Mornings were always a chaotic time in Gloria's home. With everyone going different ways and stepping over one another in their tiny apartment as they scrambled to get out the door on time. Sometimes they'd all wind up at the kitchen table together and get to have something resembling a family meal, while other days her children passed by her in blurs.
Ceci was always the last to rise. She kept an alarm set on her phone and god save anyone who tried to wake her up even a minute sooner. Gloria had learned this the hard way. And while Elena usually got out of bed with a smile on a face, she was slow moving in the morning and nearly always the last one to get her shoes on. Julio and Benny both woke up at the crack of dawn no matter what time they were put to bed at night, and trying to keep up with them required all of the coffee Gloria could drink.
"Well, that's just a mess," Gloria commented, as Benny dropped a handful of cheerios onto the linoleum kitchen floor. She shook her head at him, holding tightly to her favourite lavender mug as she leaned against the counter.
"Pretty pleased with yourself, huh?" she observed, as Benny let out a squeal of delight. He concentrated hard on picking up a single cheerio in his pincer grip and babbled to her before actually succeeding in getting this one into his mouth.
It was just Gloria and her boys in the kitchen so far this morning. She could hear the shower running down the hall and knew it wasn't that unusual for Ceci to skip breakfast, especially after an encounter like the two of them had had last night. Elena had been getting herself dressed ten minutes ago when Gloria had gone to check on her, but she decided to give her a little bit more time.
She used the side of her foot to push the spilled cereal into a pile but before she could go fetch the broom and dustpan, she heard a clang from behind. Whirling around, Gloria's eyes widened at the sight of Julio standing in front of the open refrigerator door with a jar of raspberry jam at his feet.
"Julio," Gloria scolded him lightly. She picked up the jar and inspected it for cracks before placing it back into the fridge and closing the door.
"I want more jelly," Julio told her.
"You don't need more jelly," Gloria replied, taking in his sticky face and hands. There were jam fingerprints all over the door to the refrigerator and more jelly stuck on her son's bare chest and hair, since she hadn't had a chance to dress him yet.
"But I want more," Julio protested.
"You've had enough," Gloria told him. She opened the cupboard under the sink and took out a clean rag. She ran it under warm water and then took quick hold of Julio, before he had a chance to make a run for it. She held him tightly in one arm as she used the other to attack him with the cloth, wiping the jam from his hands, face, and tummy, and even some of his hair. She ignored his protesting and didn't release him until she was satisfied, he was reasonably clean.
"Let's go find some clothes," she suggested, tossing the rag onto the counter while her son glared at her in defiance.
"Ahhhhhhh," Benny shrieked.
"Oh, do be quiet," Elena called to him, coming into the kitchen dressed in jeans and a pink hoodie. She picked up the box of cheerios from the table and sprinkled some more onto her brother's tray.
"Don't throw them all on the floor," she warned him.
"Too late," Gloria replied, taking in the mess of the kitchen floor. "Hurry up if you want to have breakfast."
"I know," Elena said smoothly. She stood on tiptoe to get a bowl out of the cabinet and then poured some of the cereal for herself. "Will you do my hair again, Mami?"
Gloria hoisted Julio up into her arms and snuck a glance at the clock. She would have to rush it, but it would be worth it anyways. Getting to do their hair was one of the things that had made Gloria most excited about having daughters. She had always been giving them different styles, using ribbons, bows, and colourful barrettes on them even as babies, and she had always made sure they looked adorable each day for school as little girls. She wondered if Elena had as many positive memories of that time in their lives as she did. Probably, or she would not be asking Gloria to do her hair now when she was more than capable of handling it herself.
"After I dress Julio," Gloria promised.
She carried him down the hall, resisting the urge to knock on the bathroom door and remind Ceci to get a move on. Cecelia was usually good about getting to school on time anyway, and if she happened to be late, Gloria reckoned it would just be easier to write her a note. It wasn't worth the argument. Not when there was already so much tension between them.
