Chapter 4
While heading to work, her cell phone rang. Unfortunately since driving through Manhattan requires a person's undivided attention, she missed the call. Once she was able to reach for her phone, she saw that the call was private. Whoever it was would either have to call back or hopefully they left a message. Since reading the letter from Michael, she's been more attentive to her phone than usual. She only received it yesterday but she didn't want to miss a call on the chance it might have been someone from Michael's family. About five minutes later it rang again and she made sure she answered right away.
"Hello."
"Hi, is this uh... Jaidin Contreras?" The voice was solemn and serious.
"Yes, this is. May I ask who's calling?"
"I'm Maurice Boscorelli." Before he could continue with his sentence she interrupted.
"You're Michael's brother. I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. It's just that I was expecting your call or a call from your mother." She had to pull over because she wanted to give him her undivided attention.
"Its ok really. Listen I just received a letter from him and from what he wrote he sent you one too."
"Yeah. I received mine last night. He actually sent it to my job. So I take it you're calling to talk about Angelize." The phone went quiet for a minute. "Hello? Are you still there?"
"I'm here. My mother and I would like to meet up with you and Angelize...I hope I said it right. Are you free now? I mean the sooner the better."
"Right now, I'm on my way to work. I have to be there by three or else I would have been happy to meet up with you."
"Michael mentioned you were a cop. What precinct?"
"I just got transferred over to the 55th precinct. Its my first day actually."
"That's my precinct. I mean I've been a cop there for twelve years. Look its 2:15 now; can you meet me in front of the 55 in say 10 minutes? We can talk and make some kind of arrangement."
"I'm about 5 minutes away." She hoped that she didn't sound to eager because she didn't want to give him the impression that she needed him to be part of Angelize's life. It was a privilege must be earned and to earn it, they've got to be everything that Michael said they'd be.
"I'll be right there then. I'll call you back when I get there."
"No problem. See you there." She hangs up the phone and pulls back on to the road. Without realizing it, the thought that scared her to death came to mind... What if they want to take Angelize away from her so they could raise her? She couldn't handle losing the only person that she lives for. She's had Angelize since she was only 3 months and to risk having that child taken from her was a thought that she couldn't handle. Pulling up to the precinct, she contemplated calling and canceling but didn't because she had promised Mike that she'd make the attempt to have them involved. Taking a deep breath, she gets out the car and awaits his call. A few minutes later, the man that was in the picture with Michael approached her. He was an extremely good-looking man in person and given different circumstances she would have done what every normal 22 year old would do... Flirt. Granted the given situation wasn't appropriate.
"Jaidin right." She nodded. "Michael sent me and my mother a few pictures of you and angelize."
"He sent me pictures too. Is your mother coming too?" She noticed the laceration under his eye. "Oh God, was she hurt yesterday?"
"Yeah, her arm was pinned under the car that drove through the wake. She's in intensive care but she'll be ok. You weren't at the wake."
"No I wasn't there but I was on my way. Once news broke, I turned around because I had the baby with me and she didn't need to see that. But I'm truly sorry to hear about your mom. Is there anything I can do?"
"I had a talk with her once I got the letters and all she's been asking for is to see Michael's little girl." He had such a sincere demeanor that it broke her heart. Imagine being at a funeral of a person who's life ended all too soon and end up almost losing someone else. It would be unbearable.
"Uh... the thing is that I'd like to be there too. Angelize is very friendly but she will not go with a stranger. When you have such a bubbly and lovable child, you've got to teach them from early on not to go with anyone that you don't know. She's very smart."
"I can only imagine. Of course you'd be there too. We'd like to get to know you as well. You're apart of her life. What happened to her mother if you don't mind me asking?"
