it’s a woman’ thing.She knew!”
At that, Angelina stuck the key in the ignition.She turned it and sparked the engine.The two pulled away from the curb and Angelina repeated her thought, “Yeah, she knew…”
CHAPTER SIX
The desert sun was just beginning to dip beyond the horizon. An orange sliver was all that remained. Angelina pulled into her driveway. To her surprise, two carved pumpkins, rested on the steps at the bottom of the front doorway as wide-mouthed greeters.
“Mama,” Angelina affectionately spoke under her breath. Immediately, she knew that her mother had taken her children to get pumpkins. She smiled, thinking of the tale they would have to tell her about their busy day.
As she sat in her car waiting for the garage door to rise, on the radio, talk-show host Michael Savage was delivering a scolding retort to a caller: “Why do you find it so hard to admit that I’m right about this? As I’ve told you, I believe in language, borders, and culture. Gays, supported by the liberal agenda, are destroying America’s noble culture. Oh, they are not going to come right out and admit it. They come across, as soooo docile. But don’t you believe them! Not for one minute! They tell us they mean us no harm! All the time working to dispossess us of our most cherished and sacred institution, marriage! They’re perverts, I tell you. Everyone of them. Perverts!”
Click.
Angelina turned off the radio. Speaking to herself, “Okay, Michael, that’s all of you I can handle today.”
Soon, she was out of the car, up the steps, and opening the door.
The aroma of homemade enchiladas advanced over her, greeting her senses.
Ellie and Ricardo were seated in the living room and in unison squealed as she entered. Simultaneously, they bolted to embrace her. As they met, she bent over and kissed each of them on the head, just affectionately as she had done earlier in the morning.
“Mama, you are guilty of spoiling my children,” stated Angelina, greeting her mother who was finishing up dinner in the kitchen. Then she added, “And me too!”
“That’s what mamas, and grandmas, are supposed to do,” a voice echoed back from the kitchen area.
She slowly made her way to the kitchen with the two children, one locked on each side of her.
Her mother was untying an apron and placing it on a wall hanger.
“Dinner is done!”
“You’re not gonna stay?”
“No, we go to mass tonight. You’re father will take me to dinner.”
It was clear that she greatly loved her daughter and grandchildren. A warm smile was on her face. Satisfaction was etched there as well.
Later, as the day ended, Angelina examined each child following their baths. Ricardo’s, as was usual, had been forced.
She spoke to Ricardo, “You sure you washed behind these ears?”
He vigorously nodded that he had. Angelina turned her head slightly, to indicate suspicion that he was being less that truthful.
Ellie, hearing the familiar question from her room, spoke up. “I think you should cuff him and haul him in!”
His eyes instantly became large, with the whites of his eyes clearly visible!
“You should go to jail!” was his quick reply, lashing out in defense.
“Now, now,” Angelina spoke up, heading off the potential for a bedtime brawl. She knew how quickly situations could deteriorate, especially between a brother and as sister who both competed for her uttermost attention.
“It’s time we say prayers,” she said, attempting to further diffuse things.
She and Ricardo came into Ellie’s room. The two children kneeled by the bed. Angelina sat on the bed. All three bowed their heads.
“Ellie,” Angelina spoke, encouraging her to pray first.
“Dear God, thank you for mama, grandma, and grandpa. We had fun today carving pumpkins. Watch over us as we sleep. In Jesus name. Amen.”
Ricardo looked up, to insure it was his turn. Angelina nodded.
“Yeah, the pumpkins. I pray for them. And for my friend’s dog. Help us not to go to jail, God. The end!”
Angelina, laughing under her breath at his conclusion, asked, “The dog?”
“Yeah, he was hit by a car,” spoke Ellie.
Ricardo nodded, with a sad look on his face. Angelina bent over and hugged them both.
“How sad,” spoke Angelina. “Now to bed for both of you”…
Shortly Angelina sat alone, brushing her hair, looking into the vanity mirror. Her day had been stressful and she was clearly tired.
She recalled the sadness she had witnessed throughout the whole of it. A tear began to trickle down her face as she remembered Jo Ann Williams’s words about the first time she had held her dear son.
“What if that was Ellie or Ricardo,” she thought. The thought was too painful to entertain. She shook her head dismissing it.
She slipped out of her flimsy housecoat. She slept in sheer pastel pajamas. As she was about to turn off her light and go to bed, she was caught off guard by another thought.
“It had been so long since she had slept with anyone.”
Normally, she never even gave this thought. It must have been that the combination of the day’s events had struck a sensitive cord buried deep within her.
Another tear began to trickle down her cheek as she reached to turn off the lamp by her bed. Suddenly the room went dark…
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was Wednesday morning at the Phoenix airport. The clock on the wall read 9:10 AM. Angelina stood with a group of folks watching as passengers exited a flight that had just arrived, coming in from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. She held up a cardboard sign that read MOSKOWITZ in large letters. As the throng of travelers exited and started toward her, she tried to guess which person might be the Chicago detective.
Then, standing just to her side, was a six foot tall man staring at her.
“So you’re the crusader?”
When she looked to see who was speaking to her, her golden-brown eyes met with his crystal green ones. For a few seconds neither of them could speak—the impact on both was the same. What they were seeing was not what they had imagined, given their few phone conversations.
“You’re not what I expected.” Angelina’s words were practically unconsciously spoken as they spilled from her mouth.
Normally, not at a loss for words himself, Moskowitz’s