She sighed, as she pushed open the door to the boys bedroom and dropped Julio on top of his unmade race car bed. There were toys scattered all over the floor. He had been busy playing in here all day yesterday before they'd gone to Galina's, and they hadn't had time to clean up after. The room was small, with the crib on one side, Julio's bed on the other, and a dresser between them. She opened the second drawer where she kept all of Julio's tops and quickly began to rummage for something for him to wear.
"I want my Thomas sweater," Julio said, catching sight of the blue train sweatshirt in the overstuffed drawer. Gloria pulled it out and then quickly picked out a pair of pants and socks to go with it, while Julio jumped on his bed.
"Cut that out," she told him, laying a smack to his bottom. Her son continued to giggle but stopped bouncing.
He held onto her shoulders as she slipped off his pajama bottoms and replaced his overnight pull-up for a fresh one, thinking about how she would need to start potty training him soon. Julio was still young enough that it wasn't that urgent, but he was too smart of a boy to still be using diapers. The girls had both been trained earlier than him, but, as she gently reminded herself, she had been a full-time stay-at-home mom back then with nothing much to do besides take care of her children. Now every part of her day was a rush.
"Arms up," Gloria instructed, slipping the sweater over her son's head and pulling his arms through the sleeves. She helped him put on his pants and then slipped socks onto his little feet.
"Okay...hair," Gloria reminded herself, as she watched Julio scamper out of the room. She snuck a glance at the yoga pants and purple hoodie and decided nobody would be able to tell that she had picked them up off her bedroom floor than morning. She didn't have time to change now anyway.
She rushed into the bathroom that was finally vacant, and pulled out her hairbrush and elastics from the drawer. On her way back to the kitchen, she ran it through her own hair a few times to comb out most of the tangles. Ceci was dressed and there with everyone else now too, and Gloria tried to ignore the fact that Benny had added every last cheerio Elena had poured him to the mess of the floor. He was making snorts of impatience from his high chair, eager to be picked up, but Gloria tuned it out. She wanted to act as if Elena's hair was the only thing that mattered to her right now, so that her daughter would have her full focus for at least five minutes that day
"What kind of hair do you want?" she asked, coming up to stand behind Elena's chair. She tugged at her hair playfully before beginning to use the brush to make long even strokes in it.
"A long braid down the back," Elena replied, bringing her spoon to her mouth for another bite.
"You know you're old enough to do that yourself," Ceci remarked.
"Yeah, but it feels better letting mom do it," Elena replied.
"Someone else playing with your hair always feels good," Gloria agreed, dividing Elena's hair into three parts. She briefly looked up at her oldest and smiled. "Do you want me to braid your hair too?"
"No," Ceci scoffed, looking automatically irritated. She opened the fridge and pulled an apple out of the crisper. At once, Julio was at her side begging for more jelly but she shooed him away just as they heard a knock at the door.
"Good morning!" Lourdes called to them all, letting herself into the apartment. She shook the snowflakes out of heir hair and stomped her boots aggressively on the front mat to remove as much slush as she could.
"Tia!" Julio exclaimed excitedly, sliding across the floor in his socks to wrap his arms around her legs. Lourdes removed her gloves and then patted the boy warmly on the head. She unzipped her coat and unwrapped the scarf from around her throat.
"What a miserable morning out there," she observed, walking over to sit down at a kitchen chair to unlace her boots. "Are you going to tell me why it was so important for me to risk my life on those icy streets now, Mija?" she asked, pulling one boot off at a time and facing Gloria with an expectant look.
"You need to watch the store for me," Gloria reminded her. They had had this conversation last night when she'd called.
"Yes, but why the short notice?" Lourdes demanded. She stole a glance at each child in turn. "You aren't sick, are you?" she asked Ceci.
"No, I'm not sick," Ceci rolled her eyes. "And even if I was, I'm old enough to stay home and take care of myself."
"Unless your mother was insisting on taking you to that doctor I never liked," Lourdes replied. "You'd catch more germs sitting in his waiting room than you'd do resting at home and using one of my home remedies."
"Julio had strep throat, Tia," Gloria sighed, fastening the elastic onto the end of Elena's braid. "I'm pretty sure that necessitated a trip to the doctor. Forgive me."
"You think my mother had time to take me to the doctor for every sore throat?" Lourdes asked.
