was a window behind where she stood. I could see her silhouette. She did that every time Fredric dropped Freddy off. One time I gave a little wave and I saw her duck down. I felt she was tormented by the fact that I was in the car, so I stopped going with him.”
“Do you see her a lot?”
“Now that Freddy’s an adult and has his own place, he often has parties and barbeques, which puts me in the position to be around her more than I care to be. I could let Fredric go alone, but I don’t want to do that. I go, and I tolerate her. Freddy tries to schedule things separately between us, but she inevitably shows up. It’s quite pathetic.”
“Does she bring her husband? Do you like him?”
“Two questions at once? This is more than one question, but I’ll answer for a few more minutes.” The banter was obviously entertaining Emma. “Yeah, she brings him. He’s gross. He’s a racist and doesn’t censor anything he says. I stay clear of him.” Emma chuckled at Celia’s ability to fire questions as fast as she could answer them.
“You said there are stories you used to tell Jillian. What kind of stories? Do they bother you?” Celia was enthralled by Emma’s information.
“Wow. You’re good. Have you ever thought of a career in journalism?” Emma broke off a tiny piece of her cookie and put it in her mouth. “Honestly, I don’t care WHAT she says. I care WHY. It’s more about the intention of her actions. Her intent is mean-spirited. I didn’t know Fredric when they got divorced—it wasn’t my fault. I’ve had relationships longer than their marriage. I truly don’t care he has an ex-wife—obviously it would be better if he didn’t. Celia, she constantly tries to disrespect or diminish my existence in Fredric’s life and make her two-minute marriage a focus of every encounter we have together. It’s hard to explain.” Emma shook her head. “She started being conniving when I first met her in 1995. This was my initial introduction to her.”
Fredric, Emma, and Jillian walked across the football field and found the shadiest seats they could locate. Freddy had asked them to come to his Step-Up ceremony into first grade. Although Emma knew Freddy, she had yet to meet his “extended” family. She asked Jillian to join them and hoped her cousin’s support would help calm the knots in her stomach. Fredric had warned her about his ex-wife.
“If we find seats before she gets here, we might be able to avert an invasion.” Fredric rubbed Emma’s back.
The trio settled in their seats in the eighth row, feeling somewhat sheltered by the sea of strangers surrounding them.
“Oh brother.” Fredric motioned his head toward a woman headed in their direction. He opened his can of cola and took a sip. “She has radar. That’s her coming this way. The one in the red pants and the white high heels. Just want you to be prepared. I’m sure Freddy told her you would be here.” He put his arm around Emma’s shoulder and pulled her close.
Emma bit her lower lip as she anxiously made eye contact with her cousin.
His ex-wife rushed over and sat down in the empty seat next to Jillian. She leaned forward in front of Jillian and made direct eye contact with Emma. “Good afternoon. I’m the original Mrs. Fredric Cerezo. You know? Fredric’s first wife and first choice.” She emphasized the word “first” as she glared at Emma.
“Is ‘The Original’ a hyphenated first name? You know, like John-Paul?” Jillian antagonistically asked the question.
Emma pushed her elbow into Jillian’s side.
“You must be Emily.” Her eyes still fixed on Emma, she ignored Jillian’s harassing comment. She turned toward Jillian. “And you are?” She curved her lips to a snarl.
Fredric stopped her in her tracks. “This is Emma! Not Emily, which I know you know. And this is cousin Jillian.”
The ex-wife stood from her chair just enough to lean over Emma and Jillian. She reached for Fredric’s cola. “I’m so thirsty. I’ll just take a sip.” She seized the soda and sat back down before Fredric realized what happened. She held the can up to her lips and took several sips. Again, she leaned in front of the other women and attempted to return the cola to Fredric.
“Keep it.” He moved his hands away from her and motioned he no longer wanted the soda.
Before anyone could say another word, she got up from her seat. “Good to meet you girls.” She turned and walked away.
Jillian’s eyes opened wide and she slapped her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t control herself and she laughed out loud. “What the fuck was that?”
“She’s a piece of work. You weren’t kidding.” Emma snickered at the ridiculous show she had just witnessed.
“She called us girls. Was that supposed to be an insult? If you didn’t push your elbow into my side, Emma, I would have kicked her down a notch. Did she actually introduce herself as the original Mrs. Cerezo?”
“No. She said, ‘the original Mrs. FREDRIC Cerezo.’ Don’t forget to include the first name. Isn’t she married to someone else now?” Emma giggled.
“Yes, she changed her name to his last name. It would have been more appropriate to say ‘Hi. I’m Mrs. Shit for Brains.’ She was hoping to create a problem.”
Emma touched Fredric’s leg. “I don’t think it went that badly. I expected much worse.”
“Give her time, my dear. Give her time.” Fredric leaned over and kissed her forehead.
They watched as the parade of boys and girls marched onto the field. The sun crept over their seats. The day became very hot.
“She sounds psycho. She’s been nasty since the first time you met her?” Celia shot out the question before Emma had fully exhaled from her last sentence.
“She is psycho. And yes, since the first time I met her, she has been harassing me in one way or another. It's a good thing I believe in karma.” Emma flipped her phone over and looked at the time. “Damn. I forgot about my meeting. Too late now.” Emma moved her index finger in a slashing motion across her neck. “Off with my head. It was only with Ramona, anyway. I’ll tell her I got tied up with something important.”
“That’s the truth.”
Safety First
Celia couldn’t believe it. Truth be told, not only could she believe it, she anticipated it would be worse. She turned on her computer and launched Google. What did he call it? She tried to remember what Zach had called the problem with her car. Fuck it! She dialed Brian’s number.
“Brian. It’s me, Celia.”
“Hey, Celia, did you talk to Zach?”
Celia heard loud noises in the background and wasn’t quite sure what Brian had said. “Sorry, Bri, it’s noisy there. Do you know what’s wrong with my car? I don’t understand what Zach told me.” She paced from the kitchen to the living room and back again.
“Listen,
