by Liza Brown
“No, the doctor said Uncle Larry didn’t get far enough. You were technically still a virgin.”
Most, ok…some women would be thrilled with this information. I, on the other hand, was fuming. “Why didn’t you tell me? You lied to me!” I yelled.
“Mae! Keep your voice down! This is not the time or place for this discussion.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who brought it up!” I turned away from her and took a few steps before I turned around again. “Leave! Go!”
“You don’t mean that!”
“I mean it more than you can ever know, mom! As far as I’m concerned you can stay away from me forever for all I care right now. Go!”
“Why are you being like this, Mae?”
I bit my cheek so hard I could taste blood. The things I wanted to yell at her were things no child should say to their mother. “You honestly don’t know, do you?” I asked.
She shrugged, obviously clueless.
“Elsu, do you know?” she asked him.
“Oh yeah, I know, which is why you should. I think you need to leave. Mae is being a lot calmer than I am right now.”
“Fine! But Mae, when this ends,” she shook a well-manicured finger between Elsu and I, “Don’t forget I told you so!” She spun around quickly and walked away.
If it hadn’t been for the few cops standing around and other eye witnesses I would have found the heaviest piece of exploded trash and thrown it at her. How could she not know what her lie did to me?
I had never been so angry. I wasn’t even sure at that point which part I was angriest about. The fact that her lie led to me being beaten and abused by Bart, the fact that my entire livelihood was about to be wiped off the face of the map because of him, or the fact that she had no clue that any of this was her fault!
“Mae, come here,” I heard Elsu’s voice behind me. I realized I had walked to where the chain link fence marked the property line. I stood among weeds and rocks and pieces of exploded showroom. I honestly couldn’t remember having ever been in that particular location on the lot. I kicked the fence and punched a metal pole. I picked up a rock and hurled it over the fence with as much force as I could, screaming the whole time.
I grabbed my own hair and started to pull and scream and cry and finally fell to the ground in a blubbering, angry ball. “Tell me you understand,” I said to Elsu.
“Well, kind of. I…come on, let’s get out of here. You can explain it to me on the way. There’s nothing you can do right now. I’ll tell Bonnie to cancel the interviews for tomorrow. We’re going to get away from here.” He held out his hand for me but I looked at it and shook my head.
I ran my hand down his pant leg and scooted toward him on the ground. I wrapped my arms around his leg and held on tight. “Please don’t leave me, Elsu. I need you so bad right now.”
“Hey, where is that coming from? I’ve told you, I’m not going anywhere.” He squatted down, then sat on the ground. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his crossed legs. “I love you. I’ve only said that to a handful of girls and they’re all related to me. I don’t take those three words lightly. With love comes responsibility. Mine is to care for you and stand by you no matter what. You are mine, angel. And not in a creepy way.”
I smiled into his embrace and let his body heat warm me.
“Tell me.”
I sighed heavily. “Mom told me all those years ago that Uncle Larry…well, he took my virginity. That…” I looked to Elsu’s face and blushed as he wiped away a tear. “That he broke my hymen.”
“Ok,” said Elsu. He didn’t even flinch at the sound of the stupid word I was having such a hard time saying.
“So, when I started dating Bart, I lied and told him I was a virgin. Because…well, it was just easier than explaining the truth. He was ok with thinking that I was. We actually got along that first year. Then when Uncle Larry was killed in prison, Bart got word of the whole Uncle Larry story and for the first time realized that I wasn’t the virgin I had claimed to be. I had lied and that angered him and that’s when he started his attacks.”
“And if your mom had told you the truth from the beginning, he may not have attacked you.” I nodded and was glad Elsu got it.
“If Jeremy really did all of this to avenge Bart being put in prison, I’d still have a truck and a business, if my mom hadn’t lied to me all those years ago.”
“You don’t know that, Mae. Something else could have triggered him. Something else may have set him off. That abuse I saw in those pictures you showed me last week was not done by a sane man.”
