Forever, For Always Page 5

  “Thank you for being so good to us, Gloria. In just the few short weeks I have known you; you have shown me what it is like to be loved by a mother. For that, I’ll forever be grateful.”

  Gloria quickly swipes her hand under her eye. “There you go making a liar out of me about being a tough old lady.” She laughs.

  “I’m ready to find me some treasure!” Benny yells in his best pirate expression as he bursts through the front door. He has one eye squinted shut, making us both laugh.

  “I better not make my little pirate wait any longer. Thank you again for everything.”

  “No need to thank me, Vada. I’m just doing what is right.” She grabs Benny’s hand as he walks down the step. “Have fun, Benny boy! See you tomorrow.”

  “I will dig you up the most beautiful treasure, Glory-ya! Bye bye!”

  ~

  Now that I’m prepared for Tuesday, “Pastelitos” day I’m actually, looking forward to today. I know that this morning will be crazy, but that’s okay. I have already stocked the pastry display case and even researched the translation of a few of the choice words I was called last week. At least I will know now if I should be offended or not.

  As if on cue, Isaac walks in at five a.m. on the dot. He looks tired and down, not his usual self. I don’t know why it bothers me so much that he isn’t smiling.

  “Pastelitos day!” I mock the accent the best that I can as I throw my hands up in the air as if in celebration, trying to get a smile out of him. He gives me a feeble smile at best.

  “Usual today, please,” he replies as he hands me his money.

  My attempts at uplifting this mood from him seems to fail, so I take the ten dollars he hands me, place it in the drawer, and give him the change without saying anything else. He promptly places the change in the jar while grabbing his phone from his pocket with his other hand. Since he is intently reading something on his phone while I make his drink, I inconspicuously place two pastelitos, instead of one, into the paper bag. He is still looking down at whatever he is reading on his phone, so I reach both hands out toward him with his order, purposely rattling the bag more than needed to get his attention. He briefly looks up to grab the drink and bag with a “thanks” and places his phone back in his pocket before walking out the door.

  The line behind him kept my thoughts at bay from the weird encounter most of the day. The thunderstorm outside has deterred any customers most of the afternoon. That and I’m sure everyone knows that the pastelitos are already gone for the day. After tidying up everything I possibly could, I sit down on the stool behind the counter. Just as I open the newspaper to read, the bell chimes above the front door. I look up from the paper as Isaac runs in from the downpour. He shakes himself off as he approaches me. I’m not sure how to act after this morning.

  “Pretty wicked storm out there, huh?” I sit the paper back down on the counter as I stand up behind the register.

  “I came in to pay for the extra pastelito that snuck into my bag somehow.”

  When he looks up from his wallet I notice a small smile.

  I wave my hand in disagreement. “No worries, I paid for it out of my tips after you left. You always tip me way too much anyway.”

  “Well, thank you. It was a nice surprise on a crappy day.” He tries to be sly as he slips a couple dollar bills into the jar anyway. I shake my head at him but don’t say a word. I somehow know I won’t win that argument.

  “Sorry you are having a bad day.” I genuinely mean it.

  “Being a police officer isn’t always what it’s cut out to be. Bringing down the bad guys feels great, but the other side of it is what I hate. Last night was a rough one.” He leans on the counter, still looking as defeated as he did this morning.

  “Did you want a drink or something?”

  He shakes his head. “No, I had a little break so I wanted to come in and thank you for the extra treat. The storm doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon, so I better get going.”

  I can’t believe what I’m about to ask. “Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?”

  Isaac turns around slowly, eyeing me curiously. My question must have surprised him just as much as it surprised me when I asked it.

  “You know, to give Benny the police car?” I slightly stammer. “I mean, if you still wanted to give it to him, that is. If so, you are more than welcome to stop by for dinner. Nothing fancy,” I respond trying to save myself before he can answer me.

  Isaac smiles the whole way through my explanation, waiting until I’m finished rambling. “Sure.”

