Hope House (24 page)

“Oh well, not my problem.” He put the papers with some other documents in his briefcase and stood up to get Luke and Donovon ready. They’d go to the courthouse then hit McDonald’s on the way back. Mick wanted to get Donovon some new outfits too.  He’d been wearing Luke’s hand-me-downs from the attic but the new baby boy deserved his own.  There was a great baby boutique a short double-stroller push from the courthouse.

The phone rang and Mick stopped to look at the caller ID. No time to get interrupted with any foolish business today.

When he saw the number he grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Mickey, I didn’t tell them a thing. Not a thing.”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“The man and the woman. The pretty girl, Gloria. And her boyfriend. They said they knew you and I believed them. I’m so sorry, Mickey. Don’t tell your father. Please, he doesn’t have to know.”

Mick felt his face heat up and he gritted his teeth. Stupid bitch. His father should have finished the job he started. Stabbed her in the heart instead of just cutting his name into her tramp face. Why the hell was she calling him? Did she expect some kind of compassion? This, his mother who cheated on Daddy and then lied about it? Who cost them a small fortune in hospital bills then had the nerve to complain when the plastic surgeon didn’t put her face back as pretty as it was. Why should he? So she could go screw around again?

Kurt and Gloria must have seen Hope House on the birth records and followed the trail. The wishful thinking they’d only grabbed a brochure had been a bust. He’d have to get Angie to figure out which files were missing.

“What did you tell them? Do they know who you are?”

“W-well they already knew. They said they didn’t know my first name so I told them. But they already knew my last. I think. Or maybe I told them the last name.”

Mick sat down on his chair before his legs buckled.

“What did you tell them?” Bad enough this retard he had for a mother was blurting out God knows what to the two people most likely to destroy him, but it was Mick’s own fault. He’s the one who asked Daddy to let her run Hope House. Daddy planned to put her in an institution and keep her medicated so she wouldn’t fight. But Mick felt bad for her, even if she was a no good lying slut. Now he’d have to face Daddy if anything happened and get a big fat I told you so. 

“Nothing. I told them nothing. They asked if it was a birthing center and I told them no. Because it’s not. I said we just hold the babies there.”

“Jesus Christ, Mama, why would you say that?”

“It’s true.”

“Then what?”

“That was it. I went into the kitchen to gather my thoughts.”

“And what? They left?”

“I-I held a gun on them and told them to leave. I told them nothing was going on here
, that there wasn’t anything to see.”

Mick wanted to slam the phone into the receiver but he didn’t. There were still five valuable infants over there and he wouldn’t pick them up until Sunday. He needed her to stay there and believe everything was fine. He’d deal with her stupidity later.

“It’s okay, Mama. They left and that’s all that matters. You’re okay. The babies are okay right? Did they see the babies?”

“No. They just waited in the entranceway for me. Then they left. I didn’t tell them anything. You let your father know that. I didn’t mess anything up.”

Mick hung up the phone without saying goodbye. Maybe that was disrespectful to his mother, but hell, if he had stayed on the phone, he would’ve yelled a stream of expletives that would have been a lot worse than silence.

He wished he could take off now and try to track down Kurt and Gloria but he had to take care of Donovon’s adoption.

Plus he had five babies to adopt out. They were in the basement with Nanny now and he’d be handing those over late this afternoon and tomorrow. He had a trip to Windy Key Sunday to transport the rest of the babes for their appointments Monday.

He looked at his planner. Must be a way to fit it all and take care of Kurt and Gloria personally since none of his lieutenants seemed to have a fucking brain in their heads.

Saturday at two was the last of his appointments at New Age. Once that was done he’d fly out to see the family from the chart the PI took. Hopefully there was only one.

He wrote “stop the bastards” on the Saturday block three P.M. to midnight. “Ah, I crack myself up.”

Mick shut his planner, tucked it into his briefcase with Donovon’s adoption papers and yelled out, “You ready Luke? Ready to make Donnie your brother for real?”

“Donnie, Donnie!” Luke chanted.

Mick felt better already. This day would work out like he planned or he wasn’t Michael J. Puglisi.

8.

Maison D’Espoir, Haiti, afternoon

Dr. Tad shook his head to Martine as he walked from t
he gate. The mail carrier had not brought the passport. Another day they would have to stay. Maybe they lied at the government office and there was no way to rush a passport so soon. Maybe they took Dr. Tad’s money and laughed at him.

She closed her eyes hard to keep the tears from running down her face. He had enough to worry about without seeing her heart break.

“I’m going to go there,” he said.

“Where?”

Dr. Tad cradled his arm. He had covered his fingertips with gauze so she could not see if they were still discolored. He kept telling her not to worry, that the medicine was just taking a little while to work. Still, she worried. A little cut from the gate should not cause so much pain. 

“To Port au Prince. I’m going to get that passport if I have to leap over the counter and punch someone.”

She furrowed her brow. That was not Dr. Tad talk. She reached up and felt his forehead. “You are hot. Feverish. You should go to bed, and we wait until Monday. You can go then.”

“I’m going now.” His eyes seemed so far away even though he was right there. Like his mind was somewhere far off.

“You stay,” she said. “You need rest and maybe a different medicine. Let me see your hand. I will clean it out again.”

“No!” He pulled it back. “No, It’s fine. All I care about is getting you out of here safe, Martine. Getting us out. I have to go.”

He kissed her cheek and went back out the gate to his car. “I’ll be back by nightfall,” he called to her.

