Mending Broken Flowers

"Look, I just got off work, all right?" John said. "Y'all try to keep the noise down while I'm sleeping, all right? Huh? That's all I ask."

"Yes sir, Meester Yoong, you not even knows we here," Eduardo said, still standing stiffly.

"Here, when Chalandra comes by, give her this," John said, handing Annette forty dollars.

"I already paid her," Annette said, thrusting the money back at him.

John was halfway down the hallway when he realized that Annette had not taken the money. She had also said that she had paid Gabriel's babysitter.

----

John came too slowly. He could hear Annette and the young Mexican talking quietly, and then he smelled food. Incredible food smells.

"I show Annie how to cook?" Eduardo smiled over his shoulder as John took a seat. "She acts like she don't know where nothing goes."

"Shut up!" Annette laughed. "I told you; smother it in onion and bell pepper? That I can do. All that other crap? Like I would know how to do any of that."

"So, tell me, Eddie, where are you from?" John asked as Eduardo put a heaping plate in front of him.

Eduardo named a small town in Mexico, put a heaping plate in front of Annette, and then fixed himself a plate.

"Meester Yoong, I have green card, I here legally, okay?" Eduardo said.

He then looked at Annette and John.

"Um, you, um, you no pray before you eat?" Eduardo asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot, Eddie's all into that praying shit," Annette said, putting her fork down.

"Go ahead, it's your show," John nudged Eduardo.

Eduardo gave the prayer in Spanish, did the sign of the cross then dug in with gusto.

"So, you are here legally?" John asked, shoveling another forkful into his mouth.

"I show you," Eduardo said, going to a small cloth bag.

He produced some papers and an identification card. John looked at the papers and at his new son-in-law and nodded approval.

"Okay, Eddie, tell you what," John said, washing down the last of his meal with a healthy gulp of beer.

"Your little boyfriend? That Gordon Ziegler?" John nudged Annette with the toe of his boot. "Ran his ass off last night; Ed Baggett finally had enough of him doing more talking then working, useless bag of shit."

"Daddy, he's not my boyfriend, remember?" Annette huffed, irritated.

"Yeah, and I remember you couldn't get enough of him before you wound up pregnant," John snapped back.

He looked at Eduardo.

"Anyway, we got an opening at the factory so as soon as you finished eating, you and me going down to put in an application.

"Oh thank you, Meester Yoong," Eduardo smiled happily. "I make you proud; you just wait and see, Meester Yoong."

Eduardo pointed to himself.

"I am man of my word, Meester Yoong. I will work hard; I will do well for Annie and Gabriel, I give you my word."

"Good enough for me," John said, getting to his feet. "Come on."

Eduardo cautiously drove them to the factory and gaped at the large, squat building for a moment before getting out of the car.

"Meester Yoong, I promise, I work hard, you see," Eduardo whispered as John led him to the building.

"I believe you, Eddie, okay?" John grumbled.

"John, what can I do you for?" Jonathon Baggett smiled as the large man lumbered in.

"Mr. Baggett, this here's my son-in-law and he needs him a job," John said, gesturing at the young man with a thumb.

"I have papers, I here legally," Eduardo hastened to assure the powerful looking man.

"Fill out this application, get your ID badge, and have your ass here at twelve o'clock tonight," Jonathon said and reached out and shook the young man's hand. "And congratulations. Annette's a real pretty girl; you got yourself a mighty fine wife there."

"Oh, thank you, Meester Baggett!" Eduardo enthused.

"Thanks, Mr. Baggett," John said sincerely.

"Hey, you willing to vouch for him? That's good enough for me," Jonathon said, already turning his attention to another stack of papers on his desk.

----

Eddie did do his father in law proud. From the very first night, Eddie proved to be the quickest upholsterer on the floor and even showed Mindy how to increase her speed.

While Eddie waited for the next mattress or box spring to come his way, Eddie was busy cleaning up his work station, or replacing the bobbin of heavy gauge thread, or checking the others' thread bobbins.

"Better reign the boy in; making me look bad," Herman Vidou mock-growled at John.

"No, maybe you better get off your fat ass and actually do some work around here," John smiled proudly.

John was proud of his son in law. Even though Eddie was only nineteen, he worked hard, then came home and helped Annie around the trailer.

And Annie; there was a real shock. John never did find out what happened the last time she'd run off, but the girl that occupied the trailer now was not the immature, selfish little bitch that had run off.