  A customer finally saves me by walking through the door. “See you at six?” I ask.

  “It will be more like six thirty. I don’t get off work until six.”

  “Right, okay, see you then.”

  He walks out, leaving me to help the new customer. I kind of wish he hadn’t, turns out this is one of the women who spouts the derogatory words in Spanish at me when she finds out she is late once again for the pastelitos. You would think these people would learn by now to get their butts in here early on Tuesday’s! I can see now why Carlos despises Gloria’s business practices.

  Luckily, the storm lets up by the time I’m off work. It is just sprinkling now that I’m walking home. I make a quick stop into the grocery store to pick up a few things to make tonight. I haven’t made Dominic’s special stuffed shell recipe in years considering Benny doesn’t eat enough to make it worth cooking a big meal like that for just one person. I’m not the greatest cook, but this I can make perfectly. They were Dominic’s favorite and he taught me how to make the recipe when I was twelve.

  ***

  Our housekeeper has been in the hospital with pneumonia for three days now. Dominic and I are so completely over eating sandwiches for both lunch and dinner. Not only that, we have just enough bread left to last one more lunch. Ruth Anne is given money to shop for the family at the beginning of each week. Without her, we really have nothing. Vincent is rarely home, so it’s not like he is making sure we are being fed. Not that we are complaining. Life is much better when he isn’t around. We would never dare bring attention to ourselves by asking him for something if we really didn’t have to. After our tutors leave in the afternoon, we are pretty much left to fend for ourselves. We are living in one of the most expensive high rises in Manhattan with Dominic’s millionaire father. (I refuse to call him mine. He won’t adopt me, so I’m nothing to him really.) Yet, a lot of the time, we live like we come from a family of poverty. Of course, no one would know this since we are home schooled and rarely allowed to leave. Dominic actually has a pretty hefty trust fund from what I hear that was left by his mother in her will, but he is not able to access any of it until his eighteenth birthday. So here we are hungry, in the lavish penthouse we live in.

  “I’m over this, I want real food. I know the code to the safe. I’m going to get some money out so I can go to the store,” Dominic says while walking toward Vincent’s office.

  I follow quickly behind. “Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what he would do to you if he found out you took money from there? We’re not even supposed to step foot into this room!”

  Dominic stops in front of the painted picture of the Brooklyn Bridge that hides the safe. “Twenty dollars is nothing compared to the thousands that are probably in there. Plus, I’ll replace it once Ruth Anne is back. You know she’ll understand and give us a twenty to cover it. Vincent will never know.”

  “I really don’t think this is a good idea, Dominic.”

  He spins the lock three times and effortlessly opens the door. Both of our eyes become wide in amazement when we see the amount of cash inside.

  “Told you! He won’t know twenty is missing from that,” he says, pointing with his thumb towards the stacks of cash.

  After gingerly taking a twenty out of a wad wrapped in a thick rubber band, Dominic shuts the safe and carefully re-hangs the picture. “You stay here while I run down the street to get what I need.”
r />   “You’re cooking?” I chuckle.

  Dominic playfully shoves me. “Shut up, Adaline. You think that just because I’m a boy that I can’t cook?”

  I shake my head no.

  “Well, just so you know, we never had any housekeepers when my mom was around. She was the best cook. She even taught me how to make my favorite recipe. It is a secret family recipe. Have you ever eaten Italian Stuffed Shells?”

  I shake my head no at him once again.

  “Well, you are tonight and I’m even going to teach you how to make it. Then one day you can make it for your own son just like my mom did for me. I know you never had a mom, but I know you’re going to be a great one someday, just like mine was to me.”

  ***

  I never understood how a young boy could be so kind when he had a dad like Vincent as a role model. After that day, I finally understood. His mom did such an amazing job raising him for those first nine years of his life that it made a lasting impression on the man he would become one day.