As the gate opened to let him out, Boris walked in and shut the gate behind him.  “Martine,” he said as he walked toward her.

She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. She had wanted to speak to him since Mr. Puglisi said he had asked about her.

“Hello, Boris.”

He smiled. Big healthy teeth. He was a very tall man who blocked the sun. A large tree with a deep voice. “It
is
you. I thought so.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t Maman ever tell you about your brother Boris, who went to harvest sugar cane in the Dominican Republic?”

Her face dropped. She remembered older siblings but once they left the house, Maman would not speak of them again because it made her too sad.

“She told me I had older brothers who went to break their backs in the sun and I could not ask about them. It was Papa’s fault she said, because he ate up all the food and you had to go somewhere else to make some money.”

“Did she say the same when she sent you off to work?”

Martine shook her head. “She had another brother after me and he died from hunger. Papa was away so she said it was my fault. She sent me away before I ate up all the food and everyone starved.”

“Sounds like the same crazy mother I knew.” He touched her face with a hand that was as big as a bowl. “Our mother thinks only of herself and likes to blame others for her mistakes. She
had too many children and did not use her brain—” he tapped his head, “to stop. Maybe if she kept her legs crossed, our baby brother would not have been born to die.”

“Boris, that is
a terrible thing to say!”

“No, sister, it is the truth. She has baby after baby then sends them off
to live with other people. She is just a dog who cannot nurse her puppies and keeps having more litters all the time.”

It was disrespectful to speak of their mother that way, but he
told the truth.

“You deserved a better life, Martine. I did too. Maman was no good for us. Did you have a nice life?”

“Better than if I stayed home, I guess. And now I have all this.” She swung her arm around Maison D’Espoir.

He laughed deep like a waterfall. “All this. You are paid to be like our mother, no? Having all these white puppies?”

She wanted to protest but could not. It was not so different what she did. But her mother bred for pleasure and Martine bred to have nice things and a roof over her head. She had these “white puppies” so she could watch television and sleep on a mattress.

“Are you happy here? Is Doctor Tad nice to you and the others?”

“He is very nice.” She looked around but no one watched. “He loves me. He is going to marry me and take me away.”

“Men say lots of things to get inside a woman.”

Boris was crude but only because he cared about her. “He has never been inside me. We are all virgins, remember?” She leaned closer and spoke quietly. “He went to Port au Prince because he is getting a passport for me and he is in a hurry. As soon as it comes, we are running away and everyone will be free. You can take any supplies you want. I am not supposed to tell but you are family.” Her heart filled when she said that. That word had been lost to her for so long. “I will tell you when we go and you can take the TVs and sell them.”

“He really is taking you away? Closing down Maison D’Espoir? Mr. Puglisi does not seem the kind of man to walk away from such a money fountain.”

“Mr. Puglisi does not know. No one does. Only Doctor Tad and me—and now you. Mr. Puglisi is not expected here, and we hope to leave before he comes again.”

“I left you alone before, Martine. I was not there to take care of you. I am sorry. That will not happen again. If Mr. Puglisi shows his lizard face here before you go, I will kill him!”

Martine felt guilty for smiling but did so anyway. It felt good to have a big, strong brother so near and so protective.

9.

Home of Tommy Carpenter, Miami, late evening

“
Tommy, it’s your ex again,”
Gloria heard on the other end of the phone. She had never met the new Mrs. Carpenter but knew she’d hate her. Gloria looked at the pad in front of her. Kurt and she had written a script of misinformation to give Tommy.

“
Hello?”

“Hi,” Gloria said. She managed to
buy a charger at a store and charge her phone briefly at the airport. Only two bars but that was enough.  “Just wanted to let you know I’m home. Back in Bradfield.”

A huge sigh on Tommy’s end confirmed how important it was that she be far away from Miami and the truth.

“
Glad to hear it.”

“I’m sorry I got so upset. You know how I get. It was all a little ridiculous wasn’t it? The way I acted?” She rolled her eyes to Kurt as she spoke.

“
A little. I was worried when you called in the middle of the night and hung up abruptly.”

“My cell phone ran out.”

“
So how’d that PI work out? Did he help you?”

She smirked as she answered. “Yeah that PI was great. Really drilled the truth into me.”

She heard his wife in the background tell him it was time to wrap it up.

“
Well, gotta go. Take care, huh?”
he said.

“Sure. You too.”

She hung up.

“Think he bought it?” Kurt asked.

“Of course. It helped that you called him two hours ago and told him I was on a plane home. Of course, you didn’t add that you were in the seat beside me.” She laughed. “Creep.”

“Yeah, Tommy was damn happy about that. Didn’t flinch when I told him I wanted double
the agreed amount for all my extra time I put in with you.”

“Should have asked for triple.”

“I’ll take double pay and you, thank you very much.”

She jabbed him in the arm. “Come on, let’s rent a car and go see the
Murrays.”

He leaned over and kissed her. Long and deep. Then he stopped, leaving her breathless. What a tease.

“Maybe we can pick this up where we left off—after we see the Murrays?”

She laughed. “I think that can be arranged.”

10.

Portland, Maine, evening

Gloria rang the doorbell at the huge brick Tudor on the hill overlooking the ocean. It was a gorgeous house with a breathtaking view, even at night.  Baby Murray, whatever they had named her, had gotten a good home.

A woman in her late forties with short blond hair and rosy cheeks answered. “Hello. Come on in.”