At What Price? Read online

  “I know boy. I’m ready.”

  ****

  We didn’t hear from Lacey for two years. In that time, my life was a beehive of activity, from softball games to gymnastics. When school was out, we took a trip to the beach. We went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Rio had never been there and her excitement and laughter were contagious. It was a wonderful period of my life.

  Rio’s tenth birthday was only a few days away. She was still at school, so I decided to take advantage of the silence and went to read on the porch. It was then I saw. Then I saw a car drive into the yard. My heart dropped when I saw Lacey behind the wheel, but my blood started to boil when Rio jumped out of the passenger side.

  “Mimi!” she yelled, running toward me with a Wal-Mart bag clutched in her hand. “Look what Mom got me for my birthday!” A Barbie doll along with the Barbie corvette was pulled from the bag. “And we had lunch at Denny’s!”

  I was trying not to show how furious I was, but not succeeding too well. “You took her out of school?”

  Rio’s smile faded. “Mimi, don’t be mad.”

  “It’s okay, honey,” Lacey told Rio. “I need to talk to Mimi. Why don’t you put your toys away and give us a minute.”

  Rio hesitated, then slowly turned and obeyed her mom.

  Lacey sat down on a patio chair next to mine. She took her sunglasses off and looked me in the eye. “I’m the one listed under mother on her birth certificate. I can take her any time I feel like it.”

  “I’m not sure if it makes a tinker’s damn to you, but she was devastated the last time you graced her with your presence and then snuck off in the middle of the night.”

  She took out a cigarette, lit it. “I’m sure you explained things to soothe her hurt feelings.”

  “Didn’t really have to. She was a pretty smart little girl, even back then. She seemed to take it in stride that you had just up and left…again.”

  “Whatever.” She put her glasses back on. “I need $500.”

  I let out a gasp, and ground my teeth. “That forty-eight dollars you stole from my purse didn’t last very long, did it?”

  Lacey had the grace to blush at that. “Are you aware I can take Rio away with me any time I please?”

  There it was – her ace in the hole. “I’ll take you to court. No judge in this world would give that little girl back to you.” My whole body trembled. Who was this calculating bitch?

  “Are you sure?” She chuckled. “Are you willing to take that chance?”

  She knew only too well I wasn’t willing to chance it. Without a word, I went in the house and wrote the check. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I went out and handed it to her. “Get out,” I croaked.

  She put the check in her purse, stood and straightened her shirt. “Rio!” she called.

  Rio hurried out onto the porch.

  “Oh honey, just got a call from work and there’s an emergency. I’m sorry, Baby; I’ve got to get back.” Lacey gave her daughter a quick hug, all but skipped to the car, and drove away, happy as a clam, mindless of the heartache she left behind.

  “Why did she leave?” Rio asked, her eyes filling with tears.

  “You heard her. Something about work.” It was a lame reply, but the only one I dared give her.

  Rio’s face crumpled in distress. “She left ’cause of you. You were mad ’cause she took me out of school!” She ran back into the house, slamming the door.

  Rio stayed in her room until dinner, which was a very quiet affair. Every attempt at conversation was met with one-syllable answers.

  Tom stopped by the following evening. Hot dogs smothered in chili and French fries were served. Rio laughed and joked with him, but still ignored me.

  When she went to do her homework, Tom asked what was going on.

  “That’s extortion!” Tom yelled, after I told him the truth.

  “Keep your voice down. Rio will hear you!”

  He got out of his chair and started to pace. “This is unbelievable,” he growled quietly. “I should have that…her… picked up.”

  “What good would that do? I have no legal claim.” My voice broke. “She doesn’t want anything to do with Rio but she would take her just to spite me.”

  Tom gathered me in his arms. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. It just makes me so damn mad that she thinks she can get away with this.”

  ****

  The next day was Saturday and Rio still seemed withdrawn on the ride into town. We were on our way to the local pizza parlor for her tenth birthday party.

