The following weeks were uneventful. The Carver was still out there but no other victims surfaced. Fernando took Ricky and I to the shooting range, and I had to admit, it seemed to help Ricky a lot. I was still a little uneasy about owning a gun but would not rule it out completely. Ricky signed us up for a self-defense class and Fernando suggested Krav Maga on Saturdays. We would meet, have lunch, or be invited to his parents’ house for dinner with the family. Fernando included Ricky in most of our outings. Ricky was going through hell and we were all sharing it together. Fernando understood and I loved him for it.
I was out with my wonderful future mother-in-law on our monthly mani/pedi appointment, when suddenly she turned to me. “Did you know Marta is getting married?”
“What? Who?” I had not seen Marta in a while.
“Well, you know I already have your wedding almost planned out right?”
All the blood rushed to my face. “Do not get embarrassed dear, my ’Nando is in love with you and so are we, so I’m just making up time. Oh look, the boys sent me a pic.” She opened her messages.
“I’m glad they invited Ricky to the baseball game.” I showed her a picture I took of them this morning with their jerseys and baseball caps.
“Ricky likes baseball?”
“No, he loves men in baseball uniforms. It’s one of his fantasies.” I received the picture they sent and saw Orlando, Fernando, Gustavo, Ricky and, like, ten other cousins, I could not remember their names yet, with beers and hotdogs in hand. The Escudero family seemed to multiply every time there was a party.
“How is Ricky doing?”
We could not keep the truth from her for too long. “Better, Fernando’s friendship has made a good impact on him.”
“I’m glad, dear. Anyway like I was saying, Marta is getting married. Last Sunday she calls me and starts asking me about flowers and cakes and whatnot. Me, I started to dig in and apparently the guy she has been seeing proposed. I was stunned, the family doesn’t even know him yet. That is not how Cubans do things, you know.” Her accent grew thicker with her attitude.
“When are you meeting him?”
“This weekend, of course, I’m making a huge dinner and we will all be able to check him out. She says he loves the baby and my sister seems to like him.”
“Well, I’m happy for her then.”
“I will not be happy until I meet him. Something does not seem right, Vane.”
»»•««
The weekend came in a rush and we all found ourselves in front of huge plates of succulent Cuban food. The whole family was there, including Ricky and me, of course. We were talking, eating, laughing, and the music in the background added an extra layer of noise that no one seemed to mind. The big elephant in the room was Marta’s absence. So far, she was a no-show.
“So, where are you?” Carmen talked on the phone and everybody went silent. A silent Escudero home? I thought that was an impossible task until now.
“Don’t worry, honey, we started eating already but please come by, we all wanna meet the new addition to the family before the wedding.” She had a skeptical look on her face.
I looked at Fernando and he just shook his head, rolling his eyes. “They are almost here, people.” Carmen warned us all.
“Mama.” He had a warning tone as well.
“Hay ’Nando, I will be civil!”
“Carmen.” Orlando was cautious.
“Not you too.” Carmen’s unique Cuban attitude came out.
We all laughed as Orlando did not dare tell his wife what he was thinking.
After a few minutes, Marta came in the room with little Nicole in her arms and a handsome man holding her pink baby bag. He was tall, elegant, and looked terrified. Maybe that was how I looked the night I met the family. I felt sorry for him immediately.
“Finally!” Carmen stood up, kissed her niece, and quickly turned to her fiancé “Well, hello. You’re sitting with me, right?” He just nodded and she took his hand. “Come, let me fix you a plate. Eric, right?”
“Yes.”
“Everybody. This is Eric.”
In unison, the family greeted and lured him into their spell. Carmen completely took over and started the inquisition while Fernando exchanged glances with Orlando but kept silent. That woman was something all right. You could hear her laughter and see her planting kisses and giving hugs already after meeting Eric for less than five minutes.
“Marta, I finished eating. Give me the baby and have fun.” Fernando took his cousin. Of course, Nicole had stretched her arms and kicked her legs as soon as she saw him. He went to the yard and played with her. Nicole did not mind that her mommy had gone to the kitchen to fix herself a plate. When Marta came back, she sat next to me.
“Oh my God, Vanessa. I need to talk to someone,” she whispered.
“I’m all ears.” I was happy that Fernando’s family already had me as part of them. The family was giving Eric a million questions, and he would glance back at Marta with an embarrassed or save me look on his face.
“They are giving it to him good, aren’t they?” She glanced at him with pity in her eyes.
“How did you guys meet?” I went straight to the point.
“Well, he is a detective in the Special Victims Unit. I went to the police station to give out some of my menus and there he was.”
“Menus?”
