Chapter 10: Making the Move
Amanda stared out the window the entire ride to Christina's house. Her mind was going over all the things that might happen in the coming days. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the car had come to a stop. Chris put the car in park and turned off the engine. She undid her seat belt and opened her door to get out when she looked over and saw Rollins just sitting there.
"Hello. Earth to blondie" she said getting her attention. Rollins rolled her eyes and looked at her.
"Ok, rule number one: don't call me blondie" she said.
"Oh, are we making rules?" she asked. Rollins stared at her a blank expression on her face. "I guess I better start thinking of some, huh?" Rollins just kept staring at her with the same blank expression. "What's wrong with you?" she asked. Rollins seemed to be in a weird mood since they left the precinct. She hadn't said a word the entire drive over to Chris' house. She continued to just sit there silently and stare at her as if she hadn't just asked her a question. "Ok" she said clearing her throat. "Ummm, I'm gonna go pack some stuff. You can wait here or you can come inside. It's up to you" she said. She waited for a minute to give Amanda a chance to decide if she wanted to wait in the car or come in the house with her. Without saying anything, Amanda took off her seatbelt, opened her door, and got out of the car. Chris let out of huff of air and climbed out of the driver's seat. She hit the button for the locks and led the way up to her front door. She unlocked and opened the door, letting Rollins step in before her. She shut the door behind them and started up the stairs then stopped when she realized Amanda was still standing in the foyer.
"Come on" she said looking down at her. She hesitated for a second before starting to climb the stairs. Chris continued up and down the hall to her room. She pulled a couple of bags out of her closet and started packing up her clothes. She heard someone talking in another room and went to see who it was. As she got closer, she recognized the voice. She went over and opened the door. "What the hell are you doing?" she yelled. Jeza practically jumped out of her skin when she heard her sister.
"Ummm, I...You...I was..." she stuttered. She brought her phone up to her ear, "I have to call you back" she said to whoever was on the phone before hanging up. "What are you doing here?"
"Hago las preguntas. Por que no estas en la escuela?" she asked. Jeza looked at her with a stupid expression on her face. "Estoy esperando" she said impatiently.
"I just...didn't feel like going" she said.
"You didn't feel like going?" she asked mockingly. "Since when is it your decision whether you go to school or not?" Jeza looked at her again with a dumb expression. "Jezalyn Esmerelda Reyes, answer me" she said angrily.
"It's not" she said softly.
"That's right. It's not. So get your shit, go downstairs and wait in the living room. You're going to school". Jeza pouted and grabbed her book bag then started to leave her room. Chris stepped in front of her to stop her from leaving. "Phone" she said holding out her hand. Jeza looked like she was about to burst into tears on the spot.
"But" she said starting to protest. The look on Chris' face stopped her from finishing her sentence. She handed over the phone and headed downstairs to wait for Chris to drive her to school. Chris put the phone in her pocket and went back to her room to finish packing. Rollins was sitting on the bed waiting for her.
"Who was that?" she asked. Chris cleared her throat.
"That was my sister ditching school" she said. "So, we're gonna have to make a stop before going to your place". Rollins silently nodded her head. Chris went to the hall closet and grabbed a suitcase to put the rest of her clothes in along with her small jewelry box. She grabbed on of the smaller bags and took it the bathroom to get her toiletries and makeup then went back to her room. "Ok" she said grabbing her bags, "I'm ready". Amanda took one of the bags from her and headed down the stairs. Jeza stood up when she heard someone coming down the stairs only to look up and see it wasn't her sister.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked rudely.
"Go to the car!" Chris yelled. Jeza continued to pout as she snatched up her bag and stomped out the door. Rollins followed the girl out the door while Chris locked up the house. She hit the button to open the trunk for Rollins to put her bag in the back. She threw her other bags inside, closed the trunk then went and got in the driver's seat. She made the drive over to Jeza's school and walked her inside while Rollins waited in the car. Chris told the principal that she'd caught her sister skipping school and to give whatever punishment they normally gave students for skipping. They gave Jeza an hour of detention for each class she missed totaling three hours. The principal handed her progress reports Jeza's teachers had prepared for her. She was in danger of failing two classes which would mean she'd be repeating the eleventh grade. "Ya hablaremos de esto mas tarde" she said holding up the progress reports. "Go to class". Jeza took her detention slips and left the office to go to class. Chris turned back to the principal, "Thank you. Please don't hesitate to call me if she gives you any more problems". They shook hands and Chris left the school and went back to the car. "So I was thinking" she said as started the car, "We should have dinner at my house tonight". Rollins almost gave herself whiplash from snapping her head around so quickly.
