Something's Burning: Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

I touched Edna's hands and she looked up at me, her eyes almost brimming with tears.

"Edna. I have an idea. It might solve both our problems and make life easier for Stephanie."

She sat up straight with a hopeful expression in anticipation of my epiphany.

"You know, Edna. We have had our differences. But I think we are on the same page here. Right here and right now. It's not about Helen. It's about Stephanie." She gave me the come on signal. Then I saw it. A wry little smile.

"Oh, Frank. Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?"

xxxXxxx

Edna's POV

I sat there completely dumbfounded, totally blindsided. Frank looked quite excited with his revelation. He was still babbling but I had zoned out when he floored me with his idea.

"Edna? Edna? Are you alright?" he asked me quietly. "What do you think? Isn't it a great idea? It would solve all our problems in one fell swoop. Helen won't even realise because she is so preoccupied and engrossed with the 'Burg Grapevine matters. You're right. It's time I stepped up. Stephanie -"

"When was the last time you spoke to Stephanie, Frank?" I interrupted his jabbering. "Seriously, when was the last time you actually had a chat with her?"

He sat there deep in thought for a moment, looking a bit taken aback and struggled to utter a single word, just little grunts and ums. Gotcha!

"Well … er … um … I … at dinner, last time." His head was twitching this way and that and he was getting more uneasy the longer he thought about it.

"You've missed the boat Frank and it sailed long ago. Can't you see?"

His shoulders slumped and he looked at me with a stricken expression on his face.

"Frank. Look at me. Helen has been so obsessed with this witch hunt about her own daughter, your daughter and what do you do? What did you do, Frank?" I added an edge of sarcasm to my quiet scorn.

"Let's look at this. Ask yourself. When did you stop being a father? When Morelli interfered with her in that garage? Helen punished your little Pumpkin at six years old because her knickers were on inside out."

" … " He tried to explain and dare I say, justify, but he forgets. I was there.

"Ah! No. Oh, no. I'm not finished yet. You did nothing, Frank. Nothing! You allowed Helen to scold your little girl, your six year old Pumpkin, for something that stole her innocence and she was punished. She was the victim. Did you protect her? Did you intervene? Did you do anything?"

"But Helen …" I cut him off sharply and charged on.

"When she was sixteen and Morelli raped your beautiful daughter on the floor of the Tasty Pastry, what did you do then, Frank? Sixteen, Frank. What did you do to protect her virtue and integrity then, Frank? You did nothing, sweet Fanny Adams. You allowed Helen to punish and ground her for the entire summer. That poor child was treated so contemptuously by those two-faced hypocritical Bitter Bitches from the 'Burg and again, I ask you. What. Did. You. Do?"

He hung his head in shame.

"Then, to make matters worse because of that cazzo di merda writing about his conquest of your daughter's virtue and innocence all over the bathroom and stadium walls, she has to endure the unwanted sordid advances of disgusting males of the 'Burg because they thought she was easy and fast. That poor child was treated so poorly yet still you did nothing."

I paused to let that really sink in. I was so vehement, speaking with such a quiet intensity that kept him ensnared by the power of my Hungarian glare and the impending curse. I was composed and empowered. I was sick to my stomach recollecting all that pain for my baby grand daughter but I went on relentlessly.

"You have been so blind Frank, you realise that, don't you? You're oblivious to the damage done by your wife to your beautiful daughter after all these years. She hounds her relentlessly and tries to marry her off to pathetic blind date riff-raff, anyone she can drag from the store or off the street including that same scumbag Morelli shit. And you. You allow him into your home after what he did to her?! You allow that rapist to sit at your dinner table and share your meal with you and your family, that stronzo? Helen did not protect her like a mother should. You are her father. Did you protect Stephanie like a good father should?"

My contempt for him was now at its peak.

"Are you proud of yourself, Frank? You have sat there at that dinner table, stuffing your face, not saying a word but you may as well have been a wooden man. You know, like they have on those olden day wooden ships. Or those wooden puppets and you've allowed Helen to pull the strings."

I paused to let all that permeate his stagnant and blind disposition while I took a sip of my water, preparing myself for my final scornful volley. He was staring contritely into his lap looking quite the shattered man. He put his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his hands, muttering in Italian.

I spoke softly yet concisely. I wasn't finished with him just yet.

"Look at me, Frank. Here's something else for you to consider. How do you think you are going to talk to Stephanie now? Do you even know where she lives? Do you know how to contact her? … Someone has been protecting your Pumpkin. He has been protecting and supporting her for a long time and he loves her. I can see that. She is safe, that much I can tell you."

I stood up and wiped my hands on the napkin and dabbed my mouth.

