Maya smiled when she saw Ray enter the tavern. He was her cue to leave. She said goodnight to her manager and grabbed her purse.
"Hey," Maya said as she kissed Ray.
"Hi. You ready?" Ray asked.
"Yes. Do you have your room key?"
Ray held up the key. He took her hand and led her out of the tavern. They walked around to the side of the building to the stairs that led to the motel rooms on the second floor.
"So, I was looking into what we needed when we applied for a marriage certificate. They do require our birth certificates. Which is a bit of a problem since I don't have one, but my dad is going to see if he can pull a few strings," Maya said.
"Ah."
"Do you have your birth certificate?"
"Well, I know where it is," Ray said.
"Where is it?"
"Locked in my mom's safety deposit box," Ray mumbled.
"Why can't you get it?"
"It's in her name, and I can't prove she's dead. I never got a death certificate or anything."
"You never got it?"
Ray shrugged and opened the door to his motel room.
"Ray!"
"What do you want me to do, Maya?"
Maya sighed and sat down on the bed. She thought for a minute before she gasped.
"I have an idea!"
Ice groaned when the doorbell rang. Even on his day off, he couldn't finish his lunch without getting interrupted. He tried to ignore the person, but they started knocking relentlessly. He threw his sandwich down and went over to the door. He was surprised to see Ray and Maya standing on his front stoop.
"Hey, Ice!" Maya said.
"Hi. This is a nice surprise. Come on in. You'll have to excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting company." Ice straightened up the books on the coffee table.
"You're fine."
"What brings you by?" Ice turned up the thermostat when he saw Ray shivering.
"You're a lawyer for dead people's money, right?" Maya asked.
"Well, I've never heard it phrased quite like that before."
"We need his birth certificate for our marriage application. The problem is it's locked in a safety deposit box in his mom's name."
"Not a problem. Do you have her death certificate?"
"No," Ray said.
"Was it mailed to you?"
Ray shook his head.
"Okay. Let me look into it and I'll let you know when I have it," Ice said.
"You don't have to. I can't pay you," Ray said.
"I'll do it for free."
"You will?"
"Don't you remember? When you were in the hospital and Hermes was pissing me off and I said I would take cases for you pro bono but not him? I meant it."
"You did?"
"Yes. Just don't abuse my kindness. Let's talk in my office. It's right in here. I just need to grab something really fast."
Ice led Maya and Ray to his office, then he ran into the kitchen and wolfed down his sandwich before he grabbed a spare chair and joined them.
"That's a cute picture of Libby," Maya said. She pointed to the picture on his desk.
"Yeah, that was before she went into her 'I don't want any photos of me taken' phase. Okay. Question number one: where were you living when your mom died?" Ice asked as he sat down behind his desk.
"The Clearwater Apartments on Vincent Street," Ray said.
"Okay, and do you know which funeral home she went to?"
"Palmer's. Sorry, where's your bathroom?"
"Through the kitchen, it's on the left."
"Thank you." Ray left them.
"While he's gone, can I ask another favor of you? I can pay you for this," Maya said.
"Sure. What is it?" Ice asked.
"Ray told me he likes to believe his father is dead. Do you think you could check and see if that's true? He may not want to know, but I do."
"That's a tricky one. That would be something you would ask a private investigator, not me. Besides, it's really Ray's call."
"But he doesn't want to know," Maya said.
"That's his decision."
Ice looked at the old apartment building. It was the correct address, but he couldn't imagine anyone here. He could see the place was falling apart from the street and he didn't even want to imagine what the apartments looked like. The building was across from the river which was anything but clear. He found his way over to the manager's building and knocked on the open door. The tiny room was hot and stuffy, despite the fan that was on. The single window in the room was nailed shut, but a hole just above the window let the bugs in. The receptionist looked up.
"I'm looking for the building manager," Ice said.
"Herb!"
A fat man in a stained white tank top and jean shorts came out of the tiny office. He was smoking a cigarette.
"Are you the building manager?" Ice asked.
"What's it to ya?" Herb spat.
"Horatio DiNapoli, attorney." Ice handed the man his card.
"Attorney?"
