Blind Spot, page 4
Shenita, barren through no fault of her own, stepped in when life became too much for Cherry. The post-traumatic stress, along with post-partum depression, took her down a dark road. Often, Shenita encouraged her to call the man named Slow so he could help her through the tough transition into motherhood, and Cherry refused.
“If he knew he had a daughter, would he step up and help?”
“No, if he knew he had a daughter, he would want to marry me and make us a family,” Cherry said, holding her side.
“Isn’t that what you want?”
“I don’t want to be his wife by default,” she hissed at her cousin. “Please, simply help me get through this, Shenita.”
Shenita did as her cousin asked. For the past four years, she’d been Naomi’s primary caregiver, and the one who doled out praises, kisses, and modicums of affection. Cherry sighed deeply, ruefully acknowledging she had never bonded with the child.
Meals were spent in silence with Naomi at one side of the table and she at the other. She trained the child to clean up after herself and play quietly. She was a good baby and good child. Cherry only wished she were a better mother.
She didn’t have much of one herself but grew up in the household with her Aunt Anita and cousin Shenita. Slow spoke once of his mother Ruth and his sister, Rebekah, speaking on how his family members were mainly government employees and faith-based. His cousin, he told her was a theologian, and grew up attending faith-based summer camps that helped misplaced youths. His childhood sounded idyllic, based on love and solid family values.
Aunt Anita became a single mother of two when her good-for-nothing husband ran off with Anita’s sister to Atlantic City, leaving behind two children that neither seemed to want. It wasn’t as if the woman could rub a magic lamp like Aladdin and make all the ugly in life go away, and the three things she wanted most in the world would be given unto her. Life didn’t work like that.
She took out her phone while the DJ took a break. The music had stopped and it was a quiet moment. The number she knew by heart got punched into the keypad. He answered on the third ring.
A deep voice came through the device, “Slow’s down.”
“I just bet you are,” Cherry replied to his signature Technician answer for incoming calls. “For a truly silly reason on my part, I imagined you giving a brief but irksome smile at my response. In reality, I know you are standing there, holding the phone, and staring mutherfuckingly at your knife collection, imagining me writhing in pain as you inflict minuscule cuts into my nipples with your favorite blades.”
“Dark, not my style, and the knives are put away. Are you okay?”
“Vieni a vedere vieni sega, but I’m in the Motor Town, heading up Michigan’s thumb; the trail is getting tepid and my concerns hotter,” she told him.
“Anything you need?”
“A prayer, a bit of good luck, and hopes that I find her before the mental damage is irrevocably past the point of a healthy return,” Cherry stated.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, making a mental note that she hadn’t asked about the child.
“The plan is to find her, get her the help she’s going to need, and hopefully when it’s over walk into a pair of strong loving arms that will offer me the comfort I’m going to need after it is all over,” she said softly, holding her breath.
“Roger that; keep me posted along the way. Anything else?”
“Yes, I figured I may need more than a couple of days,” Cherry said. “I’m sure you’ve discovered the envelope in the suitcase. You have childcare on-site at your day job. Tell them I have a family emergency; they will take her while you work. I’ve included her birth certificate which shows she’s legally yours, her social security card, and immunization records.”
“I found them,” he said, still waiting.
“Can I speak to her?”
“Sure...Bunny. Your Ma’s on the phone,” he called out.
“Bunny?”
“Yeah, she thinks it’s because of the slippers, but it’s for those ears you cursed her with,” he said, actually smiling. “Here she is.”
Naomi took the phone, sitting on the couch and crossing her legs like a little old church lady waiting to hear the latest gossip about Sister Eloise’s stepdaughter. “Hey Mommy, how are you?”
“I’m good, Naomi. Are you minding your Daddy and picking up behind yourself?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Does he read you bedtime stories as I told him?”
“Yes, we have three new books too,” Naomi said.
