From the Devil's Cradle Chapter 3
Caleb invites Jessica to lunch, Jessica starts to learn more about Caleb in this chapter.
*
Jessica jerked awake her cell phone ringing. "Hello", she managed with a sleepy voice.
"Jess, it's David at the desk."
"Yes Sergeant, is something going on?"
"No nothing major, but I have a young man standing here with a bouquet of flowers who is very adamant that he can only release them to you. I offered to take them and send them to you, but he maintains the gentleman was specific and only to deliver them to you."
Shaking the cobwebs from her head, "Flowers?"
"A rather large bouquet I must say," the desk sergeant said.
She smiled, sitting up in bed, "I can come get them or he can deliver them here."
She could barely hear the desk sergeant speaking to delivery person.
"You sure Jess, at your place?
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Ok, I will give him your address."
"Thanks David."
"You're welcome."
She smiled hanging up the phone. Never once in her life had she been sent flowers by anyone other than her father. Every birthday he had sent her flowers until he passed away.
Had to be Caleb she smiled. Then remembered the dream she had. A young Mexican girl standing on a hill looking at her. She had a big beautiful smile. Jess had asked her name; she just smiled and ran over the hill. Strange, but she needed to hurry to get ready.
She hurried a shower, slipped on some jeans and t shirt, hair dried and up on a ponytail. She'd slept longer than she intended.
Doorbell dinged. Opening the door there stood a young man with a rather large bouquet of fresh spring flowers.
"Ms. Mendez," he asked?
"That is me," she said with a big smile.
"Here you go ma'am."
"How come the fuss of making sure you gave them to me directly?"
"The gentleman who bought them asked to speak to the delivery person. He slipped me three hundred dollars with the instruction to only give them to you."
"Wow! Three hundred?"
"Yes ma'am. Have a great day."
"Uh... you to Jessica," said as the young man trotted off to the delivery van.
Rounding up a vase she had in a cabinet, filled with water, flowers then sat them up on the kitchen bar.
Opening the envelope 'Lunch Fjui Japanese? 11:30'
She felt the smile on her face, god had she smiled this big ever. It was Caleb she had no doubt. Shit it was almost 11:00. She slipped into a skirt, short heels and nice pink blouse. Fuji wasn't finest of dining, but it was upscale for sure. Debating she left her hair in a ponytail. Satisfied she looked somewhat attractive she headed out to her car.
Sitting in her car touching up her makeup, adjusting her ponytail. "Breathe Jess," she said out loud. God she was nervous.
A young Asian woman met her at the entrance, this way please. The girl led her out on the patio where Caleb stood seeing her approach with that smile of his pulling her chair out.
"Thank you," she smiled sitting.
He sat putting himself under the table and placing the cloth napkin in his lap. He spoke to the girl who nodded at departed the table.
"You speak Japanese," Jessica asked her shock showing?"
Caleb blushed for the first time she noticed. "I'm sorry, it probably appeared I was showing off. It's just a sign of respect that I can speak to her in her native tongue."
"No not at all," Jessica said, "you are as Kassandra put it last night a most interesting subject."
Caleb laughed a warm rich laugh and opened the menu, "Have you had lunch here before?"
"No. I've never really had any quality Japanese food. What do you recommend?"
"The Geisha Roll is my favorite. Shrimp tempura and spicy crab, wrapped in pink soybean sheet, topped with tuna and avocado and served with spicy mayo and wasabi mayo. The Miso is also as good as most in restaurants in Japan."
"Come here a lot it seems," Jessica said.
"I do love this place, I've eaten some really bad food in my life, now I wish to enjoy what I like."
Jessica smiled; "would you be so kind as to order for me then?"
"It would be my pleasure Jessica."
"You can call me Jess everyone does."
"As long as that is how you prefer to be addressed."
She smiled, "of course Caleb you can call me Jess or Jessica either if fine."
The girl came back to the table. Caleb ordered for them in Japanese.
"I forgot, what would you prefer to drink?"
"What are you having?"
"Water, it's life's miracle cure."
"Same for me then."
"They made small talk as the meal was served."
"I assume you partner is not happy right now," Caleb said.
"Oh? Why?"
"You having lunch with his prime suspect."
Jessica laughed, "he doesn't know, and you aren't a suspect."
Caleb smiled a knowing smile.
"That is the first time I've been able to read you, what is it," she asked?
"He changed cars and was sitting down the street from my house when I went for my morning run. He parked across the street till I was seated in the patio, now he is up and over on the left watching me."
"For fucks sake, he's going to get fired, Jessica said.
"A man makes his own path to the destination that is the end of life."
"I promise you are not a suspect."
"I know Jess, if I were you would have never come to lunch."
She laughed; "I would have wanted to though."
"You have a lot of questions I can see it in your face."
"I do, but I know you won't answer most of them... Or that you can't answer them."
"Oh?"
Jessica sipping the Miso, "this is amazing." Caleb nodded.