"Yes. I'm inquiring about a former tenant of yours. Ruby Smithers."
"I don't know where she's at."
"She's dead," Ice said.
"Oh. Oh! Now I remember. Smithers. Yeah. How could I forget? I went to evict them and she had died."
"Evict them?"
"That's what happens when you can't pay rent. Though her kid did try. Never had enough money. Felt sorry for them, though. She was real sick. I let 'em stay there longer than I should have."
"Why not call social services? There are programs designed to help people like that," Ice said.
"Not my job."
"I see. Did her death certificate get mailed here by any chance?"
"Nope," Herb said.
"Are you sure?"
Herb blew his cigarette smoke in Ice's face.
"I'm sure," Herb said.
"Well, thank you for your time." Ice ran out of the office.
Palmer's Funeral Home was only a mile and a half away from the apartment. When he opened the door, there wasn't anyone around. He rang the bell on the desk a few times before someone finally came up.
"Hi. Sorry, my assistant is off this week. Jimmy Palmer, I'm the owner."
"Horatio DiNapoli, attorney. I'm trying to track down a death certificate of someone you did the funeral for."
"How long ago?"
"Five years."
"Ooh. I may not have that. I took over for my dad eight months ago and I haven't converted all of his old records over yet. What was the name of the deceased?"
"Ruby Smithers."
Jimmy looked on the computer for a moment. He shook his head and disappeared into the back. Almost five minutes later, he returned with an envelope.
"You're in luck. There was no address to mail it out to, but her son was supposed to come back and pick it up. I'm surprised he never did."
"He's been a bit… preoccupied," Ice said. He took the envelope and left.
As soon as he got home, he made a phone call to the Ninjago City Housing Department.
Two weeks later, Ice got off the train in Stiix. He put his hand in his pocket where his wallet and keys were as he walked to the tavern. Maya was waiting tables when she saw him.
"Hey, how are you?" Maya asked.
Ice did a double-take when he saw her low-cut black top, extremely short black skirt, fishnet stockings, and stiletto heels. He had never seen her in anything so revealing before.
"I'm fine," Ice said.
"I'm taking my break!" Maya yelled at her manager. She grabbed her jacket and led Ice around the side of the building.
"Is Ray around?" Ice asked as they climbed the stairs.
"No, he's out job hunting. We didn't think you would have anything this quickly." Maya unlocked her hotel room. She immediately kicked off her shoes and put some pants on under her skirt.
"The funeral home had the original." Ice put his briefcase on the table and opened it. He handed the manilla envelope over.
"Really?"
"Ray was supposed to pick it up and he never did. Please, if he wants my help with the bank, let me know. It's been a long time since she died and bankers are… Come get me before he goes to the bank."
"Okay. Did you find out anything about his dad?"
"Maya, we've been over this," Ice said.
"But I want to know!"
"It's Ray's decision."
"He's not going to want to find out. I don't know why, but he doesn't want to know anything about his father," Maya said.
"I'm just as curious as you are, but we have to respect Ray's decision."
Ice was eating lunch at his desk when Frank, his boss, knocked on his door.
"You have visitors," Frank said.
"Who?" Ice asked. He wasn't expecting any clients over.
"A couple of kids, called you by your nickname. Want me to tell them to wait?"
"No. Send them in." Ice quickly hid his lunch.
Frank left. A moment later, Ray and Maya entered his office.
"Hi," Ice said.
"You said to get you before we went to the bank," Maya said.
"I thought you worked at your house," Ray said.
"That's only if I pick up extra cases outside of the firm. How was your job hunt?" Ice asked.
"Unsuccessful."
"Sorry to hear that. Well, I won't be able to go to the bank with you until Thursday. You two are welcome to stay at my house until then. I have two spare beds," Ice said.
"Two?" Maya asked.
"Yeah. One was Libby's and one is for when my mother comes by unannounced." Ice gave Ray the key to his house.
"My boss isn't going to be happy that I'm going to miss so much work," Maya said.
"Can he fire you?" Ray asked.
"He can, but Dad would kill him." Maya took Ray's hand and left.
