“You don’t trust me. I understand. I’m a stranger to you. Let me talk while you eat. We’ll become friends in no time.”
I took a bite of cubed melon from the plate.
“I’ve been with the family since Tommy was a small boy. His mother died when he was just a boy. The Ferrano family hired me to look after him. I was an illegal alien with no future. I’d been smuggled into the country by a nasty piece of shit, who wanted to work me and my family to the death in payment for getting us into the states. Mr. Ferrano, Tommy’s father, Tom, he broke up the operation that was ruining lives of a lot of people. He freed dozens of people treated like slaves. In thanks to him, I offered to work for their family for nothing; they saved us, a lot of us. Of course they have paid me generously all these years, anyway. He got me citizenship, too. I stayed anyway; I wanted to be surrounded by people who cared.”
“Slaves? They saved you from slavery?” I shook my head, a sour look on my face.
She continued, “This family, they don’t play everything by the books. But they did a lot for me. There are a lot of people out there like them, don’t kid yourself. They don’t all get called by the same names but there are some very bad people out there disguised as good people and there are people who do bad things sometimes but are not bad, they do what they need to do. This family, what you see is what you get. They did good for me.” She pointed her thumb at her chest, “And for my parents.” She looked up to the sky and then kissed her fingertips and pointed them at the sky, “They’ve become family to me.” She motioned to my plate again, “Please, Chiquita; you need to eat.”
I took a bite of food. She kept talking.
“Tommy is the oldest of four. He’s taking over the family business after he marries you. He has big responsibilities. Big. This means you will have an important position. He’s like a son to me, you know? I have no kids but his mother died and so I was like his mother. We’re like family. You’re resistant to this. I know a bit about your father. I know that he gave you to pay them. Having a man like this for your father, what he did was a blessing. Better to be with the Ferrano family than a man like that.” She spat the word ‘that’ out with a grimace.
I was shocked, “I’m a prisoner, Mrs. Martinez. How is this better?”
“Call me Sarah. Better to be a prisoner of a good man than an evil one. Tommy is a good man. You’ll see. Underneath all his---you’ll see.”
I shook my head, “I wasn’t imprisoned by my father. He left me in foster care for 9 years. I was free but he came and he--- and Tommy is forcing me into---” I stopped talking. I didn’t want to say another word. Rule number 2.
“Your fiancé will provide for you, keep you safe, give you a family, an amazing loving family. Maybe you don’t think this is what you want but you will be very blessed. I know he has dark tendencies but I think the right woman will bring him into the light. He’s had much pain in his life so far. He’s had a lot to prove. He’s beautiful outside; he just needs love to help create some beauty inside where he feels ugly. You’ll see.”
How promising. Ugh.
I sipped my coffee and stared out at the forest beyond the pool. I was done listening to her. This was pointless.
“I hope we can be friends. You can come to me if you need anything.”
Yeah, she’s loyal to him, to them. I won’t go to her for a thing. I stared, unseeing, ahead of me.
She must’ve picked up on my vibe because she left me alone then, patting me first on the shoulder and saying something softly in Spanish. I ate some of the food but really wasn’t all that hungry so it was tasteless and pointless. I was worrying about Rose, Cal and everyone who would be worried about me. I don’t know if ‘worry’ was the right word for the emotions I was feeling about my Dad, though. He had really done it this time. And Tommy said he’d take care of things with Rose and Cal but I hadn’t a clue what that meant. I felt sick about it. Was he trying to get me out? Tommy’s father had certainly said different. How could Dad have looked so calm when he watched them drive away with me?
It started to rain so I wandered back into the house. Mrs. Martinez was cleaning the kitchen, “Should I give you a tour of the house?” she piped up.
“Actually, I’d like to lie down. I don’t feel all that great.” I couldn’t care less about a tour of my prison.
She smiled warmly, “Do you need something? Painkillers, tea, anything like that?”
“I just need a nap. Thank you, Mrs. Martinez.”
“I’m not married. And call me Sarah.”
I nodded, then I went back upstairs to Tommy’s room and got under the covers. I felt dirty in his bed, the bed where he’d screwed me that morning. The bed where I’d let him do that to me without fighting back. The bed that smelled like him and that smelled like sex. I wondered if my Dad lost any sleep last night. I thanked my lucky stars, if I had any, (I probably didn’t) that I wasn’t going to get pregnant from this morning’s activities since he hadn’t worn a condom. I rubbed my arm, feeling the small birth control implant that was there. I only hoped that Tommy Ferrano didn’t have any STDs.
I woke up a few hours later feeling no better. I wandered over to the wet bar Tommy had gotten wine from the previous night and opened the mini fridge. It was stocked with bottled water and had several wine bottles plus a few bottles of beer. I got a bottle of water and then wandered into the bathroom and found a bottle of Tylenol in the medicine cabinet. I took two of them, hoping they’d save me from this excruciating tension headache, and then I climbed back into the bed. My eyes landed on the heart-shaped box. It had been moved from the dresser to right beside me on the bedside table and then my eyes flew up to the ceiling so fast that it was like I’d subconsciously thought I could un-see the box. I didn’t even want to think about that box. What I did want to think about was how I was going to get out of this mess.
When it got dark, the door opened and I thought it’d be Sarah Martinez again as she’d looked in on me and tried to engage in conversation at least 3 times but this time it was him. I looked up at him from the bed, where I’d been all day. He stood over me, staring. I wanted to disappear.
“Honey, I’m home.” I could see him smiling, probably thinking he was funny. I looked back to the television. My whole body was tense, locked tight.
“Sarah has dinner ready for us.” his tone was gentle.
I shrugged.
“I need to talk to you about a few things so maybe up here is better. It’s more private. I’ll bring it up.”
I chewed my lower lip and didn’t give him anything.
He sat on the edge of the bed and flicked the lamp on, “I’m gonna try to be patient with you but I won’t tolerate this for long.” His eyebrows were up and he looked serious but not angry. I blinked at him a few slow times and then rolled my eyes and looked back to the TV, trying to give off a “Whatever’ vibe.