Yes, she was still quite overweight, yes her face was still mottled with pimples, but there was a real healthy, happy glow to her. She smiled quite often, kept the trailer nearly spotless, and was slowly learning to cook almost as well as Eddie.

"My two men need to get to work," she would say as she handed them both their dinners and give her father a hug.

Then she and Eddie would kiss each other as if it were the last time they'd ever see each other.

Even Gabriel, always a happy baby, now seemed to be overflowing with happiness and energy.

No, Annie never said what happened, but John wasn't arguing.

Chapter 3

Gabriel Florez (Eduardo had officially adopted the boy and given him his last name) stood in front of the trailer park, waiting on bus number 182. He resisted the urge to kick at loose rocks, not wanting to scuff up the toes of his brand new school shoes. His uniform was neatly ironed, and his backpack was brand new.

He looked down at his brand new shoes again; Paw-paw had taken him and Anita to the big mall in Lafayette and measured his foot. There was a salesman there, but Paw-paw said he didn't trust the man to measure him right and so he took the cold metal plate and put Gabriel's foot onto it.

("Saw that useless sack of shit Gordon Ziegler out there today," John grumbled at Annie.

"Oh yeah? Where'd you see him?" she asked, mildly curious.

"Working at the shoe store, walking around, acting like he's all big shit and stuff," John spat.

"Give me that; knowing you, you'd just fuck it up and get it wrong," John had barked at the sullen young man.

"Okay, you're a size four and a booger, oh, I'm sorry! That's size four and a HALF!" Paw-paw had said, reading the metal plate.

"Me too, Paw-paw, you do me too!" Anita had begged.

"Hmm, and you? You're a size one and a sugar and spice," Paw-paw had told his three year old granddaughter.

"Excuse me, will you measure my little girl too?" a young woman smiled at John as a small girl stood next to her, giggling.

"Well, sure!" John said. "I specialize in measuring space aliens."

"I'm not a space alien!" the little girl shrilled, giggling even more.

"Okay, um, oh, something's wrong," John had squinted at the metal plate.

From his crouching position, he looked at the little girl.

"Well, that's what's wrong; you're not touching your nose. You have to touch your nose in order for me to get this right," John said to the wiggling girl.

She put a finger to her nose and John read the plate again.

"She's right at a size three; you might want to get her a size three and a booger, I mean a size three and a half so she'll have some room to grow into," John told the smiling mom.)

Gabriel looked up from his 'big boy school shoes' as he heard loud diesel motor and saw the yellow school bus lumbering and groaning its way down the street.

The bus pulled to a stop and Gabriel carefully hoisted himself up the high steps of the school bus.

"Hello, my name is Gabriel Florez, and I'm going to Saint Richard's; are you going there too?" he politely asked the bus driver.

"Well, I sure am," the bus driver smiled, fighting the urge to laugh at the polite kid.

"You're so stupid; of course this bus is going to St. Richard's a blonde-haired girl sneered at him as he looked up and down the aisle for an empty seat.

----

John smiled as Annie tearfully told him and Eddie about Gabriel standing at the end of the driveway, waiting for the bus.

"He looked just like a little man, standing there," she sobbed.

"Because my boy? He is little man," Eddie said proudly.

"And then, one day, Anita's going to be going to school too!" Annie burst into fresh sobs.

"Well, hadn't happened yet," John calmly said, kissed his daughter on the top of the head and waddled down the hallway to his bedroom.

"Don't forget, Eddie, payday," John called out.

"You going?" Eddie asked.

"No, got myself set up; check goes straight to my bank account. That way I don't even worry about it," John said before closing the bedroom door.

"You talk to him?" Eddie asked.

"Tried to," Annie said.

"Annie, come on, soon, Gabriel? He too big shares room with his baby seester, huh?" Eddie said.

"Eddie, every time I bring it up, he says there's plenty of room and right now you and I need to save up our money and then he just leaves the room, end of discussion," Annie said.

"Fine, fine, I talk with him tonight," Eddie said with determination.

----

Gabriel Florez did not know why, but Lily Gauchet had decided that she did not like him.

The little blonde haired girl walked right up to him at recess and declared out loud, "You're a stupid head!"

"I'm rubber and you're glue. What you say bounces off of me and sticks to you," Gabriel responded.

"And you're fat and ugly too!" Lily declared.

"I'm rubber and you're glue. What you say bounces off of me and sticks to you," Gabriel repeated and noticed; with some satisfaction that Lily did not like this response at all.

