Chapter 48- Who Stole the Lunchbox?
Esme's chest rose and fell rapidly as Maxie pressed the button for the operator.
Maxie turned to Esme. "I'm sure they'll fix it soon. I don't know if you heard how Mom is. But she's going to be fine. It didn't hit any organs or anything and it wasn't deep."
"R-really?"
Maxie nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I saw her and she's doing well, considering."
Esme leaned against a corner and stared at the door.
"She was asking about you," Maxie continued. "She's relieved you don't have to go to prison. She cares about you a lot—"
"I think you're the stupidest, most selfish person on the planet," Esme shot out. "You've had Mommy longer than me and Georgie combined, but you don't appreciate her!"
"I guess I haven't as much as I should. I didn't think about it like that."
"She is the best mom ever, but you don't see it. You just treat her like dirt because she left you to look for me. But did you ever consider that I needed her too?"
"I didn't before and I'm sorry for that," Maxie said. "But I'm realizing now. I think, because I love Mom so much, it hurt a lot when she left. But I didn't know everything before. I know it doesn't excuse everything I said to you. But maybe it would help if you could see it from my perspective. My dad abandoned us when we were little. It was just me, Georgie, and Mom for a long time. Mac was there a lot for us. And when he and Mom got married, Georgie and I were over the moon. But after a few years they divorced. It devastated us. And soon after that, Mom left us. I resented her for so long. I thought I'd gotten past it, but, when I finally found out why, it brought all those feelings back."
"Found out why… you mean because of me. Because she tried to look for me."
Maxie sighed. "Well, yes. And I worried about the things I'd heard about you. But I didn't realize until now that they were wrong."
"She left you for short periods of time to look for me but kept going back to you and Georgie and you resented her for that? While I waited and waited for her to come get me…."
"I'm sorry, Esme. I don't know what else to say."
"I don't think either of us deserve her…."
The elevator shook again and rose again before stopping on the fourth floor.
"Don't say that, Esme," Maxie said. "I was wrong before. Mom does want you. A lot. Why don't you go see her? She really wants to see you."
Esme glared at Maxie. "Don't tell me what to do!" When the doors opened, Esme jumped out.
GHGHGH
"Hey, Mom, thanks for coming." Sam let Alexis in and they sat on the couch. "Dante took the boys out for a bit. I just feel I can't talk to him about this. It's not his fault though. He's in a bad spot since they're his sisters."
"I was worried about your phone call," Alexis said. "Donna and Avery are picking on Scout again?"
"Worse than that, they're traumatizing her. They locked her in the janitor's closet for over an hour. She won't leave her room. I don't know what to do. I don't want to teach her to run from things, but she shouldn't have to deal with this at her age. Do you think I should I move her to another school?"
"That's a tricky one," Alexis said. "But this seems to have gone beyond bullying. It might not seem fair that Scout be the one to leave, but we both know Sonny, Carly, and Ava won't move their girls. And if the school isn't doing anything about it, it might be good for Scout to have a fresh start at a new school. She can make new friends and focus on learning without fear of simply walking into the building."
"You might be right," Sam said. "But it sucks because she's good friends with Violet, so she'd be leaving her too."
"Well, you'll have to talk to Finn about getting the girls together on weekends."
"And I'm definitely talking to Sonny and Carly about this," Sam added. "I know the girls are mimicking them. Scout told me that the girls accused her of stealing Wiley's lunchbox, so that's why they locked her in the closet, they wanted her to admit it. That's all Sonny. Taking matters into their own hands. Before that, it seemed to be wanting to control everyone, like Carly."
"Just be careful," Alexis said. "Going up against Sonny and Carly is no easy feat. Believe me, I've tried."
"I know you have."
"And every time they make you look like the villain of the situation. I remember when Michael and Morgan were encouraging Kristina to play with toy guns and violent video games. Under a normal situation and a normal family, toy guns wouldn't be a big deal. But their father was Sonny Corinthos… so, I was very concerned."
Sam frowned. "I remember that. I didn't understand your view at the time. I get it now."
