Thank you MsSchneeheide for beta'ing!
The following morning, Blanca walks her fingers across Raiza's belly to make her giggle and then kisses her cheek loudly. "Buenos días, sunshine! Time to get up! Maritza and Laronne are already having their breakfast!"
"Boop!" Diablo says as he taps the little girl's nose. She bats his hand away from her nose and covers her face while giggling. Her arms folded across her chest, Blanca grins at their cute interaction and Raiza rolls out of her bed.
"I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Or, a peanut butter nana sandwich and peaches in a cup," she pipes up.
"Yes, little miss," Blanca tells her, still smiling.
"La princesita has spoken," Diablo adds teasingly.
"Mister Diablo! You know what to do." Raiza reaches up for him, and he picks her up and spins her around. She giggles and Blanca's heart is bursting from their adorableness. "Yaaaaay! I love climbing on the jungle gym with all my friends and being way up high, and this is fun, too! It's like I'm flyyyying!"
"Oh, I'm glad!" Blanca's cheeks hurt from beaming so much. Diablo sets her down; he's been grinning all this time.
Blanca later fixes Raiza's hair into high pigtails. Sugar is alcohol for kids, so as usual, she makes sure not to give her youngest daughter too much. Raiza is now starting to insist on dressing herself.
Before she and Diablo drop Raiza off at school, she makes sure Raiza has everything she needs, including her ocean blue binder with colorful stickers of butterflies and flowers everywhere. They hug and kiss her goodbye, and then Karla embraces her and starts taking her to her classroom, but then stops.
"Blanca…I've noticed that your little girl is doing this a lot lately, not wanting to leave my side. Raiza even gets scared if I exit the room for any reason, such as having to do paperwork, take my break, go to the bathroom, or help another kid on the toilet; she clings to me and begs to go with me. Of course, I let her, but it's just sad that she's afraid to be taken by her dad because she was kidnapped from you while you were homeless," Karla reports solemnly.
Maureen passes them and Raiza sucks her thumb while looking up at Blanca and Karla with round, worried eyes. With her free hand, she holds Blanca's tightly, and Blanca gives it a gentle squeeze back.
"She has friends, but they can't protect her…but I can't fight some big asshole either!"
"You remind her of her mami and she feels safe with you, regardless," Diablo tells her.
"Sí, exactamente," Blanca agrees.
"I figured that." Karla strokes Raiza's hair a few times. She kneels to Raiza's level. "I won't let anything happen to you, baby one."
"Okay," Raiza mumbles around her thumb. Karla gently eases it out of her mouth. She makes a disgruntled sound.
"You're my best girl." Karla taps her little button nose and Raiza manages a tiny smile. Blanca and Diablo beam at this.
"Thanks. You're my best auntie."
"Alright, gracias, bebé. Are you ready?"
"Yeah." Raiza hugs Karla, Blanca, and Diablo, before she and Karla head to the classroom. The small girl wipes her eyes free of budding tears.
"Can I sit right next to you at circle time?" Raiza asks Karla. She's still grasping onto Karla's hand.
"Sure, nena." She instructs all the students to gather on the floor and Raiza immediately crawls into her lap like clockwork. "You're my school baby."
"I'm not a baby. I'm a big girl!"
"I know. But you'll always be our baby. You'll always be your mami's baby. My mami still calls me her baby and I'm thirty-four!
Raiza just smiles cutely.
Meanwhile at Martin Van Buren High, Flaca inspects her face in the bathroom mirror. Her scar from the knife wound is thick and raised. It's a little itchy and she does her best not to scratch around the area. One sharp fingernail piercing the tender spot could make it bleed again. "Well, I lost the stitch and the gauze was taken off! Do I still look good?"
"Yep! Hermosa like always." Maritza leans up to peck Flaca's cheek.
"Aw, gracias, chiquita."
"De nada. How's your tía Mariana?"
"Kinda sad now, actually…that gringa Polly fired her because she doesn't know how to make a Word doc and she doesn't shave her pits," Flaca answers as they leave the bathroom.