Ice worked through his lunch break so he could get off early. It's not that he didn't trust Ray and Maya, but he wanted to make sure Ray didn't heat his house up too much.
It was too late.
When Ice walked through his front door, he could tell the house was way hotter than it normally was. Ray and Maya were sitting on the couch. Ray was wrapped in a blanket.
"Hi," Ice said. He walked over to the thermostat, but it was set at the usual temperature. He turned it up some so the A/C hopefully wouldn't run all the time.
"My mom died of lung cancer?" Ray asked.
Ice turned around and noticed Ray was holding the death certificate.
"Yes," Ice said.
"She didn't smoke."
"Smoking is just the leading cause of lung cancer. She could've picked it up at her job if she was around chemicals, or from second-hand smoke, or from any number of other places."
"I told you," Maya said as she rubbed Ray's arm.
Ray put the death certificate on the table and hugged his knees.
"Ray, when we get your birth certificate, your father's name might be on it. Are you going to want to know his name?" Ice asked.
"No," Ray said.
"No?" Maya asked.
"I may not be educated, but I'm not stupid. If he didn't die before I was born, then there's only a few possible explanations and none of them are good. If I know his name, I'm going to want to find out more about him, and I don't want him to be a horrible person."
Ray hated it in Ice's house. Everywhere Ray looked there was a reminder of just how wealthy Ice was. There were hundreds of books scattered throughout the house. Pictures and art hung in every room. The beds were covered in silk sheets. The shower and sinks all had hot and cold water. Ice had even given them money so they could buy some clothes and toiletries to last them until Thursday, and he had offered up use of his washing machine.
Maya forced Ray to buy two new shirts and a new pair of pants with the money.
"It will help you with your job search," Maya reasoned.
Ray looked at the racks of new clothes. Even though they were in a cheap store that had a little bit of everything, he could not believe he was able to buy new clothes for the first time in his life. He was afraid to touch any of them for fear this was a dream and he would wake up at any moment. When he handed the money to the cashier, he was sure he would be kicked out.
"We shouldn't have bought these," Ray said as they walked back to Ice's house.
"Ray, for the tenth time, it's okay to have new clothes," Maya said.
"The money wasn't ours."
"Ice knew we were unprepared to stay until Thursday and wanted to help us out a little. It's fine. Besides, I think your new shirts look great on you."
"We shouldn't have bought these."
"Would you relax?" Maya grabbed the newspaper on their way inside. They sat down at the kitchen table and Maya started skimming through the paper. Ray put his head down on the table.
"Ray, didn't you live at the Clearwater Apartments?" Maya asked after a few minutes.
"Yeah."
"They've been condemned."
"Huh?" Ray sat up.
"It means they're unfit for human habitation."
"I know what condemned means. When did this happen?"
"A few days ago. It says the Housing Department got an anonymous tip about the apartment building three weeks ago, and the subsequent investigation determined that there was too much work to be done to bring the building back up to code. The current tenants will be rehomed before the end of the month."
"Good. That place needs to be torn down."
Maya rubbed his arm.
Ice came home just then. He placed some grocery bags on the counter.
"Thanks for lending us some money," Maya said.
"Of course. Did you get everything you need?" Ice asked.
"Yep. And, personally, I think Ray's new shirts look good."
"You got him to buy a new shirt?"
"Two of them."
"Wow."
"I told you it was a bad idea," Ray said.
"No, no, it's just that in the whole time I've known you, you've never bought yourself new clothes. You tend to wear your clothes until they fall apart," Ice said.
"Yeah, you're not doing that anymore," Maya said.
"But-" Ray started.
"No."
"But I-"
"No."
"Ice? Help?"
"You're the one getting married to her," Ice said.
"Listen, you're going to get a job and we're going to be able to afford things. New things. And part of that is replacing old things that aren't good anymore. Understand?" Maya said.
Ray nodded.
"Good."
Maya held Ray's hand as they walked to the bank. Ray looked at the ground while he walked. When they got to the bank, Ray stopped.
"Ray?" Maya asked.
"What if they just kick me out again?" Ray asked.
"You'll be fine as long as you let me do all the talking," Ice said. He held the door open for them.
