Thank you so much for beta'ing, MsSchneeheide!
Happy (almost) Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!
Warning: molestation and sexual harassment at this chapter's end
rosada-pink
Over the months that Blanca's been with Dean, Karla and two other girls, Gloria Mendoza and Lila Williams, have become very close. Karla also makes a guy friend of her own, named Diablo Zuniga, and she hangs out with Blanca's male buddy, Weevil, too. Karla still cares for her best friend a great deal, but it seems like Blanca has dumped her for Dean. She invites her to girls' only hangouts, but Blanca often can't come because she has a boyfriend and would feel weird with her single friend. She doesn't even know that Karla now has a boyfriend herself and they're currently on a triple date with Lila, her new man, James Washington, Gloria, and a rich white guy named Matthew Salsburg. That's how little Karla talks to Blanca. She feels bad about not inviting her, but she just can't stand Dean. He's a bad influence and way too old for their little group. He doesn't fit in. Something is off about him, but Karla can't quite put her finger on it.
"I've known that asshole for like a year now. He only dates Mexicans. It's probably because they're dumb enough to fall for his shit," Matthew mutters. "I don't mean you, Gloria..."
"Well, that was fuckin' racist," Gloria mutters. "Even if I'm Puerto Rican..."
Karla frowns. "Yeah! Blanca's Dominican, actually…and she ain't like stupid or nothin'. She's fiery...she doesn't allow people to disrespect her. Not all Hispanics are the same, by the way. You don't even know her. You wanna be my friend, you'll have to not equate Blanca with being an idiot, because she's my bestie and you can't talk shit about her."
Lila nods. "Mm-hm!" She starts to speak aggressively in French. James responds to her in the same way. It's too fast for Karla to comprehend and both she and her date Ramón are lost. "I can't understand a word they're saying," Ramón complains. The African American couple are quite fluent in French, apparently.
Karla shrugs. "I caught a few. Yo, I got into NYU! I'm really going for my bachelor's associate degree in Early Childhood Education!"
"Oh, wow, that's great!" Ramón tells her.
Gloria, Lila, and James start clapping. "Yay!" Lila exclaims. "I knew you could do it, homegirl."
"I'm so proud of you!" Gloria says cheerfully.
"You'll rock it as a teacher," James comments.
Karla smiles at them. "Thanks, guys. Blanca took me out for a congratulatory lunch and she was like, beaming with delight when I told her." They grin at that.
Matthew taps Gloria. "Are you applying to Julliard? Everyone says it's the best."
"I am. I've always wanted to attend that school. So...you think you're gonna make it big, huh?" Gloria asks him.
"We both are," he says confidently.
"It sounds promising," Gloria comments. "You'll be rich! You'll own one of those fancy houses in Malibu...not just live in one, but actually have it to yourself and pay rent and all the bills, of course...get yourself a pretty wife and some cute kids...I dunno."
"My dad doesn't believe I can do it, but I'm going to prove him wrong!"
"Well, go for it! Hey, Matthew, if you want to date me any longer after this, bigoted things cannot spew from your mouth anymore, got it?" Gloria asks him rhetorically.
"Yeah, we should give this a shot, because I like you, Gloria. I know that this other girl and I started off on the wrong foot because I was rude."
Karla's phone begins vibrating. "One second. It's Blanca's mom. Hey, Ms. Flores...what's wrong?"
"I just wanted to let you know that Blanca and Dean got into a bad car accident after their date and they're in the hospital."
Karla's heartbroken and she wants to burst into tears right then and there. She just prays hard that Blanca's going to be okay. "Can we see her?"
"Of course."
"What happened?" Lila asks.
"Are those happy or sad tears?" Gloria wants to know.
"Blanca got hurt and we need to get to the hospital right now!" Karla announces.
Gloria's and Lila's mouths pop open and they have worried expressions on their faces. Matthew goes home, but James quickly drives the rest of them to the hospital. As soon as he slams on the brakes, Karla, Gloria, and Lila hurriedly get out of the car while holding hands and they run inside the double doors. It feels like they can't get themselves to move faster and they slam into the receptionist's desk while panting hard.