Maritza pouts. "Aw, lo siento, that sucks! I hate that stupid bitch Polly; she made fun of Mami's unibrow once."
"What a cunt! Making fun of body hair is mean and rude and cruel and people shouldn't do it. We don't voluntarily choose to have body hair, and if we choose to keep it, it's our fucking decision and it shouldn't be ridiculed. Just because this culture's weirdly obsessed with hairlessness, there's nothing wrong with hair, it's just hair. Polly should stop making people feel bad for having it, that's awful!"
"Lo sé."
"Mami is trying to find my tía another job…she should be a health teacher or somethin', because she's good at giving food advice. She says just because you had McGriddle for breakfast and a cheese enchilada with tons of rice and beans for lunch doesn't mean you can't have a southwest chicken salad for dinner. You don't gotta eat cheesecake and bacon-wrapped hot dogs for the rest of the day! It's also about like, don't dwell on bad shit that happens in your life, try to move on."
"Oh, interesting!"
"I know, right?"
Maritza smiles and bobs her head up and down.
"Chicas…I need to vent," Maritza announces. "Y'all ever feel jealous about your mamis' boyfriends being able to do so much more stuff with your way younger hermanos?"
"Oh, for sure!" Elena says. "Fahri reads the boys bedtime stories and they play pretend, like they pretend to be kings while he's their loyal subject."
"Aw, that's cute, that's the same for Raiza with Diablo, but the little sweetie is the queen," Maritza states. "Just last night, they had a tea party with her dolls and stuffed animals, making up silly voices and having conversations as them. He and Mami and me are teaching her how to stay within the lines in her coloring books. Diablo gives her hugs and cuddles, chucks on the chin, pinches her cheeks, pats her on the head…also, he does her hair, combs or dries it. He lets her try on his shoes and stand on his feet. He gives her piggyback rides, bike rides on the kiddy seat, they play with dolls, they share feelings through toys, play peek-a-boo, and have tickle fights. I know I'm too old for that physical stuff now, like playing with a garden hose, playing dress-up or doctor, and being given a bath, but I'm just disappointed I missed out on most of these activities with my own papi when I was little. We may have played ball a few times and rode piggyback, but I can't even enjoy the memories of him because he's a tainted asshole. At least I had my mami for all that, though. Even though Diablo has done so much for us already, I want to hang out with him more…but I'm too old for piggyback and silly things like peekaboo or making weird faces now. Am I being extraña or somethin'?"
"Nah, it ain't strange to wanna bond with the dude your mom is happily dating!" Ceci tells her. "You sing in the band with him, that's cool. You could also make meals like enchilada casseroles with him…Elena and I did that recently with Fahri!"
"Mm-hm, I taught Leon how me and Aleida make mean tamales!" Daya puts in. "Also, I helped him paint some of the house he and the men are building. We talk about school, music, and sports. Recently, my family and I went ice skating."
"Yeah, and you both could also like, chow down weird food, play pretend, color, watch cartoons, and make animal noises…I know we're all too cool for that shit, but it could make Raiza and your mami and Laronne laugh if you had a hot dog eating contest or whatever. You could go bowling or see a movie you both like. Those are basically family activities," Flaca adds.
"True! I'll ask him to teach me to play the guitar."
"Good idea!" Flaca says. "Also, you could save up for a Wii and you could all play that!"
"Sure! I'll also ask for driving lessons like Mami's getting! I can't wait to ride my new bike when the weather is nicer."
"Cool!" Flaca comments.
The black girls soon join the Latinas. "So, I gotta tell y'all about this field trip I went on for Miss Fowler's class." Janae swigs her Pepsi and sets it down with a satisfied grin. "Damn, that's good! Anyway…it was to a crazy rich school in Riverdale, Thurston Academy. This white girl Courtney, now my pen pal, gave me a tour of their south lawn, which was huge with a big chess board; it looked like a college campus. She told me they did painting in art galleries and botany, then showed me the garden, where they made a salad for the PTO on Community Day, then the staircase inside, and the whole interior reminded me of Hogwarts, especially the library with the round green desk lamps. They were doing Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, apparently…and typing essays on actual laptops, too, rather than the stupid ancient computers we've got. We're just lucky we even have a library, because the last school I went to, there wasn't one since it was turned into a nursery for hoodrat babies. The outside of Thurston Academy was a gray castle, like you'd see in London."
