever happening again. Margarita confirmed she was on her way home and Gloria continued to hold Raphael retreating to the bedroom they shared so she could try to keep him and herself calm. Raphael was scared because he'd met Rita and was terrified of her but Gloria was, of course, so upset because for a period of a few hours, she didn't know where her son was.
"Raphael? Mijo?" Gloria said after they'd been sitting in bed for a few minutes. "Never leave the school with anyone except me, your grandma or your grandpa, okay? For a while, I didn't know where you were and that terrified me."
"I'm sorry, mama," Raphael answered while he cuddled up to her.
"It's not your fault, mijo," Gloria said. "Just remember don't ever go anywhere with your father unless I'm with you too, okay?" Gloria kissed the top of Raphael's head and rocked him back and forth.
Eventually, Raphael fell asleep and when he did, she gently put him down on the bed so he could have a nap. Gloria went to the kitchen and started making something for dinner as an effort to get her mind off things. Margarita finally made it home and went straight to Gloria's bedroom to check on Raphael and finally calmed down when she saw her grandson sound asleep on the bed unharmed. Once she knew her grandson was alright, Margarita came back out to the kitchen to comfort Gloria who, when her mother was finally there, broke down crying over what happened the day before with Alex attempting to break into her PO box and then what happened that afternoon. When Raphael came out of her room waking up from his nap, she forced herself to stop crying and went to get him so they could play on the floor together. It was more of a desperately needed distraction for Gloria until they all sat down together for dinner.
After dinner, Gloria went to her parents' room for privacy so she could call the officer who's number she'd been provided with. He was still at the station and as soon as Gloria got through to someone and explained why she was calling, she was put through to the officer.
"Miss Lopez?"
"Hello," Gloria answered, "This is Officer Collins, right?"
"Yes, I'm Officer Collins. Your son's name is Raphael, right? The school said you were able to locate him?"
"Yes, I found my son at his father's apartment and I've brought him home," Gloria said.
"Okay, I'm glad to hear it. By the sound of things, the principle took disciplinary action towards the teacher who released Raphael to Mr. Vayez."
"I'm more concerned about action being taken against Alex," Gloria said. "He took my son from school without my consent, he refuses to keep me up to date on where he's living, I had to search up and down Harlem to find him – I was lucky I caught his mother leaving a complex! I have done everything in my power to find a balance, but Alex is consistently refusing to cooperate with me and has no regard for my boundaries and he has no respect for me as his son's mother! I don't want him doing this again and I want him charged with kidnapping."
"Miss Lopez," the officer said, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"What do you mean you can't do that?"
"I mean regardless of his priors, Mr. Vayez is your son's father. It's on record in black and white. You and Mr. Vayez have no prior legal agreement of custody so as his proven father and legal father, Mr. Vayez is within his right to take Raphael into his care. I can't arrest Mr. Vayez for taking care of his son," the officer said.
"So just because he's my son's father he gets to do whatever he wants regardless of our son's wellbeing or my consent? Is that what you're telling me?"
"Miss Lopez, if you want to keep Mr. Vayez away from Raphael, your best option is to file for a restraining order but that will require you to prove to the court Raphael's life is in immediate danger or he's abusive of Raphael," the officer said. "Has Mr. Vayez been abusive of Raphael?"
"No," Gloria answered but then said, "but that's hardly the point! He's been abusive of me and several others!"
"Miss Lopez," the officer said, trying to remain calm for her sake, "what I would recommend is go before family court and fight to revoke any visitation rights. As it stands, Alex has as much right to Raphael as you do so if you want that revoked, go before family court and prove Mr. Vayez shouldn't have any parental rights. I can give you the contacts for some lawyers that can help you."
"I have one already," Gloria said knowingly. In spite of her frustration and anger, she said, "thank you officer."
"You're welcome, Miss Lopez. My name's all over the police report from today, so if you need a witness, everything's here and I'm happy to speak on your behalf," the officer said.
"I appreciate that," she said. "Have a good night, sir."
