Chapter 6: Bea’s Story

Beatriz Soares had been married for 17 years when she discovered her husband, Felipe, had been supporting another woman in addition to her and their children Fernanda, 15, and their twin boys Diego and Danilo, 9.

Because of two reasons, Felipe could provide for five children and two mothers. First, Felipe was a lawyer and took home plenty of income. Second, he was secretive about his money and kept exclusive control of their finances, bill-paying, and so on. He even forged her signature on their tax returns so she had no idea of his actual income.

At home, he was distant from Bea’s family. Many nights he was completely absent, blaming his workload for keeping him away. In his office, he kept an armoire with suits, shirts, and a sofa bed to support his story. He was actually spending the night at his girlfriend’s place.

Eventually, though, he was careless; Bea found out. Felipe was fearless in the courtroom but quailed in the face of his wife’s anger. Not only was she holding a meat cleaver, but she also threatened to call Felipe’s parents.

Felipe couldn’t decide which would be less painful: mayhem or his mother. And he knew Bea would prevail in a contested divorce because their state had repealed the “no-fault” divorce law and his girlfriend would be dragged into the lawsuit with him.

So Felipe settled privately on generous terms with Bea. He paid off the mortgage on Bea’s house and signed a quitclaim to make the property entirely hers. In lieu of medical insurance and educational obligations, he set up irrevocable college funds for the children and paid Bea generous monthly support for as long as the kids were her dependents.

Thereafter, he went from intermittent fathering to complete absence. Bea had promised herself to cooperate with his visitation despite her anger, but it never came up. To the detriment of his children, he simply disappeared from their lives. They didn’t even get birthday cards or Christmas presents.

Then Bea had her heart attack. They brought her to the hospital quickly and installed a stent in her right coronary artery by snaking a catheter up through her arm. Fortunately, the heart muscle wasn’t too badly damaged, but it was a week before she could return home and nearly a month before she felt able to take on full responsibility for the three children.

“Val, I need to ask you a question.”

It was the tenth night Fernanda had spent crowded into the “Girls’ Bedroom” with Nia and Val. Supposedly, Nia was asleep.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been thinking about Ted for a long time. I want to ... I want to be his girlfriend.”

“Nan, this is the part where I’m supposed to slap your face and scream, ‘Snap out of it!’ You can’t be serious.”

“Val, I’m serious. You can’t say he isn’t good-looking. I’ve seen him staring at me, but he’s always polite. I appreciate that about him, compared to the assholes at school.”

“You’re giving him too much credit; you must know that Leah and I would kick him into next week if he was being creepy.”

“So would I,” interjected Nia.

“Nia! Shit, you’re supposed to be asleep.”

“What, and miss all the good gossip? I might be little, but I think Ted’s great. And besides, Nan, you know it’s more than his looks. It’s his looks at you, and his looks as in being handsome. I mean, Carl doesn’t look great with all those pimples, but you can see the love between him and Cindy.”

Val was not happy.

“We don’t need to hear relationship advice from a 9-year-old virgin.”

“Val, fuck you very much. Since last month you’re more of a virgin than I am because of a scalpel. And Nan is being nice by talking to you first before vacuuming up Ted. I’m calling dibs, though. At their wedding, you can be the Best Woman and I’ll be the Maid of Honor.”

“Whoa! I just want to have lunch with him or go to the movies or something. I’m not making Val a sister-in-law before we even turn 18.”

“Oh, shit. Now that’s in my head, I’ll toss and turn all night. Nan, listen. Nia and I are not our brother’s keepers. If you want to date Ted, you go right ahead. Good NIGHT, Nan and Nia.”

At breakfast the next morning, Ted and Nan were exchanging looks. When their eyes met, they turned away quickly. Leah was perceiving all of it and tried to keep a calm exterior in spite of how funny they were being.

Val had a “cat who ate the canary” look on her face, while Nia was just grinning.

Drew said, “I have to go to work, but Leah has some things to say before you all leave for school. See you tonight.”

“Ted, you’re about as subtle as a hand grenade. Nan, you suck at flirting. So, when are you going to come clean? Next week? Next year? C’mon, Ted, what would you like to say to our guest?