"Why?" she asked. The last thing she wanted to do was have dinner with Reyes' family.
"Because you're my wife" she joked. Rollins wasn't amused. "Because I need to tell them that I won't be staying at home for awhile and why and I think it'd be a good idea for them to meet you" she said seriously.
"I don't think that's necessary for what we're trying to do here" she said trying to get out of it. "I know you want to come out to your family but you don't need me to do that" she said.
"I didn't say anything about "coming out" to anyone. I said I need to explain why I won't be staying at home for awhile. I know it'll make them feel better to know who I'm staying with". She pulled out her parking spot onto the street. "So, dinner at my house tonight?" she asked. She stopped at a red light and looked over at Rollins to see she was staring out the window. "Hello" she said trying to get her attention. Amanda just kept silently staring out the window. "Fine, you don't want to talk to me. I get it but unless you want to wander around the city aimlessly for the rest of the day, you should start giving me directions to your apartment". Rollins realized that she'd never told Chris where she lived so she started directing her towards her apartment building. When they arrived, Chris went to the trunk to get her bags. Rollins went right to the door to go upstairs to her apartment. "No, it's fine. I got it" Chris said sarcastically to herself. She closed the trunk and hit the locks before following Rollins inside.
Chris liked the setup of Amanda's place. It was nice and simple, just the right size for one person. If she lived alone, it looked like the kind of place she'd choose. She stood awkwardly in the living room waiting for Rollins to tell her where to put her stuff. As much as she understood her discomfortable with this situation, she was over Amanda's attitude. She didn't like their fake marriage either but they had a job to do and they definitely wouldn't get anywhere if they weren't talking to each other. Rollins came out of the bedroom and sat down on her couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the tv. Chris dropped her bags and grabbed the remote from her and switched the tv back off.
"What the hell" Rollins said annoyed.
"Listen, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to be but I'm here". She sat down next to her on the couch before continuing, "I know you like me and you have your issues with that but you need to put that aside and focus on the reason that we're here. There is a psycho out there murdering innocent women and it's our job to stop him. So are we gonna do this or not?" she asked. Rollins bit the inside of her cheek and thought about what Reyes was saying. She was nervous about the prospect of a relationship with Christina. Even though it was just pretend, to some extent it had to be real otherwise it wouldn't be believable. She hadn't had enough time to work through her feelings for Chris and understand where they were coming from. But Chris was right. They had a job to do so she had to put her own insecurities aside and focus on the task at hand.
"Yeah, ok" she finally said. "I'll go make some room for you in the closet". She got up from the couch and went into her bedroom. Reyes took a deep breath and slowly released it. As much as she was dreading this assignment, she was interested to see how this would work out. She wondered how well they would work together as a couple, if people would find them believable, and if the perp would even be interested in them.
"Hey" Rollins said pulling her out of her thoughts, "You can come put your stuff away". Chris stood up and grabbed bags and suitcase then headed into the bedroom. Amanda had moved her clothes to one side of the closet and cleared out a couple of drawers for her. She sat her stuff on the bed and started to unpack. Amanda came over and helped her hang up her clothes. "So, I was thinking about what you said and you're right. We've got a job to do and we should put our personal feelings aside to get it done" she said.
"We" Chris said looking at her sideways.
"Ok, I" she corrected. "I already told you that I'm not sure about my feelings for you or where they're coming from. Now I have to be married to you. I just...I wish I'd had time to sort it all out before being put in this position".
"Oh, I haven't put you in any positions yet, Rollins" she joked causing her to blush.
"You know what I mean" she said. Chris laughed and nodded her head. She put the last of her clothes away and put all of her toiletries and all her other feminine products in the bathroom. Amanda put Chris' suitcase and bags in the front closet then went back to the bedroom. She went over and sat next to Chris on the bed. "So, how's this gonna work?" she asked.
"Uh, well, we have to make people believe that we like each other. Love...each other" she corrected. "It should be an easy task for you. Me on the other hand..." Rollins playfully jabbed her in the side with her elbow. "Ow" she said laughing.
"Can you ever be serious?" she asked.
"Occasionally".
"Can this be one of those occasions?" Chris sighed and cleared her throat.
"Fine" she said. "I guess the first thing we have to do is get you a ring". She got up and went over to her jewelry box. She picked out the purity ring her father had given her when she was sixteen and went over to Rollins, getting down one knee. Rollins playfully pushed her over and laughed. She got up and sat next to her, handing her the ring. "That should fit you". Rollins tried the ring on and it fit her finger perfectly. "So, ummm, about dinner tonight" she started. "You don't have to come if you don't want to".
"I want to" she said.
"Ok" Chris said surprised that she'd agreed to go. "I think we should talk" she said.
