Ice Heart Ch. 04

"Whoa, who's THAT?" Christopher Michael gasped as Sophia got out of the passenger side of the car.

"That's Sophia, I think, that's right, right?" Cris said. "Boy, come here and meet your sister Nicole."

"Hi, Sophia," Christopher Michael said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Christopher Michael Dumas."

The girl stared at him, then looked over at Nicole.

"Name Christopher Michael," Nicole signed. Shake hand."

Sophia looked back and shook Christopher Michael's hand then tried to release his hand. Christopher Michael refused to let it go, though.

"Come on inside, come see my room, I got all kinds of great stuff, you need to see my room," he said enthusiastically and tried to pull her toward the door of the garage that led into the house.

"Na'ole!" Sophia cried out in alarm, crying out for Nicole.

"Son," Cris said gently to his son. "She can't hear you; she's deaf. You're running your mouth a mile a minute and she doesn't understand any of that."

"She's what?" Christopher Michael asked, confused.

"She's deaf," Nicole said. "She can't hear."

"What?" Christopher Michael asked. "Why not?"

"Her ears don't work," Cris offered.

"Then fix them, Daddy," Christopher Michael ordered.

He turned and faced Sophia, who had calmed down slightly. "My daddy can fix anything; you should see his motorcycles. He built them himself; he even lets me ride them, come on, I'll show you."

"I don't think he gets it," Nicole smiled reassuringly to Sophia.

"But where's Freddy and Johnny?" Cris asked.

"Fred's got them out on the basin, fishing," Nicole laughed as he herded them toward the door of the house. "Which means I'll have three sunburned men waiting for me when I get home?"

Alicia smiled as the four of them trooped into the house. Cynthia hid shyly behind her mother.

"Hi, Cris hope you don't mind, but I invited your daughter over for lunch," Alicia smiled. "I'm Alicia; we talked on the phone yesterday."

"Na'ole!" Sophia cried out as Christopher Michael tried to pull her toward the stairs.

"Son, no," Cris said firmly. "You want to play with your toys, you're going to have to bring them down here."

By the time Alicia was bringing the lasagna out of the oven, Christopher Michael was beginning to understand that Sophia did not hear him. Sophia was also beginning to understand that the enthusiastic, energetic kid was not a threat to her. They were playing checkers when Alicia announced it was time for lunch.

"And for dessert, we're having Orange sherbet; my dad makes the best orange sherbet in the world," Christopher Michael crowed as they took their seats in the dining room.

"Orange ice cream," Nicole signed and Sophia's eyes lit up.

"We're going to need more high chairs," Alicia laughed as she put three year old Cynthia in her high chair.

"What?" Nicole asked, puzzled. "Christopher Michael's fine right there, right?"

"I'm trying to give your father a subtle hint," Alicia smiled.

"Like leaving the box on the bathroom counter didn't do it?" Cris asked as he playfully swatted her backside.

They said 'Grace' then dug in with gusto.

Sophia looked up and noticed that Christopher Michael was staring at her. She made a goggle eyed face at him and he smiled and blew her a kiss across the table. She gasped and turned and looked at Nicole in exasperation.

"He bad," she signed to her sister.

"No, he like you," Nicole answered.

****

True to her prediction, Fred, Freddy, and Johnny were all sunburned and suffering from multiple insect bites when she and Sophia returned to the apartment they were renting.

"Sophia's got a boy friend," Nicole smiled as Fred finally finished telling her about their exciting, happy misadventure out in the Basin.

"Oh no she doesn't!" he said, extremely over-protective of his little girl.

"Simmer down, Daddy," Nicole said. "She's almost eight, bound to happen sooner or later."

"One more," Freddy begged as Sophia finished reading 'The Princess and the Frog' to him and Johnny.

Sophia didn't respond; she was busy studying the drawing of the handsome prince. He did not look anything like Christopher Michael.

"One more," Johnny signed, pounding on the slat of his bed to get her attention.

"Cinderella," Freddy demanded.

Sophia smiled. Cinderella had long blonde hair, just like herds.

****

"Mom," Christopher Michael said gravely. "I just want you to know, even though I love you, I'm in love with someone else."

"You mean Sophia?" she asked as she tucked him into his bed.

"Yes," he said seriously.

"But what about Patty?" Alicia asked him. "I thought you were in love with her?"

"Um, no, no, I mean, she's pretty and all, but Mom, you just don't understand. When Sophia got out of the car, all I could see was all these hearts floating all around her," Christopher Michael said dramatically.

She giggled about it when she recounted the conversation. Cris smiled and hugged her tightly.