"We're looking for someone...my best friend, Blanca Flores, age fourteen...Hispanic...she was in a bad accident. Which room is she in?" Karla almost screams.
"409," the frazzled woman answers. "Only two visitors are allowed in at a time...are you family?" The lady points at Lila. "You certainly don't look like her."
The girls don't answer. Instead, they get to Blanca's room as fast as humanly possible and Karla opens the door to Trina and Dean arguing. Blanca has her eyes closed and she's lying still in her cot, but when Karla takes her hand, Blanca squeezes it tightly.
"Hey, sweetie, I'm here," Karla murmurs while stroking her hair gently. She makes sure not to touch the bloody bandage on her forehead. "We came as soon as we heard from your mom."
A small grin appears on Blanca's bruised face and her eyes flutter open slightly. "Hola...Karla...was there any...anyone else in-involved in the crash?" she asks in a tiny voice. The girls can barely hear her.
"Oh...I don't know," Karla says. A lump is stuck in her throat and tears are just begging to come out of her eyes.
"Mi bebé...she gets a broken leg, severe chest pain, a concussion, and a banged-up face and she still worries about another person." Trina shakes her head while smiling sadly. She kisses Blanca's forehead.
"I..." She gasps sharply and then whimpers in pain.
"You don't have to try to talk, nena. I know it hurts," Trina murmurs.
Karla chokes up at Blanca's beat-up appearance and blinks back tears. Gloria and Lila appear to be upset as well. The dark-haired girls look from the Dominican and then to Dean. Instead of bursting out crying, Karla glares at him. "You could've killed her!"
"Well, I didn't."
"I cannot believe you're just fine!" she yells through gritted teeth. "You are supposed to take care of her! You're her boyfriend! God, I hate you! I hope Blanca dumps your ass after all this!"
"I got neck pain and my ears are ringing...you need to stop shouting."
"I'll put you in a coma, you dumbass!" Karla hollers while shaking her fists at him in anger, but Trina restrains her. She collapses in the older woman's arms while sobbing. The other girls watch on sadly.
"Shh...honey, we are all suffering...pero...you cannot blow up, no matter what. Blanca needs her rest."
"We could've lost her for good!" Karla exclaims.
"I know. Why don't you girls stay here with her while I go and check if there were any other victims. Dean, we need to leave them be. Let's go."
"Okay," he mutters. "At least we're alive."
"I hope you don't get yourself and my daughter charged with vehicular manslaughter because of your reckless driving!"
"Dario," someone murmurs.
The boy of Honduran descent struggles to open his eyes. He takes a breath, but it hurts. "¿Mamá?" he whispers. "¿Que pasó? Where's...?"
What happened?
"Cariño ... tuvimos un accidente automovilístico. I was driving you and Adriana home from your game...and then some drunk came from out of nowhere...whoever it was...they hit us from behind. Your sister's still in her coma. I hope she makes it."
Oh, honey..we were in a car accident.
"If I could punch the driver...¡Lo haría totalmente!"
I totally would!"
Luz chuckles. "There's my son. What's the last thing you remember?"
"We were laughing about something...but it's not important."
"I'm going to kill this bastard if they're not already dead!"
"Ms. Zuniga?"
Diablo's mother turns around. "¿Sí?"
Through his blurry vision, the teenager can see a white-passing Hispanic boy massaging his neck and a Hispanic woman next to him who looks about Luz's age. He tries to get a better look, but he really can't move without swearing and feeling absolutely miserable. All he can do is overhear.
"Your children were involved in this accident, yes?" the lady asks.
"They were. You damn well better pray that my daughter survives this. My son is suffering...and nothing seems to be wrong with either of you!"
"Lo siento mucho, but I wasn't in the car. My daughter and her boyfriend were."
I'm so sorry.
"I know how bad this must look...but I wasn't drinking...she was. She kept trying to drive...and then she ran us off the road...I guess that's when I lost control of the car. It was awful, Señorita Flores."