"So, of course it became normal for Michael when he bought his own gun and accidentally shot Kate," Alexis said. "Then the poor kid got shot in the head. And Morgan joined the mob when he got older, because he didn't know any different. And that got him killed."
Sam reached for her hand. "I'm sorry, Mom. For giving you such a hard time about it in the past. You were trying to protect us."
"I was so proud of you when you left Jason to put your kids first," Alexis said.
Sam sighed. "It took me a long time though."
"I just feel bad for Sonny and Carly's kids. They really don't know any better."
GHGHGH
Michael settled Amelia in the highchair and sat across from Wiley at Bobbie's.
"How you doing, bud?" Michael asked. "How's school?"
Wiley shrugged. "Someone stole my lunchbox."
"Oh? Do you know who?"
"Donna and Avery said Scout did."
"Do you think she did?" Michael asked.
"I don't know."
"What happened?"
"Me and James wanted to play on the monkey bars before morning bell," Wiley explained. "Leo was just looking at a bug guide on the bench, so we asked him to watch our backpacks. When the bell rang, we went back to get our backpacks, but I was hungry and I wanted a snack. But when I looked my lunchbox was gone. Leo was just biting his fingers and didn't tell me who took it."
"So, maybe he saw what happened but was scared to tell you?" Michael asked.
"I don't know. Donna and Avery said they saw Scout tooked it. But Violet said she and Scout were playing hopscotch. But James shared his lunch with me at lunchtime."
"That's quite the predicament," Michael said. "I'm sure it'll turn up soon. I'll buy you a new one in the meantime. So… Wiley, how's it going living with your mom and Nina?"
"It's lotsa fun, Daddy. But me and Amelia miss you."
"I miss you too, bud. Has Nina said anything or done anything to upset you?"
"No," Wiley said. "She's really funny and buys me a lot of toys."
"You can tell me if she hurts you. You won't be in trouble."
"Okay, Daddy."
"Grandma Carly and I are working hard so that you can live with me again," Michael said. "Would you like that?"
Wiley nodded. "Then we'll all be together. You and me and Mommy and Amelia and Grandma Nina."
"Well, no, it would just be us. But don't worry about it. Daddy and Grandma will take care of it."
GHGHGH
Esme made her way down the hallway and stopped when she saw Mac and Emma outside of her mom's room.
"I can't find her anywhere," Cody said.
Emma looked over and pointed to Esme.
"Oh hey, Esme." Cody smiled. "We were worried about you. Your mom really wants to see you."
Esme bit her lip but walked over and pushed the door open.
"Mom said that Georgie was fine today, but Ace has been crying off and on." Robin was sitting by Felicia's bedside holding her hand.
Felicia looked up and smiled. "Esme. Hi, sweetie."
Esme's eyes moved to Robin. "I'm—I'm interrupting. I'll go."
"No, please don't go," Felicia said.
Robin stood. "We're finished now. I'm so glad you're okay, Aunt Felicia." She kissed Felicia's cheek and left.
"I was so happy when I heard about the verdict," Felicia said. "You don't belong in prison."
"I don't want to go to therapy…."
"I know, sweetie," Felicia said. "It'll be good for you…. Want to come sit?"
Esme slowly went over and sat in the chair.
"Are you okay, sweetie?"
Esme shrugged. "Are you?"
"Yes. I'm okay."
"I'm sorry…."
"Why are you sorry?" Felicia asked.
"It's my fault… that Antoine… that he…."
Felicia reached for her hand. "No, it isn't your fault. That's his and his alone."
"But it's because you were investigating…."
"And I'd do it all again," Felicia said. "You're worth it, Esme. You were always worth it."
They turned when the door opened and Mac walked in carrying Esme's box.
"Hey, you came back." He smiled at Esme. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I won't stay. But your mom asked me to go back to the courthouse to get your box."
"Thanks, honey," Felicia said.
He passed it to Felicia, then headed out.
"My box…" Esme said barely above a whisper.
Felicia ran her hand over the top. "I read some of your letters at the courthouse."
"You… you finally got to read my letters?"