"You're laughing, but I was there when she got out of the car; that boy was smitten and I do mean immediately," Cris said.

He looked up when he heard the knock at the door.

"What you want, boy?" he growled at Christopher Michael.

"We have to invite Sophia to my birthday; remember? It's in fifteen days," Christopher Michael said.

"I thought you were in bed," Alicia said sternly.

"I was, but then I thought, 'Oh my God, she thinks I'm a kid; she doesn't know I'm almost five,'" Christopher Michael said.

"Okay, I already told Nicole about it but I'll send an invitation out tomorrow," Alicia promised.

"That long?" Christopher Michael said, dismayed.

"Mail doesn't run at night, Christopher Michael," Cris said. "Now, come on, time for you to get to sleep.

"When you saw Mommy, did you see them too?" Christopher Michael asked his father.

"Them hearts? Yeah, and you know what?" Cris asked the boy as he pulled the blanket up to cover the small child.

"What?" Christopher Michael asked.

"I still do. All I see is all these hearts, just floating all around her," Cris admitted.

****

"Oh my God!" Nicole laughed. "I just realized; his birthday is next Saturday!"

"Whose is?" Fred asked, looking up from the computer screen.

And you know whose birthday is next Sunday, don't you?" Nicole went on as she looked at the invitation.

****

Christopher Michael was polite to the other guests that crowded into the pizza parlor on Johnson Street, most of them from his pre-kindergarten class at St. Richard's, but kept his eye on the front door.

"Woo hoo, there she is!" he crowed as Sophia, Nicole, Freddy, and Johnny came in; Fred bringing up the rear.

"She's learning how to read lips; it's kind of difficult for her, she's never heard words before," Nicole confided to Alicia as the two mothers stood and watched over their brood. "Fred's teaching her; he's the best teacher in the world, but he's finding it hard to find work."

"I was real glad to graduate in just three years," Fred told Cris and the one other dad that had been dragged to the party. "I mean, I figured I'd get a head-start on looking for a job and Nicole wanted to come home, you know, where people didn't butcher our last name."

"And?" Cris asked and smiled as Christopher Michael stood aside to let Sophia play the video game first.

"Not as easy as I thought it would be," Fred admitted.

"In Lafayette, maybe," Cris agreed. "Need to try St. Thomas Aquinas; its right down the street from us."

"Okay, I sure will," Fred promised.

"Happy Birthday to you!" they sang and Christopher Michael smiled as Sophia, seated to his right, signed the words to the song.

""Hey, um, Christopher Michael, think you could like take your eyes off of her for a minute and make a wish?" Alicia smiled and nudged the boy.

"Uh huh," he said and quickly blew out the candles.

"Did you even make a wish?" she asked, teasingly.

"Uh huh," he said. "Give her the big piece, the one with that rose on it."

"Wow, it must be love if he's giving her the piece with the rose on it," Alicia giggled to Nicole.

"This is Brother Dominick," the gruff voice answered.

"Hey Dominick," Cris said. "I'll get right to the point; my son in law needs a job."

"That's what I love about you," Brother Dominick said. "No 'how are you?' or 'how are things going?' or anything. Just 'my son in law needs a job.'"

"Fine, fine, you miserable pain in the ass; I notice you're never too damned chatty with me when you're bleeding me for a donation, but I'll play your game," Cris smiled. "Hi Dominick, how are you? How are things going? My son in law needs a job."

"Well now, that's more like it, cousin," Brother Dominick laughed. "Send him in."

"Thanks, cousin," Cris said sincerely.

****

"Oh, great, bring them to me when they're all wired on cake and ice cream," Cindy teased as Cris and Alicia dropped off Christopher Michael and Cynthia.

"Uh huh," Cris smiled "And just to make extra sure, we stopped off at Starbucks for a few espressos; they should be bouncing all over the place, 'Grandma.'"

"Shut up," Cindy smiled. "Y'all be careful tonight. You know I hate when y'all ride them motorcycles."

"Thanks, Mom," Alicia said as she put the diaper bag on the couch. "Cynthia's still not real sure about this potty training. I let her sleep in diapers, just in case there are any accidents."

"Um, I think I know how to take care of a little girl," Cindy smiled.

"And she's got long blonde hair and real pretty smile," Christopher Michael was telling his grandfather as he led the man down the hall.

"Hey," Cris smiled as his father in law entered the room, being tugged by Christopher Michael.

"Hey, you hear this boy's got a girlfriend?" Danny asked in all seriousness.

"And she's quite the hottie," Alicia agreed.

"Totally," Christopher Michael gravely.

