Delia's Crossing (Delia 1)

“Actually, it’s more believable that she would tell him,” she said. “It’s better for us. And for her,” she added, looking at me. “People will

sympathize and understand. She was violated. It’s natural for her to turn to Mexicans for help. You tell everyone that you told him about Bradley, not Sophia, Delia. Entiende?”

I understood. I just couldn’t believe that she would rather I lie. My silence annoyed her.

“I’m getting my lawyer to defend you, all of you. I’m paying for all of this, and it’s going to cost a lot of money. I’m not about to have this family dragged into something so ugly. You will do as I say. Entiende?” she shouted at me.

She brought her coffee cup down so hard that it shattered the saucer. I felt myself leap inside my own body.

I nodded quickly.

Inez and Señora Rosario came rushing in to see what had broken.

“Not now!” she shouted at them. They stopped, looked at me, and returned to the kitchen. My aunt sat there drumming her fingers on the table as she thought. Then she turned back to me.

“Until I say otherwise, you are not to leave the house. No salga de la casa. Not even for school. I don’t want to take the chance of your saying something by accident, entiende?”

Again, I nodded quickly. She looked at Sophia and pointed her right forefinger at her.

“This time, you’ve gone too far, Sophia. After this is over, if you just look the wrong way, I’ll have you skinned alive. Now, get ready to meet with Mr. Rudin in my office. Both of you. And be sure your stories coincide. Inez!” she screamed and stood up.

Inez hurried back into the dining room.

“Clean all of this up,” she ordered, pointing to the shattered saucer. Then she turned and left us.

Sophia sat there steaming while Inez worked. The moment Inez carried away the broken pieces of saucer, Sophia turned to me.

“Traitor,” she said. “You’ll be sorry.” She got up and walked out of the dining room.

I looked after her and thought, I’m sorry already.

A little more than a half-hour later, we were both called to Tía Isabela’s office to meet with my aunt’s attorney, Web Rudin. He was a robust man, not quite five-feet-ten, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. His ears stuck out a little too far, but he had a rich, smooth complexion, with soft facial features and eyelashes that would make any woman envious. He sat across from Tía Isabela at her desk, close enough to write on a long yellow pad he had set there.

“You know Sophia, Web. This is my niece, Delia, who recently came from Mexico.” She turned to me. “Mr. Rudin is the attorney who prepared the papers I needed to bring you here.”

I looked at him, but he still didn’t smile.

“She had a little working knowledge of English but has learned a lot since she’s been here,” Tía Isabela added. “She’s a bright girl.”

Finally, he started to smile at us and then stopped, as if he had nearly done something very wrong. He glanced at Tía Isabela, and she nodded at the leather sofa. We both sat, Sophia glaring at me once more in warning.

“Go on, Web,” she continued. “Tell them what you told me.”

He put his pen down and pressed his palms together. “Three of the Mexican boys have been found and are in custody. The fourth is still a fugitive.”

“Which one?” Sophia asked.

Mr. Rudin glanced at his pad. “Ignacio Davila. Has he tried to make contact with either of you?”

“No,” Sophia said. She looked at me.

I shook my head.

“I’ll have to have a clear understanding of the extent of your involvement in all of this,” Mr. Rudin went on. “I have a general idea of what these boys told the police. Let me hear it all from you two.”

“It will be faster if Sophia speaks for them,” Tía Isabela said, smiling. “You can ask Delia questions after that. I’ll help her if there is anything she doesn’t understand.”

“Sure,” he said, and sat poised.