"Joey, I – "

"I'm going to wait until Tito gets out of jail," he said, sobbing now, "and I'm going to live with him, and I'm never going to see either one of you again. And I meant what I said, Maria. Go ahead and hit me again. I don't care." He mouthed the word whore and stood there, defiantly.

Ritchie stepped toward him. "All right, Joey, that's it. Get up to your room and stay there until you can discuss this rationally. And you use that word to your sister one more time and you'll have me to deal with."

"It's not my room. It's not my house. It's not my anything. I don't have to listen to you and your stupid rules, Ritchie. I wish you were dead."

Joey ran up the stairs, and a few moments later, they heard the door to his room slam. Ritchie turned to Maria.

"Maria. It's my fault. I should have told him."

She sank down on the couch and put her head in her hands. "How did we not see this coming?" She looked up at Ritchie. "I can't believe I hit him. His whole life, I never laid a hand on him before. Not once."

"If I'd been the one standing next to him, he'd have landed on his ass."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better. You're the most controlled person I've ever met." She sighed. "I just wish he hadn't found out this way."

"Look, it was a long time ago. I always thought I'd have time to sit him down some day and explain it all. Since he doesn't visit Tito, who was going to tell him? We've been keeping such a tight leash on him, I didn't think he'd end up back in the old neighborhood. And the one time we cut him a little slack . . . "

"I saw Tito today." She paused. "We talked. Really talked. He doesn't blame you."

Before he could comment, she continued. "And before you say anything, I know you think of course it wasn't your fault, you were just doing your job, being tough on crime. But what you have to understand is that for all these years, I've really believed that Tito was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you railroaded him through." She took a deep breath. "Tito told me today that he wasn't so innocent after all, and that he's accepted responsibility for what put him there.

"I still think with that being his first offense and everything, he shouldn't have gone to prison, but if Tito is letting it go, then I guess I have to, as well."

"Come on," Ritchie said. "Let's sit out back. It's time for you to tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"About your...father."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ok."

They walked out across the terrace and leaned against the railing, looking out over the water.

"My father – if you can really call him that – was a senior at a fancy prep school. My mom was there on scholarship because she was a talented artist."

"That's where you got your talent."

"That's right. Anyway, she met him and fell in love and thought he was in love with her too." Maria shrugged. "Maybe he was. He was young and was defying his parents to even date her. He took her to the prom her junior year. He got her pregnant. When she went to him, he said he'd marry her."

"But it didn't work out that way?"

"No. It didn't. Instead of a wedding ring, he gave her money for an abortion," Maria said bitterly. "She'd disgraced her family. But she was a good Catholic girl, and an abortion was out of the question. He promised he'd come back for her. Once he got out of his parent's house, went to college. He talked about a trust fund. How they'd be together."

"But it never happened."

"No. She waited a long time. She called him when she was going into labor. And later, after Tito and I were born. He never came."

Maria was quiet for a moment then continued. "She used to show me pictures of him when I was a little girl. In the society pages. She said it was important to know where I came from, even if he didn't acknowledge us. She only ever spoke to him once more. When Tito was arrested. She went to him for help. She thought he would hire a lawyer for Tito. He broke her heart all over again."

"I've had a few dealings with him. I've always thought he was a bastard."

"You were right."

"But you'd met him before tonight."

"Once. I went to him when my mother was very sick. He wrote a check and said he never wanted to see me again. He treated it like it was blackmail. All he thought about was how embarrassing it would be to him personally and professionally if anyone found out his son was a criminal."

"I don't know what to say."

Maria shrugged. "The only real father I ever knew was Joey's dad. We struggled when we were growing up. My grandparents never forgave her for getting pregnant. The only happiness she ever had was when she met my stepdad. They got married when Tito and I were ten, and he always treated us like we were his own kids. Once Joey was born, things just got better and better. But it didn't last. He died of a heart attack. He never saw it coming. None of us did. It all happened so fast."

"I'm sorry."

"When he died, it hurt Tito and me so much. I threw myself into my art. Tito..."

"Tito went in another direction."

"He started hanging out with the gang in our neighborhood. He became sullen, withdrawn, not the same person. Maybe if I'd been paying more attention, instead of being so caught up in my own grief."

"Maria, you can't blame yourself."

"But I can make sure I'm paying attention this time. I can make sure Joey doesn't end up the same way Tito did. I have to."

"And I'll help you."

"I'm sorry, Ritchie. Can't you see it's not going to work?"

"Maria, I know you're upset about this thing with Joey, but it will blow over. He's a kid, and he's going to have to get past this."

