by Julia Derek
So he was spying on me then. Following me around. Or maybe Mom did and had told him. It didn’t matter; the fact that he knew bothered me the most. He wasn’t supposed to be surveilling me at all times.
“Were you there?” he asked, holding my gaze.
“Yes, I was there with a friend. This girl I know in my building. She was drinking margaritas. I was drinking Coke.”
“Really? Are you actually gonna sit there and tell me you were only drinking Coke while your friend was downing margarita after margarita? Pardon me if I’m being rude, but I just don’t buy that. Nor do I have to. We have witnesses that tell me you were drinking just as much as your friend. And this despite that you are not allowed to drink alcohol.”
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t following me around himself, but someone did. Most likely Mom or someone she had hired. I doubted Otto cared so much what I was doing every second of the day that he’d follow me around himself. A guy like him didn’t care that much about getting me back behind bars. The only reason he’d do it would be if someone paid him a lot of money, but from the sound of it, more people were involved. Which didn’t surprise me. I might be paranoid, but I had plenty of reason to be so.
“So you’re telling me these people saw me drink alcohol at this bar yesterday?” I asked just to verify. Mom had no qualms about lying to Otto about what I had done in the bar. Of course she’d claim that to get me in trouble.
“Yes, they did,” Otto confirmed. He kept staring me down, daring me. It was as though he expected me to jump across the table and attack him. I was about to tell him that I had my own witness that could verify that I had only drunk Coke all night. I remembered succinctly how our waitress had been watching me and Sophie throughout the night. She must have noticed that I had only been drinking soda. But before I could say anything, Otto’s demeanor changed. His entire face relaxed and he looked almost kind.
“Look, I know that you’ve been through hell, son,” he said. “Getting reintegrated into society after living in a place like Ramsdale isn’t easy. I get that. I read your file and I know what was done to you. So I want to give you another chance to do the right thing. Stay on the up and up from now on and we can forget about this little incident, okay?”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. He was going to let this slide after having called me all the way down to his office for a special meeting? It seemed too good to be true.
“Um, okay,” I said, at a loss for words.
“Good. But just because I forgive you this time, don’t think it can happen again. I promise you that if I hear about you so much as looking at a drink again, I’m telling the parole board. Okay?”
“Okay.” I remained in the chair, still a little shell-shocked.
He nodded, then said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of my sight!” He waved a dismissive hand at me. “I have stuff to do. Come back here for our regular meeting on Thursday.”
Quickly, I pushed the chair back and got out of his office. As I hurried out of the courthouse, I ran through what had just happened in my mind. Someone had claimed they’d seen me drinking at Papi’s yesterday and informed Otto about it. Otto, who had decided to all of a sudden become a good guy and not make a stink about my alleged boozing. It didn’t make sense. Had I misread Otto that much and he was not as bad a guy as I had thought? Or was this just another ploy by my mother, wanting to lull me into a false sense of security, thinking Otto was really a good guy? That he would never do something he shouldn’t, that he was on my side? Well, that didn’t quite fit either, since he’d promised me he’d report me should I make another misstep, no matter how small. Someone who was on my side wouldn’t be that harsh. Not that I actually had made a misstep yesterday, and I felt reasonably certain the waitress would have backed up my version of the night.
What the hell was going on here?
23
As the first time I visited Ariel and Mom at their house, the square-faced butler greeted me when the elevator door slid aside. I was about to have dinner with them, and I had yet to hear from Sophie. By now, she had been gone for at least 36 hours and I was going out of my mind. I refused to believe I had been so wrong about her that she had just lied to my face at Papi’s, assured me she was sorry for having agreed to work with Mom, and then promised to go out of her way to help me now that she knew the truth. Instead, my belief that Mom was behind her disappearance had strengthened and I was hell-bent on figuring out what she had done.
I had spent far more time with her than I had with Otto, so my assessment was more likely to be correct with her.
Mom came up to me with Neera in her arms as the butler took me into the main sitting room.
“Hi Shay!” the little girl cried out, as always grinning big. “I missed you.”
“Hi Neera,” I said and returned her smile. “I missed you too.” I gave her a kiss on her chubby cheek. Only because I could see both the butler and Ariel out of the corner of my eye did I give Mom a kiss on the cheek as well.
My stomach turned as my lips connected with her smooth skin. To hide my intense dislike, I forced a smile and turned to Ariel, who gave me a big man hug while also shaking my hand.
“Good to see you, my friend,” the aging Israeli said and patted my back affectionately. Boy, was it a turnaround from the other time I had been here when he’d acted distant and uptight. Tonight he greeted me like I was part of the family.
We walked into an adjacent sitting room where we all had a seat on the sofas. There was a big fireplace with a marble mantle at the end of the room. Several photos were placed on top of the mantle. I sat near the fireplace, so I had a good view of the couple of silver-framed pictures closest to me. One of them was of Ariel and my mother getting married. They were standing in a sunny garden somewhere. My mom looked lovely, almost angelic in a cream-colored, sleeveless wedding dress and Ariel looked handsome in his black and gray suit. He also appeared deeply proud of Mom, of their union, his chest puffed up like a peacock’s.