Gloria hanged up the phone and for a moment she just sat there. This was it. Today was her last straw. She couldn't help the tears of rage that formed in her eyes as she tried her best to remain composed. She didn't care what the police or the law said. Alex had kidnapped their son and she'd spent hours terrified not knowing where Raphael was and trying desperately to find him. The fact Rita had obviously been around Raphael was all the more enraging. She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost 7. If she called now, she might still be able to catch Kevin before he left his office. So she went to hers and Raphael's room to get Kevin's business card and the number to his Seattle office.
"Thank you for calling Heidelberg and Black. This is Melissa; how can I help you?"
"This is Gloria Lopez," she said. "Is Kevin available to speak, please?"
The upcoming weeks were absolutely miserable. Kevin assured Gloria he'd help her build a case and get a judge to put into place some clear, legally enforceable outlines of when Alex can and cannot see Raphael and the conditions under which visitation would be permitted. The issues began when it was time to send Alex the paperwork. She'd needed to do some investigating to find out Alex's current address without him finding out. She'd noticed his pattern of changing addresses the moment she demanded him to share it and she didn't want to risk him moving before he could be served. However, after she'd managed to get the address and provide it to Kevin and his team, the summons was sent back not long after informing them Alex Vayez was no longer at that address. Kevin called the apartment building personally and, just as he feared, the prior tenant (who'd given the land lord the name of Dimitrio Ventura) was no longer living in that unit and had moved just a week prior. As to where he'd moved, the land lord didn't know.
Gloria was at a loss of what to do and was about to promise Kevin she'd try to find out where he'd moved but they'd need to act fast in order to serve him the paperwork, but Kevin told her to 'let him worry about it' and that was that. Kevin then reached out to Evalynn so he could talk to Dmitri to ask a favor. Within the day, Dmitri was able to find out where Alex was living and gave him the address. With that, Kevin had his office resend the summons. It took another three days for a letter carrier to finally catch Alex while he was home and ensure beyond a reasonable doubt he'd been served. When Alex received the paperwork and read what it was regarding, he was seeing red. It had been early in the morning, so Alex left his place and went straight to the salon where Gloria was working.
"I know you said you want to do color and a perm, but in order to make sure the color sticks and doesn't ruin your curls, we need to start with the perm, allow your hair at least a week to rest and then we can color it," Gloria explained to her client who'd just sat in the chair.
"I don't know if I could come back as early as next week," her client said. "Is there a boxed dye I could use?"
"Honestly, I wouldn't recommend box dye only because you can't control the color as well and the box dye has additives that could react badly with the perm. It tends to work better for someone with virgin hair," Gloria explained. The door to the salon opened with the chime of the bell but Gloria ignored it since it and kept her attention on her client trying to come to a compromise and ensure her client would leave the chair happy.
"Can I help-" the receptionist began to ask Alex when he walked in but he soon walked right past her, "sir, you can't go back there until your stylist is ready for you."
"Gloria!" Alex yelled, completely ignoring the receptionist and grabbing the attention of everyone in that salon.
"Alex, what are you doing here?" Gloria asked as calmly as possible.
"What is this bullshit?" Alex demanded and tossed the paperwork at her. She barely managed to catch it and her client jumped from the chair and backed away. "Where the hell do you get off telling me I can't see my son?!"
"Alex, can we go outside?" Gloria asked, trying to stay calm given this was still her place of work. Thankfully, her boss walked right over. She may have been a short woman of only 5'3" but she was not a woman to be trifled with and when Gloria noticed her boss walk over, it was a huge relief.
"Sir, I'm gonna need you to leave. You're disturbing my customers," Gloria's boss, Antoinette, said.
"This doesn't involve you," Alex bit back, "I'm talking to Gloria."
"Not while she's on the clock, you ain't," Antoinette responded just as harsh. "Either leave, or I'm calling the cops. Your call."
"Fine," Alex said to Antoinette and then said to Gloria, "Outside."
"She's not going anywhere, sir," Antoinette said. "As you can see, Gloria is with a client and we're not talking walk-ins." By now, though, Alex was no longer listening to Antoinette and was talking to Gloria.
"You really think you can stop me from seeing Raphael?"
"I never said you couldn't see him, Alex," Gloria said.
