"Give me the address."
She did then ordered pizza.
Leon came into the room and snatched her cell phone. "What are you doing?"
"Getting dinner," she said snatching the phone back. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"
"Who are you?"
"Tiffany, would you please go into the other room and wait for the pizza and my friend."
The girl nodded then left.
"Your friend's coming here?" Leon asked.
"Yes."
Leon folded his arms, pinning her with a dark gaze. "You still haven't told me who you are."
"I'm a friend of Tiffany's," she said, refusing to be intimidated. "And I don't think Tiffany should stay here."
"Why not?"
"There's rotten food in the fridge, there are cockroaches and--"
"So what? No one is going to take a child away from her mother because of some moldy food and insects. Sure, it's not the best environment, but kids grow up in a lot worse and who are you to judge anyway? I'm her Uncle and I'm here now so it's no longer your concern."
"Tiffany is scared."
"She's just worried about her mother, but she gets over it. Maris had a bad day, that's all."
"I think it's more than that."
He rested his hands on his hips and took an aggressive step forward. "I'm sorry, who the hell are you again?"
"A friend," Stacy said boldly meeting his gaze.
"Look, I don't want to be rude or anything but this is really none of your business. Thanks." He gestured to the door. "You can leave now."
Stacy kept his steady gaze, ready for a fight. "But I'm not going to."
He grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip. "Yes, you are."
Stacy only smiled.
The doorbell rang.
He swore. "Who the hell--"
"That's the pizza." She sent a pointed look at his hand. He sighed then released her. Stacy answered the door and paid the delivery carrier then called out in a bright tone, "Come on Tiffany, dinner's here," even though inside she felt cold. Leon reminded her too much of a predator. As she placed the pizza box on the coffee table in the living room, then set the pizza slices on the cleanest cracked plates she could find, she felt his gaze on her. An ugly, assessing gaze that made her skin crawl. She now understood why Chance hadn't invited her to any family dinners.
"Maris, is enough," he'd once said when she'd asked him.
Tiffany ate with gusto, but Stacy had little appetite and was relieved when Laurice finally arrived. Laurice and Leon shared a brief look before Leon dismissed her with a crude word and looked at Stacy stunned. "She's your friend?"
"Yes," she said. "Thanks for doing this. The kitchen is where we need to start," she said pointing to where Laurice should go.
"Friend huh?" Leon said with a snort. "Did you pick her up while doing some research or something?"
Stacy spun around ready to reply, but Laurice gave her a light nudge. "Leave it alone. You've got to be careful," she said in a low voice before disappearing into the kitchen.
"What are you two planning to do?" Leon asked.
"Clean this place up," Stacy said, finding a broom in the hallway closet and briefly imagining shoving the handle up his backside.
"Don't move things. My sister is particular and I don't want her to get upset." His cell phone rang. "Hey, yes I'm with her now. Things are fine." He listened a few minutes then snorted. "Oh, so you think you're a doctor now because you play one on TV? I told you she's fine. Tiffany is eating with some woman she says is a
friend
."
Stacy walked into the kitchen where Laurice was stacking dishes. "If that man were a cockroach I'd gladly stomp him into the ground."
"Keep your voice down."
Stacy looked her surprised. It wasn't like Laurice to be timid. "Why?"
"I told you to be careful of him."
"I'm trying to be as nice as I can since he's Chance's brother."
Laurice swore.
Stacy laughed feeling the same. "I know. Every family has a jerk, right?"
"No." Laurice shook her head. "I mean...never mind. Let's just clean up this dump and get out of here."
***
There were three things Chance didn't expect to see when he went to his sister's house. One, Stacy's car still there, two, to step inside and see how clean and orderly everything looked and lastly, to see his family sitting in the living room waiting for him. His sister, resting her head on his mother's shoulder, his brother and Gran.
"It's about time you got here," Leon said.
Chance glanced around the room with a sense of dread. "Where's Stacy?"
