Through the Looking Glass
Wyn
Somehow, I was deeper into Rico’s world than I ever thought I would be, and he was nowhere to be found.
There was The Hive, the brothel, where Pooh had his girls entertaining gentlemen (and ladies).
But then, there was the Hundred Acre Wood. A separate wing of the massive house, a complete four bedroom apartment deep in the back, where he and Pilar slept. Where I was banished to.
Pilar wasn’t as young as I thought she was, but she looked damn good.
And was also incredibly bored, since she did not entertain anyone but Pooh, as far as I could tell.
Her least scandalous outfits were satin pajamas with the tags still on, that I drowned in, since even though I was taller, she was way more voluptuous.
Every morning she had breakfast for me, up hours earlier than me so she could work out to keep that impossible shape of hers. The first few days she helped me dress my wounds, and did my nails and toes, while she told me her life story.
She had stories for days. Enough to fill the days with me forgetting about the world around us. Pooh must have known this, a smart move on his part. Because for her to be in her early thirties, she’d lived just as many different lives before meeting Pooh and shacking up with him.
“Have you met his sons?” I asked the night of Christmas Eve.
We were wrapping presents for his honeybees, his girls.
Christmas was their day off, and they spent the day opening presents, visiting family, and even having a party that, from the types of gifts I was wrapping with her, turned a little x-rated.
Pilar smiled as she concentrated on folding the wrapping paper just so. “No. They haven’t come around for a long time. There’s a lot of history there with their mother, which I understand.”
“Would you wanna meet them? Aren’t you guys serious?”
Pilar ripped a piece of tape and finished the present, before putting it in a half-filled wagon and grabbing the next sex toy to wrap. Thankfully, she had me wrapping the regular presents, like scarves and True Religion jeans.
“You’re young. Idealistic. You probably think you’re supposed to fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after, but real life isn’t like that, Wynter.”
Her smile disappeared as she kept her eyes on her work.
“I love Pooh, but he’s not the first man I’ll love. He won’t be the last. I just try to enjoy the time we have now. That helps me not be so disappointed if and when it comes to an end.”
“Not gonna lie, Pilar. That sounds pretty sad,” I sighed, finishing my present. It wasn’t wrapped as nicely as hers, but she didn’t say anything.
She finished her last present and placed it in the wagon. “I didn’t say it wasn’t sad, Wynter Snow. That’s just how I think about things. How about this; I know you’ve met them. You tell me how they are.”
I leaned back on my palms. The fire was going, and it warmed us, since it got entirely too cold out here in the middle of nowhere.
“Well, for one, they look just like their dad. It’s scary. Rico’s oldest, but Fredo’s the one who would probably warm up to you first. He’s more talkative than Rico, more social. Playful, too. Rico…”
I fought not to curl my lip. Pilar didn’t need to know her boyfriend’s son was lying, cheating, dirty dick scum. So I thought about what I would have said before we broke up.
And then, to my horror, a smile was fighting to spread my lips instead.
“Rico is like, a nice surprise. Once you pass the test. Once Fredo vouches for you, Rico’s personality begins to shine. He’s tough, and I don’t wanna say it’s an act, because it’s not. No, he, more so than Fredo, can be absolutely ruthless in the streets. But that’s only one side of him.
Rico is so much more than that. If you’re lucky enough to be a part of his circle, you’ll never want for anything. I guess I see where he gets it from. He’s like… feeling the sun on your face after a long time indoors. Or when you figure out the sample of a song you really like,
and then you fall in love with the original song, too.”
When I met Pilar’s gaze, her big false gray irises were shining in the firelight. Embarrassment threatened to take me under, until she placed a hand on my knee.
“He sounds like a stand up guy.”
“Yeah, well,” I sighed. “That was before he showed me another side of him. But I won’t talk bad about him to you.”
“Boys suck,” she snickered, patting my thigh before standing. “The more you let them in, the more inevitable the heartbreak will be. Don’t let it change you, though, no more than it already has. You’re a sweet girl, Wynter Snow.”
She helped me up, and then grabbed the handle of the wagon. There were already gifts under the tree situated in the corner of the room, wrapped and ready that morning when I woke up. Pooh and Pilar would be with the honeybees downstairs tomorrow, while I decided on a movie marathon.
But my mind changed as Pilar grinned and winked at me as she left to put the presents downstairs.