Slow walked away, ensuring the child felt comfortable to talk without him standing over her in an intimidating way. The conversation was brief and she made no mention of her newly decorated bedroom or the fresh peanut butter cookies they had recently pulled out of the oven.
Cherry lowered her voice as the DJ came back to the booth to start up the nonsensical music and give the strippers a chance to make some change. She’d asked Slow to give the child words of encouragement and tokens of affection. In her heart, she didn’t want to ask, but she had to, “Naomi, does he give you kisses and tells you that he loves you?”
“He gave me a kiss on the cheek, but he hasn’t said he loves me,” Naomi told her mother. “I like him. He’s nice.”
“Your dad is a good guy. He will take great care of you until I get there. I love you and will see you soon,” Cherry said. “Put him back on the phone.”
“Mommy, do you love him?”
“I do because he gave me you.”
“Okay, then I will love him too,” Naomi said. “Daddy, Mommy said she loves you and wants to talk to you again.”
Cherry turned three shades of burgundy as she heard the phone shuffle in her daughter’s hand. He said nothing, but she heard him breathing as he stared at a wall that she imagined was in front of him. Slow did that when he searched for the right words to say, something she had learned about him years ago.
“Come home to us,” he said. “Strong arms are waiting to comfort you, an amber fire is burning, the hearth is warm, and a glass of your favorite red will be here as well.”
“Sorry about the whole love thing...”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” he offered. “I love you for giving me a wonderful little girl. Be safe. Check-in often. Let me know if you need backup, and I’ll call in the cavalry.”
“I just want to find her.”
“Nose to the ground, remove the emotion, focus on the task. Go by what you know for certain, follow the clues, and you’ll find them all,” he said.
“Thanks for everything, but more importantly, thanks for being the man I thought you were,” she said.
“Roger that; Slow’s down,” he said, ending the call.
In his own home, he stood staring at the wall, his heart thudding in his chest. Monday, he had to go into the office and take a four-year-old to daycare. He had no idea how to prepare for that shit but needed a moment to make a plan. In the meantime, he’d installed a bidet to the toilet to avoid future tiny butt-wiping sessions. That, he didn’t think was normal for a four-year-old. His normal was all out of pocket.
Normally on Sundays, he went to his parents for dinner. He couldn’t handle that today, daycare tomorrow, and explaining to the Archangel that he couldn’t take any scut work while he had his daughter. Moreover, he would have to explain to his boss Jerry Stanfield, if he called for wheels up in twenty, why he couldn’t be on the plane and in the air for the next job because he didn’t have childcare.
“Well, tits on a bull,” he said, sitting down. He watched Naomi sitting in the floor munching on the freshly baked peanut butter cookies, thinking she needed to get outside and play a bit. A kid needed fresh air and he had lots of it. A brilliant idea came to mind.
“Hey Bunny, grab your coat, hat, and scarf,” he told her.
She didn’t argue with him or give him any lip when he told her to do a thing. She was mindful and mannerly, doing as asked. He disarmed the system and headed out the backdoor.
“Daddy, what are we doing?”
“I have an old tire. I have some rope, and more importantly, I have that big tree over there with the perfect branch,” he said. “Wait right here.”
From his workshop, he pulled out a tire he’d planned to repurpose into a flower bed, a rope that was too long, and his ladder. Naomi watched him as he carried the ladder to the tree and climbed up to swing the rope over the branch. Using techniques he’d learned in summer camp, which he now employed to secure bodies he’d made dead in his part-time job of scut work, he cinched up the rope.
“Come on over, Bunny,” he encouraged, measuring the length it needed to hang for her tiny legs.
Looping the rope several times over the tire, he tied it off and was proud of his work. He presented it to her a la Vanna White.
Her small face was unimpressed by his effort, scrunching her nose and squinting her eyes as if it would help her understand that which he presented. She asked, “What is it?”
“It’s a swing, like in the park,” he told her.
“We don’t go to the park,” Naomi said. “Aunt Shenita said it’s where you get the lice. I don’t know what those are, but I don’t want any.”