"Sleeping with Tiffany, after cleaning this place like a crazy woman," Leon replied. He blocked his way. "But before you wake her up, we need to talk."
"About what?"
"About you dragging other people into private family matters."
"I didn't."
"Then how did Tiffany get her number?"
"She had it in case of emergencies," Chance said.
"Maris just had a bad spell. Tiffany knows better than that. You've been telling her things haven't you?"
"No, Tiffany is just older and knows when something's not right. We can't keep pretending—"
"Do you really want the truth about this to get out?"
"No, but she needs--"
"She's fine. She doesn't need to see another doctor." His brother shook his head. "You don't even know how much trouble you've caused. She's seen the house and she could report her."
"She won't," Chance said.
"This conversation is fruitless. Maris just had a bad spell. She's fine and so is Tiffany. She's doing well in school and she's happy. "
"Let's just consider giving Maris some time. I'll hire a live in nurse so that Tiffany can stay with Mom."
"I have enough energy to take care of Gran," Althea said. "I don't want anybody else."
"You can move into a bigger space."
"I like where I am."
"Why not have Tiffany stay with us a few days?" Gran said.
Althea sent her mother a look. "Mom, I'm not having it and that's final. Chance come here." He followed her into the kitchen. "Are you really trying to rip this family apart?" she asked.
"You know I'm not."
"Threatening your sister with Child Protective Services, telling your brother that his diagnosis is wrong, and telling me that I should move to suit a child? Who do you think you are? Do you know why you're here? Do you know why you're on some big TV show and making money? Because of me. Because I had to give up everything to take care of you three. I had a life before you and now you're trying to tear apart everything I've had to sacrifice for."
"I'm trying to make things easier."
"Easier? Even when you were a kid you always acted like you knew more than me. No more. Do you know why you're here? Because when your father died, and our mother was sick with cancer, she called me and pleaded with me to take care of you. I was only nineteen and all of a sudden I had three kids under five to look after. Aunty helped, but it was still a struggle. I took you three out of a hovel in the East End of London and brought you all here. The life I'd wanted for myself was gone. But did I complain? No. I let you call me Mom and call Aunty, Gran. I made a family for you.
"Did I say anything when you didn't go to college as we'd all hoped? No. Did I say anything about that other choice you made? The one we're all dealing with right now."
"No," Chance said steeling himself against the words that were always thrown at him at moments like this. Just when he felt he could feel part of a real family, she reminded him that it was only an illusion of one. That he was her charity case half-brother. That he owed all of his success to her. To her, he was never grateful enough. Never beholden enough. She'd never understand how her words hurt him. How much he did love her. That she was the only mother he'd ever known, that he wanted to buy her a house, or something to show his gratitude. But she preferred to stay as she was.
"That's right. You owe me respect and that means you don't tell me what to do. Tiffany is fine. A cockroach or two never killed anyone. It will give her character. She's too soft anyway. She needs some strength. You're a man. I know how a girl should be raised. I'll look after your sister as I always have." Her eyes glistened with tears and her mouth turned hard. "My sacrifice won't be for nothing. Are we clear?"
He nodded then turned away.
"You know I love you, right?"
He nodded.
"Then give me a kiss."
Chance briefly squeezed his eyes shut then turned and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you," she said giving him a quick pat on the back before she left.
He stayed in the kitchen and gripped his hands into fists. He couldn't believe Stacy had been pulled into this mess.
"What are you waiting for?" His grandmother said behind him. "You might as well go and wake her up. I'd like to meet her."
"You can meet her another day."
She sighed. "Fine, if you don't want me to meet her. Who knows how many days I have left. You young people always think about tomorrow, but a woman of my age only has today. The present is the only moment I can treasure, the only time I can--"
"All right," he said resigned. "I'll go get her."
***
He couldn't protect her.