Ted hemmed and hawed. Then, hesitantly, “Fernanda, would you please go to the movies with me?”

“I’ll give you three answers, Ted. First, don’t use the ‘F’ word; call me Nan. Second, I get to pick the film. Third, YES!”

Leah pulled out her wallet and gave Ted two bills, a twenty and a five. “Here, it’s my treat.”

Val was indignant.

“Hey, what if I want to go to the movies with Abel?”

“In order for that to happen, Val, Abel has to ask you. If he does, I’ll cover you as well.”

Drew came home grimy and obviously exhausted. Leah judged that the next step for him was a hot shower; she led him directly to the master bedroom. When he was fully naked, she sent him on to their bathroom with a mild spank on the butt.

“I’ll be right there.”

He fiddled with the valve and got the water just the right temperature and stepped in, with Leah following. As usual, she didn’t bother with a sponge or a cloth; she coated her hands with sudsy body wash and rubbed him down from neck to ankles. The area between his waist and his thighs received extra attention, of course.

“Alright, stud, I’m going to wash your hair.”

Drew got down on his knees so Leah could reach him. With her own hair covered by a shower cap, the usual “lather-rinse-repeat” cycle was quickly completed. When the froth cleared and he could safely reopen his eyes, she helped him back up to his feet.

“I can’t leave you like this; just spread your feet a little so you stay balanced.”

He had remained hard. The feeling of her hands on his scalp was sensual to him, and he had gone from merely erect to titanium hardness. Leah started by licking up and down the shaft like a candy cane, then took his head into her mouth while pumping the shaft with her hand.

The result was inevitable, and he pumped six spurts into her receptive mouth. Once he felt steady again, he helped his sister back to her feet. She tilted her face up and let the water fill her mouth and then spat to clear it, and then repeated it.

“Lather-rinse-repeat. Tee-hee,” she thought.

“Let’s dry each other off, then come to the kitchen with me. I want to hear what happened today.”

“They had me doing new construction. There are a whole lot of rules in the code I need to remember and follow. How many outlets are required for a given length of wall? How many inches off the floor to place the outlets? How many outlets maximum per circuit are permitted? GFCIs, or Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters, are required for outlets in wet areas like kitchens and bathrooms. That’s just a few of the rules I have to know, plus dozens of others. And knowing the rules means nothing if I can’t actually complete the physical work.

“The best part is that today my work passed inspection when it was reviewed by the head electrician, even though I was working extremely fast. That means they will be trusting me with more and more advanced work, and my apprenticeship will end sooner than later. I’ll get better pay when I’m no longer down in the lowest classification.”

“That’s great news, Andrew. Please tell me when that upgrade happens, so I can give you a celebratory blow job!”

A day later, Abel and Val were resting in their piney retreat.

“You’re still calling me your girlfriend, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“So, we need to do something besides wearing out our shoes together.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“You know, going to places and doing other things as a couple. We need something beyond you leering at my ass while you run behind me. Fernanda and Ted are going to the movies tonight. We could go with them. I thought it would be better to wait and see. But you seem to need some prompting.

“I’m waiting, Abel.” A pause. “Good grief! I’m still waiting.” Another pause. “(Sigh.) I guess this isn’t working out. It was such a simple thing. Once again, I’m leaving you here.”

“No. Don’t go,” croaked Abel.

“Will you tell me what’s going on? Why can’t we go to the movies? You don’t want to be out in public with me? Am I that embarrassing to you?”

“No, none of that. It’s my mother.”

“Your mother? Carolina doesn’t like me?”

“No, the opposite; Mom likes you. Fernanda is living with you for the same reason. It’s because her mother, Beatriz Soares, is sick, so her boys are staying in my house. Diego and Danilo are too young to stay by themselves, so I have to stay inside and watch them until Mom comes home from work at 11:00.”

“That makes sense. So, tell me why was that so hard for you to explain?”

“It’s just that, well, I don’t want to be seen as a babysitter instead of a boyfriend. I feel stupid. Also, I can’t take you out on dates because I don’t have a driver’s license. You should have an older boyfriend who can take you out for a good time. Not a skinny guy like me.”