"Thank you for dinner, Frank. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But I had to do this. You left me no choice." I pushed my chair in. "I'll catch a cab. You're on your own now, Frank. Just you … and Helen. I've already moved out and neither of you realised anything because you are so fucking blind!"

His head shot up at that last remark, his eyes pained and glistening.

"And you thought we could move into something, together? That was your little epiphany? Seriously?! I don't think so, Frank. You made your bed, now sleep in it. But, you can always re-make that bed. Cojones! You don't have any. Pfft! Now you can deal with Helen all on your own. She's all yours, with bells on."

And I walked away.

Stephanie's POV

I sighed as I lay on my new bed in my favourite thinking position catching up with recent events, such a huge, wild whirlwind of events. My new room is so nice, cosy, warm and inviting. I can't believe that they have invited me into their home, their private space, to share a room, for as long as I needed. It's like a safe hiding place, warm and safe.

After all the drama of the last couple of days I hadn't really given it much thought until it dawned on me that my apartment was so badly ransacked that all I had left was what I was wearing. When I cried it was not so much the damage to my possessions and clothing but the way she held me when I cried. I lost it. My own Mom never held me like that nor did she soothe me in that reassuring way. It felt so good. It was just what I needed. My mother always declared we weren't touchy feely folks. Well, newsflash. I am. The way she held me and rocked me, soothing me, just like Ranger did, made me feel so adored and cherished. Grandma Mazur did that but not my own mother. If I needed a hug I always ran to her, much to my mother's chagrin. She was always disappointed in me. But Ella allayed all those vibes in one gentle move. She was more motherly towards me in that one first encounter than my own mother in half a lifetime. Like Ranger, she too called me Querida. She also called me mi hija. I wonder what they mean.

Ella is so kind and I can tell she has a huge generous heart. I discovered that she is Ranger's aunt but she and Luis work here at Rangeman looking after the men so they can do their jobs of protecting Trenton. Ella says she is more a housekeeper of a very big house with very big men with equally large appetites. She cooks and prepares healthy snacks and meals for the break room but those who have apartments on the fourth floor have their own kitchens. She also looks after Ranger's needs on the seventh floor. I'm curious about that. His apartment is on the top floor and he usually has his meals there, made by Ella. His laundry and cleaning is also her domain and responsibility. Ranger is a good and generous man she told me, with his men and also with his aunt and uncle. The respect is mutual. Luis works behind the scenes with maintenance and upkeep of the building. I feel so comfortable with them already. And he called me Wonder Woman. I smiled to myself. How did he know? I love them both, not in the love like I have for Ranger love. Warm love, paternal and maternal love emanates from them for me and it feels wonderful to be bathed in that feeling. Grandma Mazur always had that … not my own mother.

I considered the past 48 hours. It all began with that BMW and then that kiss. Hmm-mmm. Wow. I feel myself getting all flushed. Then the big dampener as Killjoy Morelli arrives and starts shooting his mouth off, ranting about our history like he owned me, oversharing as the Rangemen and the TPD arrived. It was like a freak show with flashing lights and everything happening all at once with. Added to that was the dreadful, terrifying taunting from Ramirez with his threats and invitations to God. I shiver involuntarily. But all the time, while all this was happening all FUBAR, Ranger held me, calmed and soothed me, protective and strong, safe and warm in those big, strong muscular arms. I must have collapsed or fallen asleep but I have no recall of that part of events. Waking up in the morning, or rather, the afternoon, he was my pillow, a beautiful, firm mocha latte pillow. Oh boy! Fanning self! What a wonderful wake up but no booty call. I was relieved but a tiny part of me was disappointed. Hmmm … Something to look forward to. I could tell he was very much on the same page with his lusciously hot, hard body. I jump up and rush to the bathroom to freshen up and clean my face and hair after my little meltdown. Oh boy!

While I brushed my hair, I recalled that beautiful house. Lester and Bobby escorted me on a tour of said house. Pfft! House? It was a mansion with so many rooms. I wonder if that is the Batcave. Some of the Rangemen were staying there in a different wing to where Ranger and I were. Lunch was fun with the BLTs when Lester caught us in a passionate lip lock. They made me feel part of the team, not uncomfortable or embarrassed and certainly not like some bimbo. It was a nice feeling, safe and protected, warm and friendly but I detected that they were all still on guard. Something big went down overnight. Oh, yes, the shoot-out with Jimmy Alpha, Morelli and Ramirez. I bet Lester and Bobby were part of a diversion to lighten things up. Yeah, especially after they saw me in full flight in my pissy-with-my-mother rhino mode. Way to make a good impression, Plum. But somehow, I sensed they got a real buzz out of it but they were also very empathetic. Who knew that these big guys could be so … so … empowering. Yes, they, Ranger and the Merry Men, allowed me to be me and accepted me for who I am baggage and all. I felt like I had gone through some sort of metaphorical exorcism, a cleansing of all the evil influences in my life at present. Perhaps that was why I slept so long yesterday but definitely a nice way to wake up. Ooh, yesss.

