Playing with Fire for Mr. Mendez (Boys of Chicago Series #6)

“Ylona!” I got up from my bed and immediately ran to the kitchen to see why Granny was calling me this early in the morning. I stopped when I saw her panicking in front of a pan covered in smoke. I immediately took the pan off the stove and killed the fire. I looked into the pan and saw that she’s cooking pancakes for the both of us. I looked at her with a smile on my face. “I appreciate everything, Granny. But please, don’t cook for us anymore. I will do the cooking and everything in the house. You need to rest,” I told her. Granny is already eighty years old. She’s still active in some of the activities in the village for senior citizens but I am not comfortable when she’s trying to cook for us when I can do all the work at home. All she has to do is to lie down and act like a queen. She gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Ylona. I just want to help,” she told me. I sighed and nodded before assisting her to sit on the dining table. “Just have a seat and I will cook for us,” I said with an assuring smile. “It’ll be quick.” She nodded and smiled at me. I gave her a glass of her favorite tea. She loves drinking it in the morning because she says it gives her energy for the whole day. “Do you have anywhere to go today?” I asked her as I flipped the pancake on the pan. I heard her chuckle. “I have to see if Nevi already got my name on the list of the Zumba participants,” she replied. I smiled and shook my head. “She didn’t put your name on the list last time?” Granny let out a harsh breath. “She forgot about it. She already has Alzheimer’s. She sometimes forget the things she has to do,” she replied, a little annoyed that the leader of the Senior Citizen Coalition forgot to list her name last time. She loves Zumba because she loves dancing. She’s been telling me stories about how she’s the Dancing Queen in the sixties, during her prime. She has been boasting that she’s the girl who had admirers because of her dancing skills. Well, I watched her during one of her Zumba sessions and saw how good she really is. She picks up the moves faster than everyone else and had that different groove in her moves. Maybe she really isn’t lying about her dancing skills. “Well, I hope you get onto the list this time,” I told her as I finished off the pancakes and started on the scrambled eggs. “You should come with us,” she told me. I gave her a quick look. “I don’t dance,” I replied. “Well, Zumba is not dancing. It is an exercise. It doesn’t matter if you don’t pick up the steps as long as you are moving around,” she explained. “Come on! Jairus is there. He’s always looking out for Jessica. I want you to look out for me, too.” I sighed. Jairus is the grandson of her BFF, Jessica. He’s always worried about his grandmother because Jessica and Granny always escape after Zumba sessions. The last time they escaped, Jairus told me that he found them lurking on the seashore gawking at topless men. I can’t even believe it! “I have work, Granny,” I told her. She sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. “You’re always working. Ever since you came here, all you did is work. Why don’t you study? You’re supposed to be studying law, right?” I pursed my lips in a thin line and focused my eyes on the scrambled egg I am cooking. Yes, ever since I got here, all I ever did was work and try to be busy. I never have gotten to know anyone else because I can’t be close to anyone else. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be here with my grandmother. I would be gone away from her because I want her safe. I don’t want to pull her with me in my problems. “There is a college nearby. You can finish your last year in law school and strive hard to become a lawyer, Ylona,” Granny said, trying to convince me to go back to school. “I have some money saved up. You can use that for your school fee—” I sighed and shook my head. “I can manage, Granny. It’s been years. I already have let go of that dream. Being a lawyer is not what I want to be now.” I smiled at her weakly as I placed the pancakes and the scrambled eggs on the table, in front of her. “I just want to work and earn money.” Granny gave me a knowing look. “It was your childhood dream to become a lawyer, Ylona. That’s what you have promised your mom before she passed.” She grabbed the plate of pancakes and placed one on her plate. She got the maple syrup and drowned the pancake with it. “I hope you haven’t forgotten that, my dear.” I pursed my lip and smiled curtly. “That dream is dead,” I replied in a low voice just so she couldn’t hear me. “You killed it,” she replied. My eyes widened as I looked at her, shocked that she heard it. She smirked at me before taking a bite of her pancake. “You shouldn’t treat yourself as a criminal, Ylona. What you did…I know it wasn’t what it looks like.” My heart boomed against my chest. One word about my past and my heart is beating like crazy—my system is already going frenzy. I wanted to run from it and I did. I ran from it. I had to run from it. “You came here for a new life, I know. But having a new life isn’t what’s going to give you answers and solutions,” Granny started. “What you need to do is to face your fears, face your past and that’s the only time that you will be free from what your conscience is holding against you.” I paused and let her words sink in me. I smiled weakly and nodded…but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do