  “Mimi, what’s ex…extortion?”

  My heart dropped to my stomach. She must have overheard Tom. Dear God, how much did she hear?

  I pulled into the parking lot at Peter Piper Pizza. I shut off the engine and turned to look at her.

  Eyes wide, she looked so damn innocent. Is it best to lie, or let her know just what kind of person her mother was?

  “Honey, that is such a grown-up word.”

  “Please tell me, Mimi.”

  “Extortion is when a person demands money or something of value from another person.”

  Rio looked down at her hands. “Why wouldn’t the other person just say ‘no’?”

  I cupped her chin in my hand and she raised her eyes to mine. I said, gently, “Because if that person didn’t pay, they just might lose the most treasured thing in their life.”

  A tear escaped down her cheek and I wiped it away with my thumb. “Now, do we, or do we not have a party to go to?”

  Rio smiled, gave me a big hug, and an “I love you Mimi”, before running to meet her friends in the pizza parlor. Things were back to normal.

  FOUR

  On Rio’s twelfth birthday, Lacey tried a new tactic. The phone rang and when I answered, she skipped all the niceties and got right down to it. “I need $1,000 this time and you’ll need to wire it.”

  I hung up without a word. I was trembling when the phone rang again. I picked it up after the fourth ring. “I don’t have $1,000 to give you and even if I did, you sure as hell wouldn’t get it.” Lacey tried butting in, but I didn’t give her the chance. “Whatever money I’m willing to let you extort from me will have to be picked up here. You will have to look your daughter in the eyes and do your best to hide what she is already beginning to see.” I hung up on her again.

  The phone rang once more, but this time I didn’t answer and quickly unplugged my antiquated answering machine. The ball was in her court. My hope was she would just put that ball in her pocket and go live her life.

  A couple weeks went by before Lacey made her next appearance.

  It was a Friday afternoon and Rio had a half-day at school. That evening was the annual ice cream social; the school’s only fund raiser for the year. Rio was meeting Ricky Stevens there and she was on cloud nine.

  Coming out of my bedroom, I noticed Rio staring through the window.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be doing your nails for the big night?”

  Her face was ashen when she looked at me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Mom’s here,” she said. I could see the battle going on in that young mind. The little girl in her wanted to run to her mom, tell her to please stay, tell her to love her, but the twelve-year-old wanted her gone and not to come back.

  The doorbell rang.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. “Do you think –?”

  Lacey pushed passed me, but stopped short when she spotted Rio. “Hi, Sweetie, I’m so happy to see you. I’ve missed you so much.” She hurried over to give her daughter a hug. Her eyes had the same glassy look with dark circles under them and her hair was pulled back in a greasy ponytail.

  “Mom,” Rio said, pulling back, “you look awful. Are you sick?” An innocent question.

  Lacey glanced my way.

  My raised eyebrows said volumes.

  Anger sparked in Lacey’s eyes. “No, I’m not sick. I…I’ve been working a lot of hours and I’m tired.” She flounced down on the
couch. “Hey, Baby, there’s a present for you in the car, but I didn’t have time to wrap it. Run out and get it.”

  “Really!” and out the door Rio went.

  “Next time, if you don’t wire me that money, I’ll –”

  “You’ll what? Take her? Have you looked in the mirror?” I snagged my purse from the table and walked over and got four one hundred dollar bills out. I fanned them in front of her.

  “I told you one thousand!”

  Shrugging, I made to put the money in my purse. Those bills were snatched out of my hand before I had turned my back. “Don’t think you have the upper hand, you old bitch,” she whispered harshly. “If you try –”

  She stopped when Rio walked back in with her present, a large, floppy-eared, dirty, pink stuffed rabbit. A perfect gift – for a five-year-old. “Thank you,” Rio said.

  “Sure, Baby.” Lacey gathered her purse and got ready to make her escape. “I know how much you love stuffed animals.” Stopping at the front door Lacey said to Rio, “Maybe this summer you can come and stay with me. Wouldn’t that be fun?” She blew Rio a kiss and was gone.