"It's not that I don't appreciate everything you've done for him. I just can't... Ritchie, I can't have someone controlling everything in my life. Tito's planning to go to Texas once he's released. I think the best thing is if Joey and I go with him."

"We need to talk about this."

"Not tonight, Ritchie. Besides, I've made up my mind."

She went back upstairs and stood outside the door to Joey's room. She thought she heard the muffled sounds of him crying, but when she knocked on the door he just said, "Go away."

* * *

The next morning Joey wasn't speaking to her, which she supposed was an improvement over screaming insults at her like the night before. He sat across the counter, staring sullenly into his cereal bowl and doing his best to ignore her.

She had to try.

"Joey, you may not be ready to listen to this yet, but there are things you have to know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Ritchie. I know finding out the way you did was a shock.

"When I first realized who Ritchie was, I hated him too."

Joey glanced up for a second then looked away again.

"Look, Mom never wanted to believe anything bad about Tito –"

"But you're happy to, right? Because if Ritchie says it then it's okay."

She sighed. "Look, I love Tito. I'll always be there for him. But I've been wrong all these years to keep blaming other people for what happened. Tito told me he takes responsibility for everything."

"You're lying. You just want me to tell you it's okay for you to be Ritchie's girlfriend, but it's not. It's not, okay? I have to go to school." He pushed his cereal bowl back and grabbed his backpack.

He didn't speak to Maria on the drive to school, and when they got there, he reached to open the door, but she grabbed his arm before he could get out and waited for him to look at her.

"What?"

"Just think about what Ritchie meant to you before you found this out, okay? He's still the same person. And so am I."

Joey yanked his arm free and got out of the car, walking into the school courtyard without looking back.

* * *

The man sitting across the table from him looked familiar, but Ritchie figured it was more likely due to his resemblance to Maria and Joey than any recollection Ritchie had of prosecuting him. There had been so many. All gang members, with the same look of being older than their years, the same smirk on their faces. Tito was just one in an endless chain of defendants who had gone through the court system.

But Tito wasn't smirking. His eyes were steady, his face impossible to read.

"I wasn't sure you'd see me," Ritchie said.

Tito gave him a level gaze. "Like I've got so many more interesting things to do with my time."

"Maria's told you we're involved."

"That's why you're here? I already told her I'm cool with that."

"That's only partly why I'm here." Ritchie wasn't sure he believed what he was about to say, but he was taking the leap for Maria. If they were going to have a future together, he was going to have to meet her half way. And that meant allowing for the possibility that he might have misjudged her brother.

"Look, if it makes any difference to you, I saw everything as black and white back then. But I'm thinking now sometimes things are a little gray. I'm thinking you did get a raw deal. I could have taken the time to meet with your lawyer, find out if there were extenuating circumstances."

"Yeah, well, what difference does it make now? Like I told Maria yesterday, I'm done with blaming other people for my mistakes. Did you take a hard line on my case? Yeah. But I'm the one who put myself in that courtroom. Look, I've missed out on every opportunity I could have had. I caused my mother so much sadness. And I couldn't even be there when she died. I left Maria stuck with all the responsibility for our mom and then for Joey.

"All I've done is hurt the people I love. When I get out of here, I'm going to get as far away from the two of them as I can. That's the best thing – the only thing – I can do to help them."

"Well, Maria says she's going with you."

Tito shook his head. "Not gonna' happen."

He looked up. "Thanks for everything you're doing for Joey. It more than makes up for...anything else."

Ritchie nodded. "He's not too happy with me right now."

"Somebody finally told him you're the prosecutor?" Tito shook his head. "I told Maria she was crazy to think the kid was never going to figure that out."

"He's not too happy with her at the moment either."

Tito shrugged. "He'll get over it. Kid's got nobody else."

"That's not true."

"Shit, you think I'm a role model?"

"Depends on what you do with yourself once you get out of here."

"Like I told Maria, a guy I know has an uncle with an auto body shop in Texas who's willing to give me a chance."

"You'd get out earlier if you got into the work release program here in Miami. And you'd have a job waiting for you when you got out." Ritchie leaned back in his chair and studied Tito. "I checked your disciplinary record. You're totally clean. No question you'd qualify for work release."

"Yeah, well there's one big problem. Who the hell's gonna offer a guy like me a job?"

There wasn't any sound but the clock ticking on the wall. If he were wrong, he'd be putting his partners and his firm on the line, too.

"Me," Ritchie said.

Author's Note:

Will Maria go through with her decision to leave?

What do you think about Ritchie's offer to Tito? 

Why do you think Ritchie did this?

Music:  Patty Smyth - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough