morning to you, too."
She flushed. "Forgive me. It's just that after last night . . ."
"Forget it. I found your sister. She and her family are in Grand Junction, Colorado. She's waiting for your call."
I gave her the number and address. She started to gush her thanks, but I cut her off."This completes my part of our contract. I will contact you when it's time to repay the debt."
She looked nonplussed, but nodded her head. "Thank, you. You are not so hard as you pretend to be."
"Maybe not," I said, smiling in spite of myself. "But I will collect on your debt." I logged off and checked the time: ten-fifteen. Plenty of time for what I planned to do next.
I put on my boots and a hooded parka. The sky was clear but the air was cold, below freezing and I didn't know how far I might need to walk. I checked the Moore's address in Evanston and cross referenced it with the netlink directory. They still lived there.
I quivered with excitement as I rode the L north to Howard Street. I was going to see my daughter. She was near. She was part of me, part of Marie, and soon I'd see her.
I caught a northbound bus at the Howard street RTA center and took it along Sheridan Road as far as Dempster, then walked east, almost to Lake Shore. The house was relatively small compared to its neighbors. A black wrought iron fence surrounded the front yard, ornately worked with a leaf design. There was a gate across the driveway and a green van parked next to the house.
I stood at the corner of the yard, looking toward the house. The windows were large and the curtains open to let in the morning light. The front door was brick red with a small wreath of dried flowers hung from the knocker. It looked clean and warm and inviting. I started forward toward the gate.
"Lucy, where are you?" a woman's voice called from the side of the house near the car.
With a peal of shrill laughter and a churning of tiny legs, a child ran across the yard toward me. Her hair was black, tied back in short pigtails. She looked back at the woman who was rounding the back of the van and laughed again.
"I see you, little girl," the woman said, laughing herself. "I'm going to get you."
The girl laughed again and ran faster. She was near the fence, now. Close enough to touch. I stood still, watching her. She caught sight of me and stopped, staring. The look was curious, no fear in it. I was a new thing in her shiny, safe little world. A thing to be seen and understood. I smiled at her. She smiled back, then looked at her feet, suddenly shy.
"Lucy?" The woman was closer now. She could see me and a tiny note of concern had crept into her voice. I stepped back from the fence and kept the hood of the parka pulled low. To the woman, I must have looked like a child myself. Bigger, older that Lucy, but still a small child. Not a threat, just someone who didn't belong there. I stepped back again as she came up to the fence and swept Lucy into her arms. The child hugged her neck playfully, then turned to look at me. She reached out to me, opening and closing her tiny hand.
The woman looked at me curiously. "Hello?" she said in a pleasant voice. High pitched, as an adult would address a child. "Do you live around here?"
Now is the time, I told myself. Throw back the hood. Tell her who you are, who Lucy really is. The baby is yours, part of you and Marie. She should know. I said nothing. I stood peering out from under the hood until she began to be uncomfortable again.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
I nodded. I think she caught a glimpse of my face. She pulled the little girl tighter to her side and turned slightly away from me.
"Where do you live?" she repeated. I pointed west, back the way I'd come. "Well, I think you'd better go home now." She turned and walked back toward the house. Lucy looked at me over the woman's shoulder and waved bye-bye.
I turned and walked away. After half a block I stopped, my breath coming in short gasps. I clenched my fists. Tears filled my eyes and I sobbed. I turned to go back, but knew that I couldn't. What did you expect, idiot? Show up unannounced with your face and expect to be welcomed? That would have worked well. Throw back the hood and scare the little girl half to death.
I walked to the end of the block. I tried to turn around and go back. Again I stopped. Marie had known this would be the way of it. Lucy was beautiful. What Marie and I might have been, in another place and time. She was free, safe, loved by her new parents. That much was plain even to me. Let it go, I thought. 'Absence from those we love is self from self- a deadly banishment'. So be it. Marie and I could never be together, not in this world anyway. Some part of us would go on in Lucy.
It was late afternoon when I got home. The ride had been long, lonely and thought filled. I'd made a decision. I booted up the avatar program and placed a vidphone call to Titania Pedenko. She answered immediately.
"Yes, Mr. Guzman. What can I do for you?" Her tone was cheerful, but there was a slight quaver in her voice. Anxiety perhaps.
"Did you get in touch with your sister?"
She smiled happily. "Yes. We are going to meet in St. Louis next week. With our children. Diana will have cousins! It is so wonderful. Thank you again for what you have done."
"How nice for you," I said. "But it's time to collect on your debt."
She nodded. still smiling, trying to look serious. "I understand. What do you wish me to do?"
"When we first spoke, you offered me money for my services. I checked your finances. You have a successful business but live quite modestly. Most of the business profit goes to expansion of the company."
"That is correct," she said, her accent suddenly heavier. "I have few needs. Of course I put money aside for my daughter, for her education and in case anything happens to me. How much do you require for your service?"
"You misunderstand," I said. "I want nothing for myself. I want you to set up a trust for someone and fund it on a regular basis, say a half percent of your yearly business profit. The money will be kept in trust for sixteen years. No information will be transmitted to the beneficiary or to anyone else. At the end of the sixteen years, you may stop paying into the trust and turn the money over to the beneficiary. I'll have a lawyer draw up the documents and you can review them. But you will sign them."
She cocked her head and looked into the netlink. "I will do as you say. We had an agreement. And I consider the amount a small price for finding my family again. But why do you do this? Who is to get this money if not you?"
"A little girl who, like you, was adopted when her parents were unable to keep her. I'll give the lawyers her name when they draw up the trust. Understand me: you are not to attempt to contact her, nor will you reveal where the money came from, even after the terms of the trust have expired."
"This little girl, she is special to you?"
"Just abide by the agreement, Ms. Pedenko."
She was silent for a long moment. "I would like to see your face, Mr. Guzman. Never fear. I will not give you away if we meet on the street. But you are a very interesting man. I would like to see your real self."
I hesitated for a second, then shrugged and disabled the avatar program. To her credit, she didn't gasp, or look away or even blink twice. She looked into my eyes and gave a solemn nod.
"I understand. I will do as you ask, Mr. Guzman. And if I may, I would like to meet your daughter when she is grown. She should know something of her father." With that she reached out and broke the connection.
"I'll be damned," I said to myself. I shut down the netlink. I would call Rosie tomorrow. He had a troop of lawyers in his pocket. One of them would draw up the trust for me, no questions asked. He'd say I was fafata, crazy. But then, he said that all the time.
I left my apartment and went upstairs to Sarafina's. She opened the door in a small cloud of cigarette smoke.
"Tito! Come in, come in. I just made some fresh coffee and there's a big piece of pie with your name on it."
"Thanks, Sarafina. I need a little comfort food right now."
She smiled and put an arm around my shoulder. "I know, dear. Come tell
em all about it. That's what family is for."
END
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