Utopian Day (22 page)

He smiled as he waited for Mia to respond to what he
had just said.

Mia looked back at the painting on the wall. The
painting reminded her of her own life’s journey in many ways. In
it, a single ship was out in the ocean with no land in sight. The
seas were rough and the crew was struggling to keep the ship
afloat. They were struggling for their very lives with somber
determination. She continued looking at the painting as she
spoke.

“
I know what it is like to be on
your own, without your parents for support, without anyone you can
count on except yourself. It is a hard life with no guarantees that
you will make it. We could give Sasha a good life. We could love
her and give her all of the things that I never had when I was
growing up. I want to protect her. I want to help. Yes,” she said,
turning back to look at Nick, “I want to do this.”

Nick reached over and placed his hand on Mia’s,
squeezing it gently.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Nick and Mia called Katrina immediately and let her
know that they would be happy to adopt Sasha. They visited Katrina
later that same day in the hospital. Sasha was at her mother’s side
when they arrived and was very upset. When Nick and Mia entered the
room, she walked over to Mia and hugged her, tears streaming down
her face. Nick could tell by the look on Katrina’s face that she
was in a bad way.

Katrina spoke to Sasha and explained that she would
be staying with Nick and Mia while Mommy was in the hospital. After
they had visited for a little while, Nick asked Mia if she would
take Sasha down to the car, saying that he would be there in a few
minutes. Sasha didn’t want to go, but Katrina told her that she
could come back and see her tomorrow, but that her mother needed
the rest right now. Reluctantly, Sasha kissed and hugged her mother
goodbye before she left with Mia.

“
Have you told her yet that you
don’t have long?” Nick said when they were alone.

“
Not in so many words, but she’s a
smart kid. She knows,” Katrina replied.

“
You should tell her yourself. It
would be best if she hears it from you, to help her let go and
all,” Nick continued.

Katrina looked up at Nick with tired eyes. “Thank
you.”

Nick nodded his head.

Later that day, Katrina’s lawyer came by and she
changed her will to indicate that she wanted Nick and Mia to be
Sasha’s legal guardians. She decided not to discuss the matter with
Sasha. It would be enough for her to deal with Katrina’s impending
death. Katrina reasoned that Mia and Nick could tell her when the
time was right, after she had some time to grieve. They had decided
that Nick and Mia would adopt Sasha as soon as possible after
Katrina passed. Katrina dictated a letter to her lawyer to be given
to Sasha upon her death, explaining that this was her wish so that
Sasha would hear it straight from her.

Once the whole legal process was completed, Katrina
felt relieved. Over the next few days, Sasha came by every morning
and they spent many hours together. They talked, played cards when
Katrina felt able, and Sasha would read the latest novel she had
been reading out loud to her mother. Nick and/or Mia would drop
Sasha off, then pick her up for lunch and bring her back by in the
evening. These precious days went by so fast for Katrina. She was
relishing the time with her daughter, but she was grieving for
herself at having to leave Sasha when she was so young.

On the fourth day, Mia had dropped Sasha off and was
saying goodbye to Katrina as she prepared to leave, but Katrina
asked her to stay. Katrina looked much weaker than she had the day
before. She could barely talk and Sasha had to bend her ear down
close to her mother’s mouth to hear what she had to say. Katrina
whispered in her daughter’s ear, “I love you, Sasha. I will always
love you….”

“
I love you, Mommy,” Sasha said
with tears beginning to flow down her face.

The alarm on Katrina’s heart monitor went off and
soon the medical staff was rushing in with the crash cart to try
and revive Katrina. Mia pulled Sasha back as the doctors and nurses
worked, but it was soon clear that Katrina was not coming back.
Sasha turned to Mia, who pulled her close while Sasha cried.

The funeral was brief and attended only by a small
circle of Katrina’s friends, and her younger sister. Her own mother
was dead, and her father was in a nursing home and unable to
attend. After the service, Nick and Mia took Sasha by her house to
pick up some of her things before returning to their house. They
simply said that Sasha would be staying with them for a while and
Sasha didn’t ask why, too overcome by grief to ask any questions of
them at the moment.

