Chapter 5
Somewhere along the way, Abel figured out that the best way to manage Camilla”s controlling and micromanaging ways was to do what she asked. So, he did the direct opposite to get a reaction out of her. Abel could see it getting to her, and watching her try to keep her composure was interesting and attractive. He had to admit, though, he was getting a kick out of being contrary.
He was surprised to learn that Camilla was a single mother and wanted to ask about her son”s father, wondering if she was still in the relationship. The little boy couldn”t be older than five or six. He was all chubby cheeks and a mass of dark hair that was a little too long. The edges of it brushed against his round blue eyes – the same shade of blue as his mother”s.
He was a cute kid and well-mannered. But that was not a surprise. Camilla seemed to be the mother who ensured he sat straight and buttoned his shirts up to his neck.
As the days passed, Abel began to learn things about Camilla that was even more attractive. For instance, at some point, the cashier (Steve or Stan, Abel didn”t remember) had an issue ringing a customer. So Camilla stopped what she was doing during a busy lunch rush to show him what to do. She didn”t bark at him or treat him with impatience. Instead, she showed him how it was supposed to be done step by step.
She was also great with the customers. All the regulars seemed to know her by her first name, and she always had time to chat with them, even if she was in the middle of something. Abel would watch this woman with her sparkling blue eyes and relaxed disposition as she chatted pleasantly with people and wondered what exactly he had to do to get that kind of treatment.
It also vaguely occurred to him that he may be starting to like her. She was no longer just attractive to him but lovely. Camilla did not wear makeup. Camilla always tied her hair away from her face, leaving thin curls hanging around her face. She did not dress very stylishly, always wearing shirts and slacks that did not compliment her figure, but Abel still wondered if the right set of circumstances occurred, he might try to hit on her or shoot his shot. The thought was fleeting when it came, however. Especially when she came into the kitchen, barking orders or correcting him on how he should be doing something. Camilla”s control freak nature was an instant turn-off, despite her beauty.
The rest of the day went as expected. Abel made the food, and the food went out to the customers. Camilla poked her head in to check on how he was doing from time to time. By closing, Abel was exhausted but relieved the day was finally over. He cleaned the kitchen in solitude, remembering the days he would clean in prison and block everything and everybody out to let time pass. It was the one area that he seemed to do well enough, even for her.
When Abel finally finished for the day, everyone except Camilla and Charlie had gone for the day. Abel poked his head into her office to see her grabbing her coat, her young son asleep in one of the chairs near the door. Then, with her tired face, she gave Abel a gentle smile.
”You need anything else, boss?” he asked.
”No,” she said with a shake of her head. She put her coat on and picked up Charlie. He remained asleep as she draped him over her shoulder. ”Thanks.”
”Okay,” he said. ”Let me walk you out.”
She gave him another gentle smile. ”Thank you, but I”ve got it.”
She walked past him through the door, and Abel followed her out of the restaurant just the same way.
”How old is he?” Abel asked, just making conversation.
”Five,” she said softly, trying not to wake him.
He nodded. ”His dad isn”t around?”
She gave him a side glance. Then, as they approached the door, he opened it for her. ”That”s none of your business.”
”Just making conversation,” he said.
Once outside, she balanced her keys in one hand and locked the door with her left extremity. She glanced over at him cautiously. ”You do not have to babysit me. I will be fine.”
He glanced around the darkened parking lot and said, ”If it”s all the same to you, I”ll just hang around until you pull off.”
She rolled her eyes. ”Whatever. See you tomorrow.”
He watched her walk across the parking lot, balancing her son on her shoulder. Then, when she got to the car, she used the same skill to open her car door and put her son in the back seat. Abel was impressed. He was sure he would be unable to open a door and hold a sleeping child.
She waved at him briefly (sarcastically) as she got in the front seat and closed the door. He waited a moment longer, listening for the engine to turn over. Finally, the headlights came on, and she turned the key to the sound of metallic clicking. The lights flickered in time with the clicking as she tried two more times to turn the engine over.
Abel frowned and glanced down at his watch. It was late. Too late for car trouble in an empty parking lot. He walked over to her car. When he got there, she rolled down her window.
”You wouldn”t happen to know anything about cars, would you?”
