“No!” she shouts, backing away, raising a hand for me to stay away from her. “I don’t want you here. I want you to leave. This was a mistake. Grab you stuff and get the fuck out!”
She blows out a heavy, pain-filled breath and storms into her house, leaving me alone outside.
26
JOSIE
Mother: Be there in thirty minutes. I hope everything is as I left it.
I don’t understandthe point of her coming home when we’re not going to spend Christmas together.
I sit in the living room, deciding I’m not going to reply to her message. I stare at the Christmas tree she put up without me. Not that we’ve ever put it up together, or really do anything together. Unless it has to do with swimming. That’s the only thing she wants to be involved in.
After an hour of waiting, I decide to put my irritation aside and text her. She should’ve already been here.
Me: Everything is as you left it.
One hour and a half later.
I’m pacing and bouncing between texting, calling, or doing nothing at all. She’ll get annoyed with me if I text her too much. But this is so unlike her. If she was going to do something else, she would’ve told me so I wouldn’t wait up for her.
Two hours later.
Fuck it.
“This is Claudia Resendiz, leave a message after the tone.”
“Mom, hey, I’m sorry for bothering you, but I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay. Just text me back.”
Four hours, ten voicemails, and twenty text messages later and the doorbell chimes.
Scurrying to the door, I don’t think as I open it. Two police officers stand outside, their hardened expressions softening when they look at me.
All the blood rushes to my head, making me dizzy, but I firmly hold the doorknob, doing my best to stay balanced.
“Hey, I’m Sergeant Grant Hanson and this is my partner, Jorge Chavez. Are you Josefine Resendiz?” I nod. “Do you mind if we come in?”
I absently shake my head, pulling the door back to let them both in. Then he asks if we can take a seat, but I stay standing because I’m not sure I can physically move anymore.
He sighs. It’s so quiet but I catch the heaviness of it, feel it deep in my bones and the faintest, most empathetic smile on Jorge’s face has me seeing black dots.
“Are you the daughter of Claudia Resendiz?” Grant asks and all I can do is nod. “Your mom was in a serious car crash and she was rushed to Monterey Regional Medical Center, but she did not survive.”
“No,” I laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. “She said she was going to be here in thirty minutes. She texted me.” I pull up the message and show him. “See? That couldn’t be her. That’s not her. That couldn’t…no.”
He speaks for what feels like an eternity, but even though he’s standing right in front of me, I can’t hear a word he’s saying. I try to call her again, but she doesn’t answer.
I hear “I’m sorry” a multitude of times. From both Grant and Jorge. But it doesn’t settle until Grant asks, “Is there afriend or relative who could come over and drive you to the hospital?”
“No, I have no one else.”
Sinking down to the floor next to my bed, I bring my legs to my chest, circling my arms around them. My heart is racing and I’m profusely sweating. My hair sticks to my neck.
I shut my eyes, doing my best to control my shallow breathing and to stop myself from hyperventilating.He’s alive, I know he’s okay, I saw him.It’s what I tell myself, over and over again, but even though I saw him, I’m struggling to breathe. I can’t stop sweating.
“Josie.”
I lift my head, turning it to my right where it came from. Daniel’s in my bedroom, standing before he’s sitting next to me.