The fact that I was working toward undoing his blissful ignorance, revealing the truth about my mother made my heart hurt. As I had gotten to know the man better, I’d come to notice that he was highly sensitive. His rugged features, hoarse voice, and inelegant accent gave one the impression he was a cruder person. When he discovered what a monster he had married and with whom he had fathered a child, he would no doubt be crushed.
“You like that photo, Shane?” my mother asked me, pulling me back to the here and now.
“It’s a beautiful picture,” I answered, my eyes still admiring it. “I wish I had been able to be there with you guys that day.”
“Yes, it’s too bad you couldn’t make it,” Mom said. “How’s Sophie doing? Have you seen her lately?”
I swiveled my head in her direction. There had been a pointed quality to her questions, as though she wanted to stir my emotions, piss me off. I had to take a deep breath to restrain myself from throttling her, squeezing the truth out of her wretched mouth for everyone to hear. She clearly knew Sophie was gone or she wouldn’t have used that tone, never mind asking such questions.
I managed to calmly ask her, “Why do you ask?”
She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “No specific reason. I just know the two of you are good friends. I’m happy that you’ve been able to make friends so soon. It’s a good sign.” She gave me a taunting little smile.
“Look!” Neera cried out then. All of us turned our heads in her direction where she had positioned herself in the middle of the large room, on a Persian rug that covered a big part of the floor. She was twirling around, doing some weird dance. She proceeded to skip back and forth a couple of times, then kicked her legs out in a dramatic fashion. Finally, she bowed deeply, which told me her spontaneous performance must be over.
Automatically, the three of us burst into enthusiastic applause.
“That was great, Neera,” I said. “Where did you learn to dance so prettily?”
“Neera go
es to dance class three times a week,” my mother explained.
“Well, it’s definitely paying off,” I said.
“What would you like to drink, Shane?” Ariel asked. “I just received this great red wine from Tel Aviv. You should have a glass.” He looked at Mom. “We won’t tell anyone you’re having some alcohol. I think you’re old enough to drink. This country has silly rules. In Israel we don’t abide by such stupidity.”
“Fine, he can have a drink if he wants to,” Mom said. “He’s among family.” She shot me a glance and smiled coolly. “Would you like a drink, Shane? A margarita, perhaps?” Her smile widened a touch and her eyes flashed meaningfully. The message was crystal clear.
“So you did follow me then?” I blurted out before I could think twice about it.
Her smile fell off her face and she let out a small gasp, as though outraged by my suggestion. “Followed you? What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said in as calm a voice as I could manage. I could feel Ariel’s eyes going between me and Mom. I needed to stay cool.
“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Shane,” Mom snapped. “All I know is that you won’t be drinking tonight. You can’t control yourself with alcohol in your body. You do stupid things.”
I glared at her. “And you know that how? You’ve never seen me drink alcohol.”
“Yes, I have, Shane, and we both know it.” She held my gaze for a couple of tense beats. “Now let’s please change the subject. You never told me how Sophie’s doing. Have you seen her lately?”
“You know I haven’t,” I snapped. Control yourself, Shane, I urged myself as I fisted my hands, squeezing them hard at my sides. I willed myself to relax my fingers.
Don’t let her get to you. That’s what she wants.
“I do?” Mom pressed a well-manicured hand to her chest.
“Yes, you do because she’s gone,” I muttered. Quietly, I breathed in and out. In and out. In and out. I had to relax, stay in control of my emotions, but the sleepiness and my ever-present paranoia made it difficult. I shouldn’t have come here tonight. I should have canceled. I was in no state to deal with my mom. I should have taken care of this when no one else was around. Met up with her somewhere.
Neera went up to Ariel then and asked to sit in his lap. He pulled her up from the floor and positioned her in front of him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could feel Mom watching me instead of her husband and daughter, who whispered something to her father. He laughed and pinched her cheek. The kid whispered something else. Mom’s eyes boring into my head annoyed me. Suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I turned my head toward her. I was about to ask her what she was looking at when a devilish grin stretched her lips and she mouthed, “Yes, I do,” while nodding her head ever so slightly. “I took her. I took Sophie.”
I just reacted, the words out of my mouth before I could stop them: “You fucking bitch, you killed her, didn’t you?” I got up on my feet. Somewhere inside me a small voice urged me to pull myself together, sit down again, apologize for the wild accusation, but it wasn’t loud enough. Instead, I crossed the distance between us in a few long steps, grabbed Mom from the sofa, and shook her. “Tell us what you did. Tell Ariel who you are!”
I felt strong arms and hands grab me then and pull me off her. I tried to get them off of me, but the grip around me only tightened. Turning my head slightly sideways, I saw that it was the butler and another man who had grabbed a hold of me. Realizing how stupidly I had behaved, I stopped resisting and relaxed instead. She had baited me and I had taken it. I had walked straight into her trap, even though I knew what she was like. For all I knew, she had no idea where Sophie was, only that she was missing. She might have pretended only.
I was such a moron.
“Please escort him to the exit, James,” Mom said to the butler, pretending to look shaken now.
