“Ben? Hey man, it’s Nick.”

“Nick! Dawg! How are you man!?” Just as the words left his mouth, Ben was jumped on by all four of his siblings, ramming the receiver into his ear.

“Nick? Let me talk! Give me the phone!”

“Nick! Talk Nick! Talk Nick!”

“Ben! He’s my friend too!”

“Mom! Ben won’t let us talk!”

“Damn…down guys…jeez. Hang on, man. I gotta go outside…morons.” Ben pushed his brother and sisters aside, sticking his tongue out as they continued to whine and call out for Patty’s intervention. She wisely stayed put in her room folding laundry. Unless there was blood shed, they’d work it out themselves.

Nick laughed at the ruckus and told him to let them know he’d talk to everyone. But Ben didn’t pass that along…yet. He wanted Nick to himself for a few minutes.

“Okay, got rid of ‘em…so how are things going?”

“Goin’ good…how ‘bout you? How was school this week?”

“Real good. I think the teachers don’t know what to do with me.”

“Good…keep ‘em guessing. You have any classes with Erin?”

“Yeah, science. She’s got Steve for a lab partner though.”

“Oh, lucky her. How’s that goin’?”

“Eh, we ignore each other pretty much. I’ve got a few other friends from the team now.”

“Good. Just stay away from him, Ben.”

“He needs to stay away from Erin, man. Pissin’ me off.”

“Uh-oh…be cool, now. Just let Erin and the teacher deal with it.”

“I’m tryin’, I’m tryin’. Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“Steve was saying something to me about his dad offering our family money? What the fuck is that about?”

“Oh…yeah, that.”

“So he’s not bullshitting me?”

“Well, I don’t know what he’s said, but yeah. His dad offered to pay off Steve’s punishment by giving you guys the money to fix my house.”

Silence. The loudest silence Nick had ever heard. He’d been laying on his stomach across his hotel bed and rolled over on his back, giving Ben a few moments to soak it all in…think it through, and preparing himself for the words that would follow. They couldn’t be good.

“I see.” He was expecting a little more feedback than that.

“Ben…you know this has nothing to do with money, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know. Why would he do that?”

“Because he thinks money fixes everything…including his son.”

“But it doesn’t, Nick. How come I know that and he doesn’t?”

“Because you’re smarter than he is.”

“And poorer.”

“No…you’re richer. Richer than me…than the Spencer’s…”

“...maybe…” Ben sighed and ran his hand through his slowly growing hair. “I want my own room, Nick.”

“I know you do, Bud. And somehow we’re gonna get your mom on her feet working again and you’ll get your own room. It’s just going to take time.”

“No charity on this one, huh?”

“You want charity?”

“No…no, I don’t. I just want a room.”

“You’ll get a room. And you’ll have more than a room when it’s all said and done. Steve will still have nothing.”

“Yeah, I know. You did the right thing.”

“I’m glad you think so…I was afraid you’d be upset.”

“No. You’re right. Steve has to pay. He made the mess and he needs to see how things are for people not like him. He’s an idiot.”

Nick rolled back to his stomach and chuckled, happy that Ben had been so good about this. “Hey…did Miss Romero hear from the state or do you know?”

“I dunno. Why don’t you call her? You know you wanna.”

“I think I’ll do that, smart ass. Let me talk to Jack…putz.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for calling.”

“I’ll talk to you soon, dawg. Be good.”

“I am good, remember?”

“Yes, I remember…don’t you forget it.”

Solana listened to the odd feminine voice from the receiver, questions written all over her face.

“Is this THE Miss Romero of the Ruskin Community Center?”

“Uh…yes. How can I help you?”

“THE social worker of social workers? THE woman of women? THE queen of hair trimming and beauty?”

“Uh…I think so? Who is this?”

Suddenly the voice deepened and giggled. “It’s Nick. I’m hurt you didn’t recognize me.”

“Putz. Where are you?”

“LA. Ben told me to call.”

“Oh he did, huh? Did he tell you to prank me too?”