Daisy was a sensitive topic for Jaidin. They had been the best of friends since they were 10. Jaidin had stayed with Daisy and her family till she was 18 after her stepfather died. Her mother, Julia had left her in the custody of her stepfather, Marcus Caffey, while she went off and lived her dream of becoming one of the most prominent attorneys in the city. Marcus remarried when she was five years old and they moved into the lower east side of Manhattan with his new family. She went from being the only child to having seven other stepbrothers and sisters and didn't mind it one bit. Once Marcus died, her stepbrothers and sisters insisted that she stayed with them but her mother wanted her away from them. She knew her mother always felt threatened by Mrs. Caffey because she was a ten times better mother to Jaidin than Julia had ever been. So to have her way, Julia threatened that if Jaidin didn't go and stay with Daisy that she would stop funding her education at New York's best private school. She left a few days later but never severed the ties with her family.
Daisy and her went to a private high school in lower Manhattan but things changed between them once she met Michael in their junior year. In 1998, Daisy was thrown out of school because her grades dropped below the school's set standards. Michael became the only thing she cared about and the only thing that stood in the way of her doing something. Michael was a sweetheart with a great personality but he had a bad choice of lifestyle. When her and Michael broke up in 1999, she was already a couple of months pregnant but left that part out when she told Michael what a screw up she thought he was. Once Angelize was born in June of 2000, Daisy was happy for a little while but couldn't take the pressure of having to deal with the constant responsibility that came with raising a child. She left when Angelize was three months and hasn't looked back since. Jaidin still defends her friend's decision and is just grateful that she left the baby in her care instead of a dumpster somewhere. Jaidin hadn't considered telling Michael about the baby mainly because she moved uptown and didn't expect to see him. That one day that she did bump into him, she let her emotions out without giving a thought to what she was saying but she had to let him know about his daughter whether he like what she had to say or not. He had asked about Daisy's whereabouts and the true was Jaidin had no clue. She still doesn't know till this day if the woman she called her best friend is even alive or in NY. She can only hope that she's doing well and that harm hasn't crossed her path.
"Her mother left when she was only three months old. Where to, I don't know." She didn't want to portray animosity towards Daisy because as horrible as abandoning your child is, she gave Jaidin thee greatest gift and that's Angelize. "Wow. But my mother would really like to get to know the both of you. You're both the key to part of Michael's life that we had no idea about. And we'd love to know about it" He smiled at her and she felt her knees go weak. "I don't get out of her until eleven o clock and I'm leaving Angelize in my stepsister's house. If you'd like to meet up her after my shift, I'd be happy to go into detail with whatever you'd like to know."
"That would be good but why don't you meet me at Angel of Mercy Hospital. I'll introduce you to my mother and we'll make arrangements from there."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Nice to meet you." She extends her hand to Jaidin for a quick handshake.
"So Jaidin, I'll see you tonight at Angel of Mercy. Call me when you're on your way."
"I will." She waves bye and walks into the precinct.
Once settled into her uniform, she sat in Roll Call awaiting the shift announcements. Lieutenant Swersky entered a short time after and immediately began addressing the new issues the precinct had at hand.
"As I'm sure you all know, yesterday was one of the worst days in this precinct's history. Our entire Narcotics department and almost all of our Anti-Crime division were murdered yesterday. On top of that the surviving member of the anti-crime team was shot in the ambush at the hospital. To add insult to injury, several of our uniform patrol officers were also shot. Today, we need some of you to cover your sectors alone. Some of you will be working with the plain-clothes unit until we get some more from downtown. On a more positive note, I'd like to introduce you to the newest officer to arrive at our precinct. Officer Jaidin Contreras has joined us from the 26th precinct and from what I was told she did wonders for their communications and criminal identification departments. Lets show her how the best officers in New York do it. That's all. Eyes and ears open out there. We don't need anyone else being hurt."