"Highclere Castle?" Poussey asks.
"Fuckin' Highclere Castle. Of course you probably been there," Janae mutters.
"Nah, man, that's just the only one I know of," Poussey tells her, and the girls chuckle.
"Alright, well, movin' on, blondie Courtney's dad took me to Arthur Avenue to buy my family some crazy Italian espresso machine. I told him we didn't need charity, but my parents insisted on keeping it, so we did. I also met Courtney's nerdy older brother, who goes to Carnegie Mellon. He said Courtney was going to some expensive science camp in the summer. After this experience, I got a D on a paper, but I don't give a fuck. I would've been angrier if Piper was my teacher, though, I'll always hate her. She's a fuckin' Nazi sympathizer. One time, this weirdo mistakened Piper for a chick named Trista, who she smoked meth with near Chuckee Cheese in ninety-five, it was Mikey's cousin's mom, no one we know. I haven't told y'all the worst part, though." Janae drinks the last of her Pepsi and stuffs it into her red backpack.
"What happened?" Maritza wants to know.
"Courtney took me to the theater and showed me a white girl with an Afro wig singing in Dreamgirls, but it's supposed to be sung by an African American girl and I cried because of it. Courtney, the dumb white bitch, thought it was from happiness, her parents saw Dreamgirls on Broadway. It took all I could to not scream 'All you need is fuckin' blackface!' and storm off."
"Oh, how stupid!" Flaca comments.
"Yeah…so later, I ran and partied with 3-D and his crew to burn off steam. Boys used to think I was weird when I ran a lot…including my dad. He didn't want me to be on the track team; he slapped me when I went against covering myself completely by running in my uniform, but my mom was on my side! I'm so glad she kicked him the fuck out of our house, finally!"
"Oh, good!" Daya says.
"So, I'm glad I don't listen to dudes anymore when they tell me I'm showin' off, 'cause I was arrested after me and Donte stole a plastic bag full of food from a Sikh and raced into an alley. He said we'd lose the cops at the corner, I tried to sprint, my arms pumping at my sides, but Donte said to slow down so I did, and that motherfucking fool ran off while I had to put my hands up in surrender…the white pig held a gun to my face. Luckily, Yoga Jones and Aunt Alison had some connections, so they bailed me out of juvy."
"You stopped for that loser?" Daisy asks rhetorically.
"At the risk of being caught by a bigoted rat bastard? You've gotta be kidding!" Taystee adds.
"Chill, you two! It worked out…I've learned my lesson. Don't pause for no man."
"Yeah, you almost ruined your own life," Cat murmurs, giving Janae a disapproving frown.
"Not y'all judging me when it's fuckin' Donte's fault in the first place. I see your point, too, but it's in the past."
"Mm-hm, you right. That's mostly on his dumb ass. Didn't he get busted for something else later down the road?" Poussey asks.
"Yeah, it was awesome! So, I was in a cell with Ouija, Maria, Pidge, and Sankey, and we all punched her in her stupid face for being a racist cunt!" Janae cackles and the others join in. "You don't mess with girls from the South Bronx!"
"Nah, you sure as hell don't!" Daya high-fives her.
"Here I thought I'd be bussin' tables and flippin' burgers after college, but nope, I'm gonna be a track star! I pressure Cindy to run, even though she hates it and she also complains about her chin hairs she's gotta pluck…"
"Well, that's good for you, but my mom is a waitress…er, was. It's nothin' bad," Maritza pipes up.
"Nah, I wasn't sayin' that, more like, I wanna get famous and all. Don't you?"
"Of course!"
