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Chapter Twenty-three
Kean wouldn’t stop asking questions. The next morning, all the way back from taking Ruby to the airport, he hounded her. “This guy owns a garage, right? And he’s my uncle?”
Alia had tried to tell Kean it was make-believe, but the boy had glommed onto one word,uncle, and he wouldn’t let it go. Believing he had a male relative had made all the difference, so that even Ruby’s leaving had taken second place.
Sure, he’d held on to his nanny at the departure gate, but there hadn’t been the expected tears. Not like Alia, who had disgraced herself. She and Ruby had hugged tight, swaying back and forth, unexpected emotion making it impossible for her to say the calm good-bye she’d planned.
Once the door closed behind the last passenger, Ruby… Kean had taken Alia’s hand and dragged her to the car, excitement making his eyes glow. “We get our bags now and go to the barbecue, right? My uncle will be expecting me.”
“Kean, remember what I told you? He kinda knows we’re coming but not when. He’ll be surprised to see us today.”
“I know. He just wants us to live with him for a while so he can get to know us. And you decided with Ruby leaving, now was a good time. Right?”
“Right.” The kid had almost verbatim what she’d told him the night before. She’d wanted to stop his tears, take away the sadness he’d suffered ever since he’d found out his nanny would be leaving him, and her news had worked like a charm.
“You don’t know him, right? You didn’t live together. He had another mommy and daddy who brought him up. That’s what you said.”
“That’s right. I never really got to know him. So now that workers are renovating our house, I decided we’ll surprise him today. You and me. We’ll get the gear we packed yesterday, call a taxi and away we go.”
“What about your car?”
“My car?”
“Why aren’t we taking your car instead of using a taxi?”
Thinking fast, Alia answered, “Because it’s the agency’s car and they’re going to pick it up. I’ll get another one later. But for now, we won’t have any wheels.”
“You’re not working for the FBI anymore?”
Okay, now what should she say?This lying stuff was hard, something she never did, so she hadn’t realized how one lie could lead to another and before a person knew it, the bullshit was so deep, they’d better stay upright.
“Remember, I warned you. We can’t tell anyone I used to work for the FBI. It’s our secret. We’ll surprise your uncle and I can also spend more time with you.”
“And get to know Uncle Booker too. That’s a weird name…. Booker.”
“I told you, his name is Sloan Booker. You can call him Mr. Booker.”
He giggled. “Mom… you don’t call an uncle mister. Maybe my uncle can buy you some.”
Lost in the labyrinth of his boy-mind, she asked. “Buy me some what?”
“You know – wheels.”
Yeah, like that’s going to happen!
“So you can pick me up at school like Ruby does.”
“Right. Pick you up.” How could she have forgotten? Her son needed to get back and forth from his school every day, and it was up to her to get him there and back home again. Circulate among all those other mothers and pretend like she knew what the hell she was doing. As if the mother role came naturally.
Oh God!
***
Later, shutting up the house, locking doors and windows, gave Alia a jolt she never expected. Between her and Ruby’s efforts, the house had become a home. Lime green pillows decorated the gray sofa and chairs, and there were lots of sparkling glass vases usually full of garden flowers.
Most of the artwork was from local artists who loved the islands and focussed their paintings on where they lived. She’d slowly invested herself into these surroundings, so much so, that it felt like a real home.
As she went from room to room, making sure she hadn’t missed anything, she stopped at the arch in the hallway to the kitchen and fingered the dated cut mark she’d made when they first arrived. It was to be Kean’s new monitor which would show him that he really was growing.