The entire shift her mind was stuck on what might go on at the meeting with the Boscorelli's tonight. Was she dressed appropriately to meet his mother? It was an extremely warm day in May and she had gone to work in a denim skirt and a white off the shoulder shirt. Then she wondered if she should bring her something like flowers or a fruit basket. Her stepfather always taught her that when you meet someone for the first time that out of respect, do not go empty handed. Her thoughts were interrupted when Lieutenant Swersky approached her and said that she had a visitor. When she headed to the front door, she was Jennifer standing with Angelize in her arms and her sister Renee's son, Izayah standing next to her.
"Jennifer, she's three, why are you caring her?"
"Jai, there's something wrong. She's having a hard time breathing. We were going to Central Park and she started wheezing and coughing. I gave her the inhaler but it hasn't helped her. All she's asking for is you and Michael." Jaidin takes Angelize into her arms.
"Angel, what's the matter?"
"Titi, it hurts. When I breath, it hurts." She wanted to cry but it seemed to hurt her too much. Her lips had a slight bluish tint to it. She rushes to the front desk and asked Swersky to call an ambulance. Turning to Jennifer, "do me a favor, take my car and drive it to the hospital."
"Which one?" Jaidin swiftly asked Swersky which was the local hospital.
"Angel of Mercy."
"Meet me there." The medics rushed in and loaded the toddler into the ambulance. She received the loss time and jump into the bus next to Angelize.
"Titi... hold me." The medic, Carlos, puts the toddler in her aunt's arms.
"Angelize, I'm going to put a mask on you. It's going to help you breath easier." Carlos spoke to her calmly and even made her a balloon from his glove.
"You have any kids?" Jaidin had to ask.
"Yea, she's the same age as yours."
"This is my niece actually. But thank you for being so gentle." She smiles and the rest of the ride is in silence.
Once they arrived at the hospital, they immediately took the child into a room. While waiting for a doctor, Angelize had allowed Jaidin to lay her down on the bed. She turned on her side and closed her eyes. The problem was that when the doctor came in, she didn't want to wake up. "Angelize open your eyes!" Jaidin became hysterical as the doctors began working on her niece. Mary Proctor escorted her to the back room to calm down. But how could she, her niece had just slipped into a comatose state and she had no idea why.
While heading to work, her cell phone rang. Unfortunately since driving through Manhattan requires a person's undivided attention, she missed the call. Once she was able to reach for her phone, she saw that the call was private. Whoever it was would either have to call back or hopefully they left a message. Since reading the letter from Michael, she's been more attentive to her phone than usual. She only received it yesterday but she didn't want to miss a call on the chance it might have been someone from Michael's family. About five minutes later it rang again and she made sure she answered right away.
"Hello."
"Hi, is this uh... Jaidin Contreras?" The voice was solemn and serious.
"Yes, this is. May I ask who's calling?"
"I'm Maurice Boscorelli." Before he could continue with his sentence she interrupted.
"You're Michael's brother. I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. It's just that I was expecting your call or a call from your mother." She had to pull over because she wanted to give him her undivided attention.
"Its ok really. Listen I just received a letter from him and from what he wrote he sent you one too."
"Yeah. I received mine last night. He actually sent it to my job. So I take it you're calling to talk about Angelize." The phone went quiet for a minute. "Hello? Are you still there?"
"I'm here. My mother and I would like to meet up with you and Angelize...I hope I said it right. Are you free now? I mean the sooner the better."
"Right now, I'm on my way to work. I have to be there by three or else I would have been happy to meet up with you."
"Michael mentioned you were a cop. What precinct?"
"I just got transferred over to the 55th precinct. Its my first day actually."
"That's my precinct. I mean I've been a cop there for twelve years. Look its 2:15 now; can you meet me in front of the 55 in say 10 minutes? We can talk and make some kind of arrangement."
"I'm about 5 minutes away." She hoped that she didn't sound to eager because she didn't want to give him the impression that she needed him to be part of Angelize's life. It was a privilege must be earned and to earn it, they've got to be everything that Michael said they'd be.
"I'll be right there then. I'll call you back when I get there."