Maya pulled Ray inside. It was only a few minutes before they were escorted into a manager's office. Ice explained everything while Ray sat in the chair next to him. When asked if he had the key to the safety deposit box, Ray took it out of his pocket.
"You had that the whole time? Why didn't you tell them that before?" Ice asked.
"I did. They didn't believe me," Ray said.
The bank manager led them to the back. He used Ray's key plus the bank's key to open the box. It was a small box. Inside were some documents, a ruby, and several savings bonds in Ray's name. Ray skimmed through the documents. Maya stopped him and pulled out his birth certificate. She looked at it. Ray's father was named, as well as the place where Ray was born. She handed the certificate back to Ray.
"Okay, Ray, I am going to make a few suggestions. One, you open up a checking account and a savings account in your name. I would wait on opening any joint accounts until after you're married and Maya has changed her name. But at least you can cash in some of the older bonds and transfer any money from your mom's account into your own account. Two, open up your own safety deposit box so you have a good place to store these," Ice said.
"Where did Mom get these from?" Ray asked. He picked up a savings bond.
"She bought them for you. It looks like she was trying to help set you up for the future."
Ray picked up the ruby. It was tiny.
"I can't explain that," Ice said.
"Is it real?" Maya asked.
"I don't know. I'm not a jeweler."
"Maybe we should get it appraised."
Ray shrugged.
"You two can talk about it later, right now, let's get Ruby's account closed," Ice said.
Ray grabbed everything and followed Ice back to the bank manager's office. There, Ice helped him close out Ruby's accounts. Ruby had over ten thousand bucks in a savings account.
"I don't understand. She had money?" Ray asked.
"Ray, I can't explain why your mother kept this money. All I can do is suggest the best way to invest it," Ice said.
"Maybe she wanted to leave you something," Maya said.
"But we could've used it! She could've bought medicine or food or…." Ray rubbed his eyes.
"Ray, try not to think about it."
"How can I not think about it? She lied to me again!" Ray ran out of the room.
"I'll talk to him." Maya followed Ray.
Ray was outside pacing in front of the door. Maya slowly approached him. When he saw her, he stopped long enough for her to wrap him in a hug.
"She lied. Again," Ray whispered. He pulled away from Maya.
"Ray…"
"She did this all the time. She never told me about my powers, she never told me about my father or her family, and now she has money that we could've used just sitting in a bank account, not to mention everything in the safety deposit box."
"Ray…"
"I wish I could talk to her so I could ask her if there's anything else she hid from me, like, I don't know, maybe she kidnapped me from a wealthy family and blackmailed them."
"Ray, stop. You don't mean that," Maya said.
"She had ten thousand bucks! That money had to come from somewhere."
"Well, some of it would've come from interest-"
"You can't get that much money from interest!"
"Ray!"
"I've been homeless for over five years now, Maya. She was sick and we were evicted. I had to get a job to try and pay the bills. Not once did she go, 'oh, by the way, I have money in a bank account we can use to pay the rent.'"
"I'm sure your mother was doing what she thought was best."
Ray glared at Maya.
"She obviously cared about you," Maya said.
"I'm sorry, but I'm having trouble believing that right now," Ray said.
Two months later, Maya stepped off the train in Ninjago City. The private investigator she had hired was finally finished with his report. With Ray up north looking for jobs, she knew she wouldn't have to worry about him catching her. Maya had tried looking into Ray's father on her own, but apart from an old newspaper article about a house fire, she couldn't find out much about him. She waited until she was in her hotel room before she read the report. She couldn't believe her eyes.
The first thing she picked up was a picture of the man. He had dark brown hair, amber eyes, and a mustache. Ray looked a lot like him. Paperclipped to the picture was an address. Maya took a deep breath before reading the report.
"Okay, let's see… works at a factory owned by his uncle… married for twenty-seven years… two children, ages twenty-five and twenty-two… Huh, his house and the factory burned down on the same night, seven months before Ray was born… 'the factory fire was attributed to a faulty electrical system… the house fire was caused by an unknown arsonist.' That's it?" Maya flipped through the report again. For five hundred bucks, she had hoped for a bit more information.
