Читать книгу Mourn The Living - Henry Perez - Страница 23

When Chapa opened his eyes he saw Nikki staring back at him. She smiled, and her face captured every ounce of sunlight that was pouring into his bedroom.

“I woke up more than an hour ago, Daddy.”

“Of course you did.” Chapa sat up slowly. Most days he felt his age, forty-two, sometimes older. But not today, and not while Nikki was with him. “I need to get you some breakfast.”

She nodded, then spoke in measured tones. “Yeah, I looked around in the kitchen, but I didn’t find much to eat.”

Now Chapa remembered. He hadn’t planned on bringing his daughter home when he left for Boston a week earlier. There hadn’t been a clearly defined purpose to his visit beyond wanting to see his child. Something that had become increasingly more difficult for him to do as Carla had done all she could to force Chapa out of Nikki’s life. So the best he’d hoped for was a smile, a hug, some precious time together, and for his ex to understand that the rules of the game had changed. But then his attorney went to work.

Chapa hadn’t thought about stocking the fridge or pantry, or even picking up a loaf of bread.

“We’ll find something,” he said, feigning optimism.

As he walked toward the stairs, Chapa glanced into Nikki’s room and noticed that her bed had been made. He turned to compliment her, and found that she was already smiling back at him.

“Thank you for noticing,” Nikki said.

He walked ahead of her down the stairs and into the living room, then started toward the kitchen, but stopped when he noticed that Nikki wasn’t following him anymore. She stood in the middle of the floor, carefully scanning every inch of the living room.

Chapa wondered how much of it she remembered. The downstairs looked nothing like it had when a family still lived there. Most of the photos were gone. Carla had also taken the furniture, then let Chapa know she’d given it away. The only thing that was the same was an old tan leather couch that Chapa too often slept in, and his tower of CDs.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” Nikki said, doing her best to sound sincere.

“All of the toys are up in your room, but you’ve probably outgrown them by now.”

“Some, yes, but not all of them. It’s okay, I’ve got my PSP to play with.”

As he led Nikki into the kitchen, Chapa made a mental note to pick up some games at the toy store in town. But as soon as he walked in and started looking around, Chapa knew he had more pressing issues than shopping for something to keep Nikki entertained.

The pantry and fridge looked like they belonged in an abandoned house. But Chapa managed to throw something together, at least enough to convince himself that it resembled breakfast. Twenty minutes later, Nikki was treated to a scrambled egg, a handful of Tater Tots, and some nacho-flavored Doritos.

“Interesting breakfast,” Nikki said, her lips gradually turning orange with each new chip she ate.

“We’ll have better food tomorrow. Pancakes, and bacon, and cereal.”

“It’s okay, I like this. It’s exotic.”

She shoved two Tater Tots in her mouth.

“You know what, those are like potato pancakes or hash browns, only smaller.”

Nikki laughed.

“Is this the type of breakfast you usually eat?” she asked.

“I don’t eat breakfast all that often. I work late, get home even later, and I don’t always get up in time.”

“I do, and I have fruit every morning. You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

“Yeah, I think I read that somewhere. Tomorrow will be different, Nik. I promise. There will be fruit.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad.” The last bite of egg filled her mouth, but that didn’t keep her from talking. “And Mom never has to know.”

There hadn’t been much opportunity for Chapa to worry about what his ex-wife was thinking while Nikki was away from home. Though he didn’t want to spend too much time discussing the shaky start to Nikki’s visit, he wasn’t about to coax her into deceiving her mother, either.

“I don’t like lying, Nikki. We talked about this after what you did to that reporter yesterday.”

Nikki shook her head.

“I won’t, but Mom won’t ask, and I won’t tell her.”

She smiled a big toothy grin, and Chapa sensed he had more to worry about when it came to Nikki than the unconventional meal she’d just finished.