"This weird white lady named Lolly was obsessed with drones, they were flying over the school before you came here and Cindy and I noticed it…we were hoping it had a camera, but it was probably mostly there because of ol'J-Kizzle!"
"Fo shizzle." Taystee grins and nudges Janae. "She means Judy King."
Maritza smiles. "I figured. There was a woman we met on the streets named Lolly…she babysat Raiza until she was taken in for panhandling, even though she said she just had a broken wheel on her cart."
"Was she old and did she have short gray hair and glasses?" Flaca asks.
"Yep."
"Wow, what a coincidence…she used to hang out near our school in the mornings and give us free coffee. She wasn't bothering anyone, really, so authorities let her do that," Cat says lightly.
Maritza beams. "Aw, that's nice." Then, she frowns. "I hope she's doing okay, despite the circumstances."
"Yeah, prison, especially for mentally ill folks, must get pretty lonely and depressing," Daisy points out.
"Mm-hm," they agree in unison.
Elena, Taystee, Janae, Daisy, Cat, and Daya stand up. "Let's go find our boys!" Elena says eagerly. "Where are your girls?" She looks between Ceci and Poussey.
"The library, like the loveable dorks they are," Ceci responds. She and Poussey share a smile. "They're studying their oxymorons."
"Aw, okay! Catch ya later," Taystee tells them, and she, Janae, Daya, Cat, Daisy, and Elena leave the table.
While Raiza is eating her applesauce and spaghetti with her friends at her circular lunch table on Wednesday, Maureen watches them. Karla was going to, but Maureen had insisted. She sits beside Raiza. "Good job finishing your food, I hope you enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies I snuck into your bag the other day," she whispers when another aide's back is turned to face the other group of small students. Karla had to use the bathroom in the middle of their meals and she'd rushed out while apologizing. Raiza figures she'll be okay when there's two other women in the room. So far, they've been nothing but nice to her. Ella is hard of hearing, as Karla has explained, and she's helpful and fun.
"Thanks, Miss Maureen, but why-"
"Shh! Teachers Karla and Ella can't know. I don't think I'm supposed to give you extra food." Maureen puts her index finger to her lips and the kids, including Raiza, copy her while giggling.
"Yeah, but it's yummy!"
"I want galletas too!" Eva pipes up.
"You can't play favorites," Maya chimes in.
"I apologize, I'm not trying to…I'll bring you girls more cookies tomorrow if I have enough, okay? Raiza is just a special little girl because she's a survivor." Maureen scoots over in the small chair she's sitting in and prevents Lindsay and Rebecca from holding hands. "You two are eating, not playing right now, okay?"
"Sor-ry," Rebecca sings.
"Yeah, but we're almost done!" Lindsay says.
Ella looks over in interest and pushes her glasses up on her nose. Maureen raises her eyebrow. "What? Can you hear us?"
"A little, but not clearly."
Maureen sighs impatiently. "Watch your kids, please."
"I know." Ella turns back to her group.
"Now, Raiza…there's a pretty yellow cottage I wanted to take you to after school, because there's a mean witch there we have to kill!"
"I have to ask my mommy first. I don't want the bruja to hurt me. I only know nice ones, my sissy and my Tía Gloria."
"Oh, this one is really bad. I can get rid of her myself, but I need my helper with me. You gave your mama courage to leave her husband, right?"
Raiza shrugs. "She says I did. I have to tell her where I'm going."
"Not this time, it's a secret…can I trust you girls to keep quiet? It's a fun adventure! I'll bring Raiza first, then you eight." Maureen gestures toward Eva, Lindsay, Rebecca, Maya, Karima, Farah, Benji, and Julio. They look unsure, but they keep eating their food.
"She'll think my papi took me away," Raiza grumbles, squirming uncomfortably in her seat. "I…I don't wanna be alone."
"You'll be with me! Just tell her it's a field trip. We don't have to say a word to Karla." Maureen shakes Raiza's hand. "It's only between us. Don't say a word or I'll spank your tush."
"I didn't like the hair dolly you gave me, it was gross," Raiza mumbles.
