Payback

'That’s fine, but it does kinda kill the purpose in going if we leave before Carnival.'

Shy leaned forward, looked into his eyes and smiled. 'So, do you think you can tolerate the crowds for a day or two?'

'How can I say no to those eyes and that smile?'

Shy paused and thought for a moment. 'I got a better idea. Why wait for Carnival? Why don’t we just go?' she asked. 'I don’t know about you, but I could really use a couple of days off this rock.'

Now it was Mike who paused, then he smiled at his wife. 'Sounds like a real plan coming together.'

'Perfect!' Shy said. 'There’s one more thing,' Shy said and moved her chair closer to his. 'And I know how you feel about it, but can we, you know, like, play tourist?'

Mike took a deep breath and agreed, even though his idea of the perfect vacation was to be as far away from other people as possible. Sightseeing required being around a bunch of people that Mike didn’t want to be bothered with. On the other hand, Shy was desperate to be around people, to be a part of the crowd.

Shy missed being in New York, missed being a part of the whole I live in New York experience. Living on an island paradise was wonderful, but it does get old after a while. There were times when Shy wondered how Mike could stand it. But he goes to New York at least two or three times a month, Shy would rationalize. There were many days when she’d seen Mike get up early, catch a flight to New York and be back late that night.

When Mike woke up the following morning, Shy was at the computer and had arranged the entire trip. She informed him that she had chartered a plane, and they were staying at the Copacabana Palace Hotel, a five-star hotel on the beach. She told him that she had arranged for them to take a tour of the top ten attractions in Rio.

'Like what?' Mike asked.

'It’s a lotta stuff in Portuguese that I really can’t pronounce, but trust me, I know how fascinated you are by historical things, so I know you’ll love it,' Shy assured him.

As soon as they landed, Shy grabbed the first brochure that she could find and began to read aloud to Mike. 'Rio de Janeiro is the name of both a state and a city in southeastern Brazil,' a very excited Shy read as she eased her arm around Mike’s. 'The city is famous for the hotel-lined tourist beaches, one of which we’re staying at, Copacabana, and Ipanema, for the giant statue of Jesus, known as Cristo Redentor or something like that. But it means Christ the Redeemer. It’s on the Corcovado Mountain, which, by the way, is part of our tour tomorrow. It’s Brazil’s second-largest city after Sao Paulo and used to be the country’s capital until 1960, when Brasilia took its place.'

'Fascinating.'

The first day Shy and Mike wandered around, Shy shopped and took pictures with her new digital camera. As it turned out, Shy was right about her husband. Mike found Rio de Janeiro to be a city rich with history and magnificent architecture, both of which fascinated him. Now as they walked back to their hotel, it was Mike reading aloud from a guide book to Shy. 'The actual city wasn’t founded until March 565 by Portuguese knight Estacio de Sa, who called it Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, which means St. Sebastian of the January River, in honor of King Sebastian of Portugal. It was frequently attacked by pirates, especially by then enemies of Portugal, such as the Netherlands and France. In the late 16th century, the Portuguese crown began treating the village as a strategic location for Atlantic transit of ships between Brazil, the African colonies, and Europe. Fortresses were built and an alliance was formed with nearby native tribes to defend the settlement against invaders,' Mike read.

Shy kissed Mike on the cheek. 'See, baby, I told you you’d love it.'

'You were right, I do. Just like I love you.'

'I love you too. And I just love being in a real city,' Shy said and moved on quickly. 'What do you want to eat?'

'Something Brazilian. Seafood is always nice,' Mike replied and Shy broke out her list of recommended restaurants.

'What about Confeitaria Colombo? According to the map it’s not far from here.'

'I thought we passed that while we were downtown,' Mike said.

'This is a branch of the one downtown. It’s located at the Copacabana Fort, and it says that it offers the most beautiful view of Copacabana Beach.'

And with that thought in mind, Shy requested a table outside. They were escorted to their table, and Mike pulled her chair out for her. Always the perfect gentleman.

After the waiter took their order, Shy looked out at the sand and the water, felt the gentle breeze against her cheeks. One thing she couldn’t deny, she loved the beach.

As promised, they went sightseeing the following day. Their first stop was Corcovado. There they found Rio?s best-known icon, Cristo Redentor, Christ the Redeemer, a concrete statue of 30 meters whose wide open arms seemed to embrace the city and offered a magnificent view of Rio.

Mike had to admit, 'The view is spectacular, Cassandra. I am glad you talked me into this.'

After a day of sightseeing, they had a late dinner at Tia Palmira, which served extremely fresh fish, shrimp or crab all prepared with typical Brazilian recipes. They started with fried squid and then a bobo de camarao, which is shrimp in palm oil and ground yucca. 'I love it here,' Shy said while they waited for their food.

'Do you really? Maybe we could have moved here.'

'That would be fine except that I don’t speak Portuguese. But I love it. I love being in a city, any city.' Then Shy paused. 'Don’t you wanna move back to New York?'

'No.'

'I do.'

'You ready to go to jail?' Mike asked, as he did every time Shy mentioned New York. But he wasn’t prepared for her answer.

'Yes.'

'What?'

'I said yes. Living on an island paradise is wonderful, and I love being there with you. I love being anywhere that you are.' Shy reached across the table and held Mike’s hands. 'Michael, I love you, but I am bored out of my mind in the Bahamas.'

'Okay, so we’ll pick another island.'

'You’re not understanding me, Michael. I want to go back to New York, and I’m willing to go to jail if I have to,' Shy said slowly and clearly, making sure that she pronounced every syllable.

'Have you lost your mind?'

'No, baby, I really am thinking about it. What I’m hoping is that I won’t have to do any time, and if I do, it won’t be for long. I’ve been talkin’ to Wanda, and she thinks she can plea it down to a misdemeanor and get probation, or I may only have to do a year.'

'No,' Mike said flatly and Shy dropped it. She was enjoying their vacation too much to ruin it with that.

They had fun the next couple of days, spending their days either at the beach or somewhere near the water and sightseeing. Their nights were spent dancing at clubs like the Nova Lounge and Spazio in Ipanema. The subject didn’t come up again during the rest of the trip, but it was all out there.

They didn’t discuss it again until the night before all this began, Shy was thinking when she heard somebody unlocking the door. She tried to lie as still as possible and watched as two people entered the room. All that Shy could see under the blindfold was that it was a man and woman.

'There she is. You happy now?' Shy heard the man say.

'No. I’d be happy if you kill the bitch now and get it over with,' the woman said.

'That ain’t gonna happen. I told you before, the man says to keep her alive until he gets here.'

'You could say that she was trying to escape and you had to shoot her.'

'What you think I’ma do? Untie her, tell her to run and shoot her in the back? Is that what you think I should do? Do I look stupid to you? ’Cause that’s how that move would make me look-stupid, stupid and dead.'

'I don’t care what you tell them, just kill her.'

'Ain’t happenin’.'

Shy watched as the woman stepped closer to the man. 'Please, baby. Do it for me.'

'I told you that shit ain’t happenin’, now stop fuckin’ asking me that shit. This bitch gonna lay right here, alive, until he gets here and takes her off my hands.'