"Diamond, call the police," Antoinette told the receptionist who went to the phone to do just that.
"Just let Gloria and I talk outside and that won't be necessary," Alex said to Antoinette in a threatening tone, but she wasn't backing down.
"This isn't a negotiation, hot shot. Leave or I have Diamond call the cops. You have a minute to get out of my Beauty Shop," Antoinette said. This time Alex stared Gloria down as she kept a hold of the papers he'd been served.
"We'll talk about this later," Alex finally said in a venomous voice and finally walked out. Gloria was absolutely mortified as she stood there watching Alex finally leave. She glanced down at the papers he'd thrown at her once he was gone and Antoinette came closer.
"Caroline, can you take over for Gloria?" Antoinette said to a young woman who was cleaning her station and then said to Gloria, "my office please." Gloria followed Antoinette to the back of the salon anxiously, terrified she was about to lose her job because of all this. Once they were alone, neither of them bothered sitting. "Are you alright?"
Gloria breathed a little and then finally nodded her head, "Yeah. I'll be okay."
"What in the hell was that about?"
"Alex received the court summons," Gloria said and looked at the paperwork. "I didn't say he couldn't see Raphael. I'm just trying to impose some boundaries that can be legally enforced."
A knowing look passed over Antoinette's face, "So that's Alex." Gloria nodded and Antoinette went to her phone and entered the non-emergency line for the police. "Hello? This is Antoinette Johnson. I need an officer sent over right away. One of my employees has just been assaulted by her child's father and I need it put on record." She was quiet while the dispatcher on the other line spoke. She gave the dispatcher the address of the salon and the dispatcher confirmed an offer would be there shortly.
"Thank you, Antoinette," Gloria said. "I'm really sorry about what happened."
"Don't worry about it," Antoinette said and walked over to Gloria. She took Gloria's hands in hers and squeezed them to silently tell her to be brave. Gloria took a few deep breathes and closed her eyes for a second. "You'll be alright, Gloria. At the end of your shift, someone will be out there with you while you hail a taxi. I'm not comfortable with you walking home alone."
Gloria nodded in agreement and then asked, "I need to call my lawyer."
"Absolutely," Antoinette said and left the office so Gloria could call Kevin's office.
An officer arrived at the salon while Gloria was talking to Kevin and telling him what happened. He let her know to have the officer forward everything to his office. The officer talked to everyone thoroughly documenting the incident and assured Gloria he would have everything forwarded to Kevin's office as directed. Under the circumstances, Antoinette insisted Gloria take the rest of the day to herself and stood outside with her while she hailed a taxi. Gloria was anxious the entire drive home. Her foot twitched the whole time and she kept looking at the documents Alex had thrown back in her face. Nowhere did it say she wanted to prevent him from seeing Raphael or demand singular custody. All she wanted was for him to respect her boundaries and be legally required to do so. She hadn't even included a demand for child support. She'd already known such a demand was a wasted endeavor and didn't want to bother with it. Once they'd made it to her apartment building, the driver let her know what she owed and she paid him.
"Sir," Gloria said anxiously as she looked up and down the street while looking out the window, "I'm very sorry to ask, but would you mind walking me up to my unit?"The driver gave her a strange look and appeared as though he might refuse, so she said, "My ex came to the salon today while I was working and we had to call the police to make him leave. I'm sorry to be so paranoid but I would feel better if I had someone walk me up to my apartment. He won't do anything if I have someone with me."
The driver took a deep breath and said, "Alright, miss," then took off his seatbelt and left the car with Gloria. He stayed with her until they made it up to her unit and stayed at the door until he heard the door lock.
Gloria was certain Alex would come banging on her door the moment the taxi driver left but he never did. Having a sneaking suspicion she knew where he was going, she called Raphael's school, told them what happened and requested that Raphael remain inside until her mother arrived to pick Raphael and then requested a teacher be with them until Margarita was able to get a taxi. She also asked that Margarita be instructed to ask the driver to come upstairs with her. For the rest of the afternoon, Gloria waited for her mother to return home with Raphael. She glanced at the phone trying to decide whether or not to call Jaedynn. She'd asked Kevin not to tell anyone about what was going on so she could handle everything and get all her ducks in a row, but it didn't feel like she was doing a very good job of it at the moment. She wanted to call Jaedynn if only for the sake of talking to someone who knew Alex the same way she did, but she refrained. At least for now.