The hours turned in to days and weeks, and
eventually years. Sasha began to move on with her life and
acclimate to life in her new family. Nick and Mia officially
adopted her on her eleventh birthday.

There were many changes that took place in the
Bartonovich household over the next several years. Nick moved his
office to the second floor so that Sasha could have a bedroom
upstairs next to Nick and Mia’s bedroom. They bought Sasha her own
horse, which she named Katrina’s Pride in honor of her mother. She
became quite an accomplished rider and even won some riding
competitions. Nick and Mia had to develop new work schedules. Mia
began farming out some of her more dangerous activities to other
members of their company. Nick even began shifting some of his
business activities towards more legitimate enterprises, not
wanting Sasha to associate with some of his former colleagues who
had frequented the house prior to her arrival. Overall, the
addition of Sasha to the Bartonovich household was resulting in a
kinder, gentler family atmosphere.

Nick was amazed at how much better his life had
become since getting married and adopting Sasha. He now had a
purpose beyond himself and he was finding genuine fulfillment in
his role as a family man like he had never had before when business
was his primary focus. Mia, too, was blossoming into her role as
mother and wife. While both Nick and Mia still pursued the business
side of their lives, they made the adjustments necessary to make
home life a big priority. Life for the Bartonovich family was
good.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Laura sat beside Valerie in the crisis center and
held her hand as she cried. She had a busted lip and her left eye
was almost completely swollen shut. She listened to the story
patiently, a variation on a similar theme she had heard a hundred
times.

“
He saw me in the supermarket and
followed me outside. He grabbed me and drug me down an alleyway. He
tried to get me to tell him where I’m staying. When I refused, he
did this to me.”

Valerie paused in telling her story and sobbed
before continuing.

“
He wants our daughter. He said
that he will find out where she goes to school and take her from
me.” She turned and looked at Laura with a look of desperation in
her eyes. “Ms. Laura, I can’t let him take my daughter! He was
abusing her sexually, and that is why I left him! I can’t let him
take my daughter!”

“
It’s going to be o.k., Valerie.
We’re going to help you, just calm down,” Laura replied.

But even as the words came out of her mouth, she
wasn’t sure how much she believed the words herself. If Valerie’s
ex had found her in the supermarket, then he was too close to
finding out that Valerie was staying here at the crisis center,
which was only a few blocks away. Assuming Valerie hadn’t been
followed back to the center today, it was likely only a matter of
time until she was. Laura could feel her blood begin to boil as she
thought about her own past experience with sexual abuse, how
powerless she had felt, and now to hear that this woman’s young
daughter had been sexually abused by her ex. It was too much.

She tried to remain calm as she continued. “Valerie,
do you have a picture of your ex?”

“
Yes, yes I do.”

“
Good, I want you to go and get
it. Then I want you to write down his address where he lives and
works. I’m going to call the police and we’ll report
him.”

“
O.k., Ms. Laura,” Valerie
replied, getting up and walking off to her room to get the
picture.

Laura called the police and asked them to send
someone down so they could report the attack; then she went out
back behind the crisis center, and once the door was shut, she let
out a scream. “Ahhh!” She turned around and saw a metal trash can
and kicked it with the side of her foot. She paced up and down the
alleyway for several minutes before finally feeling calm enough to
step back inside.

She found Valerie sitting down at a table in the
common area, writing down the information Laura had requested on a
piece of paper. Laura took it from her and went into the office,
making a photocopy of the information and the photograph. She
folded the copies and put them in her back pocket before she went
back out to where Valerie was sitting. She handed the originals
back to Valerie.

“
Valerie, hold on to these for
when the police get here. You just tell them exactly what you told
me. I have to go right now, but I’ll be back to check on you later.
Just grab one of the other volunteers when the police get here and
they will help you with everything. O.k.?”

Valerie nodded her head up and down.