“I started a catering business. Little Nicole is getting sick so often from daycare I could not keep up with my secretary job. I decided to fuck it all and start cooking and making weekly menus for professionals. People don’t have time to cook every day, but they want a home cooked meal. I started having a couple of clients and now I make enough to take care of Nicole and stay home.” So that was why she had been so busy.
“That sounds awesome.” I admired her inventive mind.
“So he took my menu and hired me. I make the food in the mornings and do deliveries in the afternoon. We got to talking and he asked me out,” she admitted shyly.
“Wow! And you guys are getting married already?”
“I know it seems sudden, but it feels right.” I knew that feeling.
I looked at her with a smile. “Well, if you’re happy, so am I.”
“I am. I cannot believe it. He loves Nicole too. He used to be married and he wanted desperately to have a family. Unfortunately, he can’t have children and his wife left him. He told me right away but I don’t care. I have little Nicole and he loves her. He told me we are the family he wanted.”
“He sounds amazing.” She looked at him with love and I could see him staring at her.
“He is.” Her smile warmed me. I looked up and Carmen had gone inside to make coffee and plate dessert. I watched as Eric and Fernando talked while Fernando had little Nicole already asleep on his chest. The two men were talking with serious faces and it seemed to be heating up.
“What is that all about?” I asked.
“Oh shit!” Marta stood up and rushed toward them. I followed close behind.
“Cousin, what is going on?” Marta announced us, coming in.
“Nothing, cuz. I’m just warning my good friend Eric here that he better treat you right.” He had a warning look.
Eric just stood there and surprisingly stared at me. “I don’t believe we have met, Eric,” I said as I shook his hand.
“Pleasure.” I looked at ’Nando. He stood there, holding the little bundle of joy but looking at Eric with piercing eyes.
“I think we better get going. I have an early day tomorrow.” Fernando gave Nicole back to Marta and headed toward the kitchen to kiss his mom goodbye. I just stood there without a clue, called Ricky, and said my goodbyes. Ricky had left to his weekly group meeting and it was just ’Nando and me in the car. There was a long silence. My man surely had something on his mind.
“Can you tell me what is wrong?” I asked softly.
“Nothing, babe…I need to go to the office for a while, can I drop you off and meet you later?”
“Sure baby.” I put my hand on the back of his neck. Man, he was tense. “Are you sure you don’t want to relax a little before you go? I know exactly how you can release all that tension.”
He smiled and looked at me. “I’m tempted but I will take a rain check, okay? I’ll call you when I get back.”
“Okay.” We drove in silence. When we got home, he turned to me and gave me a long, passionate kiss.
“Don’t do the sad face, baby. I will be back in a flash, all right?”
“Okay, honey.” I smiled kindly at him.
“Go straight to your apartment and text me, okay?”
“Okay.”
He drove away and I did what he asked. After roaming around my apartment, I had a great idea. I wanted to surprise him when he got home. I found some candles and went to buy flowers, wine, and melting chocolate. With all my goodies, I went to find one of the ladies that worked at our building to see if she could let me in his apartment to fix the ambiance. I had a hot night full of sex to prepare for. The woman was always complimenting how cute of a couple we were, so she became my immediate accomplice.
“Thank you so much.” I winked.
“Not a problem, Ms. Clarke, have fun tonight.”
I came into his apartment and went straight to the kitchen. I fixed a platter of cheeses, meat cold cuts, olives, nuts, and water crackers. Of course, the chocolate was in the microwave ready to go. I left the wine on the counter and took out two glasses. I went to the bed and spread rose petals and placed all the candles around the room, ready to be lit. I had purchased a black corset, thigh high stockings, and garters. I put it all out so I could change quickly when he called. Needing to kill some time, I changed into my workout clothes and decided to go to his gym and hit the treadmill. I had my usual rap music surrounding me. Entering the gym, I turned on the light and put my towel and water bottle on the huge machine. As I stepped on it, I noticed the office door was slightly opened.
“Do not go in…don’t you dare go in.” I looked at the door and it invited me with open arms. Teasing me, looking at me…
“Fuck it!” Surrendering to my curiosity, I went to it quickly with the intention of closing the damn door. As I grabbed the knob, I dared to peek in, expecting a simple desk and file cabinets. Instead, I found a wall full of old, yellow newspaper clips, insanely positioned, linked with thumbtacks, notes, and red strings. There were pictures of mutilated corpses with eyes opened and all-too-familiar scars. My eyes stung with tears as I saw myself reflected on hundreds of pictures. I was in tens of photos, completely unaware of a spectator. Pictures taken months ago, maybe a year, maybe two. Pictures of Ricky, Chuck, Mrs. Lee, past and current employees, and more pictures of me, so many of them. The horrifying web seemed to entrap me, making me feel dizzy and sick. In Fernando’s secret office there was a desk, there were cabinets, but the forbidden room did not have any private employees’ information. It had my life on a wall.