A Cake1313 production ...Michael tossed around the green vegetables sizzling in the cast-iron pan. Sweat trickled down his face, his breath was hard and unsteady, and his grace as a chef was quite off. He placed the pan back onto the fiery stove and threw down his hat, annoyed with what he created.
“What is the matter, señor?” Manny, Michael’s best friend and executive chef of the Beasty Feast Yacht, asked.
Michael sighed and plopped down on the marble counter directly behind him. “It’s just that nothing I cook seems to look edible!”
Manny glanced at the pan of what was once a seemingly-heavenly dish. “Well…now it does.”
“Exactly! Not edible!”
Manny removed his gloves and threw them to the shining floor next to Michael’s hat. “I think you are overreacting a bit much, señor. So what if this ONE critic you have been dying to impress doesn’t like it? He’s still one man! Not one thousand!”
“But I wanted to make everyone in this county adore my gourmet food, but if this ONE critic doesn’t like it, then clearly not everyone wants to come here!”
Manny shook his head. “I’m sorry, señor, but you’re not making much sense. One person of the thousands who live in Del Mar, one man doesn’t simply adore it? A lot of people come to this city just to eat on this fine yacht!”
“Michael bowed his head and sighed. “I’ve lost the support of my family… ever since that awful day…when…,” Michael stopped.
Manny walked around the messy kitchen, stepping in rotten tomatoes and bits of flour. Well…at least the other half of the kitchen is shining. “You’ve got to stop living in the past, señor. That’s why you’re constantly acting up! You’ve never been this stressed out about this critic!”
“But Donna, my own daughter, won’t even come out of her room! Not since…,” he stopped, yet again, and wiped his eyes.
Manny sighed and untied his apron. He walked back to Michael and sat next to him. He didn’t take the slightest glimpse of his face. He was too afraid to see the expression there. “I told Donna of your drug and gambling habit.”
“Now she hates me?” Michael demanded. His mood didn’t change at all.
“Well remember when we went to the bar on my twenty-fifth birthday party? “Yes.”
“And I stripped and challenged a fifteen-year-old boy to a karate match?” he smirked. “And it turned out to be my nephew who hated me already?”
“Yes. You didn’t even know karate.”
“Well…Thankfully, it’s not like that. She’s just disappointed in you. She doesn’t care if you own a five-star restaurant on a yacht that’s docked to the finest part of Del Mar shore. She just wanted to spend some quality time with you, but the truth ruined her respect. Not her love.” Manny wrapped his arms around his friend’s shoulders. “It was time she knew the truth anyway.”
Michael shook him off. “Don’t embrace me. There’s no one to support me now…except you who killed my daughter’s respect for me by telling her my darkest secret!”
“Señor!”
“Shut up, Manny.” Michael removed his apron and walked over to the swinging kitchen doors. He held one open. “I’m going to the club.” At that, he was gone and the door swung back and forth.
“Poor amigo.”
This is the life of Michael Riveras. Ever since the death of his wife, he hasn’t been the same. He went through many sleepless nights wondering how his loss would affect his cooking. He took two doses of heroine every other day and his daughter was a wreck. All because of the fatal car accident that happened six weeks ago. And the worst part was…it was his fault. He knew it.
Michael careened down the bridge from his yacht. He thought he would phone his drug dealer and ask for two doses by the alley at the club. He reached for his cell phone…
****
“How was dinner, Brianna?” Michael stuttered, trying to keep his eyes on the road. What a horrible time for an impulse! He thought.
“It was the best anniversary dinner ever!” she replied with a beautiful, heart-warming smile.
“Well it was our first one!” he stuttered yet again trying to regain focus. Stay with me here, Michael! His conscience ordered. Suddenly, his hand turned the wheel rapidly causing the car to swerve out of control.
“What are you doing?” Brianna screamed. These were her last words…not counting the blood-curdling screams.
When Michael regained consciousness, he noticed Manny sitting right by his side, firmly grasping his hand.
Michael murmured, “Where am I?”
Manny answered, “The hospital. You were in a horrible crash that involved a drunk driver…Well most likely. Several vehicles were totaled, and you were the only survivor.”
Michael’s eyes widened and swelled with tears. “So Brianna’s?”