  Chapter Six

  I didn’t tell Benny that Isaac was stopping by this evening. I wanted to see the look of surprise on his face when he showed up. I’m glad I did, because just as I had hoped, the look on his face was priceless when Isaac walked in. Moments like this are what I live for. I promised Benny the day he was born that I was going to spend every possible second of my life making sure he was happy and loved.

  “Officer Monroe! What are you doing here?” his little voice shrieks with surprise.

  I open the door and Isaac walks in with both of his hands behind his back so I push the door shut behind him.

  “I wanted to stop by to give you a present. Is that okay?”

  Benny jumps up and down with excitement. “You brought me a present? What is it? What is it?”

  “First, you can call me Isaac if you want.” He bends down to Benny’s ear and whispers, “I’m not in my uniform, so we don’t want to let any bad guys know who I’m, right?”

  Isaac is dressed comfortably in tennis shoes, basketball shorts, and a Miami Dolphins tee shirt.

  “Oh yeah! Oops, sorry, Isaac.” Benny tries to mimic in his own hushed voice.

  Isaac whips his left hand from behind his back showing Benny the toy police car. “I know how much you loved pretending to drive my car the other day, so I got you one of your very own.”

  Benny snatches the small car out of Isaac’s hand.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he loudly exclaims while examining the car and then wraps his arms around Isaac with a big hug.

  Isaac ruffles the hair on top of Benny’s head. “No problem, Buddy.”

  Benny gets down on his knees and begins to make siren noises as he pushes the car across the hardwood floor heading toward his bedroom.

  Isaac walks a few steps toward me, leaving Benny to gawk over his new toy, and with his right hand, hands me a single light pink rose that he had hiding behind his back.

  Just as the first time, I do not immediately take it, but stare at it like it is diseased.

  “Does pink have a meaning too?” I consciously ask as I finally take it from his hand.

  “Light pink,” he corrects me. “And yes, it does.”

  I spin around to walk to the kitchen so I can put it in water. “And that would be?” I ask, looking up at him while raising my eyebrows once I slip it into the vase that still holds the three yellow ones from last weekend.

  He is standing a few feet in front of me with both hands behind his back and shakes his head at me. “Patience Grasshopper, I will tell you when I’m ready.”

  I laugh at his Karate Kid reference as I open the oven door to check on the food.

  “Wow! That smells amazing!”

  I shut the door and when I turn around he is practically against me from apparently trying to sneak a peek into the oven. I freeze. He can sense that I’m uncomfortable.

  He takes three large steps backwards slowly with his hands in the air in surrender. “I’m sorry.”

  I nervously laugh. I reach for the pot holder from the counter and I turn back around to take the food out of the oven. “It’s Italian Stuffed Shells.”

  “Well it looks and smells delicious. Can I help you with anything?”

  “If you want to grab the plates, they are in the cabinet beside the refrigerator.”

  Isaac hands me three plates as I cut up the garlic bread. I make Benny a plate and cut up his food to help cool it down.

  “Help yourself,” I tell him while laying Benny’s plate down on the small rectangular kitchen table. “There are drinks in the fridge. I’m going to go let Benny know it’s time for dinner.”

  Benny beats me back into the kitchen, climbing up on the chair beside Isaac. “I want to sit here,” he demands when he sees his plate sitting on the other side of the table where he usually sits.

  I scoot his plate over to him and he looks up at me with a big smile. That boy is spoiled rotten. I make myself a plate and sit across from the boys. Benny hardly pays any attention to his food as he fills in Isaac on the pirate adventure I took him on over the weekend.

  Isaac sits patiently, listening to every word Benny says.

  “I’m done! Can I go play with my new police car?” Benny asks after finally finishing his food in between playing twenty questions with Isaac about pulling people over.

  “Five minutes, but then you are going to take a bath and go to bed.”

  “Okay!” He sprints out of the kitchen back to his bedroom where he had left his new car.

  “That was one if the best meals I have eaten in a long time. You are an amazing cook.” Isaac opens the dishwasher and loads his plate and silverware inside.

