Relationships are often defined by huge moments. How two people first met or grand gestures made. Beth and Rio had plenty of those. Breaking and entering, a storage room full of money, a pink blanket, three gunshots.
But relationships are also defined by tinier moments, the kind that build on themselves over time into a foundation. Beth and Rio had those too. The touch of a hand under a table, a half smile, a finger tracing a stray piece of hair.
It's that tangled web that sits heavy in the air between Beth and Rio as they have another moment together, an unexpected one, a drawing contest with their kids.
So much of what happened between them was always kind of strange. How else to describe a gang leader and suburban housewife washing money and pushing drugs. So much of what happened between them was unpredictable, the result of the friction force from each of them exerting so much effort to get the other to move the way they wanted, no choice but for the static to combust. So even though she tried to kill him, something about sitting around Beth's table seemed completely normal.
It started ordinarily enough. As ordinary as any exchange between two people who were boss and employee, lover and enemy, killer and resurrected all mixed together. Rio wanted Beth out of his life, he had a strong belief system around rotten eggs, but she could still make him money and that's what made his world go around. They fell easily back into old patterns, old rhythms. So Rio was not surprised when she gave him a hard time about showing up at her house unexpectedly, demanding she meet a new partner to checkout their warehouse.
"No. It's not my job," Beth practically hissed. "That's not our deal. I wash the cash, that's it. What are you always telling me to do? Stay in my lane, right?"
Before Beth continued her rant, she noticed Marcus peeking out from Rio's car window.
"What is Marcus doing with you?"
"You're not the only one with a family."
"I'll watch him while you go."
"No."
"You want to watch my four?"
Rio inhaled deeply, annoyance twitching his lips. This meeting was last minute, his options were limited, Beth was throwing his words back in his face and time was running out. With a sigh, he conceded.
"I'll make it quick."
Rio jogged to his car and let Marcus out of the back seat, explaining the change of plans as they walked back toward Beth.
"Daddy, why do you have to leave?" Marcus' brown eyes were inquisitive but sad. He was resilient, and Rio did his best to keep his life as normal possible, structured far away from the criminal element. But like every kid he had moods and tantrums, which were happening more frequently ever since Rio had been 'away.' What Marcus thought was a work trip was actually Rio recovering in the hospital. Rio made a mental note to plan something special for spring break, and squatted to get eye level with his son.
"Because that's how I take care of you. How I pay for things. Not just for you but for all our family." Without disclosing or exposing him to his work, Rio was always transparent and direct with Marcus.
"I don't want you to leave."
"It's only a couple hours. I promise. Besides, no one else can be a shark like me." He grabbed Marcus' arm and nibbled at his hand, then his elbow. When Marcus finally laughed, Rio ruffled his hair.
"You can stay up late to watch an extra episode of Paw Patrol. Okay?"
Satisfied, Marcus nodded and hugged Rio before running into the house, Beth's kids excited to greet him.
"A shark?" Beth asked.
"It's just a game we play."
Beth smirked. A shark suited Rio perfectly. Both tough, always moving, deadly.
When Rio returned on time, exactly two hours later, he walked into an unfamiliar but pleasant scene as Beth opened the door for him, the first time he was actually invited in to her house. The kids were crowded around the dining room table, a comfortable chaos of talking and laughing and paper and crayons and snacks. The sunset sprinkled an extra layer of happiness into the room.
"Daddy, daddy! Look, we're having a contest to see who can draw the best shark," Marcus excitedly explained, his disappointment at Rio's departure long forgotten.
"Is that right?"
"Yeah! The winner gets a candy bar. And Miss Beth said she'll take us to the aquarium to see real sharks. You draw one too, Daddy." Marcus held up a blank piece of paper. Rio hesitated before taking the empty seat across from Beth, unwilling to ruin the moment for his son.
"How did it go?" Beth asked, keeping her question quiet even though the kids were only paying attention to each other.
"Fine," Rio doodled as he answered. "No problems. All set."
He looked across the table at Beth who was fully in her element keeping a houseful of kids happy and entertained. She gave each one attention, laughed at their stories, praised their drawings, firm when she needed to be. Somehow this was the same woman who shot him. He shouldn't be back in her life or letting her back into his. But here they were. Creating a new normal that made little sense. But little ever had between them. When she caught him staring he didn't look away.
"You cut your hair," he said.
"It was just.."
"Just a trim," Rio finished her sentence for her.
"Just a trim." Beth repeated.
"What do you think?" Rio asked, ending their private moment, holding up his finished drawing. "Is the candy bar mine or what?"
There were seconds of silence before everyone burst into laughter, including Rio. He used triangles for the fins, tail and teeth so while the shapes were accurate the resulting body was so angular and out of proportion that it could only be called a shark through abstract interpretations.
"How about you," he said, nodding to Beth. "Let's see what you got."
"Drumroll, please." Beth tapped her fingers on the table until everyone joined in and she held up her drawing. As crafty as Beth was, she was used to the precision of stencils and her Cricut. Left to her own freehand, her shark looked more like a sad worm than a fierce predator.
Beth was the first to crack, then the kids. Then finally Rio. It felt good to laugh. It reminded Rio of how little of it he'd been doing. It reminded him that he needed to hate Beth for trying to take these moments away from him, from Marcus. So why did he still like the sound of her laughter? Why was he distracted by the way she looked? It drove him insane that Beth still had an effect on him, that he could not dismiss her as easily as he wanted. He thought these feelings disappeared with the those three gunshots into his skin, locked away by the scar tissue on his chest. But when Beth caught his gaze, shot him the smallest of smiles from across the table, he recognized something taking shape. Something both familiar and foreign. Something he pushed to the far corners of his mind, his heart. Something that had been brewing just under the surface ever since he rose from the dead and stormed back into her life.
"Alright, pop. Time to go." Rio stood up from his chair, uncomfortable with the sensation of playing house with Beth. He couldn't slip up. Not let that line blur again. He knew precisely why it would be a mistake if he did.
"Nooo!" Every kid protested in chorus.
"Can we stay for dinner?" Marcus begged. "Miss Beth is making my favorite."
"Spaghetti and meatballs?" Rio wanted to leave, but he could already feel Marcus' puppy dog eyes winning him over.
"She has a secret ingredient that makes the meatballs extra good."
"Of course she does." Rio arched an eyebrow to Beth, who silently mouthed 'bacon.' "Well, we can't miss that can we?"
Afterward, Rio helped Beth clean up while the kids played a game of Jenga, everyone's shark drawings hanging proudly on the wall, a five-way tie declared between all the kids.
"I don't think Marcus will ever eat my spaghetti and meatballs again," Rio said as he loaded the dishwasher, moving comfortably around the kitchen. Marcus' laughter caught his ear as the tower of blocks toppled over again in the next room.
"There's actually a secret ingredient in the sauce too."
"What's that?"
"A little bit of lemon zest. Just make sure you add it at the very end."
"Now I have two things to work on. My spaghetti sauce and my drawing."
"Anything for our kids, right?" Beth's smile was different, free and open. Just an honest smile, an honest answer. And the look in her eyes, asking Rio to read a million things into it, to translate her explanation, her apology for those three pulls on the trigger, melted away another layer of protection inside him.
They stood across from each other, and Rio's mind flashed to the first time they were in this room together, standing just like this. Beth using her pearls as her calling card, offering her services. The night that put this whole thing in motion, when the crackling energy between them became a live wire of attraction and intrigue and power.
And just like that night all that time ago, Rio examined Beth, saw the sparkle in her eye, and pictured what he wanted, what he didn't and what he might be able to have.