"No problem. See you there." She hangs up the phone and pulls back on to the road. Without realizing it, the thought that scared her to death came to mind... What if they want to take Angelize away from her so they could raise her? She couldn't handle losing the only person that she lives for. She's had Angelize since she was only 3 months and to risk having that child taken from her was a thought that she couldn't handle. Pulling up to the precinct, she contemplated calling and canceling but didn't because she had promised Mike that she'd make the attempt to have them involved. Taking a deep breath, she gets out the car and awaits his call. A few minutes later, the man that was in the picture with Michael approached her. He was an extremely good-looking man in person and given different circumstances she would have done what every normal 22 year old would do... Flirt. Granted the given situation wasn't appropriate.
"Jaidin right." She nodded. "Michael sent me and my mother a few pictures of you and angelize."
"He sent me pictures too. Is your mother coming too?" She noticed the laceration under his eye. "Oh God, was she hurt yesterday?"
"Yeah, her arm was pinned under the car that drove through the wake. She's in intensive care but she'll be ok. You weren't at the wake."
"No I wasn't there but I was on my way. Once news broke, I turned around because I had the baby with me and she didn't need to see that. But I'm truly sorry to hear about your mom. Is there anything I can do?"
"I had a talk with her once I got the letters and all she's been asking for is to see Michael's little girl." He had such a sincere demeanor that it broke her heart. Imagine being at a funeral of a person who's life ended all too soon and end up almost losing someone else. It would be unbearable.
"Uh... the thing is that I'd like to be there too. Angelize is very friendly but she will not go with a stranger. When you have such a bubbly and lovable child, you've got to teach them from early on not to go with anyone that you don't know. She's very smart."
"I can only imagine. Of course you'd be there too. We'd like to get to know you as well. You're apart of her life. What happened to her mother if you don't mind me asking?"
Daisy was a sensitive topic for Jaidin. They had been the best of friends since they were 10. Jaidin had stayed with Daisy and her family till she was 18 after her stepfather died. Her mother, Julia had left her in the custody of her stepfather, Marcus Caffey, while she went off and lived her dream of becoming one of the most prominent attorneys in the city. Marcus remarried when she was five years old and they moved into the lower east side of Manhattan with his new family. She went from being the only child to having seven other stepbrothers and sisters and didn't mind it one bit. Once Marcus died, her stepbrothers and sisters insisted that she stayed with them but her mother wanted her away from them. She knew her mother always felt threatened by Mrs. Caffey because she was a ten times better mother to Jaidin than Julia had ever been. So to have her way, Julia threatened that if Jaidin didn't go and stay with Daisy that she would stop funding her education at New York's best private school. She left a few days later but never severed the ties with her family.
Daisy and her went to a private high school in lower Manhattan but things changed between them once she met Michael in their junior year. In 1998, Daisy was thrown out of school because her grades dropped below the school's set standards. Michael became the only thing she cared about and the only thing that stood in the way of her doing something. Michael was a sweetheart with a great personality but he had a bad choice of lifestyle. When her and Michael broke up in 1999, she was already a couple of months pregnant but left that part out when she told Michael what a screw up she thought he was. Once Angelize was born in June of 2000, Daisy was happy for a little while but couldn't take the pressure of having to deal with the constant responsibility that came with raising a child. She left when Angelize was three months and hasn't looked back since. Jaidin still defends her friend's decision and is just grateful that she left the baby in her care instead of a dumpster somewhere. Jaidin hadn't considered telling Michael about the baby mainly because she moved uptown and didn't expect to see him. That one day that she did bump into him, she let her emotions out without giving a thought to what she was saying but she had to let him know about his daughter whether he like what she had to say or not. He had asked about Daisy's whereabouts and the true was Jaidin had no clue. She still doesn't know till this day if the woman she called her best friend is even alive or in NY. She can only hope that she's doing well and that harm hasn't crossed her path.