“I swear, Abel, sometimes you just wear me out. Things whirl around inside that head of yours like a blender and then pour out of your mouth unfiltered. Did anything I said in the last ten minutes indicate that I wanted some other guy to go out with? Anything?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Yeah, now you’re catching on. There’s a small bulb over your head, glowing very dimly. Now, switch your brain off from ‘purée’ and ask me.”

“Ask you what?”

Woefully, tiredly, “Please, Abel. Just try. You can do it.”

Brightly, “Oh, yeah! Wanna go to a movie, Val?”

“Praise the Lord! It’s a miracle! Yes, foolish boy, I will go to the movies with you. Leah will help organize things; we’ll go with Nan and Ted. Nan and I will pick the movie, though. No topless women.”

“Why would I want to look at topless movie women instead of you?”

“That is the stupidest, sweetest, and smoothiest thing to come out of your blender yet. Mnph!”

She crawled onto him and planted a fierce and sloppy kiss on Abel’s surprised face.

“Why did you say blender, Val?”

“The way you express yourself sometimes, it’s like your words go through being chopped and swirled between your brain and your mouth. Today, it was charming.”

An evening when Carolina was off work was chosen.

Conveniently, the nearby shopping mall included a multiple-screen movie theater and a nice Italian-themed restaurant. Leah dropped the four of them there at 5:00: Nan and Ted, and Val and Abel, collectively known as the “middles.”

“I’ll be back at 8:30 to pick you guys up at that bus shelter over there. That will give you time to visit the jewelry stores and check out their rings. Then we can go downtown for some bar-hopping. Got it?”

“I’ll be sure and tell Carolina what you proposed, Leah,” snarked Val.

“So? They are Carolina’s suggestions. She’s a party girl, isn’t that right, Abel?”

Abel was too busy coughing to answer.

Without question, this brilliant night at the movies was a high point for all four.

“I looked it up, Abel; this little open spot in the pines is called a ‘glade.’ I love how quiet and private it is.”

“You’re glad to be here? In the glade?”

“You had to go there,” Val groaned, shaking her head.

“I’ve been thinking,” Abel began.

“Uh-oh, from bad to worse,” snarked Val.

“After I’m done with watching Diego and Danilo, I’ll be old enough to get my driver’s license. I was thinking we could enter the Tri-State Competition together.”

“But that’s like a three-hour drive from here, Abel. We would have to stay overnight...”

“Exactly!”

Fernanda and Ted were just starting out, unlike Val and Abel, but they were finding quiet corners for kissing. To his credit, Ted was respecting Nan’s distraction over the condition of her sick mother.

“Right now, Nan, I’m here to support you. When your mother is better, things will be different.”

She reacted to his warm smile.

“I hope so. I don’t feel like I can relax right now. I appreciate your patience.”

As it happened, Nan would not feel normal for a long time.

The discharge paperwork for Beatriz Soares ran for several pages. Doctors prescribed anti-clotting blood thinners and advised to limit her physical activities.

She returned home at noon, made herself a sandwich, and was checking that the bedrooms would be ready for her three children to come home after school.

“There’s enough laundry. I’ll start a load.”

Carrying the laundry basket at her waist, Bea walked down the hall towards the laundry room.

She didn’t make it.

A blob of arterial plaque broke loose from her carotid artery. The result? A stroke. She fell face-first into the pile of laundry and never moved again.

Fortunately, Carolina found Bea’s body instead of any of her three children. She needed to act fast since Nan already knew her mother was being discharged. Her first call was to Leah.

“You need to sit down, I’m serious. My friend—oh, my friend Bea—is dead. I need to track down their father, the lawyer, and figure things out. Leah, I need you to keep hosting Nan, and I’ll keep hosting Diego and Danilo.

“Oh, wait, that won’t work. I need to deal with the police, the coroner, and then the kids’ father. Leah, you should pick up and keep the boys, and I’ll come get them after dinner. For now, we won’t say anything to any of them, OK?”

“Got it.”

“Later. Thanks.”

After ending the call, Carolina talked to herself.

“I should call the cops, but Bea’s ex is a lawyer, I want his advice first. Then I will call 9-1-1; her body is ice cold.