Flutter by, Butterfly

Chapter 36

Life settled into periodical visits from everyone. Mattie and Mateo turned out to have lived in the same city as me. Since Cindy was living with them, distance was not an issue for any of us.

Cindy remembered Angie Marie. She remembered Alejandro. Her mother got pregnant when she and Alejandro were about fifteen or so. They both married at eighteen, but without Al's father's blessing. He found her to be a gold digger, and too demanding. She was also in the way with their original plans with me. Serena took Cindy away when she was about four. She managed to hang onto that memory because she always felt that her father loved her more. He no doubt did.

When Cindy grew older and looked for her father, first she met Mateo. It was a chance meeting, both finding one another by accident. He found her looking at one of Alejandro's movie posters at a cinema.

"Fan of his?" he asked.

"Not exactly."

"Why not?"

"Well..." Cindy admitted it was something she didn't typically tell, but she felt a kinship with Mateo instantly. "He's my father."

"Really? My mama says he is my father too."

It was obvious to both of them that it was true. Those eyes of theirs could not deny, green as their father's was, and like all siblings, they could feel that bond. There was little difference in their ages. It was easy to assume when each one of them was conceived. She was 15 at the time, and he slightly younger. They figured out that Alejandro must have had more than one woman, though I'm guessing that Romeo fell for Serena and Carlos dated Mattie close to the same time. There was no animosity in Cindy's heart about it. She was so lonesome, I think she was just thankful to find someone to care for and a place to belong. He introduced her to Mattie. Mattie admitted that she had always known that Al had another woman somewhere. "We both knew what we wanted." Though she didn't fight it when she started developing feelings for him. Even though she didn't know the full extent of how much he had suffered, or the pain he went through, she could still sense it, and she could feel those moments when he split apart, or changed personalities, even if she couldn't put her finger on it. Or at least, that was her story. I believe that she knew more than she let on, but she had a soft subtlety that would leave you guessing. It was a good thing, as it likely kept the higher ups from watching her too closely. Cindy also introduced them to Angie Marie, eventually.

Cindy had been doing some sleuthing of her own for some time. She noticed that anytime she asked her mother about her father, she could never keep her story straight. She also managed to hack her accounts to locate her mother's "benefactor." Her mother was being paid five-hundred thousand dollars a month so long as she stayed in a specific location. She developed a terrible drinking and gamboling habit, so Cindy was not surprised at all that it had come to this, of her over spending. Serena even attempted to pimp Cindy out to cover for her. Cindy claimed she talked her out of it but I had my suspicions I kept to myself. Mattie took her in shortly after.

Mateo also turned out to be an excellent computer hack. He found Maria's address when she lived in Campeche, and at the time, Cindy had the funds to get them all to travel there. Angie Marie recognized them instantly. "It was like Mattie had brought back to me a piece of my son." They did not mention Maria's parents. Nobody else asked. I could only imagine that they were just as unpleasant with them as they were with us.

Mateo and Cindy both had some unanswered questions, but I was certain that everything would be resolved when Alejandro returned home. Home.... When was he coming back? In his absence, I could feel the darkness closing in. I don't know if it was just anxiety, or if that feeling of foreboding was sensing something bigger, but I had been training in the martial arts. I had a license to carry, and I could aim to kill. This would be much easier than choking a neck. My curves also made it very easy to hide my lethal weapons, but if I had to fight, I would not allow it to be easy for them.

I could not help but feel an over-whelming amount of dread, like something terrible was about to happen, as the days went on. Why did my intuition always have to be right?

I had given Bruce and Clark the day off, due to injuries I had given them in a sparring match. I had fractured the rib of one, broke the arm of the other. It only seemed right to give them both paid leave. Our "family," Mattie and her children, Maria, and Sandy and Bruno, had been instructed that we would not have any visitors at this time until our boys were at full strength. Nobody was supposed to be coming to my home; but the following day, I had a ring at the door. That unpleasant collector from before made himself known. He made it clear on the speaker that he was not leaving until he could discuss "business maters" with me.

"I thought I told you not to do business with her anymore."

"Hey, you can let me in now, or you can let me in later, but I will be back."

I was tired of hiding. At least I had something I could face-down, and this man had no idea how bad I had been itching to fight. I felt like an overflowing dam about to burst for so long. I opened the door and let him in.

He caught me by surprise. I didn't see his hidden crowbar on the camera. He swiped me on my left temple, knocking me down.

"I was supposed to kill you, but first, I think I will have a little fun. He made a move for the zipper of his pants, dropping his weapon in the process. That was a mistake. I kicked out, taking his feet out from under him. He fell to the floor, flat on his back.

"What the hell?" He held the back of his head in shock. He did not make a move to pick up the crowbar. I did. He tried a second too late. As he put his hand over mine, my elbow slammed into his face, breaking his nose. This bought me a little time to stand up, and bring a full swing to his temple, giving him the fatal blow to his head. I did not stop. I kept swinging. I don't know how many times I did it until I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay," said Maria. "I had to do clean-up for the people that raised you plenty of times. Go see our babies and keep them in the nursery for a while, after you clean yourself up. I will meet you there."

I did exactly as she asked. I showered. I changed my clothes. I found her in the nursery on our cuddle chair, rocking the babies back and forth, and singing to them. She had a smile like she did not have a care in the world. I wondered about her secrets. It was only for a moment. Probably better not to know. She turned to me with eyes that held no judgement at all. I was so glad she was here.

I took over the chair. Maria pulled out her cell-phone as she left the room. I figured she was calling the boys back.

"Mommy? What's wrong?" asked my daughter.

I did not like the idea of lying to my children, but... "Mommy misses Daddy." It was not exactly a lie. My twins snuggled with me and we all went to sleep.