"Remember. Don't let anyone see you or know
you're really leaving. Otherwise, they might find a
way to stop us. Understand?"
"Yes." I said, my voice sounding so small I
questioned for a moment that I had actually spoken. "See you soon," he said and walked off. The nurse called home. but Lila told her my
mother was at her office, which was something that
took me by surprise. The nurse called her there and
told her I wasn't feeling well. She described my
symptoms. I knew from the way the nurse spoke,
listened, and nodded that my mother was diagnosing
it as merely monthly cramps.
"You're probably right." the nurse said and hung up. She turned to me. "Your mother is calling someone named Ricardo to come for you." she said,
You can lie down until he arrives."
I wasn't surprised that Miguel couldn't come.
He was in class, but even if it was only my monthlies,
it did shock me that Mommy would send Ricardo and
not come herself. I remember when I was little.
Miguel used to gently criticize Mommy for doting too
much on my every little complaint and every change
in mood.
Once I even heard him say. "You must stop this
paranoia. Willow. Hannah shows no signs of the
manic depression your mother suffered and you think
you suffer from time to time. It's only another ghost
you must put to rest. Sometimes I think we should sell
Joya Del Mar and go someplace else. Sometimes I
think Linden is the only one with any sense among
us."
How could she move so quickly from a mother
who worried over my every frown and grimace to a