"Here we go," Ceci rolled her eyes again, as Elena giggled and hopped up off her chair.
"Thanks, Mami," she said, swinging her braid happily from side to side as she went to put on her coat and winter boots.
"So, if nobody is sick, what's the problem?" Lourdes asked again. "You know, you woke me up last night."
"I'll tell you later," Gloria said quietly.
"It's always something with you," Lourdes tsked, eyeing the hairbrush Gloria dropped on the table.
Gloria picked up Benny from his high chair and kissed each of his chubby cheeks. "I won't be long," she reminded her aunt, as she retrieved the little blue snowsuit from the hook by the door and began to zip Benny into it. She looked up when she felt Ceci nudge her in the ribs with her elbow.
"What are you doing this morning?" Ceci hissed.
"Going to speak to Galina," Gloria replied calmly. She set Benny down on the floor and then looked around for Julio to dress. He was leaning into Lourdes.
"I want Jelly," Julio informed his aunt.
.
"Well, of course," Lourdes replied, automatically springing up to her feet. She was already headed for the refrigerator when Gloria called her off.
"You can't deny the boy food, Gloria," Lourdes rebuked.
"I can when he decided to paint himself with his first sandwich instead of eating it," Gloria replied dryly, beckoning Julio back towards her. "Besides, I'm already running late."
"Fine," Lourdes through her hands up impatiently into the air. "Sorry, sweetheart, your mother won't let me make it for you."
"You're too much," Gloria rolled her eyes at her, taking Julio by the hand and tugging him over to where his snowsuit was hanging. "All you have to do is watch the store for an hour or so...and maybe don't light a whole bunch of candles again this time."
"I was trying to ward off a bad spirit in the place," Lourdes said stubbornly. "I could sense a dark aura when I walked in."
"Well, that's another suspect if this first theory doesn't pan out," Gloria said dryly, feeling Ceci's eyes narrow at her.
"What are you going to tell Galina?" Ceci asked quietly.
"I'm going to tell her my suspicions and concerns," Gloria replied softly, as she zipped up the front of Julio's jacket. "I'll leave you out of it…"
"You better," Ceci said warningly.
"But if you think there is something that Nicky's mother should know, then you should tell me," Gloria added, plopping a hat on top of Julio's head. "It's not tattling if its for Nicky's own good."
"Oh, what do you know?" Ceci retorted. She glanced at her sister who was waiting quietly by the door. "You coming?"
Elena nodded. "Bye, Mami, bye, Tia," she waved at Gloria and Lourdes, before following her sister, who left the apartment without another word to anyone.
"You want me to run a broom across this floor too, Gloria?" Lourdes asked, frowning down at the mess. "And then maybe a mop?"
"No, leave it for me," Gloria shook her head. Cleaning her floors was the farthest thing from her mind right now. More than anything else what she needed was answers. She was tired of always feeling wrong.
XXX
A couple of blocks over, Galina Reznikov was getting ready to open her own store. She flipped the closed sign in the window around and then gave the space she was so proud of a satisfying smile. The air smelled of freshly brewed coffee and all of the pastries she had cooling on the countertop on trays. Galina wiped her hands on the flour coated apron she was wearing before slipping it off over her head.
She hung her apron back on its hook and selected a mug from the shelf, pouring a cup of the dark roasted brew and then adding just a dash of cream. She had seen Nicky off to school just a few minutes before after strongly debating just keeping her home with her. They could have used a day together and Nicky surely would have benefited from the rest.
She was especially hard to wake that particular morning and she had dragged her feet getting ready, but, as Galina was frequently reminded, she wasn't really Nicky's mother. Absences from school were documented and their validation inspected, considering Nicky's record. It simply wasn't worth it to keep her home and then anticipate a visit from the social worker to verify that it was warranted. Galina could hardly wait to make their arrangement official, and be able to parent her daughter without interference.
"Where were you last night?" So lost in her own thoughts, she hadn't heard her husband come downstairs until he was directly beside her.
