The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
Chapter 30
“And I saw Tatyana Projenka, daddy, she’s the prima ballerina for the New York City Ballet Company, she’s from Kiev, that’s in Russia…it’s really cold there. And we went ice-skating in Rockefeller Center, accept for Abuela Delgado cause she said her bones are too old so she stayed with Alma and watched Hedda and me. Hedda is a good skater, daddy, she said she skated a lot in Sweden…that’s where she comes from and they have lots of ice there. And we ate these big, big pretzels…and hot chocolate…”
“Okay, Starr, why don’t you take a deep breath,” said Todd after listening to Starr telling him the same stories he’d heard all the way back from the airport late last night before she mercifully fell asleep.
“Daddy, can I call mommy? I want to tell her about my trip!”
Todd got up from the kitchen table as Starr finished her breakfast.
“Listen, Starr, your mom’s she’s not feeling too well.”
Starr got up, a worried expression on her face.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She…uh…she was assaulted, beat up and she was in the hospital. But she’s home now
and she needs to rest.”
“I want to see her, daddy. She’s all alone now. She needs me.”
“Yeah, well, why don’t you call her first. She can better explain what happened than I can. And Sam is helping her, she’s not alone.”
“Why would someone beat her up, daddy?”
“Look, Starr, I’m going to be honest with you because you may hear some stuff at school about me. Here, look at this,” said Todd, unfolding the latest addition of The Sun. His picture was on the front page and the headline read: TODD MANNING, INNOCENT! It was a bit over the top, but he needed something tangible, something simple to make things clear so that Starr could face her schoolmates.
“Daddy? What does that mean?”
Todd sat her down and took a chair beside her.
“Your mother came to see me at the paper, in the parking garage. We argued, what else is new, right? Anyway, after I left her someone jumped her and beat her up pretty badly. She thinks it was to take her money. But she’s okay, Starr, just some cuts and bruises. Anyway, when she woke up in the hospital she had a big bump on her head, and all she could remember was...me. So…”
Starr looked up at him.
“So…she blamed you?”
“Yeah, and I was arrested…”
Starr stood up, her eyes filling with tears.
“Wait, wait, Starr. I only spent a short time in jail, till she remembered that it was someone else. It was just a big misunderstanding, that’s all.”
Starr sat down again, looking at the table.
“Is that why Tea sent us to New York, and you didn’t even say good-by to us?”
“Yes.”
“But you promised you wouldn’t lie to me anymore, daddy…” she cried.
“I didn’t lie, Starr. I’m telling you the truth now. And your trip was part of your birthday present, we just moved it up a little until things were resolved here. Sometimes, Starr, you just have to trust me, you have to trust that Tea and I know what’s best for you, at least until you’re older. But, I won’t ever lie to you. Do you understand?”
Starr nodded slowly.
“So, mommy’s really okay?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go to your room and call her. Tell her all about your trip. I’m sure it will cheer her up. And in a few days I’ll take you to visit her, okay?”
Starr smiled brightly.
“Okay, daddy,” she said, kissing his cheek and running quickly out of the kitchen. Todd listened to her excited feet rushing up the stairs.
He had lied to Starr, telling her Blair’s palatable version of what happened, but what else could he do? Tell her the truth? That her mother was capable of getting herself raped just to set him up and send him to prison?
He took a long, sobering gulp of cold coffee and ran up the stairs into Alma’s nursery. Tea held Alma in her arms and was rocking her by the window in the pale morning sunlight and, for a moment, he was struck by their image, the love he felt for them astounding him and hitting him in the face like a heavy gust of mystical wind that held him spellbound and filled his bursting lungs with joy. It was like that moment when Alma was born and the first instant when he held her in his arms and looked down at Tea who’d just given birth to her.
Taking a deep breath he walked in. Tea had brought Alma to bed with her last night, unable to let go of her child after their brief separation.
“Tea, why don’t you put her down? She’s sound asleep,” he said, taking Alma from her and laying her down gently in her crib. Leaning down he kissed her perfect forehead, having missed her delicious baby smell and soft, doughy skin.