  I walked outside and watched her drive down the road. My teeth were clenched so hard my jaw hurt.

  Rio was in her room, lying on her bed. There were no tears, just a shroud of sadness that I could sense. “I’m sorry, Honey,” I said, rubbing her back.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Tell you what...” I pulled her to a sitting position. “Why don’t we go into town early and we‘ll both get a pedicure?”

  “You don’t have to do that, Mimi. I’m okay, really.”

  “Listen, young lady. It’s time you learned about ‘women fixes’.”

  “Women… fixes?”

  I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, there are certain things women do to chase away dark clouds and make the skies turn blue. A pedicure is one of these ‘fixes’. Now get up,” I told her, tickling her until she was squirming to get away, “and let’s get moving.”

  “Thanks, Mimi.”

  I grabbed my purse before heading out the door. I caught sight of a pink floppy bunny ear hanging out of the trashcan. “No problem, kiddo. Besides, we can’t have Ricky Stevens thinking you have monkey feet!”

  FIVE

  Rio’s fourteenth birthday came and went without incident. I figured my daughter had either given up, had her life under control, was in jail, or was dead. It didn’t take me long to realize none of those theories were true.

  I decided it was time to make some changes to my Will and make sure Rio was taken care of when my time came calling. The bottom drawer of my desk was where I kept important papers, a few treasured mementos, some photos, and a small jewelry box that contained diamond earrings, a gift from Sam on our twentieth anniversary, and a diamond and ruby necklace that my mom had left me.

  When I opened the drawer, a picture of Lacey and me, taken when she’d gotten her driver’s license, was torn in two and my jewelry box was empty.

  My body burned with anger.

  I went to the phone to call Tom to report what she had done, but slowly hung up.

  Still, even after being robbed, I couldn’t turn my daughter in.

  Hopefully, my heart aching at the thought, she wouldn’t have the audacity to show her face here again.

  ****

  Now, through the dust, I could see her car coming down the long dirt driveway. We were going to have a Come to Jesus meeting. Chances were this would be the last time I would see my daughter.

  One week ago, Rio had a turning sixteen and passing her driver’s test party. My home was packed with her friends, girls and boys, some of my friends, and of course Tom. He was becoming a regular fixture around the house. He and I were in the kitchen, cleaning up, while Rio was saying goodbye to the last of her guests.

  “Well, we got through this birthday without any drama from Lacey,” I said to Tom.

  “I doubt if you’ll see her for a while,” he muttered, doing all he could to not look me in the eye.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  He folded his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I’ve been keeping tabs on your daughter for a while now.”

  When I started to interrupt, he held up his hands and said, “Let me finish before you go for my jugular.”

  “Okay,” I allowed, eyeing his throat with menace. “A deal.”

  “About a year ago she was involved in a home invasion. It was the home of an elderly woman. They took all her jewelry, over $5,000 in cash, and her car. The guy with your daughter pushed the old lady and she fell, got a gash in her head and was knocked unconscious.

  “She didn’t…?”

  He gave me a thin smile. “She’s fine. I understand she’s a tough old bird. Lacey and her friend were picked up in the lady’s car in northern California. The lady identified them and Lacey got a year in jail, with two years probation and regular drug testing. She was released two weeks ago and didn’t report to her parole officer. This means she has broken her parole and is probably on the run. When they find her, chances are she’ll be back in jail for a while. I seriously doubt she would chance coming anywhere near here.”

  Despite what she’d done, my heart was still a mother’s heart, and it tumbled and ached as I heard this news. “Oh, dear God.” My hands covered my face.

  Tom hugged me close. “This is why I didn’t tell you. After all these years, you still shoulder blame for your daughter’s actions. It makes me want to ring your fool neck!”

  “It makes me want to ring her neck too,” Rio said standing in the doorway.

