Arizona Allspice (63 page)

 Joey pulls my arm and we start to run towards the trees, stricken with fear.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” she screams after us.

“Don’t do this!” I hear Raul shout.

The gun goes off. A single shot. I scream in terror.
What has she done?

FOURTEEN

I’ve been noticing little boys and little girls with their parents more often. Especially curly headed boys. They always remind me of Joey. There’s a small playground in the shade of some oak trees along my short walk home from work. California weather is milder than how it is in Arizona, so a fifteen minute walk is actually enjoyable. Lately, the sound of happy children stirs me to tears. Especially when it’s their mom or dad that makes him or her giggle with abandon.

Today, I cross the street and sit at a bench in the park awhile, watching the children climb, swing and slide.

A little girl with long light brown hair zooms past my bench, eager to get to the playground.

“
Ten
cuidado
,
Honey!”
Her mother calls after her, a bit out of breath. I stare at the young woman in disbelief as she stands with her hands on her hips, watching her daughter race to the swings. Her long black hair is in a ponytail. Gold bangles on both wrists match the gold flecks in her flower print summer dress and complement her bronze skin. Feeling eyes on her,
Ariella
turns to look at me. Her eyebrows furrow once she takes in my familiar face, then her eyes shine with recognition.

“Elaine? Elaine Roberts?”

“I can’t believe it’s you!” I smile unsurely. I stand from the bench and she runs over and hugs me. “Actually, it’s Elaine Kinsley, now,” I say. She cries on my shoulder.

My tears dampen her shoulder as well. If things had been different and
Ariella
had stayed in Cadence, I know she would have stood by me when everyone else turned away. I wouldn’t have been so lonely for so many years. I would have had my best friend. “You don’t hate me?” I ask, in shock.

“No!
Never.”
She steps back and squeezes my hands. We take a seat at the bench. “I wanted to call you so many times, but I was ashamed. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. What’s her name?”

We both glance at the beautiful girl on the swings. “Elena.”

I stare at
Ariella
curiously. Is it just a coincidence that her little girl’s name sounds so similar to my name?
Ariella
grins and nods. I squeeze her hand and swallow my urge to cry. We sit and update each other on our lives. I tell her that Joey moved to Cadence around the time she had left. We fell in love, moved to California along with Manny. Dad came, too. Joey and I got married on a beach in Malibu three months ago.
Ariella
told me about her fiancé, the young owner of a popular Mexican fusion restaurant, who loves her and her little girl. She didn’t start off here in Pasadena, but a series of job and school opportunities landed her here. She’s a hostess at her fiancé’s restaurant a few days a week.

My job is at a luxury spa. I’m a receptionist. Joey works for a battered women’s shelter, organizing resources so that abuse victims and the children they often bring with them can get exactly what they need, in terms of clothing, food, counseling, and employment. He’s also helpful when it comes to security for the shelter. Soccer, or as I like to call it, his first wife, is still in his life. He joined a local soccer club and plays every weekend.

Uncle Frank finally went back to Florida, taking an overjoyed Amelia with him. Having none of Amelia’s bedtime guilt trips to ponder while tossing and turning, Uncle Frank got his first night of peaceful sleep in weeks. Uncle Frank turned management over to Mr. Jeremy when he left. At last, Mr. Jeremy’s brownnosing paid off.

I tell
Ariella
that my mother passed away. I believe that Mom saved our lives that day at
Amo
Lake. She must have created that strong feeling that overwhelmed Raul enough to send him to the lake. As Raul wrestled with his mother for the gun, he twisted her arm and Mrs. Campos shot the sole bullet inside the gun up into the sky. It fell, harmlessly, into the depths of the lake. Though it was difficult for him, Raul turned his mother in to the police. Raul and Marisol are together now. Marisol moved into Raul’s home in northern Arizona and together they are raising Mateo to be a smart and conscientious kid.

No one’s heard from or seen Denise or Mr. Jimenez, although I think her father is holding on to some information. I have a feeling that Denise, forever a daddy’s girl, lined his pockets before she left.

Manny is living his dream at Caltech and I’m incredibly proud of him. He works very hard at school and at the factory job he found to help him pay off his loans. Manny also met a nice girl, a student at Caltech, who treats him better than Denise ever could.

I’ve decided to study English Literature next fall at Cal Riverside. I won’t be able to be a full-time student since Joey and I don’t have the money and I’ll have my hands full by then, but eventually I’ll have my degree.

I invite
Ariella
over for our Thursday night family dinner. Because Thursday is the day when my Dad can leave his structured living program run by Mental Health America to visit family, it’s become the routine for him, Manny, Manny’s girlfriend
Niya
, Joey and I to have dinner at my house. Joey always cooks. We demand it.

Elena, six years old, is already stunning. She has her mother’s tan skin, but someone else’s thick, light brown hair, with sun-bleached streaks that are almost blonde. Her brown eyes look so familiar. I think of Cesar for some reason, but I don’t remember him and
Ariella
ever talking back in the day. It doesn’t matter, really. She and her momma are happy.
Ariella
introduces me to Elena as her auntie. My niece smiles and holds my hand as we walk to my apartment on the corner.

I hear Daddy,
Niya
and Manny chatting loudly in the dining room before I can even get the key in the front door. “We’ve got two special guests tonight!” I announce once I walk into my home. Manny’s jaw drops when he sees
Ariella
.

“
RiRi
!”
Manny smiles.

Joey walks out of the kitchen and kisses me immediately. “I missed you.”

He says that every day when I get home from work and I always giggle.

“How are both my girls doing?” He rubs a small circle over my belly.

“You really think it’s a girl, don’t you?”

He shrugs. “It’s something I feel.”

 I introduce Joey to
Ariella
. She looks surprised. I’m still not used to that reaction from people when they realize Joey and I are together.

“Come with me. I’m not done with the food yet,” he says to me once he pulls out a chair for her and a chair for Elena.

“Did you give your boss your two weeks’ notice?” he asks as he stirs the contents of a saucepan.

I frown. “No. Baby, I appreciate that you want to take care of me, but I have to be honest with you. If I quit my job I’ll go out of my mind with boredom.”

“No you won’t. You could write. Write to your heart’s content!”

“Sweetie, what would I write about? What inspiration will I have if I’m just staring at the inside of our apartment all day? It’s a beautiful apartment but…”

Joey rests his warm hand at the small of my back and hugs me to his side. “I don’t want you to work too hard. It’s bad for the baby.”

 “Joey,” I chuckle and rub his back. “I’m only two months along. I work at a spa. You can’t get more low-stress than that. I’m fine. Don’t be such a worrier.”

His eyes glide all across my face. “I’ll try,” he sighs.

I glance at the food on the kitchen counter. “Mmm! Jerk Chicken Salad. I haven’t had that in
awhile
.”

“The salad is just an appetizer. You’ll be my main course tonight, Allspice.” He kisses me behind the ear. As always, I blush at my nickname.

“Hey, this is a family dinner,” I scold. “So keep it clean,
papí
.
”

His eyebrows jump up. “You know my mind drives right into the gutter when you talk like that.”

I shrug innocently. As I walk away his hand slides down my back and over my behind. I look over my shoulder as I walk out of the kitchen. He grins, tosses his cutting knife in the air, catches it by the handle and attacks the green onion with precision and zeal. He winks at me. I smile.

Showoff.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Renee Lewin a.k.a. Renee
LaRuse
is an entrepreneur

who
lives in southwest Florida.

Writing is her first love.

This is her first novel.

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