Chapter 26

Manny

Once again, I’m reaching out to Ivy and Lacie. Once again, it’s because Ricci is hurt. Only this time, her injuries are far less serious than when I had to contact them the first time. As I wait for the doctor to finish his exam, I think about what I found out earlier in the day.

When Leanna came back to town, she moved into her parents’ house, which is in the ritzier section of town, if there is such a thing in Possum Run, that is. I rang the doorbell and when it opened, I came face-to-face with a young girl who so closely resembles Luci I nearly passed out. The look on Leanna’s face was priceless, however, when she came to see who was at the door.

“Marisol, who’s… what are you doing here, Manny?” Leanna asked, arching her brow at me.

“Looks like someone’s got some explaining to do,” I answered, my voice taut with anger.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Leanna sneered. “Marisol, why don’t you go check to see if the water is boiling.”

As the teenage girl walked away, I glared at Leanna before I said, “She looks just like Luci. Do you mean to tell me you hid the fact you were pregnant from me all these years?”

She scoffed. “As if, she’s my ex’s daughter.”

“Unless your ex is related to my family in some way, fashion, or form, I highly doubt it,” I rebutted.

Finally, her bravado crumbled. “Look, Manny, isn’t it better for her not to know her father is an ex-con?”

“It’s better if she knows the truth, Leanna. You know damn well secrets never stay hidden. What are you going to do then when she figures out the truth? My nieces are dead ringers for her. I can’t believe what you’ve done!”

“Mom? Is… is he my father?” the girl, Marisol, asked, having come back unnoticed. While she waits for her mother’s response, she stares at me. “Mom?”

“We’ll discuss this later, Marisol,” Leanna snapped.

“No, Mom, we need to talk about it now. I’ve met two girls at school, and we look alike.”

I raised my brow at Leanna. “See? Secrets, Leanna. They always come to light.” Then, looking at Marisol, I said, “I suspect they’re your cousins, my brother’s daughters.”

“What are you going to do?” Leanna questioned, a look of fear briefly crossing her face.

“First of all, I’m going to confirm what I can actually see. Then, I’m getting my lawyer involved,” I retorted. Looking at the teenager, I simply said, “I never knew you existed before today, but believe me, if I had known, I’d have been in your life.”

Then, I walked down the steps so I could pick up some food for Ricci and me.

While I waited on the food, I got a notification from the camera system I installed in the workshop. Opening it up, I bellowed in rage seeing someone attacking Ricci. As Betty hurriedly bagged up our food, I called the police and broke every speed limit law getting back to my house.

“How is she?” Lacie asks, coming over to me with Ivy.

“Waiting on the doctor,” I reply, standing to pull both women into a hug. “She fought back, y’all,” I tell them once we sit back down.

Pulling up my phone, I start the video from the beginning, keeping the volume low so we don’t disturb anyone else in the waiting room. I can see tears flowing down the cheeks of both women as they watch Ricci fend off her attacker, then growl out in anger when Ivy says, “How did he find her again?”

“Stupid fucking bank teller,” Lacie retorts, once the audio plays. “Well, hope she’s got someone to pay her bills because by the time I’m done, she’s going to be looking for another fucking job.”

I grin at Lacie’s ferocity. “Need me to send you the video?”

“Absolutely.”

* * *

Once they decide to admit Ricci for observation, we’re allowed to see her. Several of the lacerations required stitches, and she’s got a slight concussion, but considering it could’ve been so much worse, I find myself saying a silent prayer in thanks.

“Manny?” Ricci asks, reaching her hand out for me.

Walking to her side, I take her smaller hand in mine and lean in to kiss her forehead. “You okay, sweetheart?” I question.

“They gave me some good stuff,” she teases, slightly slurring her words.

“Sounds like it,” I reply, grinning down at her. I note her pupils are dilated which is due more to the medication than the concussion. “Do you want me to get you anything from your place?”

“Did the cops talk to you?” Ivy asks.

“Yeah, they just left before y’all came in,” she replies. “I told them I wanted to press charges this time.” Then she looks at me and softly says, “Not just for me, but for Luci. All women should be safe.”

“Men too,” Lacie adds. “Although, typically, it’s women who are abused, I know men are as well.”

“Hopefully, he’ll see some actual jail time,” Ivy murmurs. “He tends to get away with stuff all the time.”

“The cops said he probably would,” Ricci says, now sounding sleepy. “Said you had it all on video and they were going to ask you to send them a copy or something like that.”

“We’ll run to your place and get some stuff together, then come back tomorrow,” Ivy states. “Manny, are you staying with her?”

“Absolutely.”

By now, she’s drifted off to sleep, so once Ivy and Lacie leave, I send a text to my mom and ask her if someone can bring us some decent food before I settle into the reclining chair next to her bed and doze off.

* * *

Hours later, after my mom has descended with enough food to feed an army, despite it being just the two of us, we’re awake talking. I decide to take the bull by the horns and tell her how I feel, what I want, and who I want it with—her.

