She wakes up screaming,and I can’t say I’m surprised, nor do I blame her. After what she witnessed tonight, and what she endured, I’m lucky she did not break.
“Yes,” I told her, helping her recall the events of that night, careful not to lead her as the therapist once advised.
“And my parents? Are you sure they died that night?” No one could have survived that massacre. She didn’t see what I did as we escaped, and I was busy doing my best to shield her from it.
“You lost so much that night. It’s going to take time to make sense of it, if we ever can.”
There are never answers to human avarice and evil men do. We’ve both seen firsthand the victims and barely escaped being targets ourselves.
“Cocoa?” I ask once she fought her way free of the terror.
“Sounds great.” She says, falling back into our routine of handling her dreams.
Once we settle with warm mugs in our hands, we talk more of that night and the days that followed.
“Your uncle and aunt sacrificed a lot to help us leave.” Gratitude for what they’d done was one of the main reasons I’d fought so hard once I got here to make enough money to free them from the yoke of oppression.
“They are proud to have done it.” Not sure how much she remembers from those days fraught with their doors being kicked in at any moment, they had to go into hiding until they could seek asylum. Saban and I had no choice but to leave right away or be killed.
“Still, Seattle is a long way from Colombia and way colder.” Her face scrunches up. She’s never liked the cold.
“They love it. Uncle says it’s been too long since we visited.” I don’t tell her they begged me to let her go, but I just couldn’t. They know, just as I do, even as she curls up close to me seeking cuddles and warmth, that she should run screaming from the serpent ready to constrict around her, ready to devour rather than let her go.
I shift uncomfortably with the thoughts assailing me.
She snuggles closer.
“Hadrián, why did you pick the road name, Snake?”
I huff out a laugh, knowing she never liked it.
“Oh, sweetheart, I didn’t pick it. I earned it. Once I patched in Angel bestowed the name on me — clam, clever, determined, he may have even thrown in wise. He also knew I would kill anyone who dared threaten my haven, or anything I held precious. He knew that because of what I did for you — what I’ve proven again and again when it comes to you.” My words are emphatic and clear.
She knows I’ve laid motherfuckers down for even looking her way with too much interest.
“You’ve always looked out for me.” She says around a heavy yawn.
Pulling the cashmere throw around us, I hold her as day breaks.
Last night so many things broke free — Kandie from her captor, Saban from her hidden past, and me from the delusion that she’ll ever be free of her nightmares as long as the biggest one lingers.
That knowledge is a cold, brutal comfort, and one I’m not sure I’m ready to fully extricate myself from.
Chapter twenty-two
FOUND
SABAN
“Nothing is hotter than Alabama but hell.” Muttering, I get off my chopper in front of St. Augustus, but I don’t cross myself. Even if I remembered being Catholic, I don’t remember ever practicing the faith when I was little.
It’s quiet here now that I’ve shut my engine off. I know that if anyone is inside; they heard me. It’s not the type of eerie quiet that makes you wary, like some of the older homes and properties around here steeped in blood and history, like the courthouse where they used to have public hangings. No, this place gives off a sense of peace.
Inhaling, I smell the honeysuckle in the air. There’s also a light breeze that gives me a break from the stifling heat.
The stairs are sturdier than they looked the last time I was here helping with the planting. It seems like Peace has the parishioners and the community doing their spiritual duty for the church alright.
Smiling to myself, I open the door, letting myself in. The silence continues until I enter the sanctuary. There I hear themost lovely voice singing, “When the spirit of the Lord comes upon my heart, I will dance like David danced…”
