Free Star Bright by Christina Ow Page B

before she turned and walked away, pulling Michael
behind her.
    “ Mama, why did
you lie?” Michael asked concerned.
    Maria hadn’t bothered to
consider his reaction, she had unconsciously lied to the man. As
pleasant as he might have sounded, she still didn’t want him to
know anything about her, he was a complete stranger and she knew
more than to trust only what she saw, “I thought it sounded more
Mexican.” She beamed a smile down at him.
    Michael
giggled, “We really do look like Grandpa Miguel.” He pushed open
the Cafe Rose’s door and walked in.
    Maria was always
uncomfortable when Michael put grandpa before Miguel. All he knew
about him were the stories Edna told him, and she was annoyed at
Edna for filling his head just as she did hers. Michael spoke
excitedly about him sometimes like they’d met, she was once like
that when she was young, then she grew up and got tired of waiting
for him and the constant excuses Edna would give and once she met
Ricky, she prayed he would never come back. She didn’t want her son
to face another disappointment.
    “ Mama, here.”
Michael held out a paper at Maria.
    “ What’s this?”
She took it and read the caption at the top. It was an employment
contract, “Michael...” she stopped when she didn’t see him in front
of her anymore. She looked around the cafe, slowly rising into a
panic.
    “ Mama.”
    She followed his voice to
find him on a table waving at her. He had a chocolate milk shake on
the table in front of him, a smiling blond waitress in a white,
long sleeved shirt and a short black skirt next to him. Maria liked
the uniform already.
    She walked to the table
and rubbed her knuckles on Michael’s head, he winced but went back
to drinking his shake. She turned to the waitress with a smile,
“Hi, are you hiring or did my son wrestle the form from
you?”
    She chuckled, “We are
hiring, and your son is very convincing. He would make a perfect
lawyer. I’m Jane.” Maria could feel her smile fade, the name of her
best friend gave her a chest pain. It had only been a day and she
missed her like crazy, “You are Paula, your son already did your
interview on your behalf.”
    Michael looked up at
Maria and winked before he went back to his shake. Maria chuckled,
“It’s nice to meet you Jane. Is there anything else, any part of
the interview my son hasn’t covered yet?”
    “ Miguel
covered everything, just fill out the form and you can start work
on Monday.”
    Maria’s eyebrow rose in
amusement. Her son was more like a con artist than a lawyer,
actually what was the difference? “I can’t start so soon, I have to
find a school for my son.”
    “ It’s a few
weeks to summer, schools are about to close for the holidays, but
there is a day care across the street, my daughter goes there. I’ll
just fix that up for you on Monday. I’ll bring you your food.” She
turned and left.
    Maria sat down
opposite Michael, “ Miguel? We only got separated for half a minute and you
have a job, a day care and a whole new identity for us, are you
sure you aren’t an old man in a four year old body?”
    Michael waited until his
glass was completely empty before he spoke, “If you have a code
name I don’t see why I shouldn’t. And anyway, I saw the for hire
sign, and I want to see the building across the street.” He pushed
the glass away to make space for the plate full of burger and fries
that Jane brought. She had that familiar waitress smile on her
face.
    Maria looked at Michael,
this was one of the times she felt like she was talking to an adult
and not a child, “Please go back to being a baby, you scare me when
you act so mature like that.”
    “ I haven’t
been a baby since I was three,” he whispered. His face darkened for
a while before it lit up again, “but starting today, I’m going to
be a baby, promise.” He picked up a few fries and stuffed them in
his mouth.
    Maria looked at him, she
felt so guilty when she saw the shadow that crept