  I jumped at the sound of her voice. “Oh, Honey, I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

  “I know, Mimi, but you shouldn’t be. That’s the whole point!” she said. “Mom just… I don’t know, took a wrong turn somewhere. You were, and are, a great mother. I know this first hand. I don’t know where I’d be if you hadn’t come into my life.”

  “Thanks, Sweetie, that means an awful lot to me.” I wiped a tear from my eye.

  ”Now what’s needed here are some blue skies,” said Rio, both of us laughing at the confusion on Tom’s face.

  “Women fixes,” Rio told him, heading for the phone.

  SIX

  Now, an old green Buick drove into the yard. Lacey was here. I knew she was coming because of her call yesterday afternoon: “I’ll be at your house tomorrow about noon. Have my money.”

  “Maybe you should have negotiated for more money for the diamond earrings and Mom’s diamond necklace that you stole from me.”

  “Just have my money when I get there tomorrow!” she said before hanging up.

  I was ready for her. I’d given Rio the keys to the car and sent her to town with a grocery list. She didn’t need to hear what was going to be said.

  I sat on the porch swing, waiting for her.

  She was thin, bone thin, and had open sores on her arms. Her once beautiful blonde hair was now dark brown and hung limp and oily to her chin. It looked like it had been chopped off with a razor. She wore a man’s stained, button-up plaid shirt and cut off Levis.

  “You don’t look well,” I said sadly.

  “As if you really cared! Give me the money and I’m outta here.”

  “Sit down,” I told her, pointing to a patio chair.

  “I don’t have the fucking time to sit and chit chat!” she screamed at me.

  Blacky, who sat by my chair, growled menacingly.

  “Well, either make the time or, by all means, go,” I said, trying to remain calm.

  Hatred radiated from every pore of her body. I could almost smell it. For a second, I thought she was going to attack me, but she finally sat down and took a cigarette from her purse. Her hands were shaking so badly, she barely got it lit.

  “Would you like some ice tea or soda?”

  “No!”

  With my foot, I pushed the swing back and forth. “You must be thirty-seven now, right?”

  No response.

&nb
sp; “You’re still so young,” I went on. “Is this the life you actually want to be living? Do you have any idea what you’ve missed out on where your daughter is concerned?”

  My plan was to try to get Lacey some help in a rehab program. If she was just willing to meet me halfway, we could get her life back on track.

  Lacey jumped out of her chair. “As you can see, I’m living the dream,” she said sarcastically, “and I don’t give a good God damn about Rio. Now just give me the fucking money!”

  I staggered backwards at her words. “Oh, my God, Lacey. You’ve thrown away the life of your own daughter. You’ve sold your own soul down the river and you have lost everything – not to mention your own self-respect. At what price do you say enough is enough?”

  Neither of us noticed Tom’s patrol car coming into the yard until it slowed to a stop. Rio jumped out of the passenger side.

  Lacey glared at me. “You bitch! You called the sheriff? What kind of a mother are you?”

  If it weren’t so pathetic, it would have been funny. “What kind of mother am I?” I asked, trembling with rage. “You really want to chuck that stone?”

  “She didn’t turn you in – I did,” Rio said, standing by my side. “I happened to pick up the other phone when you called yesterday. You’re so done doing this to my grandmother!”

  Tom stepped up onto the porch and swiftly put handcuffs on Lacey. She struggled to get loose.

  “I’m your mother!” Lacey screamed as she was led to the car.

  “Not even close!” Rio replied, and then looked at me

  We watched Tom drive down the road until his vehicle disappeared in the valley.

  I looked at my precious granddaughter and she gave me a hug.

  Rio and I walked to the house. Climbing onto the porch, I looked to the upper ridge and could see the dust from Tom’s car as he took my daughter away.

  Rio gripped my hand. “Are you okay, Mimi?”

  “Thank you for what you did,” I said, blinking back tears. “I surely do love you.”