I wasn’t missing anything back at home. The last few Christmases had been spent next door, in a crowded house, me and my sister surrounded by people that weren’t related to us. Rico and I exchanged gifts last Christmas, the day after. There were no traditions for the Shaws.
No holiday cheer.
I walked into the kitchen and took stock of everything in the cabinets, fridge, and freezer. Surprisingly, I had everything I needed. I took it as a sign, and went to sleep with a smile on my face.
The next morning, I woke up to an empty apartment and got to work.
A good roux took hours. Hours I had. Putting on the holiday marathon I was going to watch anyway, I set about making a huge pot of gumbo.
My thank you for them letting me stay here, I guess.
I rarely saw Pooh, but I knew everything happened on his say so. And at the end of the day, he could have washed his hands of me a week ago, but he didn’t. Even let Pilar spend all day, every day with me.
“Damn. It smell too good in here.”
I squealed, slamming the spoon on the counter and turning around.
Pooh kept walking until he was leaning over the pot. He maneuvered the spoon from under my hand and rinsed it in the sink before taking some out of the pot to taste.
“Mmm! And tastes good, too. My son knows you throw down like this?”
My eyes stretched to their capacity as I slid over even more. “Umm–”
“I was coming to see if you wanted to eat downstairs, but me and Pilar coming up here instead. I’on want no ham, I want this. The rice done?”
My voice completely gone, I just nodded.
Pooh didn’t notice. He was too busy taking another spoonful. “I’ma assume the silence is no. We’ll be up in thirty minutes. Damn. I ain’t had gumbo like this in… damn, a long time.”
He set the spoon down and left as quietly as he came.
Only when the door closed did my voice come back. I always thought Dad’s gumbo was the best gumbo, but maybe I wasn’t as subjective as I thought, the way Pooh was acting.
An hour later, he and Pilar were on their third bowl in the dining room. I sat opposite Pilar, enjoying my second bowl.
“Christmas gumbo. We have to make this a tradition, baby,” Pilar said, spooning more crabmeat.
“Definitely. This some good shit, Wynter,” he chuckled. Pilar’s phone began to buzz, and she excused herself, leaving me alone with Pooh in the dining room.
I cleared my throat, trying to muster as much courage as I could. Pilar was nice and all, but I was sure my parents put out a missing person’s report days ago.
“When can I go home?” I pushed out, just as Pooh put down his empty bowl.
God, he and his sons were so alike. He peered at me, face blank like he wasn’t trying to decide how much information he could trust me with.
And I saw the moment he decided to lie.
“Please,” I blurted, a lump in my gut forming by the second.
“Your son has lied to me enough for a lifetime. It’s been a week. I know my parents are looking for me. School starts back right after the New Year. Clearly, the Birch Babies are into more than selling drugs on the corner. I don’t care about that. I just wanna go home.”
I wrapped my arms around my middle and looked toward the ceiling to keep the tears at bay. If I could, I would go back in time and stop myself from ever going to the party. From ever opening my window for Rico that first time.
“Your sister filed a police report, claiming you were both kidnapped, and you’re still missing. I told my contact at the department you were safe, but since it’s part of what’s been happening at the Birch, it’s safer to wait until that investigation is closed before you pop back up.
What’s perplexing to me, however, is that your parents haven’t filed a missing person’s report, nor did they corroborate your sister’s claims.”
“What?” my eyes rounded. I’d been gone for over a week, no trace. Surely even Dad got his head out of his ass long enough to notice.
Clearly, it wasn’t the right thing to do to make noise. But sheesh… no one cared?
About either of us?
I hugged myself tighter as warring feelings too big for my body began to expand. My brain prickled. Fingernails dug into my biceps.
“Y’all good over there? They not hurting you, right?”
I jerked my head no, meeting his almost sympathetic gaze. “They’d have to care to hurt me, right? No, we’re good. So when does the other investigation close?”
“They finishing up the coroner’s report on Kilo after the holiday, but I heard it’s an open and shut case. Just waiting on paper work and shit. My boys rolled through the Birch like a hurricane, bodies on top of bodies. Once that’s done, my nephew will take you home.
But I need you to do something for me, cari?a.”
I swallowed around the fear that bloomed. “W-what?”
“You can’t tell anyone where you’ve been. Not your parents or your sister. Not even my sons. Definitely not the police, if it comes down to it. Will you keep this secret for me?”
He rested his head on his fists as he leaned onto the table.
Confused, I said, “But doesn’t Tyree know?”