He shrugged. ”I know a little something. Pop the hood.”
She did, and it popped open with a kerchunk. Abel pulled the hood up and took out his phone, shining a light on the engine.
”It”s a good thing I stuck around,” he said loudly. Abel heard her scoff.
”I guess you”re my hero once again,” Camilla responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
”I”m nobody”s hero,” he said. Abel looked around at the wires and noted wires chewed to bits. He leaned over, meeting her eyes as she leaned out the window.
”I think you”ve got squirrels or something.”
She scowled. ”Squirrels?”
”They get in engines when it gets cold and chew on the wires,” he said, putting down the hood. ”You”re going to need a mechanic.”
Her face paled. ”Oh… that”s wonderful.”
He put down the hood and wiped his hands on his pants as she got out of the car. She put her hands on her hips and stared at the car for a long moment before opening the back door, picking Charlie up, and draping him back over her arm.
”You want me to call somebody for you? Your friend that brought Charlie in?” Abel asked, and she shook her head.
”Nobody to call. My friend works the night shift, and there”s just nobody to call. So I”m going to have to walk.”
She turned, and he stepped in front of her. ”Whoa, wait a second. How far do you live?”
”Not far. I”m just a few minutes away. It”s no big deal. I”ve done it before.”
He frowned. ”Yeah, I”m not about to let you walk alone. In fact,” He reached for Charlie, and she shrank back from him.
”Oh, not on your life.”
He sighed. ”Holding a forty-pound kid is going to kill your back. Come on. I”ll carry him.”
Her eyes seemed to bounce over his face in mild confusion, and she could not respond. Abel sighed. ”I”m not going to hurt him. Or you. Come on. It”s cold out here.”
Camilla looked him over in another moment of hesitation before finally handing Charlie over to him. Abel draped him over one shoulder effortlessly, then asked, ”Which way?”
”This way.” Camilla started walking, and Abel walked next to her, mentally noting that she lived in the opposite direction he did.
”You don”t have to do this,” she said as they walked.
”I know,” he responded.
”You know?” She didn”t say it like a question, exactly. More repeating after him.
”Mm-hmm.”
She glanced up at him with wonder. ”So, you”re just doing this out of the kindness of your heart?”
He looked down at her briefly. ”You say that like no one ever does anything just out of kindness.”
She did not say anything for a moment. Then she said, ”I didn”t expect it from you. No offense.”
”None taken. I guess it”s hard to believe an ex-con can be kind.”
She looked up at him, her face flushing a little, but did not respond.
”It”s okay,” he said. ”I get it. You don”t know anything about me. I could be a serial killer.”
She snorted a little laugh. ”You”d still be in jail if you were a serial killer.”
”Touché.”
They walked in silence for a moment. Then Camilla said, ”I like to believe that there is something good in everyone. Even Ex-cons.”
He frowned a little, trying to wrap his head around the statement. ”So, if I”d just walked in and asked for a job without the benefit of my brother, would you have given it to me?”
”I”d like to think I would.” She paused, looking at him with shame behind her blue eyes. ”I am not perfect, though. I can be just as judgmental as anyone else.”
”You don”t say,” he said with a smirk. Camilla gave him a sore look, then looked away and smiled.
”Okay, I”ve been a little hard on you. Do you blame me? You did not have any experience entering through the door.”
”I have been in jail for ten years,” he said. ”Not a lot of pizza-making opportunities.”
”Still. I had to be sure you did the job right. It”s important to me that it’s done right. Regardless of where you came from or who you are.”
Abel nodded, taking in what she was saying. Despite her micromanaging tendencies, he realized it was not an unfair expectation.
”The restaurant is important to you,” he said.
”Very,” she responded. ”My father built the restaurant up from nothing. So, I have to make sure everything is right.”
”I get that,” he admitted. He looked over at Camilla. She was staring ahead, a light line of creases on her forehead. ”I”m sure your dad”s proud of you.”
She looked at him sharply as if she wanted to say something about it. Then she looked away, thinking better of it. ”Thank you for saying that.”
Another lull between them, then she said, ”Your brother”s a good man,” she said, ”to stand up for you after you got out. But, unfortunately, there are a lot of families that do not do that.”