“Okay and wow,” he said, lifting her and shoving her inside the hole onto her belly. “Hold on, Bunny.”
He pushed the swing, walking around to see her face and seeing confusion. He pushed a tad bit higher and spotted the fear. Just as he was about to kick himself for being stupid, he heard a magical sound. Naomi was laughing.
“Push me again, Daddy!”
He pushed, time and time again until their stomachs rumbled and they needed to grab lunch. He had a few hot dogs in the fridge which led him to fire up the propane grill. Feeling in a fun mood, he put on a bit of music.
For the first time, he began to see her personality. When she thought he wasn’t looking, she danced along to the music but was unable to find a beat in the hard rock he played, so he moved the Spotify to an R & B station. Her face lit up as she twirled, twitched, and bounced to the beat. He then noticed, she didn’t care if he was looking or not, which made him join in with her, dancing merrily as the hot dogs cooked on the grill.
After lunch, he sent a text to his parents that he wouldn’t be over today with no explanation. His mind was more focused on Monday, going to work, and checking Naomi into daycare. She’d never been around that many kids, based on the lice comment and being in Shenita’s care.
“Maybe it will open you up more,” he hoped.
RIGHT AFTER NAOMI SETTLED into her bed for the evening, Slow held the telephone in his hand. He needed to make a call he didn’t want to make, needed to make, but didn’t want to make because making the call, and stating his need would make him beholden to the answerer of the call. In his head, the need made sense; making the call was, in itself, stupid. He did it anyway. He pressed one on his phone.
“State your need,” the voice said in the line.
“Slow’s down,” he repeated his handle and call sign in the line. “I’m sure you are aware, even though I was not, of certain aspects of my life that have recently come to light.”
No sound came from the other end of the line. Slow hated this about making the call. The entirety of his life and growing up with the man as his cousin, Slow still considered him to be creepy. In his mind, having the man on speed dial was the equivalent of calling Charles Manson to come and sit with the kids. He forged on.
“I have to go to work in the morning, and my cereal is missing a cherry. The fruit is off the branch and the fruit of my loins is asleep in the other room with Princess Poppy, but the babysitter is missing,” he said as slowly as he could. “My cherry is out on a limb and could use some help making it to the bowl. I hate to ask, but the new pal of Princess Poppy doesn’t deserve to grow up knowing her Daddy could have done more. So, I’m asking. Help her daddy do more.”
“Consider it done,” the voice said.
“Thanks, I didn’t think any of that made any sense,” Slow told the Archangel.
“Honestly, it didn’t, but I know what the cherry is chasing. I’m helping where I can,” the Archangel said.
“So, I called for nothing and now I am beholden to you just for calling?”
“You are never beholden to me for anything,” the Archangel made clear. “Yes, I knew. Yes, I made sure the paperwork was right. Yes, I tested to make sure she was yours, but it was up to her mother to tell you when and how she saw fit. I’m glad you’re together. She needs you.”
“I know. I can see a great deal that she’d been missing.”
“She also needs her aunt and her Grandma Ruth,” he said.
“Will make it happen as soon as I can, thanks,” Slow replied.
“Call if you need me, call if you don’t,” the Archangel spoke and ended the call.
Slow made his way to the bathroom to shower and close his day. He had a backpack ready by the door with a change of clothing for a 4-year-old’s first day in childcare. His lunch was packed, the car was fueled, and his soul felt in shambles. Staring in the mirror, he stood still.
“I don’t stare mutherfuckingly,” he spoke to no one in particular. “I am a bad man though. I tough with a steely gaze and I strike fear into the hearts of men when they see me coming. No one fucks with me. I am death, arriving to bring your life to a slow and miserable end.”
He heard Naomi cough. He hurriedly put on his robe, taking off at a sprint to get to his little lady. “Daddy’s coming, Bunny! Daddy’s coming!”