“Ricci?”

“Hmm?” She turns her head to look at me and smiles. “What has you thinking so hard over there, Manny? I know you heard your mom tell you that your brothers went and cleaned all the blood out of the workshop then locked it up for you.”

“It’s not that, sweetheart,” I reply, clearing my throat. “I know things are up in the air where Marisol is concerned, but I want you to know I’d like a chance with you.”

“Me? But… but I’m still broken, Manny,” she murmurs.

Reaching out, I take her hand in mine and lace our fingers together, never letting my gaze drop from hers. “We’ve discussed this before. You’re just a little bent, never broken, and today proved that better than anything anyone could tell you.”

“How so?”

“Because you fought back, Ricci. For whatever reason, you didn’t give up. I overheard nurses in the hallway talking about the man they treated who had deep scratch marks as well as bites all over his upper torso. You did that, honey. No one else. Not Ivy, Lacie, or hell, even me. You.”

She shrugs so I decide to continue. She needs to start seeing herself the way I do, the way her sisters do. “I’ve met truly broken people, Ricci, during my time volunteering at Helping Hands. Oh, they go through the motions of physically healing, but they have no fire, no life behind their expression any longer. Hopefully, they’ll continue with therapy so they learn differently, otherwise they’ll find themselves in the same position they were in before they arrived. In the time since our first meeting, you’ve recovered from nearly dying, moved into your own place, found a job you enjoy, started online therapy sessions, and have started making friends, including me.”

I watch her face, her beautiful, expressive face, as she ponders everything I’ve just said, and my smile grows bigger as I watch her entire body change. She’s now sitting up straighter, there’s a clarity to her eyes that wasn’t there moments before, and she’s smiling as she turns to me.

“I think… I think you’re right,” she finally says. “My therapist and I have been working on my past, which is where I think I started believing the shit I heard in so many different foster homes.”

“What did you hear?” I ask, growing angry that a mere child would believe what some assholes would say about her.

“That I was a troubled kid, I was defective. Hell, you name it, and I probably heard it about myself,” she murmurs, lost in thought again. “But when I went to live with Mama and Papa B, everything changed. No matter how badly I behaved, they never gave up on me. So, what I thought I knew about myself changed and I stuffed those things away. Then after they died and I went to live with Erik, he changed in how he treated me so slowly, I didn’t realize it was happening.”

“Like a frog in boiling water,” I state.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“If a frog is put into a boiling pot of water, it’ll do whatever it can to flee, right?” At her nod, I continue. “But if they’re put in a pot of regular water and the heat is slowly increased, by the time they realize there’s any danger, it’s too late. Erik was probably nice in the beginning, wasn’t he?”

God, it galls me to even say his name, but I want her to grasp my meaning, so I suck it back and wait for her to respond.

“He was, actually. Took me out on the town, brought me flowers when he came home from work, treated me like I was important. Then, it slowly changed,” she muses, “The compliments stopped, and the accusations started. I felt like I was getting whiplash because one day, the way I folded towels was the ‘right’ way, and the next time I did them, they were wrong and needed to be done again.”

I squeeze her hand to keep her with me, instead of lost in a past that no longer bears weight on anything she does, except maybe in her mind. “Sweetheart, however you can fold the fucking things so I don’t have to? I’m good, I promise.”

Her giggle has me grinning at her, happy to see the sparkle in her eye. Despite the bruising and swelling, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. But it’s more than her outward appearance; she’s genuinely kind to everyone she meets. Betty told me earlier in the day how the customers almost fight to sit in Ricci’s section now because she’ll listen to their jokes and even come back with her own.

“So, laundry isn’t your thing,” she teases. “Duly noted.”

“Growing up, the boys had certain chores while the girls did others,” I reply. “My sisters were responsible for the laundry and ironing. Us boys handled the outside stuff for the most part.”

“Mama and Papa B let me learn and do whatever crossed my mind,” she says. “It’s why I know so much about fixing cars. I helped Papa B get mine ‘road worthy’ as he called it. But I also played softball, learned how to play the piano and dance, and also how to cook and bake.”

“Well rounded, I like it,” I drawl out. “You’re the perfect woman for me.”

She rolls her eyes at me, and I burst into laughter.

“Whatever. So, you think you want to take a chance with me? I mean, I don’t even know if I can have children and from the look of things, your family is rather prolific.”

“Ivy and Lacie both told me that every doctor who you saw after your other miscarriages advised you that there should be no problem at all with you carrying to term. But saying that, if we can’t have kids, we’ll do what my uncle and aunt did, we’ll adopt.”

“Your cousins are adopted?” she asks.

“Yep.”

“I would’ve never known.”

“They’re family, sweetheart. Now, saying that, we should probably get more sleep because I’m sure your sisters will be descending on us as soon as they’re allowed to do so tomorrow morning.”

“Good night, Manny,” she says, trying to pull her hand away from mine.

I hold on tighter, even though I know my arm will probably go numb at the position and reply, “Good night, Ricci.”