"I said I was sorry about that!" Maureen snaps and the kids jump and stare at her with wide, nervous eyes. Raiza moves away from her. Ella glances at them again, but then turns back, looking annoyed. "Starting drama already at this age. Now, you need to eat!"
"We are," Karima insists, showing Maureen their half-empty bowls of pasta.
"Don't yell at her," Julio mutters.
"Yeah, or we'll tell our mommies," Benji adds.
"You don't wanna get in trouble," Farah chimes in.
"I didn't even so much as raise my voice, pipsqueaks. She keeps bringing up the past." Maureen redirects her attention to Raiza. "We're okay, right?"
Raiza nods, but keeps chewing. A sense of relief fills her when Karla returns, explaining that she had a false alarm and thought her baby was coming. "Thank you, Ella," she says as the woman assists her group wash their hands after eating.
"¡Tía Karla!" Raiza shouts as she stands up and makes a beeline for Karla, despite Maureen demanding that she sit back down and finish her food. She's about to tell Karla what's just happened as her teacher lifts her up and holds her tight, but she sees over Karla's shoulder that Maureen is giving her a scary death glare, one that she recognizes from her dad when she'd tried to stop him from hurting her mom with her words.
"Hola, sweetie," Karla says softly, rubbing her back in soothing circles. "Lo siento, I thought Abel was here already."
"It's okay." Tears fill Raiza's eyes, but she blinks them back quickly; she doesn't want Karla to think there's something wrong. It would get to Blanca and she'd put her mother through more stress.
"Raiza, come and complete your meal immediately," Maureen tells her sternly.
Karla turns around. "Don't worry about her, Maureen, just help the others. She's fine."
With Karla, she is, at least. Maureen is a whole other story.
When Thursday rolls around, Diablo's younger sister Adriana, now a detective, pays him a surprise visit. After they greet each other, laughing with a tight embrace, her nephew runs up to her. "Auntie Adriana!" he shouts as they share a hug.
"Hey, squirt, how are things?"
"Awesome! We missed you on Thanksgiving."
"Me too." Adriana shoves her hands into her jeans pockets. "I'm sorry, things got so busy with work."
"No worries, hermanita," Diablo assures her.
Blanca can finally find her words; she's just shocked at seeing the woman who was only ten the last time they interacted-and not all that friendly, either, but she understands. "Adriana...I haven't seen you since you were this tall!" Her hand hovers about four feet above the ground.
"What happened to you, I thought you guys were gonna become a couple...he said you were the one who-" Diablo cuts Adriana off with a look. Blanca glances down shamefully. "Yo, I guess you're finally together now, Diablo's kept me up to date on what's going on in his life."
As a teenager, Blanca runs to Diablo's house under the light of the sunrise and rapidly pounds on the door with both hands; she's almost sure she has the address right. She repeatedly knocks on Diablo's door, crying and begging for help in both Spanish and English, glancing cautiously around her, frantic and trembling, but no one seems to be home.
"Diablo, por favor," she sobs as she knocks repeatedly, the pain in her knuckles increasing. She won't give up until someone lets her in and she prays Dean is still asleep, as it's seven in the morning. Plagued with insomnia, she'd stayed up practically all night long, planning to escape and tell her secret crush everything. Even as her friend, he'd protect her. "Te necesito…" she chokes out, taking a break to rub her belly where her son is supposed to be growing. "¡Diablo, ayúdame!"
I need you…
She knows it's Diablo's place and gasps with relief when his baby sister answers the door. Her breath hitches and she wails a broken apology when Adriana yawns. "Jeez, ¿qué sucede contigo? I just woke up to this racket…"
What's wrong with you
"Tu hermano…¿donde está? I'm sorry I woke you…"
Your brother…where is he?
"He was arrested for being a hoodlum! Quit making so much noise, it's early Saturday morning!" a white neighbor of the Zunigas hollers, holding her door open with an annoyed facial expression.