On the other side of town, Alex was outside the school waiting for the kids to be let out. When the children were guided out of the building with their teachers, Alex didn't see Carrie nor did he see Raphael. He waited a little while longer thinking maybe he being held up, but then Margarita appeared. She spoke to one of the teachers who led Margarita inside and about 10 minutes later, she came back out with Raphael by her side. The teacher followed Margarita to the road so she wouldn't be alone while she hailed a taxi. Alex followed Margarita and Raphael back to the apartment fully prepared to take Raphael and leave, but the driver walked with Margarita up to the apartment.
"Were you okay coming home?" Gloria asked Margarita once she and Raphael got into the apartment.
"Yeah, everything was fine," Margarita said. "What about you?"
"I'm fine," Gloria said. "A police officer came to the salon and made a full report. He'll send that to Mr. Black's office so the whole incident is on record."
"Good," Margarita said and then there was a loud pounding on the door.
"Gloria! Open the door!" Alex yelled from the other side of the door.
"No, Alex!" Gloria yelled back. "At this point, you need to get yourself a lawyer and we'll discuss this in family court! From now on, if you want to see Raphael, it'll be on MY terms!"
"Open the fucking door or I'll fucking break it down!" Alex yelled.
"I'm not opening the door, Alex!" Gloria yelled back again. "Leave or I swear to God I'm calling the police!"
"I fucking dare you!" Alex yelled and just as Margarita went to hold Raphael while Gloria was about to grab the phone, Alex kicked down the door. The door splintered in half and the side of the door with the lock fell away and slammed onto the floor. Gloria and Margarita screamed and Raphael was crying as Alex approached Gloria.
"Get out of my house!" Margarita screamed and, in a desperate attempt to prevent Alex from attacking Gloria, she grabbed an umbrella from inside the hall closet, she put Raphael down and then she swung the umbrella at him.
Alex caught the umbrella and forced it out of her hands. He was about to hit her back but Gloria grabbed onto it and started trying to get it away from him. Everyone was screaming at each other as a fight ensued all while Raphael was standing in the hallway crying. Alex punched Margarita in the stomach to get her away and then he hit Gloria across the face making her fall back against the wall. She hit him back, she kicked him and tried to get Alex off her, but he was too strong and pulled on her hair and he yelled in her face about seeing Raphael and how he wasn't about to let Gloria stop him and so on. Raphael didn't understand what was going on. All her knew was his mama was being attacked and he remembered what his grandma had said: if your father ever attacks your mama again, you need to call the police. So that's what Raphael did. Raphael ran to his grandparents' bedroom and took the phone off the hook and dialed 911.
"911, what's your emergency?" a woman answered.
"¡Papá está lastimando a mamá!" (Papa is hurting mama) Raphael cried into the phone.
"I'm sorry?" the dispatcher asked and Raphael repeated himself once again in Spanish. "I need a Spanish speaker pronto!" the dispatcher called out and the call was transferred to another dispatcher.
This time a man answered with, "Nueve, uno, uno ¿Cuál es su emergencia?" (911, what's your emergency?) Raphael heard Gloria scream and he turned to see her on the floor trying to get away but Alex grabbed her. Margarita hit Alex over the head with a chair and it briefly stunned him long enough for Gloria to get back on her feet. She tried to kick Alex but he grabbed her foot and tugged causing her to fall. Her head slammed against a door frame and then she hit her head again on the floor. That blow made her pass out. Raphael continued to cry.
"¡Raphael! ¿A quien estas llamando?" (Raphael! Who are you calling?) Alex demanded from the living room area.
The dispatcher overheard Alex screaming and said, "Dime que está pasando, Mijo. ¿Me puede decir la dirección de su emergencia?" (Tell me what's going on, mijo. Can you tell me the address of your emergency?)