Both the women laugh bitterly. "You must think I'm an idiot!" Ms. Flores exclaims. "My baby girl doesn't drink and she wouldn't dare touch the wheel until she got driving lessons! She's underage...and quite frankly, so are you! She is badly injured and so is this poor young man and his sister! You need to tell us what happened and then apologize!"
"I'm sorry, you guys. I was irresponsible and I should've pulled over before we started making out. She was distracting me-"
Diablo wishes he had the strength to throw a heavy object at the douchebag's head. This girlfriend of his is obviously innocent.
"That's bullshit! I'm getting the story from her!" Ms. Flores says stubbornly. "It's all your fault until proven otherwise. How else did you get out unscathed, huh? Don't answer that!"
"You know...I had the weirdest dream," Karla starts. "Blanca...we were able to find love and get married and have beautiful babies."
Blanca giggles softly. "Did the guys have names? Who knocked us up?"
"I have no idea. All I knew was that we finally killed the guy who shot Tim in the end and were finally able to live our lives."
"Wow, that's cool!"
Karla just grins and gently pats Blanca's shoulder.
"Hey, how come you're all dressed up? You look so pretty."
"Thank you! I'm seeing Ramón, the band guy, and Lila's very into James, a boy from her class," Karla explains. "Gloria and Matthew...I dunno. We went on a triple date."
"I was with Matthew, but he's an asshole, I don't think we'll work out," Gloria chimes in.
Blanca winces. "Oh. I'm sorry for ruining your night."
"That's okay," Lila murmurs.
"I was honestly saved by the bell when your mom rang Karla," Gloria informs Blanca, who gives her a thumbs up.
"We told the boys it was fine if they left because we're busy with you right now. You're more important than a silly hangout." Karla squeezes Blanca's hand and kisses her cheek.
"How did this happen?" Trina asks as she walks into the room with Dean.
"We were making out...not paying any attention to the road," Blanca explains sheepishly. "I told him it wasn't a good idea, but...he likes a challenge. I...I probably should've done a better job of stopping him..."
"You should break up with him before he does shit like this again." Karla signs while sniffling. She and Blanca are taking classes in it since they want to volunteer in preschools for deaf and hard of hearing children when they're older, and they're both very good.
"I agree," Trina mutters.
"Wait, what did she say? What was that?" Dean asks, but everyone ignores him.
Blanca gives them a pointed look. "He didn't do it on purpose. He's definitely learned his lesson! Teenage boys are idiots sometimes, that's all."
Dean shoves his hands in his pockets and looks somewhat ashamed. "Yeah...I'm sorry. I've put a lot of people's lives in danger."
"Do you mean...there were others?" Blanca asks weakly, but frantically.
Dean sluggishly limps to Blanca's bedside and sits next to Karla. He takes Blanca's hand. "There's a boy your age who's badly hurt and his little sister is unconscious. I hope she wakes up soon, because I cannot go to jail."
"You should've thought about that before you tried to get into my daughter's pants!"
"¡Mamá!" Blanca exclaims sharply. "Did the dude in the other car have any broken bones like I did?"
"He got many lacerations and he can barely open his eyes or move. His mom said that he got cracked ribs and he fainted in the middle of his phone call to nine-one-one. He twisted his ankle and he'll be in a wheelchair like you," Trina informs her.
"Oh, that's terrible!" Blanca cries as Karla clutches her heart and Lila and Gloria hold both Blanca's and Karla's hands. "Dean, I love you, but you should've been careful."
Diablo watches through his heavy eyelids as a nurse wheels a Hispanic girl around his age into his room. As she lifts her head up, he can see that she's quite beautiful. She has golden-brown skin and the most innocent-looking brown eyes, like chocolate. Her midnight colored curls are to her chest. Her fingers are splayed across her good knee while her broken leg is propped up. For some odd reason, he wants to know how tall she is. As she gets closer to him, he notices that she has a split lip and her whole face is marred with black and blue bruises. A bandage is on her forehead with crimson seeping through it.
"I'll get you some ice, hon," the nurse says.
