I appreciate the warning. You know Elvira. She won’t turn down business, no matter who it is.”
Back at the apartment, all was still quiet. She peeked in on her daughter and Violet. The child sat cross-legged on the bed while Mercedes braided her hair.
“Mercedes is braiding my hair.”
“She is. It’s beautiful.” Carlita thanked her daughter before making a beeline for the bathroom.
When she emerged, she found Violet at the table, munching on a frosted pop tart and banana. “Now that’s a winning morning meal.”
“I let Violet decide,” Mercedes said.
“Bananas are good for you,” Violet informed her.
“They are, and so are pop tarts.” She kissed the top of the child’s head as she playfully tugged on a braid.
“Mercedes and I are going to take Rambo for a walk.”
“Rambo would love that.” Carlita reached for her cell phone and noticed she had missed a call from Tony. She stepped onto the balcony and dialed her son’s number.
“Hey, Ma. You got a minute?”
Carlita detected a hint of panic in Tony’s voice. “Sure. What happened?”
“I would rather not discuss it over the phone. Can you stop by the apartment? You’re not gonna believe this.”
Chapter 8
Mercedes waited for her mother to end the call. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Tony asked me to stop by.”
“Am I going home now?” Violet asked.
Carlita gave a slight shake of the head. Mercedes placed her arm around Violet. “I thought you wanted to take Rambo for a walk.”
“Okay. Can we go to Leopold’s for ice cream?”
“I don’t think Leopold’s serves ice cream this early, but we can check.”
Violet began hopping up and down on one foot. “Can we leave now?”
“Sure.”
Carlita and Violet waited near the front door while Mercedes grabbed her phone and purse.
They reached the alley and parted ways with Carlita heading straight to her son’s. She reached the top of the stairs and found the door ajar. “Tony?”
“In here.” Tony was standing near the sliders that overlooked the street. His second-floor apartment offered a bird's-eye view of Sandy Sue’s Bar-B-Que. “Did you know Elvira is working for the barbecue joint?”
“I ran into Dernice this morning when I was walking Rambo. Sandy Sue and her husband hired EC Security Services to patrol the place until Elvira can install some upgraded equipment.”
“The woman never misses an opportunity,” Tony said.
Carlita glanced around. “Where’s Shelby?”
“Gone.”
“Were you able to talk to her before she left?”
“No. She’s gone, as in she packed up her stuff and left sometime last night.”
Carlita’s jaw dropped. “Did she leave a note?”
“Nope. No note. Nothing. Nada. Zip.” Tony told his mother he called Shelby’s aunt and uncle to ask if they’d heard from her. “I tried her friend, Melanie, and anyone else I could think of. No one has seen or heard from her.”
“What about Violet? She left her daughter?” Never in a million years would Carlita have believed Shelby could just walk off, leaving her beautiful little girl behind.
“I don’t know, Ma. She’s not answering her cell phone. I left a message asking…begging her to call me. She took half of what we had in savings two days ago, so she’s been planning this for at least a coupla days. Maybe longer.”
Tony rubbed his brow. “I guess she decided she needed more than a few hours away from me. From me ‘n Violet.”
“We could contact the police and file a missing person report.”
“She left of her own free will.” Tony’s jaw tightened. “Shelby packed her bags and hit the road.”
Carlita began pacing. “I could put the word out. Maybe Reese’s friend, the one who works at the Greyhound Bus Terminal, sold her a ticket.”
Tony held up his hand. “And then what? I track her down and beg her to come home just so she can leave again? I shoulda seen the signs. Her picking fights. Her going out at night with Melanie.”
“Maybe Melanie is lying, and she knows where Shelby is.”
“I thought the same. Again, I can’t drag her home against her will.”
Mother and son discussed the next step. Both agreed that keeping Violet’s routine as normal as possible was a priority. They would tell her that her mother went to visit a friend.
“Shelby loves Violet. She’s not thinking straight. She’ll be back for her,” Carlita predicted.
“Six months ago, I would’ve said the same. Not now. Shelby changed. Something changed. I have no idea what she’s thinking.”
Carlita could see her son was hurting. The look on his face made her heart ache. She hugged him tightly. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re here. Me and Mercedes. I gotta get down to the pawn shop and open for business. Why don’t you take today off? Mercedes and Violet are out walking Rambo and then stopping for ice cream. You can pick her up at the apartment and then join us later for dinner.”
Tony, only half listening, nodded absentmindedly.
She reluctantly left after he insisted he would be all right and claimed he wanted to give the apartment a more thorough search.
She made it to the pawn shop with minutes to spare. Mercedes showed up not long after, offering to help. Tony had texted his sister, asking her to drop Violet off at the apartment. In between customers, Carlita filled her in on Shelby’s departure.
The morning flew by and, before Carlita knew it, the shop’s part-time employee arrived to take over.
Eager to find out if there was any news on Shelby, Carlita headed straight to their apartment. Violet answered the door.
“Hello, Violet.” Carlita scooped her up.
“Tomorrow is show and tell. My friend, Bee, is bringing her pet bunny. Last week Hayden showed us a coin his dad found in the backyard. It’s worth a hundred million dollars.”
“My