  “Don’t let it fool you, that’s really only one of the few dishes I know how to make.” I laugh as I take Benny’s plate and rinse it off at the sink before loading it into the dishwasher as well.

  “Who taught you how to make it? It was pretty authentic.”

  I unsnap the lid off of Benny’s cup and dump out the remaining milk into the sink, not wanting to look up at him. “Family recipe,” I say as I put a soap tab into the dishwasher and turn it on. This is just another reason why I made my no friends rule. How can I have friends when I can’t have a simple, honest, conversation? “I need to get Benny in the bath. You are more than welcome to find something on TV. I won’t be long.”

  Once I have Benny bathed, dressed, and his teeth brushed, he runs into the living room. He stops right in front of the couch where Isaac is sitting.

  “Good night, Officer Mon…I mean, Isaac! Thank you for the police car! I’m going to sleep with it tonight,” he proclaims, clutching the car in his arms.

  “You are very welcome, Officer Benny!”

  Benny giggles. “I’m not Officer Benny.” He stands tall and poufs out his chest. “I’m Officer Benedict Bruno!”

  “Benedict? And all this time I assumed Benny was short for Benjamin!”

  Benny giggles again. “No, silly!” His little laugh is contagious.

  “Well, Benedict, do you want to know something crazy?” Isaac reaches into the nape of his grey shirt and pulls out a chain. “I wear a Saint Benedict medal along with my Saint Michael medal to protect me when I’m on duty.”

  “My mommy wears a Saint Benedict on her necklace, too! It was my daddy’s!”

  “Okay, Benny, time for bed.” I pick him up to carry him back to his room.

  “Good night, Isaac!” Benny hollers over my shoulder.

  Isaac cups his hands around his mouth and hollers back at him as I round the corner to his room. “Good night, Officer Benedict Bruno!”

  ~

  I’m kind of disappointed that Benny is sound asleep after just one round of You Are My Sunshine. I’m not ready to go back into the living room with Isaac. I don’t know how to make adult conversation after so many years on my own. Just the thought of it gives me anxiety. How do you authentically converse with someone when you can’t even be truthful? I take a deep breath
and make myself get this over with. Hopefully he has to work tomorrow and will be ready to leave soon.

  The moment I walk into my living room, I realize that I’m going to have to sit beside Isaac since the only piece of living room furniture that came with the apartment was a couch. He is sitting slightly in the middle, so it’s not like I can even sit on the opposite side. I wonder if he purposely sat that way.

  “Anything good on?” I ask as I sit down. I already know there isn’t. I only have the basic channels, and half of them rarely come in clearly as it is. We’ve never had cable because I try to not open any accounts in my name, even though it’s fake. This is why I always find the cheapest apartments that let me pay rent in cash.

  “Not really.” He crinkles his nose as he lays the remote control down on the coffee table.

  “Sorry,” I reply, crinkling mine back at him.

  “It’s okay.”

  “So,” I drag out. “Bad day on the job yesterday, you were saying earlier today?”

  He takes a deep breath and then exhales loudly. ”Yeah, I had to be the one to tell a little girl and her mom that their dad and husband would not be coming home. He was shot in a drive by while walking home from work yesterday. He was dead on arrival.”

  “Oh my gosh, that’s terrible.” Without thinking, I turn somewhat sideways on the couch so I can face him which ends up making our knees touch. It would be too awkward to shift again so soon, so I stay in place.

  “Yeah, it really is. It’s the worst feeling having to give a loved one that type of news. It kind of brings back some unhappy memories of my own, so I think that’s why it’s even harder on me.”

  I immediately remember Gloria had told me how Isaac became her son in her heart. I don’t offer that I already know his story. I’m not sure how happy he would be that she told me. Some stories are meant to be told first hand. This would be one of those types of stories.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s okay. It usually doesn’t bother me that much. It just really hit a nerve yesterday I guess.”