I knew that if I made myself apologize profusely for my outburst, maybe, just maybe I would have a chance to rectify my huge mistake, but I couldn’t make myself. The mere idea of asking for forgiveness when it was so clear what had happened, Mom goading me when only I was watching her, was too upsetting. I just couldn’t humiliate myself that much right then.
So I let James walk me to the elevator with Ariel and Neera watching all the while. When we reached it, someone had already made the car arrive and I was shoved inside.
“Don’t come back here,” were the last words I heard before the door slid shut.
24
Jennifer
I remained seated on the sofa as James and Robert escorted Shane out of the house. My little ploy had worked even better than I could have imagined. Ariel was still staring at the wide arched opening between the two sitting rooms through which my son and the men had just walked.
I chuckled inwardly. The boy was such an emotional idiot. Hypersensitive as always. You would have thought spending five years in juvie would have taught him a lesson or two in that department, toughened him up a little. But no. It seemed it had had the reverse effect. Not that I’m complaining.
“Why did Shay hurt you, Mom?” my nosy parker daughter wanted to know. She was still seated in my husband’s lap, whose face had paled significantly underneath that olive skin. “Why was he so mad at you? Were you bad?”
I smiled warmly at her, even though all her questions drove me bananas. Unlike Shane at that age, the girl just didn’t know when to shut up. In my mind’s eye, I pictured walking over to her and slapping her face hard. That would teach her how to behave. But I would never do such a thing. Not yet at least, and certainly not in front of Ariel, that old fool. Things would change when he was gone, though. There would be no more spoiling of the kid. She would finally know her rightful place on earth.
“Shane has some anger problems, honey,” I explained to her. “He also has a very vivid imagination. Just like you do. He likes to come up with scenarios in his head and sometimes he believes they are true.” I sent her a wink. “For you it’s normal to fantasize a lot. It’s not for someone Shane’s age.”
“He said bad words,” Neera said, crinkling her little nose and looking confused at the same time.
“Yes, he did, darling,” Ariel said and patted the side of her leg. “Please try to forget what he said. It was very bad.”
“Why did James and Robert take him out to the elevator?” she asked, ignoring her father and focusing on me. She had quickly come to learn that I would give her the truth straight, unlike her protective father. “Will he come back for dinner?”
“No, honey,” I said curtly. “He won’t. He needs to be on his own and calm down.”
“Will he come back for dinner another day?”
I gritted my teeth. I could hardly wait until the day I would be able to bring her up properly. The kid loved to be the center of attention, and with a father like Ariel, she usually got her way. I wanted to tell Karen to come and put Neera to bed, but I couldn’t do that. Ariel would not approve when Neera had so many questions. He never tired of answering all her questions.
“I don’t think so, honey,” I said and sighed as though the thought upset me. In reality, I couldn’t be happier. I really should celebrate that I had been able to sever ties with Shane so fast, especially given the burgeoning relationship between him and Ariel. I had wanted Ariel to develop a relationship with Shane—I had known my husband would take my son under his wing when he found out about his talents—I just hadn’t counted on Ariel liking him that much. That could have derailed quickly. Now I was back in control over Ariel, the way it should be.
Neera turned to face her father then. “What about our painting, Daddy? Will we continue with the painting?” She gazed at Ariel imploringly, about to accept only an affirmative response.
Ariel glanced over at me and I could tell he wanted me to answer in his place.
“Neera, that’s not a good idea,” I said, more than happy to do so. “I know you want to spend time with your br
other, but right now, he needs to be alone and not spend time with anyone. He needs to get a hold of his temper before you can see him again.”
As expected, she puffed out her cheeks in frustration and crossed her arms over her small chest, frowning deeply. She turned her face to Ariel.
“What will happen to the painting, Daddy?”
Ariel sighed, looking miserable. “I don’t know, darling. I don’t know.”
I zoned out their ensuing chatter and relived the previous moment in my head. Shane had been so transparent the second I even mentioned Sophie. The pointed way he’d asked me why I wanted to know about her had told me everything I’d needed to know to go on. Something had happened with Sophie and he was convinced that I had something to do with it. Made her disappear. He must have developed strong feelings for the girl reacting that emotionally. As soon as I’d realized that, I knew I had found the perfect way to push his buttons.
Then, of course, my bratty little daughter had to get everyone’s attention, interrupting my progress. Thankfully, I had quickly been able to get the conversation back on track, though.
The hint about the margarita had been masterful, if I may say so myself. It was only to be expected that he would accuse me of having stalked him then. The truth was, I had stalked him. From the moment he’d left his building that night, I had been after him. I hadn’t planned on doing that, but my friend had canceled on me and I had been dying to get away from home that night, so I had pretended our date was still on and gone out anyway. I’d figured I’d swing by my son’s house and see what else I could learn. See if he could tell me more about Sophie that I could use against him. She was too good an opportunity to miss.
But then, as I had been about to turn up the flagstone path that led to his apartment building, he had come out of the entrance. Grateful it was getting dark, I managed to hide behind a bus stop as he’d walked by, and then I followed him to Papi’s, keeping my distance all the while.