“Did you hear what he said back there? He sounded awfully sincere.”
“But do you trust him?”
“No. I want him away from me. I hate that he’s around.”
“Then that’s what we’ll continue to do. Keep him away.”
I nodded my head. “But why can’t my mom see what she did?”
Elsu buried his lips into the top of my head and kissed me. An unspoken answer to an unanswerable question. We sat for a few minutes. I heard the rustling of paparazzi on the other side of the fence and I knew our current position was going to be another goldmine for headlines. I didn’t even care. We knew the truth. “I’m cold,” I finally said.
“Yeah, me too. Let’s get out of here.”
“Let me see if they need me,” I said as I finally stood up and then offered him a hand to get up.
We approached the police officers whose current purpose was starting to baffle me, but I didn’t question it. I figured they knew what they were doing. “Do you need me right now?” I asked.
They looked at me as if they had seen a green-skinned monster when I realized I had just attempted to pull my hair out, had a bruised hand from punching a metal pole, and had been crying. I was certain I looked fabulous.
“Not that we can think of right now. We’ll be finishing up here shortly.”
“Ok, then I’ll be going.”
“Sure ma’am, go and get some rest. Are you ok?” asked the younger officer.
“I’m just fine, wonderful even!” I rolled my eyes and turned to see Elsu and my staff coming out of the shop.
“Are you guys still here?”
“Of course,” said Bonnie. “We were just sitting in there keeping warm until we knew what we were supposed to do. I’ve got the list of interviewees for tomorrow here and I’ll call them to cancel when I get home. What do you want us to do, Mae?” asked Bonnie.
“I guess I’ll call you when I know. I can pay you all for about two months.”
“Two months? You’ve got that much back?” asked Steve.
“Yeah, I’ll just give you my pay. It’s no big deal. I’m ok. For now.”
“Mae, you can’t not pay yourself,” said Steve.
“It’s ok, I’ll figure something out. Most of you have families and Christmas is coming, I can’t in good consciousness take Christmas away from them. As soon as I know something, I’ll let Bonnie and Steve know and they can spread the word. I’ll have to deal with the inventory somehow. Maybe have a ‘blowout’ sale.” My accidental joke made me smack myself in the head. “I’m such a comedian.”
“We know what you meant, Mae. Let us know and we’ll come back and help with that. Good luck with everything!” said Greg.
I quickly gave them each a hug knowing it was probably the last time I’d see some of them. They would all get raving letters of recommendation from me in whatever they chose to do. I loved them like family and I hated to see them go.
“Ma’am, Detective Graven is on the phone,” said one of the officers.
“Thank you,” I said as I took it. “Hello?”
“Mae, we found the location for most of the phone calls from the other number. But they aren’t there currently.”
“Ok, where?”
“Meldrum’s diner, Mae.”
“Meldrum’s?”
“Yes, ma’am. It seems most of the phone calls came from there around noon
time.”
“I know who it is!” I yelled.
“You do?”
“Yes! Harold Stevens! He’s related to my Uncle Larry. He wasn’t trying to mend fences. He was trying to get revenge!”
I quickly explained the conversation we had with Harold at Meldrum’s earlier in the week to the detective.
“Thank you! We’ll be looking into that straight away.”
I hung up the phone and looked at Elsu whose face was changed. “So, did I hear that right?”
“What did you hear?” I asked.
Elsu was visibly angry. Millard stood nearby and I could tell he too was angry. I was confused. “What?”
“This is my fault! Mother of…!” yelled Elsu. “I want nothing more than to keep you safe and what did I do? I practically invited these assholes into your apartment and into the shop!”
“No sir, I did,” said Millard. “We gave away too much information at lunch. He knew when we’d be there.”
“Weren’t background checks done on these people?” asked April.
“Yeah, where were background checks?” asked Elsu.
“I wasn’t at the apartment when they were doing the work there. I was with most of the guys that came to the shop. The company at the apartment said their guys were clean. None of them seemed suspicious to me.”