When he turned Tea was still by the window, lost in her thoughts and looking down at Windsor Lake.
Tea blinked and focused on the lake, staring at the still water. Peering intently through the glass she thought she saw something floating beneath its muddy surface. It looked white and ghostly…a pale, headless body floating aimlessly, cold and alone, with a lovely, alabaster face surrounded by shocking pink hair, bobbing beside it in its watery grave. Burying her face in her hands, Tea began to cry as Todd rushed over and held her.
“You’re not responsible for her death, Tea.”
“Yes…I am, at least, in part. I put her in harms way. That poor girl, Todd…”
“Well, the lifestyle she lead wasn’t exactly conducive to a long life, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I called Bo. He said they don’t have a suspect yet. They went to the Black Key Club and searched the place, but the woman who runs it said that guy, Ram, had disappeared. And Blair, well, apparently, she was alone and asleep when Cherry was killed. Sam had brought her home from the hospital and left her sleeping in her apartment all night. I wonder…”
“Wonder what?”
“If Blair had anything to do with that girl’s death. I mean, surely, Cherry was a liability to Blair’s little fiction…” he said, wiping her face gently.
“Todd! Even I can’t believe Blair is capable of murder, and such a violent one at that. No, Blair prefers bloodless crimes. She has others do her dirty work.”
Tea walked over and touched Alma’s sleeping face lightly before walking out of the room. Todd followed her. When they reached the landing Tea could hear Starr talking to Blair, telling her all about New York. She looked up at Todd.
“Did you tell her?”
“Yeah. I told her all about poor, poor, victimized Blair. And, of course she believed it…she wanted to believe it.”
“It’s best that way. It’s best for Starr to find out for herself what her mother really is, hopefully, when she’s older. In time, Starr will make up her own mind.”
They walked downstairs together, strolling into the livingroom. The house was quiet without Hedda bustling about, they had given her a few days off after she came back with the kids.
“Tea, Bo said they’re holding Cherry’s body at the morgue. They contacted her mother, but she doesn’t want anything to do with it…said she hasn’t seen her daughter in years and that...she’s already dead to her.”
Tea looked away, wincing with the fresh pain of an old wound that had never healed, a mother’s abandonment.
“I’ll make arrangements for her burial, Todd. It’s the least I can do for her,” she said.
Todd held her tightly as she began to cry again.
(Later, in the evening)
Every step was agonizing as she walked around the darkened waterfront, her face covered by a black scarf wrapped tightly around her head. Her body hadn’t yet recovered from the beating she had received at the hands of a madman…an assault she’d bought and paid for. She told him she wanted the rape to look real, but she hadn’t anticipated his dedication to his work, and the obvious pleasure he’d derive from it: the delight in hearing her ribs crack, the relish of seeing her blood spill.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she jumped. She turned quickly, her heart hammering against her sternum, but…there was no one there. Her eyes narrowed and focused, struggling to see in the darkness, her pupils large and black, almost eliminating the green from her reptilian eyes.
“Hello, my love,” said a deep, mellifluous voice coming from a darkened corner. A light flashed, illuminating his face as he lit a cigarette. She saw the rounded horns etched into his pale, shiny scalp before the light went out again sending a cold shiver through her aching body, remembering his brutality.
“Why the hell did you call me, Ram, don’t you know the police are looking everywhere for you? Damn you, you said you were leaving town…”
“I am leaving, oh soulless one, but, I need cash. Lots of it.”
“I gave you money, I don’t have much more.”
“I need a million, or you’re going to prison right along with me.”
“ A million! You son of a bitch, I don’t have that kind of money!” Blair backed away from him as he rose out of the shadows, floating toward her. He towered above her, dressed in black and smelling of tobacco, his leather coat moaning as he moved. “Did you kill, Cherry…you, butcher?”
Ram removed a dark object from his pant’s pocket. Blair heard a sharp, metallic click and a long, silver blade from a slim stiletto appeared in his hand, glinting in the moonlight like a white gash in the darkness. She stepped back as slashed the air with it a few times.
“Killed Cherry? Nah, she was merely put out of her misery. The little thing, she hated living, it was a chore for her. Someone did her a favor…and, I did you a favor. Now, it’s time to pay the piper.”
“I didn’t ask you to kill her…you sadistic bastard, just to keep her quiet,” cried Blair, tears falling down her bruised face.
“Well, now she’s quiet…quiet as a dead, little, headless mouse.” Ram, suddenly leapt across the boardwalk, quick as a viper, and grabbed Blair by the throat, placing the knife dangerously close to her face. “Look, bitch, I did us both a favor and now, it’s time to pay up.”
Blair was shaking, blubbering with fear as she spoke.
“I told you I don’t have that kind of money. Please…please don’t hurt me,” she begged, her lips wet and trembling.
“What’s wrong, baby? I thought you liked it rough! I would think a bimbo like you who once married a rapist would like a good, hard fucking. What’s wrong, baby…was Ram a little too much man for you? You prefer fucking little Cherries? Yeah, that’s what I figured. Blair, Blair, your so Blah…you truly disappoint me. And I’ve had a better lay from a five-dollar-hooker. In order for a fuck to be really good, it has to be honest, Blair. But you wouldn’t know that because you’ve never given an honest fuck in your life, have you?” He touched the tip of the knife to her crotch.
“STAY AWAY FROM ME,” screamed Blair.
“Quiet down, bitch, or someone might think you’re as crazy as your madwoman of a mama.”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Blair bit his hand, loosening his grip and falling backward.
Ram looked around and listened.
“Keep it down, you stupid bitch…or I’ll gut you open like a fish, from your throat to your cunt!”
Blair shook as he approached her again, covering her face with her hands as he waved his knife around.
“I want a million bucks, in small bills…by tomorrow.”
“I told you, I don’t have that kind of money,” she cried desperately.
“No…but, Todd Manning does.”
Blair, stunned, looked up at him.
“And what, you think I can just go and ask him for it? He hates my guts and he’d love nothing more than to see me in prison so he can continue his nice little life with my daughter and...that woman.”
“Well, maybe if you and I put our pretty, little heads together we can persuade Mr. Manning to part with some of that money. Now…Ram was thinking that, perhaps, if we took something from him that he wanted to get back…”
Blair straightened up, a slight smirk suddenly playing on her bruised lips.
“What do you mean…like…maybe his wife, Tea?”
Ram ran his tongue over his lower lip slowly, making a slurping sound.
“M-m-m-m…she’s a tasty, little dime-piece, but, I was thinking of someone a little less fiery, someone a little easier to transport. Someone that wouldn’t fight back, like…their baby.”
Blair’s smirk disappeared, staring at him in horror. There were many things she would do to hurt Todd, but hurting an innocent child wasn’t one of them. She knew that pain all too well.
“NO! That’s out of the question.”
“And what will you do to stop me, bitch, go to the police?” Ram removed a cell phone from his pocket and shoved it in her face. “Here, sweetness, why don’t you call them. I’d only be too glad to tell them how you paid me to rape you…and to kill Cherry.”
“THAT’S A LIE!”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” he laughed maniacally as he danced around in front of her, weaving his shiny stiletto in her face.
“Look, I’ll try to come up with the money, somehow. Starr has a huge trust fund from Todd, maybe I can tap into it. But…I’ll need a few weeks.”
Blair cowered a little as Ram approached her and barked in her face.
“I don’t have a few weeks, bitch! I need to disappear, and disappearing can be very expensive. Damn, I may even have to grow my hair out…I NEED MONEY, BITCH AND I NEED IT NOW!”
“Please, just give me a week. Call me in a few days and I’ll try and get the money for you.” Blair looked around, backing away quickly. “I have to go, if someone sees me here, I’m sunk.”
Blair hurried away from him and he watched her disappear around a corner, her footsteps slowly fading away.
“Sorry, bitch…but I don’t have a few weeks to hang around here.” He walked along the boardwalk, moving in and out of the shadow, singing softly to himself in a deep baritone. “Hush little baby, don’t’ say a word…”
2003 Copyright by Trog
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