He sounds so normal. Doesn't he?
"Is there anyone else you wish to visit? I'll have my men drive you there. There's no need to tire yourself when there are cars at your disposal and men who have nothing to do" He's mocking me. Because he knows that no one is going to help me now. I went back home thinking Mama would change her mind if she saw me but I was wrong. She told me to leave unless I wanted them all to die. "I'm sorry Catalina but you know what El Rey will do to us if we try to take you back. Your father doesn't have the money to pay him back. He'll kill us. Is that what you want? To see us dead?" She took my hands and pleaded with me, saying "You have to go back. Even if El Rey lets you go, what will you do? I don't have money to send you to college and Andres is still in school. We need to provide for him. Your brother cannot drop out of school. He is our only hope, Catalina. And who knows? Maybe El Rey isn't as bad as they say. I mean look at this dress you're wearing. It looks expensive. Did he gift it t
Kill? I've never even gotten into a fight with anyone. I mean the physical kind where you beat others. I've argued with Andres and this one time Xiomara, one of my classmates, pulled my hair while calling me names. I don't know what I did to make her so angry but I couldn't fight back because I was scared her friends would join and gang up on me. All I did was cry and ask her to let go. That is as close as I've come to harming others. Now El Rey is promising to make me kill someone if I disobey him. What is wrong with him? What is wrong with the adults around me? I didn't grow up sheltered. I've always known how dark this world we live in is. When I was thirteen, my neighbor Dulce and her mother were found dead in their house. Her father used to come home drunk and beat them until they passed out. Their screams could be heard everywhere. There were times Mama gave them food and back then, I stupidly thought she was a saint for helping them. Because no one else looked their way. Now th
....mena, wake up... do this to me" ...tried to...." "Get a..." "She needs a few days of rest but she'll be fine" Who is that? What happened? I feel like I was run over by a train. Where am I? Can someone get me a glass of water? I wait a few minutes and when nothing happens, I grunt in annoyance. "Are you awake?" Someone asks, their voice too loud. I wonder who it is. If I could open my eyes... "Why isn't she waking up? If anything happens to her..." "Calm down," Another strange voice says "She will be fine" "If anything happens to her, I will end you" "Who is she anyway that you sound so worried?" "None of your fucking business. Get out!" I hear footsteps, then the sound of a door opening and closing. The mattress dips, as if someone just sat beside me then they take my hand and run a finger over my wrist. I really want to know who this person is and where I am but I'm too tired. In my head, I close my eyes and go back to sleep. I'll ask them later. The next time I come to,
"Put that on," El Rey says sliding a black square velvet box toward me. I pick it up and open it. The gasp that leaves my mouth can't be helped. I don't know much about rings but this one looks expensive. The stone resembles a water drop with smaller shinier stones all around it. I can almost see my reflection in the silver band. I'm still gaping at it when he asks "Are you deaf? Put it on" "I don't want it" I reply absentmindedly. Could these be diamonds? Are they real?"I didn't ask. Wear the damn ring" Still mesmerized, I slowly take it out and slip it onto my finger. If Santi had proposed to me, would he have used such a ring or something similar? I always imagined how he'd do it. We would go out to dinner, he would get on his knees and propose to me in front of a crowd. Or in the middle of a street surrounded by flowers. My engagement was supposed to be romantic. A day I will remember forever. Not this.Lifting my eyes, I study El Rey. Looking for any signs of sickness. How old
I've been so busy planning my escape and where I'll go that I stopped paying attention to everything around me. So when I wake up to find Olga hanging a long white wedding dress in the closet, I'm taken aback. Despite all the other dresses being the same color, I can tell that particular one is different. Besides, it was among the dresses I tried a few days ago. Kicking the sheets away, I jump out of bed and move to stand beside her."Why is this here?" "Because the wedding is tomorrow. You have to try it on today so they'd have time to fix it if there are any problems" "What do you mean tomorrow?" I ask throwing out a hand to one of the shelves to steady myself "Don't weddings take months to plan?" "Are you serious? This is El Rey's wedding. He paid the planners to do it in a few days and even if he hadn't, I don't think anyone has the guts to tell him no" "But... But..." I don't know what to say. Like a fool, I believed he would take at least a month or two to plan the wedding an
It's crazy how calm I am when today could very well be my last day alive. It's also my wedding day. Every time I thought about marriage, this is definitely not what came to mind. I always associated weddings with joy, happiness, and laughter. But most importantly, with Santi. He's the man I thought I would marry. But it's true what people say. Life has no balance. Today will either be the beginning or the end of my dreams. If I succeed, I will make it my life's mission to achieve everything I've ever wanted. If I don't, I'll be as good as dead. Dying should discourage me. El Rey's threats of what he'll do to me should make me rethink my decision but they don't. I'm more scared of being his wife. I would rather he kill me. "Okay, when I said use your beauty, I didn't know you'd master it so soon," Alma says entering with Ines on her heels. I smile at them, glad that I can see them before I leave "Girl, you hit the jackpot" "You're here" "Can you make me your personal hair stylist? I
Seven years later My fingers ghost over the tubes and I settle on the darkest one. Picking it up, I swipe it over my lips then smack them together to spread the color evenly. Whoever invented red lipstick deserves all the money in this world. It's my favorite. Always has been but when someone said it made me look like my lips were stained with blood, I loved it even more. Throwing it back on the counter of the vanity table, I run my hands over my body. The black figure-hugging dress I'm wearing highlights my curves. It ends right under my ass and paired with the red stilettos makes my legs look longer. "What do you think?" I ask the man standing behind me. "It suits you" "We need to improve your vocabulary, Salazar. Beautiful, pretty, sexy, hot, devilish. Feel free to use any of those words" "We should leave" "Why? It's not like they can start without me" "If we don't leave early, you'll have to wait until next year to kill Ramon" Well, that is one way
"It's just procedure ma'am. After they leave, you won't hear anything about it again" "I don't pay you just so I could go through procedures" I slam the phone down, my blood boiling "He's not getting paid this month" "Calm down..." "Why should I when the fucking police are in my house? Did you find the person who posted that photo? I will carve out their intestines and feed them to Bruno" "They're not leaving until they speak to you" "Go and scare them away or threaten them. I don't care. Just make them leave" "Ma'am!' "WHAT?" "They won't arrest you. They're only here to talk. Answer a few of their questions then I'll make them leave" "I'm not... I'm not scared" "Let's go" Salazar walks out, forcing me to follow him. I hate how indifferent he is. As if nothing scares him. Not that I'm afraid of the police. Seeing them just pisses me off. But I guess it's better they're here instead of asking me to go to the station. Two men are sitting in the living room, each with a cup of c