Chapter 4 - Rapunzel
For all purposes, great and small, Monday was never his favorite day of the week. If he had a choice in the day of his preference, Thursday would make the list. It was a good day to watch television, a day away from the weekend, and a great day to grocery shop. Monday felt like a bad one-night stand who stayed the weekend and had to be kicked out so a man could go to work.
This morning a man was going to work. He was also taking his daughter to a daycare he knew nothing about on the first floor of the building he worked in, but never bothered to visit. Trust was required from a man trained to trust no one, doubt the intentions of everyone, and stick his knife in anybody who looked at him for too long. Today, he had to trust a stranger with the care of his child while he went up nine flights, pretending he wasn’t worried.
He wanted to explain to her but saw no need to make her anxious or induce worry before she saw the actual space. Slow was also holding off in doing so for himself. He needed to see the place as well. If he didn’t like the space or the people, he had a few PTO, sick, and vacation days he could use until Cherry returned, but Naomi needed more socialization. She also needed friends her age.
After pulling into his assigned spot, he got out of his truck, and with his backpack on one shoulder and Naomi in his arm, he traversed the parking structure, entering the building and heading to the childcare center. People he had seen every morning for the past 15 years looked at him with arched brows as he carried the child.
His palms were sweaty as he made it to the childcare center and rang the buzzer to be let in. A woman in her mid-40s gave him an approving eye. Her gaze lingered a bit too long on his crotch as he shifted Naomi in his arms.
“I’m Michael Neary, Assistant Section Chief of the Blue Campaign Campus,” he told her. “My partner experienced a family emergency over the weekend, and my Bunny here has to come to work with Daddy. I understand that under special circumstances, she can be enrolled in the on-site childcare program. I would have called, but hey, it was the weekend, and I have six meetings in the next hour. Can you help me?”
“Of course; I will need information on her, as well as immunization records,” the woman said, “My name is Renee Wilcox, and I’m the admin here.”
“Pleasure,” he said, looking about the place filled with bright colors, toys, and lots of stimulating activities for kids. “Can I meet her teacher, see the classroom, and make sure I have everything she needs? I brought a change of clothing, a blankie, and a travel pillow.”
“That is more than enough,” Renee explained, leading him down a hallway. “I will need the paperwork filled out before noon, but this is her classroom.”
He finally put Naomi on her feet, leading her through the door. She clung tightly to his hand, not wanting to let go. Her eyes were wide, looking up at him.
“Daddy, what is this?”
“It’s school, Bunny,” he said. “I have to go to work upstairs. When I finish this afternoon, I will come to get you, and we will head home, have dinner, and finish out our day.”
“You’re going to leave me...here?” she asked with tears welling in her eyes.
The tears nearly broke his heart as he got down on one knee, squatting on the floor to meet her at eye level. He touched her cheek, making her look him in the eye. He exhaled, trying not to look at his watch.
“We all get scared, Naomi, but it’s what we do when we’re scared that tells us who we really are,” he told her. “Today, you get to learn new things, make a friend, possibly more, and tonight over dinner, you can tell me all about your day and I will tell you all about mine. Deal?”
She shook her head no. Her bottom lip poked out and he braced himself for the waterworks. An attractive woman with a smile so bright he nearly held up his hands to shield his eyes, walked up. Renee the Admin must have told the teacher she had a new student.
“Well, hello, Naomi. I am Sonya Stewart, your teacher,” the woman explained. “If you look over at the table, there is Makayla, Timmy, Johnny, and Amber. They are also in your class. We are about to start finger painting, then we will work on counting and colors, and today, we are making special tees. Would you like to join us?”
Naomi looked at the kids, then at her Dad. She looked at her Dad, then at the kids. He waited for her to decide what she wanted to do. For good measure, he let her know, “If anything happens you don’t like, you can have Ms. Stewart give me a call,” he told her. “Can you please tell Ms. Stewart your Daddy’s name?”
