The Past Recedes

Chapter 25

John tried to focus on the older man's words as they left the study to rejoin the rest of the family. The idea of having kids perform in public on TV nauseated him, remembering the JonBenet Ramsey case playing on an endless loop in rehab on TV. He wondered if Nika had done anything awful as those kiddie beauty pageants as a lump of dread settled in his stomach.

"John, your tea might get cold. You can help yourself", said Maria, handing him a mug of green tea and pointing to a tray of lemon slices, bottled honey and sugar cubes.

"Thank you, Maria", he replied. John added a squeeze of honey and a slice of lemon to his tea and sat down on the couch. Nika sipped her tea out of a purple teacup while watching PBS, which showed a symphony performance of Beethoven. "Mozart is better", she said.

"So do you prefer German classical music?", he asked.

"Yes, Italian music is too pretty. Mozart was Austrian, but they speak German", she replied.

"You do know you're part Italian?", he teased.

"One-eighth, and that's not much", she said.

"I know, but I have a very Italian last name so I consider myself Italian above all, since I'm close to Dad's side. I was born in Queens, it's a New York thing to be mixed up like that", said John.

Nika nodded as she continued sipping tea and watching the Beethoven concert. John sighed and took a sip of his tea. "It takes a while for Nika to warm up to people, she's scared of meeting new people", said Maria.

John suddenly remembered. "Maria, does Nika have autism?", he whispered.

"Asperger's Syndrome, you haven't received her medical files yet. She was diagnosed at four, she scored extremely high on an IQ test but we were concerned since she didn't play with other children or show interest in people. It could have been worse, Nika speaks and is very smart. The doctor said she ought to be enrolled in school with an IEP, a special education plan for children. Zoe refused, she thought IEP's were for retarded children", said Maria.

"What? IEP's are not for retarded people, I knew kids in school who had them and they were in regular ed. I'm note sure if she's going to be able to go to regular school, it might be late for her to get an IEP", said John.

"Then when you get back, go to a school you like and explain. Her doctor could send a copy of her records, yours should be coming through the mail shortly", said Maria.

"Okay, all of this is new to me. I've babysat Flea's daughter Clara but that's not the same. And our drummer Chad has a few kids, one with his wife and two with groupies but he does pay child support and the kids do visit him. Anthony doesn't have kids plus his girlfriend is really vain and doesn't want any. So only two of us had kids", he said.

"Raising children isn't rocket science, but you either are good at it or not. I always wanted to be a mother, I love babies. I had two of my own and adopted my stepdaughter Nicole, and I have four grandchildren. People think they're ready to have kids, but no one really is. The test is how you react and raise your children", said Maria.

John sipped his tea. "That's great advice, Maria. I had no idea I had a kid anywhere, but lord knows I hooked up with a lot of girls back in the day. I got sick of it quickly, though, many of the girls just wanted to sleep with someone famous. Anthony is cool with that, but I got sick of it", he whispered.

"I couldn't imagine anything like that, my siblings and I weren't raised to think anything like that. But I suppose rock musicians must attract many women, I couldn't imagine being with anyone but Pierre. We've been married for 35 years", said Maria.