"Her mother left when she was only three months old. Where to, I don't know." She didn't want to portray animosity towards Daisy because as horrible as abandoning your child is, she gave Jaidin thee greatest gift and that's Angelize. "Wow. But my mother would really like to get to know the both of you. You're both the key to part of Michael's life that we had no idea about. And we'd love to know about it" He smiled at her and she felt her knees go weak. "I don't get out of her until eleven o clock and I'm leaving Angelize in my stepsister's house. If you'd like to meet up her after my shift, I'd be happy to go into detail with whatever you'd like to know."
"That would be good but why don't you meet me at Angel of Mercy Hospital. I'll introduce you to my mother and we'll make arrangements from there."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Nice to meet you." She extends her hand to Jaidin for a quick handshake.
"So Jaidin, I'll see you tonight at Angel of Mercy. Call me when you're on your way."
"I will." She waves bye and walks into the precinct.
Once settled into her uniform, she sat in Roll Call awaiting the shift announcements. Lieutenant Swersky entered a short time after and immediately began addressing the new issues the precinct had at hand.
"As I'm sure you all know, yesterday was one of the worst days in this precinct's history. Our entire Narcotics department and almost all of our Anti-Crime division were murdered yesterday. On top of that the surviving member of the anti-crime team was shot in the ambush at the hospital. To add insult to injury, several of our uniform patrol officers were also shot. Today, we need some of you to cover your sectors alone. Some of you will be working with the plain-clothes unit until we get some more from downtown. On a more positive note, I'd like to introduce you to the newest officer to arrive at our precinct. Officer Jaidin Contreras has joined us from the 26th precinct and from what I was told she did wonders for their communications and criminal identification departments. Lets show her how the best officers in New York do it. That's all. Eyes and ears open out there. We don't need anyone else being hurt."
The entire shift her mind was stuck on what might go on at the meeting with the Boscorelli's tonight. Was she dressed appropriately to meet his mother? It was an extremely warm day in May and she had gone to work in a denim skirt and a white off the shoulder shirt. Then she wondered if she should bring her something like flowers or a fruit basket. Her stepfather always taught her that when you meet someone for the first time that out of respect, do not go empty handed. Her thoughts were interrupted when Lieutenant Swersky approached her and said that she had a visitor. When she headed to the front door, she was Jennifer standing with Angelize in her arms and her sister Renee's son, Izayah standing next to her.
"Jennifer, she's three, why are you caring her?"
"Jai, there's something wrong. She's having a hard time breathing. We were going to Central Park and she started wheezing and coughing. I gave her the inhaler but it hasn't helped her. All she's asking for is you and Michael." Jaidin takes Angelize into her arms.
"Angel, what's the matter?"
"Titi, it hurts. When I breath, it hurts." She wanted to cry but it seemed to hurt her too much. Her lips had a slight bluish tint to it. She rushes to the front desk and asked Swersky to call an ambulance. Turning to Jennifer, "do me a favor, take my car and drive it to the hospital."
"Which one?" Jaidin swiftly asked Swersky which was the local hospital.
"Angel of Mercy."
"Meet me there." The medics rushed in and loaded the toddler into the ambulance. She received the loss time and jump into the bus next to Angelize.
"Titi... hold me." The medic, Carlos, puts the toddler in her aunt's arms.
"Angelize, I'm going to put a mask on you. It's going to help you breath easier." Carlos spoke to her calmly and even made her a balloon from his glove.
"You have any kids?" Jaidin had to ask.
"Yea, she's the same age as yours."
"This is my niece actually. But thank you for being so gentle." She smiles and the rest of the ride is in silence.
Once they arrived at the hospital, they immediately took the child into a room. While waiting for a doctor, Angelize had allowed Jaidin to lay her down on the bed. She turned on her side and closed her eyes. The problem was that when the doctor came in, she didn't want to wake up. "Angelize open your eyes!" Jaidin became hysterical as the doctors began working on her niece. Mary Proctor escorted her to the back room to calm down. But how could she, her niece had just slipped into a comatose state and she had no idea why.