Chapter 5 #2
She shook her head and added, “Seeing it play out all over again here just makes me so angry. The only reason I can deal with it is because, if I’m not here dealing with it, there will just be somebody else.
I can’t guarantee that another person will treat Ricky as well as I do—or as well as I hope I do. ”
“I get that.”
She chuckled. “Sure you do, and I cannot replace his parents because that’s just not how life works,” she pointed out.
“While I’m not trying to replace them, I am trying to be the best substitute I can, and that is a day-to-day challenge.
Some days it works great, and then there are other days,” she muttered, “where he deserves a much better deal in life than what he’s been given.
Yet it’s a foolproof way to point out that money does not bring happiness.
It’s not the be-all and end-all of answers, even though people would like you to believe it,” she stated.
“I can see just how much it hurts him sometimes, and it just breaks my heart every time they have that simple little conversation, then turn it all off again, as if a quick Hey, how you doing? Glad to hear that conversation is a substitute for real parenting.”
“How long are the conversations?”
She stared at him and sighed. “Literally ten minutes.” He raised both eyebrows, and she nodded.
“Ten minutes out of their life, their crazy-busy life, to talk with him, and that’s it,” she confirmed, not even trying to curb her bitterness.
“So, when you talk about giving them a beating, I would kind of like to be there and get in a few punches myself.”
*
Trent led the way to the lawyer’s office, asking the two of them if they’d ever been there before.
“No,” Naomi replied, “only over the phone and via emails and texts and such.” She laughed and added, “That’s kind of like our world, isn’t it, Ricky?”
He nodded and asked, “Why are we even here now?” Nervousness filled his tone.
She looked at him in surprise and asked, “It’s not a problem if we’re here, is it?”
“No, I don’t think so,” he muttered, frowning, “but it’s different, right? And now we don’t like different, do we? No, no,” he answered his own question. “We don’t like different.”
“We won’t be here long, but I need the money to get us new phones,” she shared. “Remember, our phones and charge cards were taken by those men.”
He stared at her and then slowly nodded. “I forgot.”
“That’s okay,” she told him. “That’s my issue to deal with anyway. Actually I would rather block out a lot of it myself. However, now that we’re back, we need our world back too, and part of that world is a phone, and then we can call your parents.”
He brightened at that. “But if you don’t have the phone number, you can’t call them.”
She laughed and shared, “I wrote down all the numbers.”
Trent stared at her in delight and seemed surprised. “Did you?”
“Yeah, of course,” she said. “It’s one of the first things I do.
I keep a handwritten address book because what if the phone doesn’t get paid one day?
What if a phone gets lost or breaks down?
Just so many things can go wrong, and I didn’t want to take that chance, so I—” Then she stopped, turned to Trent. “Oh, snap.”
He smiled and nodded. “We’ll put it down to you being tired.”
“How about tired, disoriented, and I don’t know what else?” She sighed. “I could have given you that address book info already. And we could have tried calling them on your phone.”
He continued to smile at her. “Let’s get you two new phones, and then we’ll move on to the next thing.”
“Right,” she whispered, as they approached the lawyer’s office and stepped inside.
The receptionist looked up and frowned at them.
Ricky immediately frowned back at her, and her face crinkled up into an Oh, it’s a kid expression.
Then her gaze landed on Naomi, still frowning, only to brighten when she caught sight of Trent.
She almost preened as she eyed him and asked, “May I help you, sir?”
He gave her a flat stare and refused to reply. Naomi smiled right at her and announced, “Mr. Bugatti is expecting us.”
She quickly rifled through her notes and asked, “Naomi?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Naomi confirmed.
The receptionist stared at the three of them. “Only one of you has the appointment, so only you can go in.”
“All three of us will be going in,” Trent declared.
“You should probably leave him out here,” the receptionist suggested, looking at Ricky. “It’s really not an office for a child.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Trent stated. “All three of us will be going in together.”
And, with that, not giving the others a chance to weasel out, he nudged them forward into the lawyer’s office. As they stepped inside, the attorney was on the phone.
He was younger than she expected and didn’t give her a good vibe. She muttered to Trent under her breath, “He’s kind of … weaselly.”
He smiled at her and nodded.
Mr. Bugatti frowned at them, then promptly ended his call. “I wasn’t expecting you just yet.”
“Why not?” Trent asked. “It’s time for the appointment.”
“My secretary usually lets people in.”
“We can find your office on our own,” Trent replied, without missing a beat. “This is, of course, Ricky and Naomi, and we are looking for money for the replacement phones.”
“I’m not sure she should be asking for new phones, considering she’s the one who lost them,” he stated in an arrogant tone.
She stared at him and replied, “Shall we discuss how the phones were lost?”
Mr. Bugatti frowned at her and then at Trent. “And who are you?” Trent pulled out a card and handed it over. Immediately Bugatti’s face paled. “My apologies. I didn’t realize.” He glanced at Naomi and asked, “How much money do you need?” Then he pulled out a checkbook.
“I don’t want it in a check. I would prefer an e-transfer, please.”
He nodded, pulled his monitor toward him, and repeated, “So, how much do you need?”
“What’s the cost of a new phone?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “I just bought a new one.” He looked over at it and added, “Not that you must have that level, but you do need a good solid phone,” he conceded, frowning.
“We need two because Ricky’s was also taken.”
He looked over at Ricky and asked, “You have a phone?”
“I had a phone,” Ricky clarified, “and I would like the same kind again.” He shared his model number and brand. “And she had two steps up from mine, and, of course, they’re old now. Both phones were very old.”
Trent glanced at the boy, trying hard not to smirk. An almost flinty arrogance filled Ricky’s tone now that he understood an underling was in front of him, one who seemed to want to give them a bit of trouble.
Trent schooled his expression and faced the lawyer to add, “So we probably need $2,500. Also Ricky needs clothes replaced as well as his backpack, and Naomi’s clothes were … Let’s just say they were removed as well.”
“Removed?” Bugatti repeated, clearly confused.
“Suffice it to say, they are not worth anything now,” Trent replied. “So, unless there is insurance coverage—”
“Did you buy insurance?” the lawyer asked Naomi, as if it were an elemental question.
She snorted. “We were going to the family’s sailboat, … so it’s not like those losses were to be expected nor was I instructed to get any insurance.”
“Of course you didn’t,” he muttered, still with that snotty arrogance in his tone. “I will put $5,000 in your account. Go replace the things that you need, and, if you need more, let me know,” he declared, “but you can certainly do that via text.”
“Once I get a phone,” she pointed out, “I will.”
He flushed at that because, of course, she couldn’t contact him via text if she didn’t have her phone replaced. He nodded somewhat agreeably.
Trent then stated, “I need any information you have about how to contact the family.”
“I’ve already contacted them,” he stated, “but I haven’t heard back.”
“And what number did you contact them at?” Bugatti’s gaze narrowed, and Trent just waited.
The attorney finally spoke. “The number Ricky has for contacting them is the same number that I have as well.”
“Could you please confirm that number?” Naomi requested, her tone flat.