****

He shook his head as Alicia used the electric starter on her Harley, instead of kick starting it. She smirked at him when it took him three kicks to kick the Indian into life and blew him a kiss before pulling her helmet's visor down on.

When April had called him at the office to let him know that Jimbo had died, he wasn't sure how to tell Alicia.

"Well, we need to go to the funeral," Alicia finally said.

"You're going to be okay with that?" he asked.

"Cris, that was a lifetime ago," she said quietly. "I don't even have the tattoos anymore."

"Except..." he said and she smiled.

"Uh Huh, except for THAT," she said. "And that's just for you."

The word 'Whore' was still emblazoned across her pubic mound and upper thighs.

"Mr. Dumas, I am YOUR whore," she told Cris. "And don't you forget it."

They roared off toward the funeral home in Breaux Bridge, soon joining about forty more motorcycles that rumbled and roared to the funeral home.

April looked a lot older now, haggard. She smiled when she saw Cris, then went white as a sheet when she saw Alicia. She pulled Jamie, her six year old daughter to her side, protecting her.

"Hi April," Alicia said softly. "I am so sorry for your loss."

"Th th thank you," April stuttered.

"He looks good," Cris commented.

"Yeah, lying on his ass about the only thing he did good," April agreed and the three of them laughed softly.

"Oh, hey, this is Jamie, Jimbo's daughter," April finally said. "Jamie, this is Cris, and Alicia; they were friends of Daddy's."

"Hello," Cris smiled and shook the girl's hand.

"I have a son; I bet you and he are the same age," Alicia smiled. "He's five; how old are you?"

"I'm six and a half," Jamie smugly told the pretty woman.

How dare this woman think she was the same age as a five year old? And boys were stupid anyway.

Cris looked into April's eyes and saw the flicker there. This brown haired, brown eyed girl wasn't Jimbo's daughter. He shrugged his shoulders and the flicker disappeared. April nodded her head in appreciation.

The funeral service was short and the bikers followed the hearse to the grave site where the minister said a few last words and Cris and Alicia left the cemetery.

"So, you never told me you and April were lovers," Alicia said after they'd returned home.

"We um," Cris stammered.

"Don't you lie to me, Michael Christopher Dumas," Alicia said, a rare spurt of anger flaring up. "I have never ever lied to you; don't you dare lie to me!"

"God damn, Alicia that was seven years ago; long before I even knew you!" Cris said, exasperated. "How'd you even know?"

"Jamie!" Alicia screamed angrily. "The girl is the spitting image of Nicole!"

She forcefully shoved him, eyes blazing with resentment.

"So what happened?" she said through gritted teeth. "Y'all have a three way? Huh? You and Jimbo take turns doing her? That what you like, huh?"

"No!" Cris yelled. "It wasn't anything like that!"

"So tell me, what was it like?" she spat, shoving him again.

"I Bought the Indian from Jimbo, April and I put it together, then the night we finished, we went back to my apartment and fucked," Cris said.

"Fucked," Alicia said the word in a hateful tone. "Y'all 'fucked.' Y'all didn't make love, y'all fucked."

"Well, it's the truth," Cris said. "It wasn't love, it was just a fuck."

"Show me," Alicia said.

"What?" Cris asked.

"Show me!" Alicia screamed. "I want to see, what the difference is! What's the difference between fucking and making love."

She shoved him again.

Okay, you asked for it," he said and forcefully picked her up, tossed her onto the bed and roughly began to undress her.

"Suck it," he ordered and shoved his flaccid cock into her mouth.

He was having a great deal of difficulty getting aroused; treating his wife so roughly, callously did not excite him in the least; it hurt him.

She had always been an enthusiastic one for oral sex but Cris sensed something more frenzied about her cock sucking.

"Swallow it," he growled, holding her head tightly as he had done to April.

She squealed slightly when he roughly pushed her onto her back and began tonguing her hairless slit.

"And did you, oh!" she growled as he jammed his cock into her in once push.

Her belly was beginning to swell a little from the life that was growing inside of her but she paid that no mind as she desperately clung onto him. His back hurt where her fingernails dug into his flesh.

"No more, no more," she gasped after another powerful orgasm racked her body.

"But there is more," he barked and rolled her over onto her knees.

"Oh no! Please don't do that," she whimpered, reaching behind herself to pull her buttocks wide apart for him.

He pounded in and out of her bowels and she grunted and cried out in orgasm after orgasm.

"And then," he said as she exited the bathroom.

"No!" she shrieked as he tossed her back onto the bed.

He slid into her wet pussy, kissed her deeply and came in her again.

