“He’s naturally athletic,” Sparkle observed, as they sat on the sidelines with Spidey, watching father and son skate.
“Seems like it, huh,” Lacey agreed.
“You like him,” Sparkle said. “Kenji thinks the plan worked.”
“Sparkle, what have I told you about staying out of grown up business? We don’t need you discussing us behind our backs.”
Sparkle stared at the ground. “I said Kenji thinks the plan worked. But I know it didn’t. You like him, but you’re going to make us move again.”
Lacey didn’t know what to say. Sparkle had always been a girl of two extremes, either oblivious to her mother’s feelings are overly attuned to them.
“You did something bad, didn’t you? That’s why you make us drive everywhere instead of flying and why we always have to pay for everything in cash. And that’s why you never go on the internet. You’re the only person I know who doesn’t use it.” She gave her mother a sad look. “And that’s why you’d never marry Mr. Nakamura even though you like him, because you did something bad and you have to hide.”
“Sparkle…” Lacey said, not quite knowing how to address what was basically the truth. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything when you’re older. I know you think twelve is old enough, but trust me, it isn’t.”
Sparkle thought about that for a moment. “I don’t want to leave Rise Academy.”
“I know you don’t,” Lacey said. “But you’re only twelve, and if I do end up moving from Chicago, I can’t just leave you in boarding school. You’d have to come with me.”
“Then the opera would never get done.” Sparkle began rubbing her thumb between her middle and ring fingers. “You’re going to make me leave Rise Academy and Kenji and I won’t be able to finish the opera.”
Perhaps sensing Sparkle’s agitation, Spidey began to fuss in Lacey’s arms. But Lacey held him tight in her right arm and pulled Sparkle close with her left one.
“Please, Sparkle,” she whispered. “Please don’t melt down. Not here. Not now.”
“I want to finish the opera,” Sparkle said, her voice shaking. “I love it so much.”
“I know you do, baby. And I’m sorry. I wish more than anything I could provide a different life for you. And when you’re old enough and can take care of yourself, we’re going to figure out how to get you out of this trap I’ve put us in. But until then, I’m you’re mom, and we’ve got to stay together. Okay?”
Sparkle closed her eyes and started breathing deeply in such a rhythmic way that Lacey knew it must have been something they’d taught her to do at Rise Academy. Still, it felt like a magical reprieve when her daughter opened her eyes and they were clear of tears even if the sadness remained.
“When?” she asked.
“I don’t know exactly,” Lacey answered. On one hand she wanted to stay with Suro, even after he gave her back the key. But Christmas marked the end of their truce. If he began asking questions again or worst kept on making it hard for her to have access to the things she needed to make a quick getaway, then she’d have to enact the Plan B that had been brewing in the back of her mind for a while now.
Lacey nodded with stoic resolve. “I’ll make a packing plan as soon as I get back to school.”
Somehow her acquiescence hurt more than her near meltdown. “Right,” Lacey whispered, feeling exactly like what she was, the worst mother in the world.
The sound of skates scraping the ice in front of them lifted both their heads from the conversation.
“Is everything all right?” Suro asked above them, his eyes on Sparkle.
Lacey gave him a wry half-smile. Of course, a fellow Aspie parent would recognize the aftermath of a near meltdown when he saw it.
“She’s upset about you saying no to the piano,” Kenji informed his father with the authority of a music prodigy.
“It’s okay, Sparkle,” Kenji said. “We won’t be able to get as much work done on this vacation as we planned. But we’ll be able to make it up at Christmas break when we’re in Miami. And I talked to Dad about marrying your mom by the summer, so we’ll be able to work on the opera then, too.”
Lacey’s eyes flew to Suro’s, “And what did your dad say when you talked to him about this?”
Kenji shrugged, as if his father didn’t have much to do with the subject. “He didn’t say anything, but that doesn’t matter. I know he really likes you, because he hasn’t had a girlfriend since my mother left.”
Lacey continued to stare at Suro, whose expression had yet to change as he listened to this exchange. “Well, marriage is about more than two people liking each other. And we’ve only been together for a little while.”
Kenji shook his head. “You don’t understand. My dad doesn’t like that many people. If he likes you enough to live in your tiny apartment, he’s going to want to marry you. Hopefully, soon, so we can move back to Miami. Right, Dad?”
They all waited for his answer, but in the end, Suro said, “Kenji, I’ve told you before, I will not discuss this kind of business with you.”
“Do it for Sparkle,” Kenji said. “Look how upset she got because she doesn’t have a piano. If she knows she’ll always have access to a good one, like the one in our house, she’ll feel better. Tell them, Sparkle.”
Sparkle looked at her mother and for a moment, Lacey was scared she would tell them exactly what she’d been so upset about. But instead she said to Kenji, “I was thinking we could set the second act in an ice-skating rink. The sound of skates would make a nice transition from the break.”
“That’s a good idea,” Kenji said, easily distracted by the subject of their opera. “Come on, let’s go record some ice skating sounds on my phone. We can use it for inspiration when we get back to Rise Academy.”
The two pre-teens skated away, chattering on and using music terminology Lacey couldn’t even begin to understand. Then, to her surprise, instead of going with them, Suro sat down beside her before moving Spidey over to his own lap.
“You don’ have to,” she said.
“I want to,” he answered, settling Spidey into his arms. “I like holding him. I didn’t get to do this with Kenji.”
“Because he was autistic?” she asked.