"Some of them, yes," Felicia said. "They were beautiful, but heartbreaking."
"Whenever I was lonely or scared or mad or even happy, I would write to you. But I didn't know where to send them..." Esme lowered her gaze. "Or even who you were."
"Aww, it was therapeutic for you?" Felicia asked.
"I guess."
"I saw something else in here." Felicia reached inside the box and pulled out the rattle.
"That's… that's my rattle."
"I had something specially made for each of you girls when you were born. Maxie and Georgie were teenagers at the time, so theirs were a little more mature. I made Maxie a necklace and Georgie a bracelet, each containing some of my Aztec jewels." She shook the rattle. "Inside isn't beads or anything like that. Those are some of my Aztec jewels. You see my heritage, I'm actually an Aztec princess."
"A-a princess? You mean, like real jewels?" Esme started laughing.
"I know it sounds far-fetched, but it's true," Felicia said.
Esme sniggered. "I wish Mr. Prince was here so we could see the look on his face. He always said my rattle was garbage but if he knew what was inside and that a princess made it... Well... it would be really funny."
Felicia balled her hand thinking of Mr. Prince but eased a little seeing Esme laughing. "Kind ironic with what his last name was, huh?"
"Yeah."
Felicia turned the rattle over and ran her finger over the engraving: F.F.C. Love, Mommy. "I'd like to tell you about the letters on it. Your initials."
"I thought the letters was a company or something..."
"No, sweetheart. They were the initials of the name that I gave you when you were born. F.F.C. stands for Francesianna Felicia Cummings. Cummings was my maiden name. And you were Frankie for short."
Esme smiled. "You gave me your name? Felicia?"
"Yes, I did. Because I wanted you to always feel connected to me and to always know that I love you. And the name Frankie, I gave you because I wanted to connect you to your sisters. Plus, I have a distant cousin named Franklin. All of you were named after relatives. Do you like it? The whole name?"
Esme nodded several times. "Can you… can you call me Frankie… instead of Esme? Just you though… no one else."
Tears formed in Felicia's eyes. "Of course I will, sweetie. You are my little Frankie."
Esme blushed.
GHGHGH
Leo sat on the floor of his room and rocked back and forth, chewing on his fingers. Olivia knocked on his door and walked in.
"Leo, sweetheart, what's wrong?" She sat beside him. "You hardly touched your dinner. Did something happen at school?"
He shrugged.
"You can tell me," Olivia said. "You won't be in trouble."
"But someone else will," Leo said.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw something."
"What did you see?" Olivia asked.
"The lunchbox."
"Whose lunchbox?"
"Wiley's," Leo said. "Someone stole it."
"Okay. Who stole it?"
"I was supposed to watch it." He frowned. "But I didn't do a good job. There was a lot of people on the playground."
"I know large crowds are hard on you," Olivia said. "Did you see who stole it?"
He nodded.
"Who?"
"I don't want to say," Leo said. "I want to go see the horses."
She sighed. "Okay. Cody's not here, but I'll take you."
GHGHGH
After leaving the hospital, Maxie went home to find Spinelli watching Despicable Me with the kids in the living room. She grabbed their backpacks and went to the kitchen to make their lunches for tomorrow. She tossed Georgie's lunchbox onto the counter, then unzipped James' backpack. She pulled out his lunchbox, then stared when she saw a second paw patrol lunchbox underneath. She lifted it and saw a label on the front that said Wiley Corinthos.
"James? Can you come here a minute?"
A moment later, James dragged his feet into the kitchen. "Mommy… it's at a really good part."
"Sorry, I'll be quick. Did you notice Wiley's lunchbox was in your bag?"
His mouth dropped. "How did it get in there?"
"I don't know. I thought you might know."
"It was stolen, Mom. Someone stole it. But I didn't do it! I swear."
"Okay, I didn't think you did," Maxie said. "I just figured it was an accident."
"I didn't. I was playing with Wiley. Donna and Avery said Scout stole it."
"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. I'll text Willow to let her know we have it and we'll give it back tomorrow."
