Free Deja Blue by Robert W Walker

you. You know how much?” A question asked since Nia had been an infant.
     
“As big as the biggest ocean?” Nia played along. “Bigger.”
     
“As big as the universe?”
     
“Bigger.”
     
“As big as your heart?”
     
“You got it, kiddo.”
     
They ended with another hug before Nia returned to school and Rae drove off in search of her bags.
     
# # #
     
     
     
    On the drive home from Xavier, Rae began having doubts, second thoughts, suspicious of Nia’s motives. Rae began talking to herself over the golden oldies on her radio. “Wow…that’s so grown up of you, Nia. Makes a mother proud. Also makes me wonder just what the hell’s going on?”
     
    She swerved to miss a car backing from a driveway. “With your mom out of town,” she continued to decipher Nia’s motives aloud, “you might sneak out to see that older boy you’ve been e-mailing. Turning fifteen has gone to your pretty head.”
     
    Nia had only the week before turned fifteen, and while this Harvard freshman named Thaddeus was only twenty, that five years was as wide a gap as the Grand Canyon in terms of experience and intentions, not to mention breaking the law. Rae concluded that this was it. Nia was OK with her going so that she might see more of Thaddeus.
     
    She got on her cell, knowing the rule against cell phone use during the school day at Xavier, knowing that Nia’s cell would be on vibrate, and knowing she’d find an excuse to be alone with her cell to check out who was calling and why. Rae left a message after the Metallica song and the beep. “While I’m gone, I don’t want you sneaking off in anyone’s car to any late night parties or hangouts, young lady. Do you understand? Call me back when you can, and tell me how much you understand.”
     
    She pulled into the long driveway alongside the bed and breakfast. The Milans were gone, their perfectly shiny SUV nowhere to be found. Checked out as after today’s visit to the Smithsonian, they planned on zipping south on 1-95 and getting partway home, their sightseeing tour coming to a close. Only Enriquiana’s car remained, pulled alongside the carport in her favored spot, just as always.
     
    Once inside, Enriqui greeted Rae with a smile, but beneath the smile, the woman was flustered; the housekeeper began speaking in Spanish, punctuating with, “Iyyy-dios-me-o!” in iambic pentameter to her concerns. Rae’s rusty Spanish 101 from her college days proved no match for Enriqui’s tirade.
     
    “Please, Ingles, Ingles!” “I dunno what to pack an’ what not to pack, and maybe you needing to take a bigger bag, Dr. Hiyakawa.”
     
    “I understand. I get it.” She tried to calm the woman with a firm hand on her shoulder. “Go for the bigger bag, then Enriqui. It’s all right. Don’t stress.”
     
    “Excellenta, Doctor, excellenta.” The smile said it all.
     
    “Whew!” Rae wiped her brow in an exaggerated gesture of having dodged a bullet.
     
    When Enriqui disappeared, returning to the packing, Rae groaned. Leaving Nia and Enriqui alone presented untold dangers. Just as she had this thought, Nia rang her cell.
     
“Got your message, and I understand. Stop worrying, Ma.”
     
“You promise, no sneaking out with anyone— especially that Thadeus?”
     
“Ma, I got it.”
     
“And you listen to what Enriqui tells you.” “Yes, I promise.”
     
“Promise what?”
     
“That I’ll be a good little girl. ‘Sides, no one’s inviting me anywhere anyhow. I am peronae non gratis at Xavier.”
     
“What about your pals at Jefferson?”
     
“They’ve disowned me! Trust me, no one’s seeking me out!”
     
“Does that include Thaddeus?”
     
“Most of all.” “Something happen between you?”
     
“Most definitely.”
     
Good, Rae thought but said, “You want to talk about it?”
     
“Most definitely not.”
     
    Rae frowned at this. “I see. Maybe when I get back. Meantime, mind Enriquiana and don’t take advantage of her good