"So tell me how a white boy ends up with a mother named Maria Ramos on his birth certificate then later is adopted by a Maria Ramos?"
"It's a story you probably don't want to hear Jess."
"Listen Caleb, I understand there are going to be somethings you either won't or can't tell me I get that. If we are going to date, I must know what I can."
Caleb smiled. "I'd like us to date Jess."
Jessica looked up, "I can't believe I said that out loud," and letting out a nervous laugh.
"Did you mean it?"
"I did, but I don't know you Caleb."
"Isn't dating how you get to know someone?"
Laughing, "it is. This is a date so let's learn."
Caleb sighed and laid his napkin on the table, "There was a nurse who worked at 'Her Mother's Mercy' hospital. She had a husband who owned a local mechanic shop. He was an honest and fair man, everyone around brought their cars to him."
"This nurse was working one April 3rd night when a storm came through. She was outside on a break with a coworker who smoked, even though she did not smoke, she took her break with her friend every night. The storm came up fast, lightning hitting a tree behind where they were at. Both women ran under the edge of the building as wires came down beside the dumpsters sending sparks flying everywhere."
"They called the maintenance guys who came and made sure the power was off, as they were headed in, the one nurse thought she heard something in the dumpster. Flipping the steel lid up with one of the maintenance guys flashlight in hand she looked and saw a black trash bag move. She said at first, she was scared, but she began to hear cries in the bag."
"She ripped the bag open and in it lay a baby, he had been recently born and was covered in fluids from birth, the umbilical cord tied around his neck."
Jessica sat tears rolling down her face.
"Her and her friend ran the baby into the hospital along with the maintenance guys. The baby turned out to be healthy, only a few hours old and it was placed in the maternity ward with all the others."
"Police found no parents during their investigation and the nurse put her name on the birth certificate a few days later. She chose his name based off one of her favorite people in the Bible that she read every night, and the sparks that had led her to him."
"Weeks turned into a few months, she spent all of her free time at the hospital taking care of the baby. She began to fight, not physically, with her husband. He did not want to adopt some gringo found in a dumpster. Three years to the day after she found him, her and her husband had a daughter of their own."
"Social Services eventually came after several months and the baby was taken in. He was put in a foster home, till one day he was brought into the emergency room when he was nine. He'd gotten out and was running down the road, a passerby took him to the hospital seeing the shirtless boy covered in bruises and blood.
That same nurse was on duty upstairs when he was brought in. Her friend in the E.R. called her and she came running to the Emergency Room. The boy had been abused quite badly physically was well as other ways."
"By now her constant arguing had cost her, her husband and her daughter her father. With no chance to adopt him as a single mother, she took the boy from the hospital after he was cared for during the night."
"Two days later the police showed up to take the boy. He clung to her crying, terrified so bad the police finally agreed to leave him with her for the night. With help of the hospital director, many doctors, the boys testimony in the judge's chambers about the abuse, how the foster parents had subjected him to satanic rituals."
"The police had visited the foster home after he was brought to the E.R. They found the both the both the bed he slept it and the cradle he'd had as a baby had the number of the beast carved into them along with a goats head. There were videos of the boy being used in rituals and being covered in blood while adults laughed."
"With the boys testimony, that of the police and seeing the boy clinging to her, terrified to part from her, everybody's account that she was a good Christian woman, the judge signed the papers to make him her son."
"She'd saved him from the dumpster the day he was born and then 9 years abuse rescuing him from the devil's cradle... When she needed him to save her, he let her die on the floor of a restaurant while he was in... Well he wasn't here."
Jessica had broken down into sobs that wrenched heart and soul so bad, her throat and chest ached.
Caleb reached over with his napkin drying her tears. "I'm sorry Jess, I should have never told you that. I... I'm sorry."
Jessica got up throwing her arms around his neck crying into the crease it's crease. By now serval patrons were staring at them.
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed into him.
"It's ok doll it all made me who I am, for good or bad it's who I am. I would not change one minute of what happened if I could."
Jessica pulled back looking into his eyes through the tears in hers, "How could you endure that if you were given a chance to not?"
"I'd have never met my mother, there was never a woman who loved a child any more than she did me. Her and Lupe showed me what life was, without them I'd never known it. I'd probably ended up dead or worse."
Jessica now was in his lap, his strong arms comforting her. "What's worse than death," she asked?
"Jess... There are things far worse than death."
"Let me in Caleb, let me all the way in."
He sighed. Her lips met his, then puulling back, "one day, not today, but let me in."
Caleb gently kissed her back.
The young lady from the restaurant spoke to him.
"She's fine, just had an emotional day."
"Very will sir," the lady said back in English.
"I want to show you something," Caleb said.
He leaned forward fishing his wallet out, Jessica still in his lap. I want you to see a picture of them removing an old and tattered photo, "this is Mom and Lupe. "Mom sent it to me, taken on Lupe's eighteenth birthday."
Jessica looked and touched it. Then her mind caught up with what she was seeing.