It was too late, though. Alex made it to the bedroom, grabbed the phone out of Raphael's hand and slammed it on the mount to hang up on the 911 dispatcher. Once he'd done that, Alex grabbed Raphael by his shoulders forcing him to look at him.
"¿Llamó a la policía?" (Did you call the police?) Alex demanded all while Raphael continued to cry. "Raphael! ¿Llamó a la policía?" Alex yelled again and this time Raphael nodded his head. "Nunca llamas a la policía en mí. ¿Lo entiendes? Soy tu padre. No puedes hacer eso." (You never call the police on me. Do you understand? I'm your father. You can't do that.)
"Pero abuela me dijo-" (But grandma told me)
"No me importa lo que te haya dicho. Nunca, nunca llamas a la policía en mí. Si llamas a la policía en mí, tendré que irte. ¿Quieres hacerme irme, Raphael?" (I don't care what she told you. You never, ever call the police on me. If you call the police on me, I'll have to go away. Do you want to make me go away, Raphael?) Raphael was shaking and still crying so he didn't answer. Alex shook Raphael and screamed, "¡¿Vos si?!" (Do you?!)
"No!" Raphael finally answered and when he did, Alex breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. It was a shocking contrast and a complete 180 from what was just happening and it scared Raphael all the more.
"Sabía que podía confiar en ti, Mijo. Nunca volverás a hacer nada así, ¿verdad? ¿Ahora sabes mejor?" (I knew I could rely on you, mijo. You'll never do anything like that to me again, right? Now you know better?) Raphael nodded and when he did, Alex took Raphael into a hug. All the while, Raphael continued to shake violently. Meanwhile, Gloria was coming to and when she lifted her head, she saw Alex in her parents' bedroom holding Raphael. She also saw Raphael crying and could see how scared he was.
"Get away from him!" Gloria tried to yell but she could barely get it out. Her neck was in so much pain and when she looked to her right, her mother was on the floor, her head bleeding but she also seemed to be regaining consciousness. Then, like a beacon of hope, she heard police sirens outside.
"Hijo de puta," Alex said and stood up, never letting go of Raphael. "Come on, mijo. Let's get going."
"No quiero irme, papa," (I don't want to go, papa) Raphael cried.
"Alex, I said put him down!" Gloria said, managing to give her voice more power behind it.
"Nah uh, Gloria," Alex said. "You'll see our son on MY terms. Got it?"
Alex could hear the sirens continue to blare outside but he also heard footsteps running up the stairs of the apartment building. He knew he needed to get going so Alex began to run but Gloria managed to grab a hold of his foot causing Alex to fall. Alex fell on his side and lost his hold of Raphael making him tumble and hit his back against the leg of the dining table making him scream and cry even harder. Alex kicked Gloria in the face to make her let go of his foot breaking her nose. The police were on their floor so Alex cut his losses and ran out of the apartment without Raphael.
"Freeze!" Gloria heard an officer yell and she even heard gunshots fire but she couldn't move. The next several hours were a blur.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Roshad had returned to their home in Forks and was already preparing dinner while Jaedynn was out picking up Kamron and Iman from school. Navid, Sherry, Leo, Mikie, Don and Maleek were playing together in the backyard under the willow tree. There was a window in the kitchen that allowed Roshad to look out onto the backyard so he could see the kids. Right now they were playing tag and Maleek was it. Eventually Sherry took pity on little Maleek since he was having a hard time keeping up with the others and slowed down enough for him to catch her and tag her. Once Sherry was it, she started chasing after the other boys. Roshad turned to look at the front door when he heard it open and watched Jaedynn walk in with Kamron and Iman.
"Baba! What's for dinner?" Kamron asked eagerly as he and Iman ran to the kitchen to hug him.
"Baghali polo," Roshad answered and kneeled down to hug Kamron and Iman. He gave them both a kiss on the cheek and patted their backs. "Your brothers and sister are outside playing tag. How about you join them?"
"Okay!" Kamron and Iman agreed and ran away to go outside to start playing leaving Jaedynn and Roshad alone. Jaedynn came to the kitchen so the two of them could hug and kiss.
"Is this the dish with Fava beans?" Jaedynn asked and Roshad nodded then chuckled a little when Jaedynn scrunched her nose.