”So, I”m told.” Abel didn”t need her to tell him that. He knew from the guys he shared cells with that many people do not have a family to support them. ”How do you know him, anyway?”
”We”ve known each other for a while,” she said. ”We go to the same church. He comes in for pizza now and again. We supposedly went to the same high school, but I do not remember him.”
He frowned thoughtfully. That must be how Camilla was familiar to him. He and Rafael were only a few years apart. Maybe she and Abel had the same classes? Mulholland High School was a big school, with classes of at least thirty or so kids each. It was easy to get lost in the crowd.
”You went to Mulholland?” he asked. ”We must not have run in the same crowds. I do not remember you either.”
”To be fair, I wasn”t there long,” she said. ”When I was fourteen, my father shipped me off to live with my mother for a while. I didn”t come back for a long time….”
She trailed off like there was more to the story. Abel was curious, but something inside him told him not to push it, so he did not.
”So, what”s the tattoo about?” she asked, changing the subject. Abel raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her for a moment. Then he remembered he”d had his shirt off earlier that day.
”Oh, you mean Woodstock?” he asked, and she nodded. ”Got it when I was a kid. Me and Rafael. He”s got a Snoopy Tattoo.”
She giggled, and Abel thought the sound was strange and pleasant, like silver bells ringing from out of nowhere. ”That”s sweet. You and your brother must have been close.”
”Yeah,” he said and noticed the flecks of sadness in his voice. ”We”re pretty close. We had to be. He practically raised me after our mom died.”
She glanced up at him, blue eyes turned down at the corners mournfully. ”I”m sorry for your loss.”
”It was years ago,” he said, then like a second thought. ”Thanks, though. I always wondered how different our lives would have been if our mother was still around when things happened, you know? Me and Raf would probably have a completely different life.”
He glanced down and noticed her looking away, a memory passing over her eyes. ”I understand that” she said. ”Did she die when you were young?”
”Yeah,” he said. ”Maybe a little younger than Charlie. We lived with my grandmother until she passed, and by then, Raf was old enough to take care of me on his own.”
He glanced over and saw her looking at Charlie on his shoulder. She reached up and rubbed his back gently. He stirred a little but stayed asleep. ”Charlie”s father passed a few years back,” she said softly. ”Cancer. I sometimes wonder if I”m enough for him. Like, he”s missing something.”
She looked so sad, her blue eyes like watery pools in the dim light around them. Abel gazed down at her, slowly realizing how painfully lovely she looked in the glow of the street lights above them. Abel was suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to hold her in his arms.
It was then he realized that they”d stopped walking. Instead, they were standing on the sidewalk, looking at one another. He felt his face flush as he looked away from Camilla. ”This your street?”
She looked up, and in the direction, he was facing. ”Yeah, this is it.”
They turned down a corner and walked down for about a block through a quiet neighborhood, passing darkened houses and trees with large branches that hung over the street. Abel thought it was a safe area and a lovely street filled with trick-or-treaters or holiday lights at certain times of the year. It looked like a nice place to raise children.
They stopped at a small ranch-style house. Respectfully, he stopped at the end of the walkway and leaned down to give the sleeping child to Camilla. He caught a whiff of her hair as she leaned into him and picked up a hint of something floral and sweet. His heart fluttered a little as she pulled away from him.
”Thank you for walking me home,” she said, holding Charlie as he slept against her shoulder. She looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling like jewels.
He cleared his throat and looked away. ”Have a good night,” he said. He turned away, walking back the way he came and trying to ignore the look on her face as he was leaving.
***
That evening when Abel got home, he entered a darkened living room bathed in the flickering light of the television. In the shadows, he could see his brother sleeping on the couch, the light from the television illuminating him and making his skin look a sickly pale color. Abel paused and glanced at his phone. It was a little late. Had he been waiting up for him?
He walked over and nudged him on the shoulder. ”Hey, Raf. Come on. Get up, man.”
Raf stirred, then his face scrunched a little as his eyes opened slowly. He looked around groggily and, upon seeing Abel standing over him, sat up slowly, yawning and stretching.
”Oh, shoot,” he said while yawning. He rubbed his eyes for a moment. When he finally looked back at him, he had a distinct, annoyed look. ”What are you doing home so late?”
”Boss” car stalled,” said Abel. ”Had to walk her home.”