"Ok" Rollins said with a laugh, "Talk about what?" she asked.
"About us". Rollins looked confused. "We should use this time to get know each other better. For all intents and purposes this has to seem like a real relationship. If we're right about him using cameras to spy on his victims then we have to be "in character" all the time. It'll seem a little phony if he sees us asking each other about things that a married couple would know".
"Yeah, ok". Chris looked at her like she wasn't convinced that Rollins was on board. "Look, Reyes, I just...I'm straight. I've always been sure of that and then you come along and I...I don't know" she said rubbing her hands over her face.
"You need to get more comfortable with the idea of being in a relationship with me" she said. "Listen, dating a woman isn't all that different from dating a man. Except if you're lucky you like the same clothes and have the same body type and shoe size" she said with a laugh. "The best relationships start with friendships. Granted we don't have as much time to build a friendship as most couples do but we have to make the best of this whole thing. Like you said, it won't be for long". She could tell that she was going to have to be sensitive to Rollins' feelings, something she wasn't very good at doing. But this case was important to her so she would try her best. "Let's start with something simple, like our names. You can't call me Reyes anymore. It's Chris" she said with a smile. Amanda smiled back but her body was stiff and uncomfortable. "Relax" Chris said rubbing her shoulder. "Look, it's almost five so let's call Olivia, Nick and Fin to make a plan for us to go out tonight and then we can go to dinner at my house. We can spend all day tomorrow getting to know each other" she suggested.
"Ok" she said agreeing to the plan. Chris got up from the bed and went to get her phone. They made a conference call to Benson, Amaro and Tutuola to make plans for their night out. They let Chris and Amanda know that TARU was going to set up a connection at the apartment. If there was any video set up, they'd be able to intercept it and hopefully trace it back to his IP address. Fin let them know he was still looking into getting them a crash pad from narcotics. They agreed to meet at the club at nine and stay for an undetermined amount of time. Once they had everything worked out, they left the apartment and made the drive back to Rae's house. When they went inside, the aroma made it evident that dinner was already underway. Chris took Amanda's hand and walked her into the kitchen expecting to find either her sister or brother there, only to see her mother. She quickly let go of her hand and walked over to the stove.
"Mama, what are you doing?" she asked taking the stirring spoon from her.
"I'm cooking dinner" she said.
"You know you shouldn't be on your feet. Go sit down" she said. Her mother turned around to go into the living room and saw Amanda standing there. "Mama, this is Amanda. We work together. She'll be having dinner with us. Amanda this is my mother, Gloria" she said over her shoulder.
"Encantada de conocerte" she said with a smile.
"She doesn't speak spanish, mami" Chris said from the kitchen.
"Oh, sorry" she said. "It's nice to meet you".
"Nice to meet you too, ma'am" Amanda said returning her smile. She invited Amanda to sit down with her in the living room. Chris covered the spaghetti cooking on the stove and checked on the bread in the oven before going through the living room to the bottom of the stairs.
"Roberto, Jezalyn, get down here now" she yelled up. She went over and stood by the couch next to her mother. A minute later, her brother and sister came downstairs to see what she wanted. "What are you two doing up there?" she asked. They both shook their heads and said nothing. "So why is mami down here cooking dinner?" She stood there and waited for an answer but neither of them said anything. Jeza stared at Amanda, recognizing her from earlier that day. "Hello. Am I talking to myself?"
"I don't know" Robbie said. "She wanted to cook dinner".
"Both of you know she's not supposed to be on her feet. You're letting her slave away at the stove cooking dinner for you and you're upstairs doing nothing" she said angrily. They both just stood there looking at her like she was speaking gibberish. "Both of you in the kitchen. Finish cooking and set up the table. And you" she said looking at Jeza, "are grounded. You understand me?"
"What!?" she yelled. "That's not fair. Mom" she said looking towards her mother, hoping she'd come to her defense.
"Escuche a su hermana, Jeza" she said. Chris folded her arms over her chest and gave a smug look. Jeza groaned and pouted her way to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner. While they waited, Gloria bombarded Chris and Amanda with questions, mostly about their dating lives. She made it abundantly clear that she was ready for her daughter to get married and give her grandchildren. Jeza and Robbie finally called them to the table to eat. Chris called up the stairs for her father to come to dinner. She introduced him to Amanda and they all sat down to eat. It was getting late and they had to go home to get ready for the bar so Chris decided it was time to tell her family about her leaving.
"Ummm, so I won't be staying here for a little while" she started. "I'm gonna be working on an important case so I'll be staying with Amanda. That's why I brought her tonight so you could meet her". She paused and waited for them to say something but nobody seemed to have anything to say. "She stays here in the city so I won't be far. We might be moved soon, though. I'll try my best to get word to you if that happens. And you can call me if you need me. I can't promise that I'll be able to but I'll try my best to be around".
