Chapter Seventy
“No, I won’t, we’ll work it out.” she spoke, moving closer, “Weekends, holidays, we can spend them together. We’ll work it out, without the guns.” she choked, “Or anyone else dying, okay?”
“I’m not spending any time with this ugly animal!” Michael yelled. Maria felt her nerves spark at Michael’s boldness to insult a man holding a gun to his head.
Ricky looked down at him, his eyes red like a raging bull, “It’s your mother’s fault I’m like this!”
“Ricky!” she called out frantically, “He’s a child, he doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
Ricky quietly stared at her for a while before he spoke, “You know the time we spent here alone, I got to chat with my son and watch how protective he was over….” he smiled, “your dead blond baby over there.” his grin widened when he saw the pain in Maria’s eyes, “and I got to thinking, we have nothing in common.”
“Thank God!” Michael exclaimed.
“He even has a smart mouth. Are you sure he’s my son?” his amusement quickly faded away, “Did you cheat on me?”
“Dave is my dad!”
“Michael.” Maria warned. He was picking the worst time to be a smart ass, “he is your son, you know that.”
Ricky raised his gun and pointed it at Maria, “You whore, you did cheat on me!”
Maria felt relieved that the gun wasn’t pointed at Michael’s head, but she felt uneasy having it pointed at her, “Ricky…” she was cut short when two loud shots filled the warehouse, it echoed for a few seconds before there was complete silence again.
Maria watched Ricky’s eyes go blank before he fell over dragging Michael down with him. It only took a second for Maria to react once he hit the ground. She ran to them, knelt down and pulled Michael away from the blood seeping out the front of Ricky’s shirt. She held Michael against her and hid his face in her shoulder. She didn’t want him to see Ricky like that, not because his father had been shot right in front of him, but because she didn’t want him to have nightmares.
She lifted Michael up and carried him, moaning as pain shot through her ribs and shoulders. She wanted to cry out when Michael held her tighter, but she wasn’t going to let the pain tear her son out of her arms.
“I’m so sorry Michael, this is my entire fault.” she cried, turning to face Dave’s and Izzy’s body, “I’m so sorry.”
Miguel yelled in Spanish before he forcefully pulled Michael out of Maria’s embrace, “You are in pain hija and carrying Michael will only make it worse.”
Maria nodded, stroking Michael’s hair, “That was very risky.”
“I’m a good shot.”
Maria turned and slowly approached the other half of her family. She choked on a few sobs as the pain ripped apart her heart, “Not good enough papa.” she knelt down, put her face in her hands and cried over them hysterically. This isn’t the happily ever after she dreamed about, a life without Ricky is what she wanted and now she was going to have a life without Ricky and Izzy and Dave.
“Mommy, daddy heavy.” Izzy’s muffled chirpy voice sang out.
Maria’s head shot up at her voice. She thought she was dreaming, or she had finally lost her mind, but when she saw Dave’s arm move, she knew she wasn’t hallucinating. She slowly pulled Dave’s cold body over to expose Izzy whose hair was wet and red. Maria pulled her up and hugged her tightly against her.
“My baby, my little baby.” she kissed her cheeks, her nose and her little hands all the while checking for a bullet hole.
Edna knelt down next to her with a cloth in her hand, “She’s fine Maria.” she cried out relieved and began wiping the blood out of her hair.
“So is he.” Miguel spoke, kneeling down next to Dave. Miguel put his hand over Dave’s wound and pressed down hard. Dave woke up screaming before he was out again, “See.” Miguel said with a smile.
Maria felt her heart skip in relief when she saw a ball of tears escape Dave’s closed eyes. She moved to cradle his head on her lap and kissed his face as she laughed and cried at the same time.
“Miguel what’s wrong with you!” Edna scolded, swatting him with the now red cloth.
“What?” Miguel sounded offended, “It was a through and through shot and in the shoulder not his chest.”
“Oh sure, a hole in the shoulder is just like a paper cut.” Edna said sarcastically.
“Si.” Miguel’s answer earned him another swat.
Maria had so far ignored her parents, but the blood seeping out of Dave’s shoulder made her very uneasy, “Are you two waiting for Dave to bleed out before we call an ambulance!”
“One is already on its way.” Edna answered, handing her the cloth, “Here, put this over his wound.” she placed her hand on Maria’s cheek, “the nightmare is finally over honey, it’s over.”
“Not yet mama, when Dave wakes up and starts running my life again, then it will be over.”
****
Maria walked into their room with a food tray in her hands. It had been two weeks since the ordeal and Maria had been trying to make up for it ever since. She felt guilty for what they went through, Michael’s nightmares and Dave’s pain, she was glad Izzy was too young to understand anything, but she would jump and stiffen at loud noises.
Yes, everything her family was going through was her fault, but she was determined to make up for it.
“What are you doing carrying that? You are going to hurt yourself.” Dave pushed the papers and the laptop aside to make room for the tray.
Maria set it down next to him and picked up his sling, “You should be resting, not working, give me your arm.”
“I’ll wear mine if you wear yours.” Dave spoke, picking up a piece of toast from the tray.
She got onto the bed and crossed over to him, “Don’t be a child, you got shot.” she felt a shiver remembering him lying lifeless on the ground. She really wanted to forget that, but it was impossible seeing Dave wounded.
Dave slid his arm in and watched her fasten the sling. Her face changed from fear to relief then guilt, “It wasn’t your fault Maria.”
She snorted, blinking the tears in her eyes away, “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, I’ll just live with the truth.”
Dave pulled her and held her against his chest, he winced when she pressed against his arm, “I’m taking this thing off, it hurts more having it on than having it off.” he pulled the sling off and threw it across the room. Maria went to get it, but he pushed her back, “What happened was Ricky’s fault, like every other bad thing in your life. He hurt you too just like he did us.”
“What do you guys call it…. chain of causation?”
“Just because you met him first doesn’t mean it’s your fault.” he spoke in her hair as he nuzzled her tighter against him.
That night when he felt the bullet go through him, he was sure he was never going to get to hold her like this again, he saw the life he was never going to have with his family, and it scared him more than dying did.
But he was here, they were all here and he wasn’t going to waste this second chance.
“Things happen for a reason Maria, it’s called life.”