The next morning, Maya got up early to get ready. She normally didn't care too much about doing her hair and makeup, but she wanted to make sure she didn't look like she was from Stiix. After fighting with her hair for twenty minutes, she gave up and tied it back in a ponytail. Her father's words about knowing when it was best to play up her femininity echoed in her mind as she did her makeup. She decided to wear one of the shirts she bought the last time she was in Ninjago City. She stuffed the report in her bag, hid a couple of throwing knives on her person, and headed out. Maya headed right into the heart of the bad part of the city. The sisters of the Order of St. Raymond were dedicated to helping women in need. Two nuns who didn't look much older than Maya were out front tending to the garden. They looked up when Maya approached.
"Hello. Can we help you?"
"I'm not sure. Is there anyone available who worked here twenty years ago?" Maya asked.
The nuns escorted her inside. They led her to an office. While she waited, Maya debated what to do. Should she lie and say she was born there? She felt like lying to a nun was a sure-fire way to go to the Cursed Realm when she died, but she also felt like they wouldn't tell her anything if she told them the truth. A moment later, the door opened. An old nun in a somewhat fancier wimple sat down at the desk across from Maya.
"Hello. I am Mother Julianna. I understand you are looking for someone who worked here some time ago?"
"Yes."
"I have been with the Order for over forty years now. How can I assist you?"
Maya took a deep breath and decided not to risk eternity in the Cursed Realm.
"My fiancé was born here nineteen years ago. Actually, he'll be twenty in August. I was just curious if you remembered anything from back then," Maya said.
"I might. If not, we have everything written down. What is his name?"
"Ray Smithers. His mom was Ruby Smithers.
Mother Julianna looked through her filing cabinet and pulled out a small folder.
"Ah, yes. Ruby Smithers. I remember her. Poor girl. I do hope she's alright."
"She's dead," Maya said.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"I never met her, but I'm trying to find people who knew her."
"Well, I'm not sure how much help I can be. She was only with us for about six weeks. After she gave birth, she wanted to stay and work for us, but we told her this place is not meant to be a hiding place. She had to quit her job as a secretary because she worked with the baby's father."
"Do you know why she was here in the first place?" Maya asked.
"Her father was going to force her to give up the baby for adoption. She ran off and ended up on our doorstep. Poor thing. She told me the baby's father lied to her and seduced her, then when she ended up pregnant, he gave her money for an abortion."
"How much money?"
"I do not know."
Maya sighed when she left the convent. She knew she couldn't tell Ray anything, but she had to tell someone. She hopped on a bus and rode it into the suburbs where Ice lived. It took a minute for Ice to open his door after she knocked.
"You know, you have a bad habit of interrupting my lunch," Ice said.
"I'm sorry, but I need to talk to you." Maya made her way inside. She put her stuff down on the couch.
"What did you do?" Ice asked.
"I went to the convent where Ray was born," Maya admitted.
"I told you to respect Ray's decision!"
"I had to know! I talked to the head nun there, and I think that ten thousand bucks Ruby had came from his father. He gave it to Ruby so she would get an abortion."
"What?"
"The nun said Ruby told her Ray's father gave her money to get an abortion, but she didn't know how much." Maya handed over the P.I.'s report for Ice to read.
"Are you going to tell Ray?" Ice asked when he was done reading.
"I can't. It would crush him."
"If Ray finds out you went behind his back and looked up his dad, that will crush him."
"He's not going to find out. But, if he ever changes his mind, then I can tell him."
"You're playing with fire, Maya. Don't come crying to me if Ray loses his trust in you."
"I won't." Maya grabbed her things and left.
She made a detour on her way back to her hotel.
The cemetery was only a little out of her way. Maya walked down the rows and rows of graves until she found Ruby's grave. The headstone was extremely simple and only said her name, birth date, and death date. There were no flowers on her grave. Maya didn't know why she wanted to talk to the grave. It wasn't like Ruby could actually hear her.
"Hi. You don't know me. My name is Maya and I am going to marry your son. I know you cared about him and did your best, and I promise I'm going to take good care of him."