She also didn't like the other students laughing at her. She glared at Gabriel for a long moment, and then brightened.

"You're very pretty and you're real smart too," she said smugly.

"Well, thank you!" Gabriel responded and several of their classmates laughed.

"That's not right!" Lily yelled, shoving him hard. "You're supposed to say 'I'm rubber and you're glue!'"

Just then, Miss Leblanc, the recess monitor walked over and the students scattered.

Gabriel Florez did not know why Lily Gauchet did not like him, but she scowled darkly at him and even stuck her tongue out at him when Sister Angela wasn't looking.

----

"Take me; I want to go," Anita demanded when Eddie said he was going to the factory to get his paycheck.

"But Sweetie pie, Daddy's just going to get his check," Annie explained.

"But then Daddy's going to the bank and I always get a sucker," Anita argued.

"Fine, fine," Eddie smiled.

Again, the two lovers kissed like it would be the last time they ever saw each other, and Annie hugged her daughter, and then buckled her into the car seat.

Eddie started up the small car he'd bought after the Impala finally died. With much engine revving, he finally built up the RPMs and pulled away from the trailer.

----

Gabriel found out that the end of the school day did not bring any relief from Lily Gauchet; she was on the bus, sitting right next to her big sister, Iris. Now, instead of just one blonde girl that apparently didn't like him, he had two blonde girls that didn't like him.

"Stupid head," the girl hissed as he walked past her, searching for a place to sit down.

"Butt face," he hissed back.

----

Jonathon Baggett fussed over Anita, playing up to Eddie's pride.

"Goodness gracious, she looks more like Annie every day, Huh?" the man smiled and gave the girl an affectionate pinch.

"Thank you, Meester Baggett," Eddie called out as he buckled the girl into her car seat.

He revved the motor for a few moments, then released the clutch and pulled out of the parking lot.

Mickey Givens was feeling no pain as he wheeled the tractor-trailer rig west on Highway 52. He'd scored some valiums the night before; the cocaine was beginning to make sleep difficult to come to, and he was beginning to suffer from mild paranoia. So, a few valiums, some really killer weed and he was fine.

Mickey gave himself a wide swath as he rounded the last corner before the mattress factory; where he would be dropping off the foam rubber he was hauling.

Eddie did not see the large truck as it rounded the corner.

Mickey didn't see the small white car; the sunlight was almost directly in his eyes.

Mickey did feel it, though, as the large tractor rolled on top of the small compact car, crushing it.

----

"Bye, poo-poo face," Lily called out nastily as Gabriel got off the bus.

Gabriel did not respond, though his cheeks colored as several of the children laughed.

----

Deputy Dick Davis steeled himself before getting out of the cruiser. He did curse Sheriff Ronald Monroe his cowardice.

"Ever I'm the fucking sheriff, never make one of my deputies do this shit, that's for sure," he muttered to himself and knocked on the door of the trailer.

John wondered briefly if the police officer was there because of any drugs Annie or Eddie were doing, then chastised himself for that thought. In the last for and a half years, his daughter had not done anything to arouse suspicion, and Eddie declared that he did not do drugs, did not like what drugs had done to his family back in Mexico.

"Is, um, is Mrs. Florez here?" Dick Davis asked.

"Yes?" Annie said, peering around her father.

"Um, Ma'am, I um, ma'am, it all right if I come in for a minute?" Dick asked.

John stepped aside and the police officer entered the small, clean trailer.

----

Lily stared at Sister Angela as Sister Angela told the kindergarteners of the tragic death of Gabriel's father and sister. Some of the other students even cried, even though they did not really know Gabriel Florez.

"So, today, why don't we take our construction paper and our crayons and we'll each make Gabriel a card? We'll tell him we're sorry, but we'll also tell him that his Daddy and his baby sister? They're in Heaven, with God, and with Jesus, okay?" Sister Angela suggested.

Sister Angela wrote out Gabriel's first and last name on the chalkboard so that the students could spell his name correctly.

----

Gabriel held onto his mom as she cried. He was bewildered. His big, strong Daddy and his little baby sister were in those boxes and then they would be buried and he'd never ever see them again.

And Paw-paw looked so old. He just sat there, not even looking at anything.

"Don't worry, Mommy; I'll take care of you," Gabriel promised.

"You're a good boy, Gabriel," John muttered.

Annie looked up and tried to smile for her son's sake but nothing came.