"The beans are cut small; you'll barely notice they're there," Roshad said and kissed her again.
"Okay, as long as they're barely noticeable," Jaedynn said with a loving smile. They released one another so Roshad could finish mincing up the dill. "So how was work today? We didn't get a chance to talk when you got home."
"Bastet's going to send more saffron and spices," Roshad said. "It should be here by the end of the month."
"So more boxes of saffron to shove into our pantry?" Jaedynn asked.
"I'll keep them in the prayer room so they're out of the way," Roshad replied. "I need to buy more marbles so I can make more glass containers but I'm going to start offering a discount to anyone who brings back their original glass container."
"That's a good idea," Jaedynn agreed.
"Also, I invited Diyanna and Abdul over for dinner this Saturday," Roshad said.
"I'll see if Ivory and Anatoli are free this weekend for dinner," Jaedynn said. "Are her parents joining them?"
"I think she said they already had plans but I told her they were invited if they wanted to come," Roshad said.
"What were you planning to make?" Jaedynn asked, but before Roshad could answer her, their phone rang and Jaedynn went to answer it. "Hello?"
"Jaedynn, it's Kevin. I just received a call from Ramon. Margarita, Gloria and Raphael are in the hospital."
"Oh my God! What happened?" Jaedynn cried while Roshad turned off the burner so he could focus on Jaedynn.
"Alex forced his way into Gloria's apartment and attacked her. He tried to take Raphael but Gloria was able to stop him. Margarita got a concussion and bruises, Raphael's banged up but physically he's alright. Gloria's got the worst of the injuries. Ramon said they had to put her on a breathing tube so she could breathe after Alex crushed her windpipe."
"What hospital is she being kept at? We'll be in New York tomorrow?" Roshad asked from behind Jaedynn.
Kevin told them the name of the hospital and once she was off the phone with Kevin, Jaedynn went upstairs to start packing while Roshad told the kids to come inside so they could start packing. While everyone was packing, Roshad called everyone he needed to that he, Jaedynn and the kids needed to go to New York urgently and wouldn't likely be back until the following week. Kevin also left for New York that evening on the same flight as Jaedynn, Roshad and the kids. The following morning when they landed in New York, Kevin brought everyone to his apartment so they could drop off their luggage and then they left for the hospital. When they arrived, they went to the entrance of the ER and requested to be able to see Gloria. A staff member went to get Ramon and a few minutes later, Roman met them in the waiting room.
"Ramon?" Kevin said as they all approached one another. "How're Gloria, Margarita and Raphael doing?"
"Margarita and Raphael are okay now," Ramon said but he was clearly shaken. "Gloria hasn't woken up yet."
"Would it be alright if we saw them?" Jaedynn asked. Ramon nodded and brought them with to Gloria's room. Roshad stayed outside the room with the children not wanting them to see Gloria in her current condition having caught merely a glimpse of her.
Jaedynn could hardly recognize her. What little of her nose was visible was purple and the bandage covering her nose took up most of her face. She had stitches on her chin, there was a breathing tube in her mouth, her whole neck was covered in bruises and Jaedynn could see a peak of white bandages going across her shoulder from under her hospital gown. There were more bruises up and down her arms and the sound of the heart monitor made the quiet in the room all the more eerie.
"Do the doctors have her sedated?" Kevin asked.
"No," Ramon answered and in that moment he broke down.
When Jaedynn realized Ramon had started to cry, she went to him and gave him a hug. While Jaedynn comforted Ramon, Roshad asked a nurse to show him where Raphael and Margarita were. She led them to a room a few doors away. Margarita was in a wheelchair holding Raphael in her lap.
"Oh, Roshad, thank God you're here," Margarita said with tears in her eyes. Raphael got off Margarita's lap and rushed right to Kamron who hugged his little brother and soon all the other kids were hugging Raphael too. Roshad went to Margarita and hugged her.
"How are you feeling?" Roshad asked Margarita.
"Horrible," Margarita said. "Have you seen Gloria? Has she woken up yet?"
"She was still asleep when I saw her a moment ago," Roshad said. "Everything will be alright, Margarita. Kevin told me Alex broke the door down?"