Diablo is enjoying his first week of school. The homework is a breeze and he already has a few friends, namely Weevil Sanchez, Leon McDonald, and Fahri Basara. There's a cute girl in his cooking class who he's dying to talk to, but he feels like she would brush him off like a bug on her sweater. Someone like her probably has a boyfriend, and he's right. A guy walks into the class and slings his arm lazily over her shoulder.
"Dude, I wouldn't," Leon whispers to him.
"What are you talking about?"
"Quit staring at Dean Juarez's chick! I was friends with her, but he told me to stay away from her," Weevil recommends.
Diablo wants to ask what her name is, but he decides to wait until after class. The opportunity never comes up, though, because she's always with her boyfriend.
When the nurse leaves, Diablo opens his mouth to speak. "Who are you, by the way?" He's so relieved he can get to know her a little bit now. He hopes to at least be her friend.
"My name's Blanca Flores. I just want to make sure you'll be okay. Did they tape up your ribs yet?" Her voice is just as soft and frail as his.
"I guess so. I'm Dario Zuniga," he introduces himself. "Everyone calls me Diablo. It's nice to meet you...despite our circumstances."
She shakes his bandaged hand. "It's a pleasure. I apologize-"
"It wasn't your fault."
The nurse returns and hands the young girl a pack of ice. Blanca holds it to different parts of her face.
"So, Blanca Flores...that's close to white flowers in Spanish if I said your name backwards," he murmurs.
She nods while beaming. "I guess mis padres thought I was gonna be pure and innocent my whole life. You can laugh. That was a joke."
my parents
He does, as loudly as he can handle for right now. "I suppose tu madre es Rosada, y I dunno about tu padre."
She shakes her head while giggling and waving her hands at him. "No! Trina and Rodrigo. I'm the only one whose name sounds-" She gasps when he starts snickering. "Ay, chico, ¡cállate!" He knows she's just pretending to be insulted since she appears to be amused. "Shut it," she repeats in English. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts too much!" She presses her lips together, beaming.
He gets serious again. "Blanca...are you in high school?"
"Yes. I'm fourteen. How about you?"
"Almost fifteen and a half."
"I'm actually the baby of my group. My best friend just turned sixteen last week. Dean, my boyfriend, is nineteen."
"What? You have a boyfriend in college? What was he doing at Martin Van Buren High in our cooking class?"
Blanca chuckles softly. "He's actually still in high school. He had to repeat senior year...lame, right?"
This guy must be a horrible student and he certainly shouldn't be going out with a girl who would've been a baby when he was in kindergarten, but Diablo keeps his thoughts to himself.
"Yeah."
"So...Karla and I are both on the dance team at Martin Van Buren High School. I'm also cheer captain...you probably know that, though."
"Yeah, I try not to miss any games. I might try out for football next year."
"You should!" Blanca encourages him. "You've definitely got the body for it."
He smirks. "Gracias."
"De nada."
"I love woodshop and cooking class, but I want to be an IT guy when I grow up."
"A what now?" Blanca's face crinkles up in confusion and Diablo smiles at how cute she looks when doing that.
"Computer maintenance guy…I keep out the bad stuff like malware or viruses…I'm really good at hacking and figuring out codes."
"Wow, that's…that's neat."
"I've also had a passion for building stuff since I stacked blocks in preschool. So, construction work is probably more my goal. Also, I wanna play the drums in a heavy metal band."
"That's so cool! I was really into punk rock a while back...still am, I guess, but not so much anymore. I'm also into dancing."
"So am I. My favorite is the slow kind. I wish I could show you some spicy moves, but..." Diablo sighs and gestures to his cast.
"I'm more of a salsa girl. So is Karla."
"There's a Karla Córdon in my gym class. Is your Karla Latina like us?"
"She is."
"I wish she introduced me to her pretty friend."
"Shut up!" Blanca says, but there's a twinkle in her eyes and her cheeks are glowing pink.
"It's a shame you have a boyfriend."
"Yeah, he probably wouldn't like you flirting with me," Blanca replies.