"What's the case?" Robbie asked.
"You know I can't talk about that" she said. They'd been through this before when Chris went under in California. All she could say was that she was leaving, that she'd be back as soon as she could, and not to worry about her.
"Don't be mysterious, mija" her father said. "This is about those lesbians being murdered isn't it?" he asked. Chris opened he mouth to answer but he continued talking. "I saw it on the news, all those people protesting outside your work. They showed pictures of the women. You look like them".
"Papa" she said sternly before looking over at her mother who looked mortified.
"So you two are going to be off playing like dykes together" Robbie Jr asked. Robbie Sr reached over and slapped him on the back of the head.
"Have some respect for your sister, eh?" he said chastising him.
"Is it true, mija?" Gloria asked nervously.
"I can't talk about the case, mama" she said softly.
"That's a yes" Robbie said. Chris glared at him and their father's hand came up to hit him again but he ducked. Gloria started to get up from the table.
"Where are you going?" Chris asked.
"To get your bible" she answered. "If it's true that you're going to be doing...that stuff then you're going to need it". Amanda shifted uncomfortably in her chair and took a sip of water. She felt horrible for Chris that her mother thought she'd need her bible to make it through this case. She was experiencing what Christina meant when she said her mother was "very catholic".
"Mama, don't" Chris called after her but Gloria waved her off and continued up the stairs.
"You need to tell her, mija" her father said.
"Tell her what?" she asked looking over at her father. He gave her knowing look and she knew immediately that he knew. She was confused because she thought she'd always done a good job of being discreet. Her father saw the wheels in her mind turning as she tried to figure out how he'd figured her out.
"Hey, I know my children" he said with a soft smile. Chris smiled back and she relaxed knowing she had the support of her father. Jeza and Robbie sat there looking confused, trying to figure out what it was that Chris needed to tell their mother. Gloria came back down the stairs and sat Chris' bible on the table next to her plate.
"There. Take it with you. It'll keep you safe" she said as she sat back down. She saw Chris open her mouth to argue. "You need it Christina. Para proteger su alma".
"Her soul is fine, Gloria" her father said speaking up for her.
"No, it's not Roberto" she argued.
"Christina tell your mother" he said. Chris really didn't think this was the time to get into to all of this. She and Amanda needed to get going but she had a feeing her father wouldn't let her leave until she told her.
"The bible's not gonna help me, mama" she said.
"What do you mean? Of course it will". Chris shook her head. "Why not?"
"Because I'm gay. I'm a lesbian. The bible hasn't helped me before it's not going to help me now" she said bluntly. Tears filled Gloria's eyes and she shrugged her shoulders.
"What did I do wrong?" she asked. Chris rolled her eyes.
"I don't have time for this mami" she said dismissing her question. "Both of you are going to have to step up and help out around the house" she said talking to her brother and sister. "What happened last time cannot happen again" she said firmly.
"Does this mean I can have my phone back?" Jeza asked.
"Is that all you can think about?" Gloria asked angrily. "Everything that's going on. Your sister is a..." she paused like the word lesbian couldn't pass her lips. She decided to change what she was going to say. "She's leaving to go do a dangerous job and your only question is about your phone".
"Well I need it" she snapped.
"Hey! Watch it" Chris said glaring at her sister. "And no, you can't have your phone back. You're grounded. That means no phone, no computer unless it's homework, no going out after school or on weekends" she said laying out the rules.
"For how long?"
"Until I'm satisfied with your gpa" she said.
"How will know? You'll be gone" she said challenging her.
"Oh, I'll know. Try me" she challenged her right back. Jeza accepted that she was fighting a losing battle and kept her mouth shut. Chris looked at her watch and saw it was seven forty. "We have to go" she said grabbing hers and Amanda's plates, taking them to the kitchen. Amanda got up from the table and pushed her chair in. Gloria gave Amanda a heated glare until Chris came back in to the dining room and told her stop looking at her like that. "I'm not gay because of her" she said. Her mother pleaded with her to take the bible but she refused. She hugged and kissed everyone goodbye, even a reluctant Jeza, before leaving and heading back to Amanda's apartment to get ready to go out.
Spanish- English Translations
Hago las preguntas. Por que no estas en la escuela- I ask the questions. Why aren't you at school?
Estoy esperando- I'm waiting
Ya hablaremos de esto mas tarde- We'll talk about this later
Encantada de conocerte- Nice to meet you
Escuche a su hermana- Listen to your sister
Para proteger su alma- To protect your soul