Laura took out her cell phone and punched in the
home address of Valerie’s ex. It was about five miles from here. If
she went on her bicycle, it would take her about twenty minutes.
She unlocked the bicycle lock, removed her bike from the bike rack,
and began pedaling.

The address was for a second floor apartment. It was
a small duplex unit, with one apartment on the bottom floor and the
other on the second floor. A stairway led up the exterior of the
unit to the second floor apartment door. Laura positioned herself
across the street where she would be hidden from view by some
shrubbery. She parked her bike out of view and stood behind the
plants, watching.

It took about an hour before the police finally came
by. They walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. A
medium-sized man answered the door. After he had talked with the
police for a few minutes, they escorted him down the stairs and put
him in the police cruiser.

Laura waited until they were gone before crossing
the street and going up the steps to the apartment. She knocked on
the door and waited for someone to answer, but no one did. She
tried the door and found it locked, so she went back down to her
bicycle and rode home.

It was a few days before she found out from Valerie
that her ex had been released on bail. Valerie was scared out of
her mind that he was going to take her daughter away and hurt her
again. Laura tried to comfort her, but she was beside herself. She
was still crying when Laura left for the day.

Laura wasn’t scheduled to volunteer at the crisis
center for a few more days. She went to her apartment, packed a few
things in a backpack, and rode her bike back to the apartment where
Valerie’s ex lived. It was around 6:00 p.m. when she arrived. She
hid her bike in the foliage and positioned herself in the same
location as before so that she wouldn’t be seen.

At about 7:00 p.m., the ex left the apartment. It
was a Friday night, and from the way he was dressed, he was going
out to party. She waited until he was out of sight before crossing
the street and going up the stairs. She knocked on the door just to
be sure no one else was home. No one came to the door. She looked
around to be certain she wasn’t being watched by some nosy
neighbor. When she was certain she wasn’t being watched, she
slipped on some latex gloves and tried the door. It was locked, as
expected. She retrieved some lock picking tools from her bag and
picked the lock – a handy skill she had picked up in her drug
dealing days.

Once inside, she shut the door behind her and locked
it. A quick look around the house revealed that this door was the
only entrance to the apartment and that no one else was around. She
retrieved a black ski mask from the bag and a junior sized baseball
bat. She positioned the mask on top of her head so that she could
pull it down in a moment’s notice, and then she looked for a place
to sit where she would not be seen from the outside. Once she was
positioned, she waited.

There were some down sides to this plan. If someone
else came back with the ex, Laura could be in trouble. In that
case, she might need the gun she had brought along that was tucked
in the back of her pants. From the looks of this place, though, he
wasn’t going to bring a girl back here. She supposed he was the
type of guy who would convince the girl to go back to her place.
That way, if it got rough, he could leave after he smacked her
around a bit and she wouldn’t know where to find him. Scum. She
could hardly wait until he got back.

There were a few false alarms from neighbors coming
home or leaving, but Laura’s mark finally returned at 1:00 a.m. He
was whistling as his foot hit the bottom stair. She pulled down the
mask over her face so that he wouldn’t be able to identify her
later. The door was solid wood and he hadn’t left a light on inside
when he left, so he wouldn’t see Laura until it was too late to do
anything about it.

He had just opened the door and reached over to turn
on the light when Laura sprang into action. She slammed the big end
of the bat hard into his solar plexus, and then she kicked him
between the legs. He dropped to his knees and she easily tipped him
back out the door and onto the landing with her foot. He lay there
in a fetal position on his back, gasping for breath. She stepped
across the threshold and took a small can of pepper spray out of
her pocket. She aimed it at his face and sprayed it in his eyes.
While he was screaming and trying to wipe the pepper spray out of
his eyes, she reached down with both hands and rolled him down the
stairs as hard as she could. She was pleased to see that he made it
all the way to the bottom before he stopped. She quickly gathered
her things and walked down the stairs. Laura bent down beside him
as he lay there moaning, pointed her phone at him, and hit he
‘play’ button on the pre-recorded message she had created using an
internet app that disguised her voice.