“Don’t you get it, that kid is right, you can’t be adopted without Jimmy’s say-so. If Jimmy shows up here and it looks like he will, then it’s all over.”
She slapped me hard across the face, and it stung, but not as much as the anger that rose up inside me. I slapped the little bitch back lest she forget who I am. “Calm the hell down, and let’s think. How long do you think it’ll be before Gia convinces her father about all those things you did to her?”
“Those falls down the stairs. Those bruises that were supposedly from playing too rough. And what do you think he’s going to do? We have to think about getting out of here. I’ll find us a better place to live a better life.” Yes, this sounded like the best course of action right now.
I left her standing in the middle of the room, looking lost, and bounded up the stairs feeling better the closer I got to the bedroom. I thought I had another few years here at least, but it was a good run. One thing I’ve learned in life is never stay too long where you’re not wanted. I’d run this con for as long as I could, it seems.
I closed the door making sure no one followed, and went in search of my secret stash. This is my ticket out. I’ve been saving and stealing money here and there over the years for just a time like this. It wasn’t as much as the three hundred grand I’d made from the sale of the car, but at least it was real. Just shy of seventy-five grand. More than enough to get started somewhere. Maybe somewhere in Florida this time. I’m tired of the cold and damp.
See, things were already looking up. There’s nothing money can’t fix. That’s why I’d sold my life away to a man who didn’t love me and his brat to get it. I’d also wanted to give Victoria all the things I never had, but I see now that had been a waste. Little bitch put her hands on me not once but twice in the same day. I wonder how long she thinks she’d survive without me there to guide her.
Whatever, if she wants to be stubborn, it’ll just mean more for me. It might be fun being on my own for once, not having to look out for someone else. Besides, she’s of age, which is something I didn’t know until that kid mentioned it to Felix about a week ago.
The old travel bag that held my stash felt much lighter than it did earlier when I checked, but it didn’t register right away. I felt total defeat when I tugged open the zipper to find the money gone. There was just a piece of paper with a smile drawn on it. I was too shocked to react, the lump in my throat too hard to swallow. The phone rang in my purse across the way, and I ran to get it, even though I was afraid of who might be on the other end.
“Did you get my gift?” My hand shook on the phone, and I tried to speak but couldn’t.
“I’d take that as a yes. I know I told you to run, but you may want to rethink that. You don’t want this to turn into a situation where you’re wanted by the Feds.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I can. Because you deserve it. Because Gianna is mine. Choose your pick.” He hung up the phone, leaving me screaming inside my head.
FELIX
Stupid! Stupid, gullible fool, and worst of all, negligent. Is that why the kid had brought Gia to the house looking like that? Did he know how much it would shake things up, especially me? It’s amazing what you learn when people think you’re not listening, I’m just ashamed that it took me this long.
Apparently, there’s more to the story that Becky told me about Victoria being suspended for arguing in school. What did the Russo kid mean by looking for a new school? You don’t change schools over suspension. But more to the point, how many times in the past did Victoria make that snarky comment about her adoption being an improvement? Always before, she’d passed it off as a joke, but today for the first time, it sounded ugly, mean.
She’d been Gia’s closest friend, as close as sisters Adrienne had once said. I believed that, had that too been a lie? I want to run and hide, bury my head in the proverbial sand. Weak, I know, but thinking of the mess I would need to unravel if all this is true, more than a decade of lies and subterfuge is exhausting.
Hearing my former mother-in-law mentioned was jarring. I still carry a lot of guilt over the forced separation I’d caused between her and the grandchild she loved beyond reason. Though at the time, I thought I was keeping peace in my home—the home where Gia still had to grow up with a woman who wasn’t her doting mother.
I felt listless and unsettled as I drove to the closest remote spot I could find. I need to sit alone and think. Everything from this evening is like pieces to a puzzle long left unattended. Some of the pieces are broken, and still, more are missing, but a picture is starting to form, and I don’t like it.
I thought for a second of who I could turn to for answers, starting with what really happened at the school yesterday with Victoria. I didn’t doubt Becky’s version of events since the school tends to have a lot of no tolerance rules to keep the children in check, so a couple of days suspension for getting out of line in class was more than believable.
And why, if Victoria had been expelled, had those two gone shopping more than five hours away? Which brings my mind to the counterfeit money and the dead husband back from the grave, or so it would appear. And my little Gia, all grown up and looking so much like her mother, it was as if Adrienne had been there in the room with us for a brief moment in time.
My reaction I understood. It was the shock of seeing her but knowing that it wasn’t her that had thrown me for a loop. But Becky’s reaction, which I didn’t think of until now, was somewhat odd. She looked like she’d seen a ghost and not one she welcomed. She’d seemed almost fearful and had hardly looked in Gia’s direction. It was more like she couldn’t, not that she didn’t want to.
Was that guilt for the things the Russo kid was accusing her of? Was she fearful of retaliation from a ghostly spectrum whose child she’d harmed? What’s more bothersome is that neither she nor her daughter seems to care either way whether I witnessed their behavior or not. I’d given them license to do… something right under my nose; what? I both dread and need that answer.
BECKY
He took my money; how did he even know where to find it? And does this mean that he’s the one who took the counterfeit money as well? I hope the little bastard tries spending it and ends up behind bars. But no, he couldn’t have; that was gone long before he came here this evening.
The bedroom door slammed open, and a very irate Victoria stood there with a look of such rage on her face. I took a step back. “What’s the matter now?”
“Those bitches are just playing with me; look at this.” She held her phone too close to my face for me to make out anything.
“What is it? Just explain.”
“This says that the Russo twins are inviting Jessica, Amber, Lisa, and Joanie to their birthday party next weekend. They’ve invited everyone but me.”
Did she fall and crack her head? “Victoria, we don’t have time for this. We need to come up with a plan before Felix puts us out on our asses.”
“That’s not my problem; you’re the adult, act like one.” She stormed off again, and I went in search of my Xanax. I’m in no mood to deal with her right now. I need to figure out how I’m going to deal with that little snot who thinks he’s tough shit.