So many things have happened in such a short time frame from scary and frightening to sexy and scintillating, to safe and protected. But beneath it all, I felt really safe for the first time in ages. Then I have a new place to live and I had that deliciously decadent chocolate cake. Oh yum. My new flavourite!

I make my way to the kitchen to let Ella know that I was on my way down to the control room. She greets me with a brilliant smile and reminds me with a wink to check my text messages. I give her a hug.

"Thank you, Ella. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all this."

I decide to take the stairs and skip down to the fifth floor. I feel so energised and refreshed. The control room was a hive of activity. I grabbed a water bottle from the break room and looked around. A grinning Hector makes his way over.

"Hola, Chica. You want to do some searches?" He smiles with his eyebrows waggling slightly in a teasing invitation. He knows I am nosey and curious and that I can't resist seeing what they have here. Hector leads me to a cubicle with a large screen computer, a printer and notepad and a drawer with all the usual stationery one might need and my very own stapler. Ha! And it's red, not standard issue black as I noticed in the other cubicles we passed. My chair is large but functionally comfortable. Listen to me. I have already assumed ownership. Hector grins knowingly at me as I get the feel of the chair and this space.

"Si, Chica." I shrug my shoulders and grin back.

"Okay. Show me what you've got and no holding back mi hombre hermoso." He chuckles and gets the search engines up on screen. Whoa. There are quite a few I've never heard of nor seen before and so much more advanced. I allowed Hector to show me the ropes and he gave me a quick rundown on each of the search engines' potential and specialities. He winks at me as I am about to question the depth of some of the detailed invasive data coming up on screen. He gives the universal 'sh' signal. While that one is processing he observes as I run the next one and as that one is in seek mode I start another.

"Oh. This one is a bit tricky. He is very sneaky and has many aliases. We have been tracing him for a while and-"

"Hey! I think I know this guy!"

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm. I know him from the 'Burg. That's not his name. Nor is that, or that one. This one is close. Tsk." I was tapping the desk top impatiently willing my brain to visualise that name. I leaned forward and scrolled through the list of aliases and the various identities he had already been known as.

"He's a couple of years older than me. He was in my sister's class at high school. He was a creep and bully. He tried to hit on Valerie but she was frightened of him. He gave her presents all the time and always signed his full name on those creepy love messages. That's him for sure. Oh, what did he sign his name as? Ummm … Ha! Got it! Roberto Vincenzo Bruno. R.V.B. See, here he uses Harvey Brown. It's a play on his first two initials, RV … Harvey. You were looking up the wrong name. Well, not the wrong name per se, but that was his nickname at school, Harvey. And, see, here he uses Bobby Vincent, Bobby Brown, Robert Brown, you know, Bruno means brown in Italian. See … Vince Brown, Vinnie Roberts and Vinnie Brown confirming my analysis as I went down the list. But they are all forms of his name." I sat up and turned triumphantly to look at Hector.

Hector had the biggest grin on his face. I had been so immersed in the images and the various aliases that I was unaware of my greater audience all of whom were smiling, beaming in fact.

"Little Girl. You are something else. We have been tracing this skip Harvey Brown for some time without any luck.

"Beautiful. That was awesome. I like the way you think out loud and outside the square. You were tenacious like a bulldog. You're a natural at this. It makes sense now, all those aliases. So what connection does he still have to the "Burg?"

"He used to visit his grandfather, Bernardo Bruno, aka Bernie Brown or Brown Bear. Grandma Mazur knows him. He's often at those funeral parlours for the viewings."

"Proud of you, Babe. We know of Bernie Brown. He used to have form. That's a lead that we can pursue. Hector?"

"Si." As Ranger lead me to his office by the hand, Hector was making rapid remarks in Spanish to the others nearby as he followed my new trace.

"We have a meeting, Babe, if you recall." I followed him to find Bobby, Tank and Lester all waiting and looking very pleased, Lester with his shit-eating grin and Bobby like the cat that got the canary. Tank had his arms folded and a huge white smile on his visage. Their eyes were acknowledging each other smugly and I detected a distinct degree of pride. Why do I feel like I have walked into a scripted scenario? Like I have just played into their hands …

…ooo…

So there you have it. Edna and Frank have had their dinner. Stephanie has a new family and a meeting is about to take place. How will Steph respond? And then there is that upcoming dinner. Stay tuned. Let me know what you think.