“Dear amigo…I am deeply sorry.”
****
“See you there in five,” Michael stated, hanging up his phone. Walking down the sidewalk, he looked at buildings towering above him. The setting sun created a beautiful purple tint to the glass windows. Any shade of purple was Brianna’s favorite color…. Too many things seemed to remind him of his dead partner…like the sizzling of his fajitas, the sight of the blue, blue Pacific, and even the way the morning crowd came in for breakfast. It was saddening. Has nature been trying to tell me something these past few weeks?
Three minutes later, he arrived at the club. But instead of going in, he walked right past it and turned into the alley. He looked at his watch. Twenty-eight more seconds… That was Brianna’s exact age when she died. Nature wasn’t being very comforting. Five…four…three…two…one… Michael pulled a wad of money from his pocket and tossed it into the shadow’s ahead of him.
“Hold your end of the deal, Tyke,” Michael grumbled. Suddenly a drug needle was tossed right in front of him…then another.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Tyke’s sinister voice hissed. Suddenly a loud siren made Michael jump. He saw a policeman get out with a gun in hand. He approached them with caution, both hands around the gun.
“You’re in trouble now, buddies,” the gun clicked. “Hands up, and come out of there!” Tyke emerged from the shadows and both men did what they were told.
“Señor Michael!” Manny cried as a door squeaked.
“Over here!” Michael shouted.
“You also have the right to remain silent!” the police officer said. Manny appeared right next to the officer, who took a good look at him.
“I see you’ve finally been caught,” Manny said and his mood fell a bit.
The officer pulled out a sheet of paper. “And your legal fee for your work was supposed to be in three years ago!”
“What?” Manny and Michael said simultaneously.
“Remember your incident at the bar?” the officer demanded.
“Oh,” Manny and Michael said together again.
“Line up against the wall, you three. Prison awaits!”
Manny’s jaw twitched and clenched. “Yessir.” The three men were cuffed and shoved into the back of the police car, and they were taken to county prison. There was no trial. Tyke was sentenced to twenty years, Manny seven, and Michael three. They were the worst three years of his life.
After Michael was released from County Prison, he took his daughter out of Child Services. She had definitely changed. She was now fourteen years old and she wasn’t pleasant to be around…If you were Michael at least.
He never succeeded in making the critic happy with his food, his best friend was still in prison, he was overwhelmed from the constant crowds of tourists and locals, and he never had time for himself. I finally know what to do… And I know what’s been going on…I’m being punished for my actions… On that day, he gave up his daughter to his mother and father in-laws and turned himself in. The police kindly let him choose how long he would stay… It was kind of strange, but Michael said, “Eternity.”
Five years later, on Michael’s birthday, Donna and Manny came to visit him and wish him luck on his special day. Michael had sat down and stared at his daughter through the sound-proof glass that separated them. Manny was right beside her. Simultaneously, Donna and Michael picked up the phone.
“Happy birthday, daddy!” Donna greeted with the same heart-warming smile that Brianna always made.
“Thank you. I love you both dearly,” Michael said. Donna shifted the phone from her ear to her shoulder and she spoke to Manny. Moments later she brought the phone back to her ear.
“How much longer? That’s what Manny wants to know,” Donna said.
“Until I rot.”
“What?” Donna exclaimed. “Why are you doing this?”
Michael gazed into Donna’s beautiful hazel eyes. They were filled with annoyance… You can tell anyone’s emotions from looking at their eyes… “I want to. Here there is nothing that reminds me of your mom. I’m not really treated well, but I’m surviving and that’s all that matters to me right now.”
“You can at least get out after twenty years! Right? Then you can redeem yourself for what you did!”
Michael shook his head. “Even if you redeem your reputation, you still feel guilty for what you did,” he began. “That means there is no redemption. There is nothing you can do to make the pain go away, or get the horrible memories out of your mind…No redemption…”
And he was right… Nothing could ever remove the pain, the suffering, and memories…Only reputation can be restored. But to you there is no such thing as redemption. Anyone will figure that out if you’ve done something wrong. It’s worse than karma, a death penalty, and even getting beaten because the pain doesn’t go away. There really is no redemption…None…