Blanca's heart drops and she gulps down another lump crawling up her throat. Tears roll down her cheeks. "N-no…"
Luz appears behind Adriana with a cup of coffee and a tired smile. "Come on in, nena. Anita, mija, go back to bed if you want." She lets Blanca inside and locks the door. "Sí, as rude and annoying as Loretta Fisher is, she's unfortunately correct. Diablo was caught robbing a jewelry store with his amigo Weevil." The older woman rolls her eyes as she finishes off her drink. "It's not like my son at all, lo siento…I lectured him so bad, he's ruined fifteen years of his life now…he said not to even bother paying the bail, and I can't afford it, or a lawyer, anyway. The defense attorney appointed to him is shitty and unhelpful."
"Esta bien, you do the crime, you do the time," Blanca grumbles as more sadness washes over her. She hates that those are Dean's words and they'd spilled out before she could stop herself. It's just that she's so used to being forced to agree with him and his dirty cop sayings. "Mierda. ¿Qué carajo?" She sniffles and wipes her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Maybe try to get Karla's advice. He might even get out early if he's good…"
What the fuck?
"It's kind of your fault. Rompiste su corazón."
You broke his heart.
"¿Qué?" Blanca blinks confusedly.
"Adriana Zuniga, ¡ve a tu cuarto!"
Go to your room!
"Mami, she did-"
"¡Ahora!" Luz points frustratedly as a sign for her to leave the room and Adriana stomps off.
"Lo siento, Señora Zuniga, ella está en lo correcto…he probably thinks I abandoned him, especially since I'm moving soon-"
She's right
"Nonsense! He has many friends. If he feels that way, he's being dramatic."
"I'm his mejor amiga. That's what he's said before. It's just…mi novio, he's controlling and gets celoso. Tu hijo y yo…" Blanca makes a parting motion with her hands. "I just wanted his comfort…sé que suena tonto, pero I lost my baby. I…I was gonna call him Dario." After my soulmate, she wants to add.
Your son and I…I know it sounds silly, but
Luz frowns at her in concern and draws her in for a warm embrace, squeezing her gently. "Lo siento mucho, Blanquita."
"Gracias…" Blanca hugs Luz back a bit tighter. Behind Diablo's mother, she sees his sister with her arms crossed over her chest and a guilty look on her face. "Necesito decirte algo…" She draws back from Luz, who now wears a quizzical expression.
I need to tell you something…
A bang on the door startles them. "Blanca, come on, I know you're in there!"
As scared as she is, as much as her heart is pounding, she swallows her fear and goes to open the door calmly, just so he won't try to break it down. She doubts he'd hurt Diablo's family and the one she truly loves, who he would cause harm to, isn't even here. It could be worse for her if she makes Dean wait and embarrass himself in front of others with his yelling. She looks over her shoulder at them before letting him in. "Oh…Dean drove me here, I was just being hormonal, having a miscarriage and all…I even begged him to let me visit Diablo, I never do that." She gives a weak chuckle. "Adios." She waves goodbye at Luz and Adriana, who both silently return the gesture. As Dean takes her down the walkway, she shivers in his vise grip. His hands are wrapped around her arms as he pushes her along. She wants to make a scene; she imagines her stronger alter ego doing that right now, wrestling from his grasp, falling onto the concrete, kicking and screaming and getting everyone's attention. Instead, she's quiet and solemn as he leads her to his car and forces her inside, but not violent enough for anyone to notice.
She can't believe that he's once again one step ahead of her and probably followed her here. His lurking around Diablo's house while Blanca visited the Zunigas, is so disturbing. She hates that he could be the reason Luz may someday get deported, and she can't do anything to prevent it. She just hopes Luz watches the expiration date on her green card and nothing happens when Adriana is still a kid. Even though the younger girl had hurt her feelings, Adriana has a point, and no child deserves their parents being taken away so abruptly without a simple explanation that would make sense to them.
"¿Qué? Todo lo que iba a decir es que ella es la que se escapó." Adriana gestures to Diablo. "He said that."
What? All I was going to say is that she's the one that got away.
"Well, I ran away from Dean since he was violent, and Diablo y yo met up again," Blanca tells her.