"Yes," Margarita answered and nodded her head.
"I'll take care of getting that replaced for you," Roshad said. "And if you need to stay in a hotel for a night or two, I'll cover that for you as well."
"Thank you, Roshad," Margarita answered with a sorrowful appreciation.
Back in Gloria's room while Jaedynn was comforting Ramon, she finally asked Kevin, "What happened that Alex flew off the handle like this?"
"Earlier this year, Alex picked up Raphael from school without Gloria's consent. She searched Harlem for him and when she finally found where Alex was living at the time, she went to get Raphael and rushed back to her place. After that all happened, she called me and asked to officially sue for full custody so she could put some boundaries in place. Alex was served yesterday and went to the salon to confront Gloria. She was able to make him leave and later in the afternoon when Margarita returned to the apartment with Raphael, Alex barged in and tried to take Raphael. Raphael tried to call 911, but Alex forced him to end the call. Thankfully, a few neighbors overheard what was going on and called the police."
"Have they found him yet?" Jaedynn asked.
"I doubt it, but I'm going to call the station to get more information," Kevin said. "I'll make sure he's found and he won't get off with a 2 year prison sentence this time."
"Quiero que ese bastardo sea enviado a la silla eléctrica," (I want that bastard sent to the electric chair) Roman whimpered. Neither of them asked him to translate and instead Jaedynn continued to comfort him.
Kevin went to place a call to Dmitri first so he could start searching for Alex then he called the police department to speak with the officer handling Gloria's case. However, the following day Dmitri called the hospital telling Kevin that Alex was no longer in New York. From what he could hear of the man's tenor, he was south and, more specifically, out of the US. Kevin asked Dmitri to stay on high alert figuring Alex was lying low but would turn up eventually. There was a warrant out for Alex's arrest in the meantime and Kevin would start building his case for when they could take him to court.
Gloria was asleep for three days before she finally woke up. That morning the doctors were able to confirm Gloria was able to breathe normally on her own and they removed the breathing tube. Several hours after that, she woke up and when she did, her room was filled to the brim with bouquets of flowers and get well cards and balloons. Ramon and Margarita were in the room with her and when she finally woke up, Margarita asked a nurse to call Jaedynn and Roshad so they could come to the hospital. Gloria was disoriented and for a moment she couldn't remember anything but once Margarita told her, the fight with Alex came back to her memory clearly and vividly. Within the hour, her hospital room was packed. Roshad and Jaedynn arrived with all the kids including Raphael who went straight to her bed and tried to climb up to be with her. Jaedynn helped Raphael into the hospital bed so he wouldn't hurt Gloria but the poor boy was sobbing. No matter how gentle Raphael was being, she could feel each injury she'd sustained and Raphael's cuddling was making it hurt worse.
"Raphael, honey, let's give your mama a little space," Jaedynn said gently and tried to pull Raphael off her when she saw the pain Gloria was in but Raphael cried and shook his head.
"It's alright, Jaedynn. Leave him be," Gloria said and patted Raphael's back. "No llores, mijo. Mama está bien." (Don't cry, mijo. Mommy's alright)
"Be gentle, Raphael," Jaedynn said softly to him. Gloria kept rubbing Raphael's back and took in the room. She tried to breathe deeply but it was far too painful and she winced. "Are you okay?"
"Breathing too deeply hurts right now," Gloria said. Her throat was still throbbing and it hurt to speak too. "I knew he'd be mad," she finally managed to say, "but I didn't think he'd…."
"Don't blame yourself for this, Gloria," Jaedynn said. "You did the reasonable thing. It's not your fault Alex attacked you." Gloria looked down at Raphael and saw how upset he was. She recalled both instances when Alex had tried to take Raphael. First when he'd taken Raphael from school and then just a few days ago when Alex had attacked her then tried to run off with her son. Regardless of the pain in her ribs, she hugged Raphael a little tighter all while trying to put on a brave face.
"He tried to take Raphael," Gloria said.
"I know," Jaedynn said, "but he won't. I promise you, Gloria, he won't. We'll help to make sure of that."