Then to the gate where Mike was killed. Then, to the other spots I know men were shot as they rushed to protect us.
My heart cries for them every night until I finally fall asleep in Tank’s arms… only to be met with nightmares.
Or rather…memories.
Memories of my kidnappings.
Of my attack.
Closing my eyes, I lean my head back against the lawn chair.
Immediately, the images start.
The hole.
The one the Los Fantasmas men put me in.
I remember the day they filled it halfway with water and left me there for hours.
The choice they gave me was simple. Stay afloat with nothing to hold on to… or drown.
I’ve never told my brother or Tank about that.
Sunny knows, though.
The second time that group took me, Sunny was with me. We were at my therapist’s office when they grabbed us. They threatened to drown us in the hole, and I told her they weren’t bluffing.
Because they’d already done it to me once.
She’s never told anyone, and I’m grateful.
The memory shifts again.
I’m still in the hole.
It’s dark, and I’m starving.
That day, a new guard was watching me.
I think he felt sorry for me because he tossed down a soda and a candy bar.
As crazy as it sounds…that memory is a happy one.
I never saw his face.
I don’t know who he was.
And he may have been a terrible man in every other moment of his life.
But for that small piece of time…He was kind.
And sometimes, when you’re trapped in darkness, one small kindness feels like the whole world.
If I could, I would give that man a very long hug.
“Abigail.”
I open my eyes and smile up at the man leaning over me.