She looked around the small room of the funeral home in DeGarde, Louisiana. It was a dingy room, some of the light fixtures didn't even have bulbs in them, and the carpet was severely worn in places.

The flowers were horrible. She knew Mr. Baggett, Eddie's boss, had spared no expense on the funeral and on the flowers, but the flowers looked as if they were already withering away when the florist delivered them.

Jonathon Baggett was appalled at the shoddy treatment his valued employee and the employee's little girl were receiving from the funeral home, and the decaying flowers were inexcusable.

"Get Jesse Johnson," he hissed into the telephone.

Moments later, the lawyer entered the funeral home, took several pictures of the room, the cheap caskets, and the flowers.

"Mrs. Florez?" Jonathon Baggett towered over the short woman. "I am so sorry. Not only for your loss, but for the deplorable treatment he has received here."

Jonathon assured Annie that Jesse Johnson, the mattress factory's lawyer, would handle all litigations on behalf of the Florez family.

Annie looked at him, almost uncomprehending, but nodded her thanks.

----

"What?" Katherine Prejean, owner/operator of DeGarde Florists screeched into the telephone. "You've got to be joking! They weren't nothing but a bunch of God damned sp*cs anyway!"

Jesse Johnson smiled; he was recording the conversation and knew her declaration of Eduardo and Anita Florez being 'nothing but a bunch of God damned sp*cs' would fare well, very well indeed for the Florez family.

"Listen, my husband is Kenneth Prejean?" Katherine sneered into the telephone. "Maybe you've heard of him? Anyway, he's my lawyer; you got anything else to say, you say it to him."

"Be my pleasure," Jesse smiled.

Jesse had yet to lose a case to Kenneth Prejean; the two men had studied at the same university, graduating together.

But while Jesse Johnson had been approached by several law firms throughout the Southeastern part of the United States, and a few law firms in New York City, Kenneth Prejean was only approached by one law firm, Richards and Delhomme in DeGarde, Louisiana.

"Yes, ma'am, it will be my pleasure," Jesse smiled.

----

Eddie had a twenty five thousand dollar life insurance policy on himself, but not on Anita.

"I mean, who thinks of getting life insurance on a three-year old girl?" John grumbled as he looked and tried to make sense of the paperwork.

"I'm just glad he thought to get any on himself," Annie muttered.

"And that trucking company? Sent us a check for four hundred dollars; says here that was the value of Eddie's car," John said, holding up the computer printout.

"Don't even think about cashing that; Mr. Jesse? He said anything comes in from them, we bring it to him first." Annie reminded her father.

"Baby, I got to tell you, your husband was one of a kind, that's for sure," John said, pushing himself away from the table. "Man, I miss him! And ain't a night goes by I don't miss telling my little Anita good night."

"I still do," Annie whispered.

"What?" John asked, getting himself a diet soda from the refrigerator.

"I tell her good night every night," Annie said, fresh tears beginning to fall.

"Yeah, I guess I need to do that too; sure she's a little angel up there in Heaven," John said.

----

Lily decided that a month was a long enough period of mourning for her nemesis, Gabriel Florez. So she began her campaign to make Gabriel's life miserable.

Unlike the first time, though, when Lily declared that Gabriel was stupid and had a 'Hiney Head,' he did not have a response. He just stared at her for a long moment, then turned and walked away.

"What's the matter? Too chicken to say anything? Huh?" Lily taunted.

Gabriel found a quiet corner of the playground and sat down to cry.

----

Jesse Johnson actually laughed out loud when Annie Florez showed him the four hundred dollar check from the trucking line.

"Really?" he hooted. "They really think we're stupid enough to fall for that?"

"See, if you'd cashed this," he explained to John, "They'd declare it 'payment in full' and we could whistle for anything else out of them."

"You were right," John begrudgingly told his daughter.

"Now, the funeral home wants to settle out of court," Jesse went on. "They finally admitted that room? It was a storage room. And their claim that they were booked full? Pure hogwash. They had one other funeral booked for that day so there were three other rooms they could have put us in."

"Just because my son in law and my grandbaby was Mexican?" John asked, outraged.

"Afraid so; some people are just plain ignorant," Jesse admitted.

"How much?" Annie finally asked when she was able to speak again.

"Twenty five thousand," Jesse said.

"How much do you think we could get if we brought this into a court?" Annie asked.

"Hard to say; we get a jury, there's no telling," Jesse mused.

"Tell them we won't take anything less than one hundred thousand," Annie said firmly.