"Well...I'm sure he'd be fine with us being friends, right?"
"Of course. Hey...I know American Sign Language. I can't use my hands very well right now, but you could say I'm bilingual. I'm fluent in English, Spanish is my first language, though...I also can speak a tiny bit of French and understand some Russian. I...I hail from the Dominican Republic." She looks a little nervous as she says the last part.
"¡Muy aseado! Tienes que enseñarme algunas cosas. Tengo el inglés como segunda lengua...Soy de Honduras." He speaks Spanish to her again because it's his primary language and he wants to soothe away her worries of being the only person in the room from another country.
Very neat! You gotta teach me some stuff. I got English as a second language...I'm from Honduras.
She gives him a somewhat relieved smile, he thinks. "Mm. Me mudé aquí cuando tenía diez años. ¿Qué hay de tí?"
I moved here when I was ten. How about you?
"Nueve. Oye, parece que te van a liberar esta noche."
Nine. Hey, it appears as if they're releasing you tonight.
"Son."
They are.
"You're lucky!"
"I'm sorry that you're stuck here and your sister's in a coma. I hope she'll come out of it and we'll see each other again at school."
"Blanca, you didn't cause this," he assures her again. "Thank you for your kindness."
"You're welcome."
"It's time to go, Blanca," Ms. Flores says as she comes into the room. "Feel better soon, sir."
Blanca stares at Adriana sadly and waves goodbye to Diablo. "Mi Blanca..." he whispers as she leaves the room. It's the first time he's ever been extremely interested in a girl who isn't available.
One of Karla's other friends, Tiffany Doggett, has invited them for a slumber party, but Blanca doesn't feel like going in her condition, which everyone understands. Once the girls leave the hospital, Trina drops them off at Tiffany's and then Blanca and her mother continue home.
"Blanca fuckin' bailed again!" Jazmina Diaz starts out when the girls lay out their sleeping bags. "I knew she would."
Gloria scoffs. "Are you in her head now?"
"Duh, from what Karla tells us, Blanca is as flaky as they come," Tiffany points out.
"I don't complain about her. I just miss her, that's all!" Karla snaps.
"She got into a car accident, give her a break!" Theresa Gonzales says defensively. "I don't even know the girl, but I ain't makin' judgments."
"Yeah, me neither," Lila agrees.
"She needs her rest!" Karla adds.
"You girls are so naïve," Jazmina mutters. "When she's around that Juarez kid, she's La Malinche! I wouldn't be surprised if she's already got a bun in the oven."
Karla sighs and rolls her eyes. "You don't gotta be so rude. I'm not too fond of him either, but I don't go around calling my friends whores just because they're madly in love with a bad boy!"
Jazmina is about to argue back, but the rest of their clique, Layla Owens, Maria Ramos, and Jazmina's cousin, Aleida Diaz, arrive. Jazmina seems to forget about trashing Blanca as she and the rest of them order some pizza and fettuccini-with a salad, for health reasons-and then sit down to watch a scary movie marathon.
"So, how did your triple date go?" Layla asks as the girls raid the refrigerator for late-night snacks.
"It was fun...up until we were worried about Blanca," Gloria responds. "How's Bartholomew?" She still hasn't forgiven him for breaking her heart and she's the one who named him Bart the fart, but that doesn't stop her from making polite conversation.
"Oh, he's great. We're very compatible."
"Cool."
"That's like James and I," Lila comments. "Wedding bells are ringing...I just wish I could hear what they'd sound like already...I do in my dreams."
"Well, that's awesome! What do you think of Ramón, Karla?" Aleida asks. "Those rumors of us dating are extremely untrue."
"Oh, I know...he wouldn't have asked me out if he was with you. Ramón is terrific. I kinda hope we have a future together."
"Maybe you will," Maria says optimistically.
"Maybe," Karla echoes.
"Hey, Gloria, lookin' good!" Tiffany's obnoxious older half-brother, Lee Dixon, calls out. He's always had a thing for Gloria and he never fails to make it known. The girls chuckle uncomfortably and Tiffany flips him off. He winks at Gloria and goes into another room.