“No, that was my idea…I was wonderin’ if you heard from the state yet.”

“YES! Nick! Oh God…I did today.”

“And you didn’t call me why???”

“Because you’re working. Because…well, I dunno. Because I didn’t. Hang on.” Solana covered the receiver and spoke to her daughter. “Rosalinda. Why are you out of bed?”

“Is that Nicky?”

“Yes…go to bed, young lady.”

“I wanna talk.”

“No…it’s past your bedtime. Shoo.”

Nick heard a little foot stomp on the floor, and a few more stomps disappear in the distance. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the image. Full on pout. Hands on her hips and curls bopping with her steps, night time diaper swishing with each move. Irresistibly irresistible.

“Okay, I’m back. I don’t know where she gets her attitude from.”

“No, I can’t imagine. Must be some lost gene somewhere.”

“Shut up…what were we talking about?”

“State. Good news. You left me hanging.”

“Ah, yes. So…they showed up for the shopping and all. You knew that.”

“Yep. You were overwhelmed with the kids. Did you have enough stuff?”

“Barely. I ended up going to K-Mart for a few cheapy things to fatten it up a bit.”

“Ah…so, what’d they say?”

“Ready?”

“Ready, Freddie.”

“Not only will they give me grant money for next year’s program…”

“Alright!...Yeah??”

“They are giving us enough money to hire a full time administrator. Someone do to all the clerical stuff that Barry and I don’t have the time to do.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“I shit you not, Nick. It’s not the highest salary for administration, but…yeah. And I had an idea.”

“I’m having one too. You go first.”

“No, together. I know we’re on the same page.”

“Yep.”

“Mrs. Casey.” In unison. As it should have been.

“Oh hell yeah, Lani. This is fantastic. Ben was just whining about getting his own room again.”

“Yep…and after about 6 months here, she should be able to get a mortgage, especially through HUD, with no problems.”

“Wow. I can’t believe it.”

“Me either, Nick. I mean, I know what we do there is good, but I never thought they’d jump on the bandwagon like this. You have no idea how much we’ve needed someone to come get us organized.”

“Yeah, and if you’re going to get more kids because of the back-to-school thing…”

“Exactly. We’ll be totally overwhelmed. Now, we can concentrate on what’s important.”

“You haven’t called Patty yet have you?”

“No. I need to clear it through Barry first. She jumped in my head on the way home. We’ll interview her and a few others…just to make it official.”

“Sounds good. Hey, I’ve got an offer for you, too.”

“Ooh…I like the sound of that.”

“I have to go straight to New York when I’m done here. No stop off at home. I’m done over a weekend…um, Labor Day I think.”

Solana’s heart began to race. Was he asking her to meet him there? God, how she wanted to, but…that was not a good idea. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, so…Ben’s been wanting to fly and I thought maybe you could bring him up. My treat. You guys stay over the weekend with me and we can all fly back together.”

Whew. Okay. Yes, and no. That might work. But, wow…it was one thing to be alone on a beach with the kids in the condo on shore. Or alone on the front porch with the kidlet sleeping a window away. But, in New York City…wasn’t everything there forbidden?

“Lani? You there?”

“Uh, yeah…sorry. Um, I need to check on something for Rosalie. I don’t think she’d be a lot of fun there.”

“Totally up to you. I don’t mind.”

“You would, believe me. Let me call Katy and see what I can work out…talk to Mrs. Casey and all.”

“Okay. Good enough. I, uh…” Nick cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I miss you.”

“Mmm. I miss you, too. So does Rosalie. Poor Aaron hasn’t had a kiss goodnight since you left.”

“Damned good thing. He’s too young for that.”

“Yeah, right. So, I’ll call you or…”

“Yeah, you have my cell. Seriously, Lani. Call anytime. I get kinda homesick out here.”

“I’ll call…mañana.”

Again with the “mañanas”. Nick sighed and rolled on his back again, wishing she were with him now. But she wasn’t. Mañana, mañana, mañana. When would tomorrow ever come?