“This is why there needs to be background checks on all employees!” Yelled April.
“Don’t you yell at me!” screamed Millard. “You and your stunt of not knowing who Jeremy and Bart were when you got here? That’s just as bad.”
“Mae’s building didn’t get blown up because of my watch!”
“Stop it!” I yelled at both of them. “It’s no one’s fault but Jeremy’s. You two need to chill!”
“Fine, let’s go home,” said Millard. “Someone needs a cold shower to cool down.”
“I don’t need to calm down. Miss Mae needs you to do your job!”
“Both of you!” yelled Elsu finally. “Let’s go.”
We loaded into the car with Millard driving and April in the front passenger seat. The tension in the front seat was palpable.
I snuggled into Elsu’s side as he stroked my head.
“I can’t wait to get home and shower and shave.”
“You’re going to shave?” I asked as I rubbed his cheeks.
“I have to eventually, I’ll start looking like a mountain man.”
“Hmmm,” I said as I kissed him. “I kind of liked it this morning.”
“This morning? When?” he looked at me, confused. “Oh! Really?”
“You know how much I love it rubbing on my face. Imagine what it did for me,” I leaned into him and whispered, “down there. Maybe you could do a goatee or something. Leave a little something for your weird girlfriend.”
“Oh, you think I’m going to do that again?”
“Oh,” I sat forward. Was that a one-time thing?
“Mae,” he pulled me back to him. “If I could do that every day all day for the rest of my life I’d be the happiest man alive.” He whispered just a little too loudly. I could see Millard and April’s ears turning crimson.
“Shh,” I hushed him as I blushed.
“I don’t care who hears, you’re the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted.” He kissed my neck and I felt his words zip straight between my legs.
CHAPTER 18
We made it the rest of the ride without embarrassing ourselves further. At the apartment building Elsu pushed the up button on the elevator. “Umm, I’ll just take the steps. I’ll see you at my place when you’re ready, ok?”
“You can’t not ride this forever.”
“I think I can,” I said as I took the stairs. I heard Elsu and Millard get in the elevator and I said a secret prayer that they’d make it safely. April and I took the steps to my apartment. Once to my door, I was searching for my key when Arnold exited his room with his little laundry cart on wheels loaded up for his weekly trip to the basement laundry room.
“Mae-Belle! Give Arnold a hug!”
I had never been offered a hug from him before, he knew I wasn’t a fan. I did so anyway then looked at him. “What’s wrong, Arnold?”
“I heard about the shop, Mae. Did they get Bart?”
“No, Arnold. It wasn’t Bart. His brother, Jeremy did it. Bart’s still a free man.”
“A free asshole,” said Arnold. “You sure it wasn’t Bart?”
“That Officer Graven seemed pretty certain. Believe me, I wanted it to be him more than anyone.”
“Well, you take care. Where’s that man of yours?”
“He’s upstairs at his place, he’ll be down in a few to pick me up for dinner. Did you want to talk to him?”
“Actually, yes. Can I just come in and wait?”
I took Arnold’s cart and rolled it into my apartment and let him in. He sat on a chair in the kitchen. “Help yourself to the fridge, I need to get a shower.”
I went to my room and saw my empty suitcase from the day before sitting on the floor next to my bed with a note from Magdalena.
I wasn’t sure where this belonged. If you’re not careful, I’m going to steal that robe.
I looked at my bed and the luxurious hotel robe was laid out like a polar bear’s hide. I went to pick it up but realized there was a lump inside it. I pulled the robe open to find Diesel snuggled up in a ball. He liked it as much as I did.
“April, check out the cat blanket I brought back from Detroit,” I said out the door.
She stepped in and laughed at the sight. “You brought two, right? One for you and one for the cat?”
“If I’d have known I’d be disturbing him to use it I would have.” I stroked Diesel as he slowly woke up. His face full with indignation at being so rudely disturbed. “Sorry Diesel, but mama wants this.”