"No offense, but your brother is creepy," Gloria says quietly after pulling Tiffany aside so the other girls can't hear. "He's even older than Dean. What is he, like twenty-two?"
"Yeah, at least he buys alcohol for me and my girls when our parents aren't home. You know he doesn't mean anything by it when he teases you. He's just being playful. You should maybe pull your top up a little bit, though. That's really low cut."
Gloria does as Tiffany suggests and then they rejoin the group. "It looks like he got us wine!" Karla says happily. Gloria can't turn down a good glass of Pinot Grigio, even if it comes from a sleazy guy like Lee Dixon. She can simply learn to ignore his leery stares since he's doing his half-sister and her friends a huge favor by buying them a couple of bottles filled with wine to share.
The girls drink so much that they're completely buzzed and they fall asleep right away-with the exception of Gloria. She's a lightweight and really can't hold her liquor. After throwing up into the toilet with her eyes unfocused and dizzy and her belly churning, Gloria crawls into a corner of the Doggett-Dixon's dimly-lit bathroom and curls herself into a ball. She sees a male figure coming toward her with a cup. "Hey...you look like you need some water," he says as he kneels down next to her.
"Thanks...this should make me feel better!" She takes it in her hands and gulps it down.
The blurry person moves closer to her and she can feel a pair of rough lips on hers. "Finally...our first kiss."
She blinks a few times and feels queasier than she did before. "Lee...that's highly inappropriate...what you just did. I'm a minor." She's seventeen. Even if she'll be eighteen in two short months, she doesn't feel it.
"If you're drinking like you're my age, then you're ready for a relationship with me. You're sexy and I think about you in my bed all night long. Just looking at those legs of yours, whoa, and you're bangin' in that dress. That ass is even better. Fuck, it gives me a boner." He groans as he masturbates in front of her.
"I have to...I need to go...back to where everyone else is," Gloria mumbles. She tries to get up, but she can hardly budge. It's like a thousand bricks are holding her down. "I have a boyfriend now. You'd have to go through him to get to me." She's just trying to scare him off, but it doesn't seem to faze him.
"I love you, Gloria," Lee tells her while sucking on different parts of her body. She's too weak to fight him off or even struggle since she's intoxicated. "We won't fuck because you're under eighteen and I'm not going to prison. I just want to feel you up, hottie. You won't remember this in the morning."
"No," Gloria mumbles shakily as his hands slither up her dress and squeeze her breasts. He keeps touching her and she hates it. She sobs and begs him to stop, but he doesn't. "Por favor, no..."
"Yesss," he hisses as he turns her around, lifts the skirt of her dress over her butt, and yanks her underpants down. His disgusting fingernails pierce her skin as he digs in. "You're so nice and quiet, Hot Pants...don't tell anyone about this."
"I won't. I mean that," she says honestly. She wants to pass out and not feel a thing.
Lee sniggers. "Yeah, I know."
Nobody will believe her anyway. She chose to get herself drunk, so it's her fault for being irresponsible, she thinks.
After being molested, she lays on the floor for a while, trembling. She inhales and exhales slowly and then climbs into the tub to wash his germs off herself to the best of her ability. The warm water comes down on her like a calm rainstorm, gradually erasing her chills and goosebumps all over her body. Then, she gets into the fetal position and hugs herself. "Deep breaths," she mumbles while listening to the shower and keeping herself in the moment. "Respiraciones profundas," she repeats in Spanish. "Estarás bien, bebé," she whispers to the sweet little girl inside of her that's starting to disappear. "Vas a ser-" She breaks off crying in the middle of her self-soothing.
You're gonna be okay, baby. You're gonna be-
She should've screamed for help, though. She could've done anything to halt that monster's actions. Her tía had taught her how to escape, so she's really completely to blame.
Gloria's dignity plummets to the ground and then she suddenly feels a strong connection to Blanca.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, Boris Yeltsin, Juliette45, MsSchneeheide, and A Star In My Universe!