19
** Three Years Later **
Victoria
I sat in my car, waiting in front of Antonio's school. In just a few minutes, the bell would ring. I couldn't believe how fast Antonio was growing. Sure, he was only four years old, but it felt like I was cradling him in my arms just yesterday after giving birth.
The past three years had been peaceful, and I no longer feared Michael. His family did try to take custody of Antonio; David quickly came to my aid and told the police about everything else he had witnessed. He also told them about some things that happened while Michael was growing up. Hearing David talk about Michael's childhood made me feel bad for Michael, but what happened to him was no excuse to abuse me the way he did.
The school bell rang, so I got out of my car, as did all the other parents waiting. I made my way over to the preschool doors. All the students were ready to go home, and I could see that the teachers were doing their best to hold back the excited toddlers.
"Ms. Watson!" Antonio's teacher greeted me.
"Hello, Mrs. Davis."
"Mommy!" I could hear my son's voice as he hugged my legs.
"Hi, sweetie!" I said as I lifted Antonio up.
"Have a good weekend," Mrs. Davis said before turning around to calm the excited preschoolers.
"How was school?"
"Good."
"Oh yeah? What did you do?"
"We watched a movie!"
"What movie did you watch?"
"Madagascar."
"That's a funny movie. Did you like it?"
"Yeah! Can we watch it tonight?"
"What? I thought you wanted to watch Spider-Man."
"Yeah!"
"Okay. Let's watch Spider-Man, and then if you're not tired, we'll watch Madagascar."
"Okay."
I laughed as I put Antonio down to open the car door. Once he was buckled in his booster seat, I got in the driver's seat and drove off. While driving, I would glance at Antonio in the rearview mirror; he seemed upset.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked.
"Mommy, where's my daddy?"
My body tensed, and my heart began to race when Antonio asked that question. I didn't think he'd ask about Michael so soon.
"Where did that question come from?" I asked shakily.
"Everyone at school says they have a daddy, and the teacher said daddy's day is coming."
Oh, shit!
I should've known Antonio's teacher would tell the kids about Father's Day; she told them about Mother's Day.
"How about I tell you when we get home?"
"Okay. Can we still get pizza?"
"It's Friday, isn't it?"
"Yay!"
Even though we stopped to pick up a pizza, the drive home was too quick, giving me little time to figure out an answer to Antonio's question. Once Antonio was out of the car, he grabbed my hand and dashed to the front door.
"Antonio, wash your hands and set the placemats," I said as we stepped through the front door.
Antonio ran to the kitchen while I put my purse and keys down while trying to balance the pizza in one hand. When I walked into the kitchen, Antonio put Napkins on the placemats; I set the pizza box on the table and washed my hands. Before sitting down, I grabbed two plates and two cups for Antonio and me, poured us some water, and served us two slices of pizza.
"Okay," I said with a smile. "Let's dig in."
Antonio took a bite of his pizza and smiled. I assumed he had forgotten about his earlier question until he said, "will you tell me about my daddy now?"
Damn it.
I smiled at Antonio and said, "Sure."
Antonio sat up in his chair and gave me his full attention.
"So, Daddy had to leave."
"Why did he leave?"
"Well, he didn't want to."
"Why did he leave then?"
Because I had him arrested and pressed charges.
"He didn't have a choice. Sometimes people need to leave, even when they don't want to."
"Will daddy come back?"
No.
"I don't think so, sweetie. Daddy went somewhere far away; most people don't come back from there."
"Doesn't daddy love us?"
That is an excellent question. I know Michael hates me.
Not wanting to break my son's heart, I smiled at him and said," Daddy loves you very much."
"He'll come back. I know it."
"Antonio, please don't get your hopes up. It's tough for daddy to come back from where he went."
"If he loves me, he'll come back."
Damn.
I used to think it was cute how Antonio was always optimistic; in this situation, it got on my nerves. All I could do was smile at him.
Once we finished eating, I washed the dishes and put the leftover pizza away. Antonio was sitting in my chair at the kitchen table the entire time.
"Do you have a picture of my daddy?"
Damn... Giving him a picture is the least I can do.
"Ummm... I think so."
"Can I see it?"
I let out a sigh.
"Antonio, it's hidden and will take me a while."
"Please?"
"Don't you want to watch Spider-Man?"
"I wanna see a picture of my daddy first."
Antonio was practically begging me to see a picture of his father. The look in his eyes was genuine; I could tell it would break his heart if I told him no.
"Okay."
I walked to my closet and reached up on the top shelf for a box with all my things before moving in with Michael. I had kept all that in storage, even after I ran away. Once I had the box on the floor, Antonio immediately sat by my side. I dug through all the items until I found a scrapbook filled with Polaroid pictures. Antonio hovered next to me as I flipped through the pages until I reached a few pictures of Michael and me.
I peeled out a picture of Michael sitting back at his desk. He was trying to look like a mafia boss; that was his dream; in the meantime, he kept working as a gang leader.
"Here you go," I handed the picture to Antonio.
"Can I have that one?" Antonio pointed to a picture of Michael and me. Michael had his arms wrapped around my waist, pressing my back against his chest. We were both smiling genuinely. I remember being happy then.
"Sure." I peeled the picture off the page and handed it to Antonio.
"Thank you, Mommy," Antonio said as he hugged me.
"You're welcome, sweetie. Now let's go watch Spider-Man."
"Yeah!"
I laughed as Antonio ran out of my room and to the living room.