what she told me to do. I can’t face it right now. Not when I’m still traumatized by every single bit of it. Granny and I had a pretty normal breakfast before she finally left to find something else to do—or pester. She told me she’ll be back by lunchtime but I wouldn’t be here by then. I have to work on the small café down the street. It pays a little better than others. I cooked lunch for Granny before leaving a note that I’ll be headed to work. Sometimes, she visits me and sees the environment that I am in. She loves walking around. I guess that’s why she’s best friends with Jessica. I wore my brown collared shirt with the logo of the café and a pair of blue jeans. I put on my white sneakers. I grabbed my sling bag and head off to work. *** “Ylona! I have a new side job for you,” Mrs. Racket, the owner of the café I am working at, told me excitedly. I looked at her and smiled widely. I love side jobs. I want more jobs as possible. I want to work a lot because that would keep me calm at night. I don’t have to think about…that night…because I am already exhausted. Mrs. Racket handed me a flyer of the opening of the new barbershop. It pays the same rate as this café. “I saw it on the way and thought of you. You can work four hours every day,” she started explaining. “You don’t need to know how to do a haircut. They are looking for part-timers who can do some cleaning jobs.” I nodded, relieved. “Thanks, Mrs. Racket. I will check this out tomorrow before work,” I told her and kept the flyer in my bag. She smiled and nodded. “Sure, no problem, Ylona. You’re my most favorite staff. And I know that you are looking for multiple jobs,” she told. “Just don’t leave me, okay?” she chuckled and I smiled. “You’re the best employer I had, Mrs. Racket. I wouldn’t leave just like that,” I told her and she laughed. “That is why I love you the most,” she beamed before going back to her office. I smiled as I resumed to do my work. So far, I loved working here. Aside from a good employer, I also love the smell of the coffee brewing. It makes me feel like I am still in college and I was still studying. It brings back the good memories I had of school. But that’s it. It’s not like I want to go back to school any time soon. After my shift at the café, I went home and saw Granny dancing in the living room. She’s smiling widely as she started to groove to a sixty’s song. I stopped by the door, did not make a sound and just watched her have fun. When the song ended, she stopped and finally saw me. “Ylona! What are you doing just standing there? Come here and let’s dance!” she beamed at me as she took my hand and started dancing with me in the living room. I was laughing out loud while she was controlling the movement of my hands to her delight. We danced to four more songs before we decided to eat dinner. She said she cooked something and I was shocked when I saw that she cooked chicken pastel. “You knew how to use the oven?” I asked her. She shook her head. “Someone is here a while ago. He’s looking for you and he helped me to cook.” I froze on my spot. “Someone is here?” I asked, anxious all of a sudden. Granny nodded. “He’s a handsome man. He’s tall too. He looks a little too formal for my liking. You know I don’t like guys in the corporate world. I love guys who are adventurous, not stiff,” she babbled while I stood there, already lost my mind. “What did he say?” I asked carefully. Granny sighed. “Well, he said he was just checking the houses here because he’s going to buy a property around here,” she replied as she fixed the plates on the table. My eyes widened. “He’s buying a property here? Why? This village is not profitable at any angle,” I told her. She shrugged. “I already told him that but he insisted on buying something,” she uttered before sitting. “And yes, he said he’ll be back in the morning.” I almost dropped my spoon down when she said that. And that’s merely the reason why I didn’t even get a wink of sleep that night. I was tossing and turning around my bed for hours until the sun was already up. If what I’m thinking is right, that man could be him. But what is he doing here? He should be in Chicago, busy to become the best lawyer that he is. I sighed and shook my head. My world is spinning because of lack of sleep but I can’t go back to bed now. I have work in a few hours. I drank coffee and cooked breakfast for Granny and me until I heard someone knocking on the door. My heart stopped. Is that him? I slowly walked to the door and opened it only to confirm my speculations. Here he is. Treon Genius Mendez in flesh. He’s not wearing anything formal and his body might have gotten a little bigger because of his muscles but I know him. I can recognize him. He stopped and stared at me for a few moments before he said his first word to me after a long time. “Hi.” I held my breath and narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you doing here?” I asked in gritted teeth. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have even known that I am here. “McCarrienne, I have been looking for you,” he told me in his usual calm voice. “Please don’t push me away this time.” I looked away. Damn it! Just one mention of my name and here comes my heart beating like it has never beaten before. “I don’t want you here.” I heard him sighing hard. “I’m here to take you away before the police come.” My eyes widened and he just nodded. “Please come with me or the police will arrest you in a few days.”