"Mami suspected something was up about him cuando nos visitaste después de que Diablo fuera arrestado, but she had no evidence." Adriana's gaze upon Blanca turns sad as she combs her fingers through her straightened dark brown hair. "Seeing you again in person, except this time, we're both older, it's really hitting me. I'm sorry, I never understood how bad Dean really was to you. It's kinda why I became a detective…I wanted to put away all the scum of society out there. I get many domestic violence and rape cases and the victims and survivors look so haunted. It breaks my heart. I assure you, I'm nothing like your ex or the pendejos who took mine and Diablo's mami."
when you visited us after Diablo got arrested
"Tenías diez años, está bién," Blanca assures her. "Fue difícil huir de él... lo intenté muchas veces, créeme. Female police officers haven't ever been a problem for me."
You were ten, it's okay. It was hard to run away from him...I tried many times, believe me.
"Oh, good. You know the men I work with make like, four times as much as I do? The white ladies, double the amount."
Blanca looks at her sympathetically. "¡Oh, sí, siento oír eso!"
Oh yeah, I'm sorry to hear that!
"Sí, it's unfair," Diablo mutters.
"How did that happen?" Maritza asks, standing in the doorway with Raiza. "I never knew you were arrested before, Diablo!"
"Uh-oh, sissy is mad at you again!" Raiza's mouth forms an O shape.
"Call it being a stupid teenager," Diablo lets them both know. "I robbed a jewelry store, but I never did anything like that again. I promise."
Maritza fixes her hard stare on Diablo and sets her fists on her hips. "Good! How come you never told us? Hiding things like that ain't cool."
"Mija, yo sabía. No lastimó a nadie, y nunca tuvo la oportunidad de mencionárselo a ustedes chicas. The opportunity never came up," Blanca murmurs.
I knew. He didn't hurt anyone, and he never got a chance to mention it to you girls.
"I didn't think it was importante…it's just something I did in a past life and I didn't want to scare you, lo siento," Diablo puts in.
Adriana and Laronne just watch the awkward interaction. "Who is she, Mama?" Raiza skips over to Blanca and wraps her little arms around her mother's waist, easing the tension. She looks up at Blanca with questioning eyes.
"La hermanita de Diablo," Blanca responds and chucks her chin. "Ella está de visita de California." She switches her attention to the other woman. "Adriana, estas son mis hijas, Maritza y Raiza." She motions to each girl.
Diablo's sister. She's visiting from California.
"Hola, es un placer conocerlas a ambas," Adriana tells the girls while shaking their hands.
Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you both.
"Oye, a usted también," Maritza says with a smile.
Hey, you too.
"¡Hola!" Raiza pipes up cheerfully.
They all catch Adriana up on their new lives so far, and then Blanca and Adriana watch a telenovela while Maritza, Raiza, and Laronne help Diablo whip up an enchilada casserole.
"I'm happy your girls were able to bond with mi hermano so quickly."
"He's easy to get along with…and besides, Maritza has seen this one." Blanca points to the show that's playing.
"Mm, okay." Adriana nods in understanding. "I agree, he's pretty awesome!"
"Yeah, he's so sweet!" Blanca gushes. "Definitely a keeper."
"Well, with our papi no longer in the picture since I was three, Diablo wanted to be a better man than our father had been."
"He doesn't really talk about your dad…like at all."
"I barely remember him and he was apparently the dumbest loser alive. Diablo used to say 'Papá está muerto para mí'...and Mami would call him a disgusting sperm bank and ask us niños never to bring him up again. Apparently, he left and didn't come back."
Dad's dead to me
Blanca frowns. "Oh…lo siento. My parents just aren't compatible with one another…and mi papi hasn't spoken to me since Mami and me left the Dominican Republic. She said he was a pinche jerk and I still believe her to this day."
"That sucks!"
Blanca sighs tiredly. "Lo sé. How long are you here for?"
"Maybe a week!"
"Alright, cool!"
They smile at each other and then go back to watching the program.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, MsSchneeheide and Juliette45!