He couldn't protect either of them. Chance stood at the foot of Tiffany’s bed and watched them sleep. He wanted to hug Tiffany and tell her how sorry he was. Every day he wondered if he'd made the right choice. Recently, he didn't believe so. He shifted his gaze to Stacy. He wanted to marry her more than he could ever explain. He wanted her softness to combat his mother's hard words. He wanted her comfort, her understanding, her acceptance. With her, he had a place where he belonged.
He gently shook Stacy awake then gestured for her to follow him.
"Thanks for staying with her," he said when they were alone in the hallway. He closed the door behind him.
"I had to. She seemed so scared."
"We can go now. She'll be fine and--"
"Chance, things are really bad here."
He sighed. "I know. My family's discussing our options."
"What options?"
He wished she hadn't asked him, he hated dragging her into the middle of a family crisis, but he knew she deserved the truth. "My sister has always had troubles. Even as a little boy, I remember her disappearing for weeks, but I never knew why. It wasn't until I was older that I learned about the different places they'd placed her because of her mental health issues. She'd seemed stable for a time, but she's recently gotten worse. I think she should get special care, but my brother thinks we can handle things." He was silent a moment. "You know, it's funny. On TV I'm seen as the good guy who has bad things happen to him, but in real life, I'm the bad guy. I'm the guy who wants to take a daughter away from her mother. To remove her from the only home she's ever known. But it's not like that. If I could trust my sister, I wouldn't even consider it. But I'm worried about Tiffany. I want more for her. But a mother's love trumps an Uncle's love, right? And she needs a woman and I know there are things I can't give her, but I think she deserves to feel safe. But my mother and brother think I should leave things alone and they act like I'm the bad guy."
"But you're not."
He looked at her surprised. "You--you understand?"
"Your brother and I almost came to blows when I first saw what your sister and niece are living in. It's not just the filth. It's not about a bare fridge. It's about how Tiffany feels. I had a good friend whose parents never had a lot. Sometimes flies got into the house and there were fleas everywhere, but there was also love and a sense of safety. Her parents did their best. That's not the situation here. It's clear your sister can't manage and provide a place of safety and Tiffany is suffering--" She stopped when Chance started to smile. "What?"
"You really understand." He looked down at her relieved. "Do you know how good this feels? This is the first time I can talk about this. Nobody else knows. I keep it to myself. I don't want CPS to swoop in, but it's getting worse, not better, and no one in my family will listen to me. My brother is the last word because he's the doctor. But doctors can be wrong. I don't know why he won't look into other options. I've offered to pay for a nanny so that Tiffany can stay with my mom or have live in help for Gran. But he thinks our sister needs to have her independence. He’s afraid a major change will undermine her progress." He swore. "They're all waiting in the other room to pounce on you. Just nod and then we'll leave."
"I don't care what they have to say. I--"
"I know you want to do more. So do I, but--"
"She's not your child."
"That's just the problem. She's not really Maris's child either."
Stacy's eyes widened. "She's yours?"
Chance heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head. "No, I stole her."
Stacy started to laugh, but the look on his face stopped her. "You're serious?"
He nodded. "I honestly don't know what I was thinking at the time. It happened early in my career. I was staying in a nasty basement apartment in Queens, going on auditions and getting nowhere. I was coming home late one night when I overheard a woman talking to a young girl about dumping something in the Hudson. I didn't pay much attention until I caught what she was talking about. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing. They were talking about a baby. The girl started to walk down towards the river when her mother called her back inside leaving the baby alone in the stroller.
Chance took a deep breath and briefly covered his eyes. "That's when I snatched her. I thought of taking her to a hospital, but I wasn't sure I could get away with them not asking me any questions. So I called my mother. I thought she could tell me of a children's home or somewhere. She told me to bring the baby home. When I arrived, she said that a baby was just what Maris needed. She had married, but hadn't been able to conceive and after her husband left her she went into a deep depression. The baby made the difference. She instantly took to the child so we decided to keep her. My sister was doing better then and I had nothing to offer a child. We faked some papers and made it legal."