"Then she left and I never saw her again, until tonight," he wheezed and lay down next to her.

"Well, after all that, who could blame her?" she said. "That was pretty brutal."

"You asked," he defended.

"Uh huh," she said, then took his flaccid cock into her mouth.

She licked and sucked him until he began to get hard again.

"Think you can 'April' me again?" she asked.

"I tell you to quit sucking?" he growled at her.

****

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked as Nicole, Sophia, Freddy, and Johnny tramped into his office.

"Going good, Fred's taking a tour of St. Thomas right now, did you know you and Brother Dominick are cousins?" Nicole asked.

"Yes I did," he admitted.

"And you got him that job, didn't you?" Nicole accused, realizing that her father may have had a hand in Fred's sudden stroke of good luck.

"No ma'am," he said firmly. "I got him the job interview; HE got him that job."

"Thanks, Dad," Nicole said.

"Uh huh, now, where are my grandchildren going to school?" he asked.

"Well, we're still in Lafayette Parish," Nicole said.

"No ma'am, unless you're sending them to Fatima," he said firmly.

"Dad, we can't afford..." Nicole cried out.

"Tell you what, how about St. Richard's?" he suggested.

"Right down the street from St. Thomas's?" Nicole asked.

"Yeah, let me make a phone call," he said and punched in a number.

"Dad, wait," Nicole said. "Um, Sophia, it's not that she's stupid, not by a long stretch, but she has a lot of trouble in regular schools."

"How about if we got her some interpreters?" he asked. "Both U.L.L. and U.L.D. have courses in American Sign Language. We can talk to the professors."

"Dad?" she asked. "You'd do that? For, I mean, she's not your kid and..."

"No, she's not my kid, but she is your sister," Cris said, spoke for a moment into the phone and smiled.

"Okay, the administrator is expecting you and Sophia and Freddy for nine thirty tomorrow morning," he said. "Y'all are going to love St. Richard's; Christopher Michael goes there; he went there for pre-K and will be going to kindergarten this year and is super-excited about it."

"That kid is excited about everything," Nicole laughed.

"Yeah, he's something else," Cris agreed.

"Aw, man, get all them kids out of here," Sweet William ordered as he strolled in.

"Mister William!" Nicole happily said and hugged the large man.

"Are you a giant?" Freddy asked, in awe of the sheer size of the man.

****

Nicole sat, clutching the paperwork and tried to smile reassuringly at Sophia. Sophia had had so much trouble at the last school that she'd simply given up and as a result, instead of progressing on to the third grade, would be repeating the second grade.

She watched in mild interest as a tired looking woman walked out of the administrator's office. The woman was dressed in a short sleeve blouse and her arms were heavily tattooed with dragons. She was dragging a very pretty girl behind her.

Nicole shook her head; both the woman and the child looked out of place here.

"Mrs. Dumas?" the older woman called out and Nicole got to her feet, Freddy and Sophia following.

"Are you the administrator?" Nicole asked, forcing a smile to her face.

"Oh, no no ma'am, I'm Mrs. Dumas's assistant," the woman smiled. "Mrs. Dumas will see you now."

"Well, that's a good sign," Nicole thought. "At least we have the same last name.

"Mrs. Dumas?" Alicia asked, smiling widely. "Hi, I'm Mrs. Dumas, the administrator for St. Richard's."

"Mama, why you crying?" Jamie asked her mother.

"Because, Honey, I'm happy," April managed to choke out. "You're going to get yourself a real good education and that makes me happy."

At first April couldn't believe it when she received the packet of information from St. Richard's; she'd not bothered to enroll Jamie in the prestigious school. Jimbo had left them no insurance policy and no money. They'd long ago sold off the motorcycles to pay the myriad of bills that came along with Jamie. Then anything else of value had been sold when Jimbo got sick.

Then when Mrs. Dumas followed the packet up with a phone call, she agreed to come in for an interview.

The old woman had ushered her and Jamie into the office and April's blood ran cold when Alicia turned around from the computer and smiled.

Alicia lost the smile when April instinctively pulled Jamie behind herself. Her eyes met April's.

"I would never ever do anything to hurt you or your daughter," she quietly assured April. "Please, please have a seat."

"We'd like for Jamie to attend St. Richard's," Alicia said as April and Jamie sat in the wooden chairs in front of Alicia's desk.

"We ain't got that kind of money," April protested.

"No, no, there's a benefactor that has agreed to pay all expenses, until she graduates from college," Alicia had said, the meaning of who that 'benefactor' was quite clear to April. "Along with a two hundred dollar a month stipend for clothing and school supplies."