Raf did not say anything for a moment, which made Abel think he was still half asleep. Then, finally, Raf grunted in acknowledgment, ”Yeah, well, call me next time you”re going to be home late, all right? I”m responsible for you now.”
Abel smirked at him. ”Yeah, sure. If I decide to rob a liquor store on the way home—”
”Hey, hey. Do not joke about that, man. If something jumps off and you”re not home, they might pull you in just for being nearby.”
Abel”s clever smirk dropped. Rafael seemed a little more testy than usual. ”Okay, okay. I”ll call next time.”
Rafael nodded, then looked him over carefully. ”So, that”s where you were, huh? Walking the boss home?”
”What? You don”t believe me?” Rafael just shrugged. Abel scoffed. ”Well, that”s where I was. It was a good thing, too. She had her kid with her today.”
”Oh,” said Rafael.
Abel stood there momentarily, thinking of Camilla and how lovely she looked under the streetlights. Their conversation was so natural like they”d known each other the whole time. Maybe they did, he thought. But, on the other hand, it struck him as odd that she”d gone to school with them, and he never ran into her even once. Not even around the neighborhood.
”You know she went to Mulholland?” he asked Rafael, sitting on the couch next to him.
”Yeah,” he said. ”I mean, I guess. But, of course, we weren”t in the same grade, so I never saw Camilla, but she told me she was there for a second before her dad took her out.”
”Her family lives around here?”
He paused, looking at Abel with a slight scowl. ”I don”t know. Probably. Why do you want to know so bad?”
Abel shrugged, and a smile started to appear across his face involuntarily. He was smiling like a goofball now at the thought of her. Then, finally, Abel put his head down and got up. ”No reason,” he said. ”I”m going to head to bed.”
Rafael”s scowl deepened, the wrinkles in his forehead got dark, and lines started to form around his mouth. ”Hold up,” he said. ”What”s with the twenty questions?”
Abel just sighed, the smile still there on his face. His face was starting to get warm now. ”Nothing, I was just curious,” he said. ”I mean, we got to talking, and she mentioned that she went to Mulholland and, I don”t know. I was curious about it.”
Rafael”s eyes moved over Abel”s face, and he felt like he was under a microscope all of a sudden. ”Not her, man.”
”What?”
”I see you cheesing. I know what you are thinking and not Camilla. She”s not the one for you.”
Abel”s smile faded, and he just regarded Rafael with mild confusion. Rafael”s heightened irritation showed as he started to rock back and forth on the couch. ”I didn”t say anything about being into her or anything. I was asking—”
”Are you into her?”
He was. Of course, he was, and being confronted with the question so bluntly made him want to deny everything. He could not lie to Rafael, though. Rafael always had a way of sniffing out a lie when it came to him. ”Maybe,” he confessed sheepishly. ”So, what if I am?”
”She”s damaged goods, man,” said Rafael. ”I mean, what, with her husband dying—”
”He died years ago, man—”
”That”s even worse! I mean, think about it. A woman”s husband died years ago, and she still hasn”t moved on with somebody else?” He shook his head. ”Nah, man. That”s a red flag. There”s something wrong with her. You just haven”t seen it yet.”
Abel scowled at him at first but stopped and thought about it. She was controlling at work and nitpicky. There could be something to what he was saying.
”Trust me on this, okay? A guy like you does not want to get mixed up with a woman that”s got a lot of baggage like that. Especially with you just getting out and everything. You”re going to end up catching a case for real around a girl like that.”
Abel snorted. Now he sounded crazy. Camilla might have a slight control issue, but she was not some raving psycho. He waved him off. ”Man, whatever. I”m going to bed.”
He walked away from him and the absurd conversation. Rafael could be overprotective sometimes. The years had changed him. It made him more attentive to what might be suitable for Abel. It was considerate in a way, but honestly, Abel hoped he backed off with that nonsense. He could not have his big brother looking over his shoulder with every woman he brought home.
Abel went to bed and brushed the whole thing off. Rafael was only trying to protect him. That is all he was ever trying to do. Abel could not be mad if Rafael wanted to look out for him. He was wrong about Camilla, though. Now that Abel had seen a softer side of Camilla, he longed to see more. With a bit of luck, he might.