"Nicky's room," Galina replied simply, bringing her cup of coffee to her lips for another sip. It had been an emotional night, with Nicky clearly feeling way more than she felt capable of expressing at the time. Galina hadn't known what else to do besides hold her while she cried and then settle both of them under the covers together. She might not have all the answers but she could at least be sure that Nicky didn't feel alone when she was so upset. The soreness in her back and shoulders was worth that.
"I thought fostering an older kid would mean I didn't have to worry about that," Dmitri complained, swiping the newspaper off the counter and then taking a seat in a chair at the round table set near the door.
"What's it to you?" Galina frowned, as Dmitri fanned open the paper and buried his face behind it.
"I know how you get," Dmitri replied, sticking his head around the paper at her. "Will you pour me some coffee?"
Galina rolled her eyes but set her own mug down. She poured her husband a cup and then added a heaping tablespoon of sugar and enough cream to turn the dark liquid nearly white.
"Here," she said gruffly, handing it to him.
"You know she's just going to want you to sleep in there again, right?" Dmitri said.
"I doubt it," Galina shrugged. "But I don't see why it matters to you when you slept in a chair all night."
"Because you didn't wake me," Dmitri replied. "And circulation got cut off in my legs somehow. I could hardly walk this morning."
"So that's why you're so late getting down here?" Galina said sarcastically. "I thought you were just hoping I'd have all the work done for when you decided to grace me with your presence."
"I have to pick up an order at the warehouse," Dmitri reminded her.
"Not until this afternoon," Galina replied. "I didn't realize you were only available for half days."
"You complain too much," Dmitri said, sticking his nose back behind the newspaper. "Even if I tried to help, you'd just say that I was doing it wrong."
"I think you just pretend to be bad at everything so people stop asking you for help," Galina said, which only caused her husband to smirk. She had half a mind to rip the paper out of his hand, but before she could react, the bell that hung over the front door chimed and the store was filled with lots of excited chatter and baby coos.
"My favourite boys!" Galina exclaimed, smiling as Gloria pushed Julio and Benny's double stroller inside.
"Don't you have three sons of your own?" Gloria gave her a small smile, glancing at the family photo that hung on the wall near the cash register. "Better be careful."
"Why? They're never here," Galina replied, kneeling down on the floor to unbuckle Julio's straps. "Did you come to visit me?"
"Uh huh," Julio nodded his head. "Did you know we were?"
"No, you surprised me," Galina assured him, which made the little boy smile. She helped him remove his boots and snowsuit, while Gloria worked on undressing Benny's layers.
"Sorry about the mess," she said guiltily, taking in the slushy tire tracks they'd made on the floor as she moved the stroller out of the way of any incoming customers, but Galina just waved off her apology.
"Who's watching your store?" she asked.
"Lourdes," Gloria replied. "I was hoping to talk to you."
"Oh?" Galina raised her eyebrows curiously.
"Yes," Gloria nodded her head. "It's important."
"Okay," Galina said skeptically. She glanced at her husband who seemed oblivious to them all and then nodded her head back over to the counter where they could have a bit more privacy.
"Do you want some coffee?" she offered Gloria. She smiled at Julio. "Do you want a treat?"
"Yes!" Julio cried. She helped him pick one off the tray but Gloria declined a cup of coffee.
"Go eat it at the table," Gloria instructed quietly, adjusting Benny on her hip. The two women watched Julio scamper over to eat his cookie beside Dmitri and then they looked back at one another.
"Okay, this is awkward, so I'm just going to come out and say it," Gloria said hurriedly. "Because if it was one of my kids, I'd want you to tell me."
"What are you on about?" Galina frowned. "Is this something to do with Nicky?"
"I have strong reasons to suspect that she took money from my register when she was over yesterday," Gloria said in a calm but firm voice, looking directly into her friend's eyes.
"Excuse me?" Galina blinked. "What 'strong reasons' are these?"
"She was caught standing behind the register when she wasn't supposed to be," Gloria said. "And I was short $150 when I counted at the end of the day."
"That doesn't prove anything," Galina replied. "Lots of people go behind your register. Whenever I visit, your kids are all running in and out of there, when you're trying to count up change. You could have made a mistake yourself, trying to multitask like that.