He stood and stretched and stretched again before finally deciding he didn’t have a choice. I took the robe to the bathroom and took my shower. With the robe, I was able to dry off in the shower and cover up before I exited the tub. I fixed my hair and stepped out to walk to my room. Arnold and April were sitting at the kitchen table talking about basketball when it struck me that I honestly didn’t know how the game ended the previous night. Once in my room, I pulled up the score on the internet and read a bit about the game. They were in the lead when I left, but the rest of the game had been a downhill battle and the Whoopsters had lost by nearly twenty points. My fault.
When did he know I was gone? I sure hoped I wasn’t the cause of the loss.
I gathered the clothes I planned to wear. Picking something that Tonesha and I had picked from our shopping trip on Sunday. A tan sweater with a big collar that fell far enough in front to reveal some cleavage. I wore a pair of tight jeans she told me looked ‘perfect’ but I was still doubtful. I stood in the closet to get dressed. I found a pair of shoes with a heel and straps and sat down on the floor to put them on.
There was a knock at the door, “Mae?” Elsu called.
“Come in,” I said from the closet.
“Where are you?” he asked as he stepped into my room.
“In here,” I said.
He looked at me, obviously confused. “Ok, two questions. Why are you in the closet, and why are you on the floor?” he asked.
I stood up after I finished buckling my shoe and hobbled to Elsu’s waiting hand. “There weren’t any cameras in the closet,” I said matter-of-factly.
“There aren’t any cameras in your room, either.”
“Don’t judge me,” I said as I pulled my sweater down and adjusted the collar.
“I like this,” he said as he spun me around carefully.
“Tonesha,” I said, not needing any more explanations.
“I’ll have to thank her for making my girl look even sexier than she already is.”
“I’m not sexy, but thank you.”
“Stop! From now on, every time you put yourself down, I’m going to call you Mae-Belle. How about that?”
“You call Millard ‘Milly’ and I’m doing the same game. You need to recognize yourself for what you are. Gorgeous, sexy, hot, fun, smart, sexy.”
“You said sexy twice,” I said.
“Oh, I know. And I’ll say it again. Sexy!” I shook my head.
“Mae-Belle,” he said with a long drawn-out emphasis. “Silent put-downs are fair game.”
“You’re being mean,” I said.
“Yep,” he smiled.
“Fine,” I said as I picked up my purse and phone and combined them.
Elsu walked to my laptop which still sat showing the game stats from the night before. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” he asked.
“With everything that has happened, I never found out how the game went. I was looking. I’m sorry.”
“It sucks, but it is what it is. We’ve got practice in the morning, by the way. Coach is pissed.”
“When did you know I was gone?” I asked him.
“I thought I saw you walking out just as I was coming back after halftime and thought maybe you were just going to the bathroom, then a while later you still weren’t back and I had a feeling something was wrong. Why?”
“Is that when the game went downhill? Was it my fault?” I asked.
He slumped and sat down on my bed. “I don’t know. It definitely took my mind out of the game. I can’t blame the whole game on myself, I wasn’t the only one who dropped the ball. But I know I wasn’t all there.”
“So it was my fault,” I said as I sat down next to him. “Maybe Carl is right. I’m bad for business.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “He told me I’d be the cause of the team losing money because you’d be putting your heart ahead of the game.”
Elsu bit his lip and looked at the floor. “I don’t know what to say, Mae. Apparently I’m more emotional than I ever realized. You’ve brought it out in me. When you’re there, or I know you’re watching me I do great. When I can’t tell, or like last night, you weren’t there and I didn’t know why, my mind goes right out the window.”
“So what does that mean?” I asked as I touched his leg.
“It just means that if you’re willing to come, I need you there as much as possible, I guess. You’re that important to me. I don’t want you to blame yourself, I need to learn to stay focused. I have two loves in my life and the newest has become a hundred times more important to me than the first. My dad would probably smack me upside the head if he were here. ‘Don’t get swayed by the girls,’ he always said. He was right.”