"I sell cigarettes and junk food," Gloria said dryly. "I think I would notice handing someone as much as a week's worth of groceries costs me."
"That still doesn't prove Nicky had anything to do with it," Galina argued.
"No, it doesn't," Gloria agreed calmly. "But someone has to know something. The money is gone and she was near it."
"You're using her past against her," Galina said, pointing an accusatory finger at Gloria. "She has been through so much and has worked so hard to make so many positive changes since she's been here."
"Has she?" Gloria said doubtfully. "Or are you just seeing what you want to see? Ceci seems to be covering for her. Clearly something happened at the skating rink they don't want us to know about."
"Ceci not wanting to speak to you is not my problem," Galina said angrily. "And it doesn't mean that Nicky did anything wrong."
"She has a history of stealing," Gloria reminded her.
"Well, nothing has ever gone missing here," Galina replied. "And I give her an allowance and buy her everything she needs. She doesn't need to steal."
"I'm just asking that you look into it," Gloria said, pressing her cheek against Benny's head to calm herself. "I have four kids to support by myself, that's a lot of money out of my pocket. It would be nice to track down."
"Well, if that's all it is," Galina huffed, throwing her hands up in irritation. She walked over to her own register and slammed it open aggressively. Gloria watched her count out bills totalling $150 before they were thrust into her own face.
"Take it," Galina snapped.
"Whoa…" Gloria took a step back from her, fully aware that Dmitri had looked out from behind his paper and that Julio was watching them anxiously. "That's not what I meant."
"Well, I don't know what else you want me to do when you come over here accusing my daughter," Galina snapped, slamming the cash onto the countertop. "So, take this money and leave Nicky alone."
"Red…" Gloria sighed, using the pet name the kids often called her in a bid to warm her. "I don't want your money. I just asked, mom to mom, that you look into it. If you still don't think she had anything to do with it, then I'll let it go. I'm not out to get her. I just want to figure out what happened because if the money was stolen-and I looked everywhere-then it really is just the beginning of a bigger problem. Alright?"
"Get out," Galina said coldly, crossing her arms across her chest. Her stomach was knotted and the coffee aroma was making her feel slightly nauseous now. Her heart was burning in protective mode. She wasn't going to turn on her daughter like the rest of the world had. She didn't want to dredge up the past, ask accusing questions, and undue all the bonding they had shared thus far. Nicky needed to know that there was at least one person in her life who wholeheartedly believed in her.
"You're a good mom and I'm not trying to start a fight, okay?" Gloria said quietly, taking a step closer to her friend. "Okay? I love you. I'm just talking."
She tried to place her hand on Galina's shoulder, but the red-haired woman jumped back as though she had been burned. She even ignored the way Benny had held out his arms to her. Gloria sighed. This was not at all how she wanted this to go and she thought she'd been as fair as she possibly could be. She'd checked into her own daughter first, and Nicky was the only other person who had been let behind the counter yesterday. It just didn't add up, and right now Gloria was more concerned with uncovering the truth and dealing with it, than she even was about recovering the missing money.
"Galina, maybe we could-"
"Are you finished?" Galina glared at her, "because you're starting to sound finished." She walked away without even giving Gloria a chance to respond, heading up the back stairs that led to their apartment, while everyone watched her assent.
"Well, that went well," Gloria said sarcastically to no one in particular.
"What's going on?" Dmitri asked. Then apparently decided he didn't much care about the answer. "Don't worry, she just gets moody like that sometimes."
"Have a nice day," Gloria told him flatly. She tried to bundle her kids back up as fast as she could. All she wanted was to get out of there. The first customers of the day walked in just as she was heading out. She saw Dmitri rushing off to no doubt call his wife down to help them, and Gloria paused for a moment contemplating having another go at reconciling before deciding it would be a waste of time.
Sorry about the delay in posting it. I've been dealing with sick kids and Christmas preparations, but I'm hoping to have another chapter posted in a couple of days. Fingers Crossed.
Thank you so much for reviewing A Star in My Universe, whenaspritemeetsaunicorn, wallscollide, galinareznikovlove, Johanna-002, and Guest.
