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Isotta pivoted on her heels and turned, facing her mother.
“I don’t want to talk. I don’t need anything. Who I need is my sister. That’s all.”
Celestina felt as dismissed as Isotta intended her mother to feel. She may have to repent for her sinful infraction at some point, but that wouldn’t be today.
“I was just checking,” Celestina suggested, her heartbreak showing. “I’m here if you need me.”
“I don’t need you. I need Valentina.”
Chapter Twenty-two
There was no precursory phone call to announce their impending arrival. As far as Valentina knew, the day would be ordinary, nothing special happening. Valentina had grown accustomed to living alone on the verge of isolation. Sure, she was provided for, but it wasn’t anything like the luxury she grew up in. There were no maids or butlers. There were no chauffeurs or fancy cars. Valentina lived in exile in a small, plain flat. There was a living room with a television and bookshelf, a kitchen with the bare essentials, and a bedroom with a small bed in it. There was no luxury – no luxury of the sort. Her residence was modest and unadorned. It was plain and simple. There were no extravagancies or anything of the sort. Valentinna’s life went from affluent to meager at best.
There was an unexpected knock at Valentina’s door. Her senses were piqued. The knock was so out of the ordinary and unexpected. Valentina moved stealthily and quietly to the door. When there was an additional knock, she spoke.
“Who is it?” She demanded.
They didn’t verbally respond; they just knocked again. Against her better judgment, Valentina picked up the bat she had posed by the door and opened it, lifting the bat to make sure whoever was at her door was aware she had it.
“Ms. Valentina?”
Her brows wrinkled and knocked together. “Who wants to know?”
“I am here to take you home,” the driver replied.
“And I’m just supposed to get in the car with you because you said you were taking me home?”
Valentina heard heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete pavement before she saw her. When she looked up, it was in her grandmother’s eyes. Valentina tried to cloak the anger and surprise she felt.
“Yes, Valentina. We are here to take you home. Fifteen minutes ought to be enough time for you to gather your things, yes? We’ll wait for you in the car.”
Valentina watched as Constanza turned and walked away, her heels clicking just as rhythmically as when she arrived. Valentina stood at the door for a minute, not quite believing what had just happened. She had been exiled from the family for so long that Valentina never expected to be accepted back into the fold. Slowly, Valentina closed the door. She kind of moved on automatic pilot at first, gathering the things she brought and expected to stay. She didn’t get happy or excited. Valentina still reeled from what had just happened.
Valentina finally finished pulling her belongings together. Upon arriving at the door, Valentina looked around the room again to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She opened and then closed the door, locking it. By the time she arrived at the vehicle, the chauffeur had taken her bag and put it in the trunk. Valentina waited outside with him. When he opened the back passenger seat door, he looked in Valentina’s direction to compel her to climb into the car.
“Ma’am?” He called when she didn’t immediately come.
Valencia made her way over to the driver and climbed into the back seat. She watched as he closed the door. Valentina didn’t look around. She was aware that she sat next to her grandmother, yet Valentina sat as close to the door as she possibly could. She had no intention of engaging in a conversation with Constanza. Valentina didn’t have anything to say to her grandmother. Valentina knew Constanza had been the cause of her exile. She still hadn’t forgiven her. Valentina didn’t know if she ever would.
They rode in silence for the longest time. That was fine with Valentina. She didn’t have much to say anyway.
“Do we need to talk about expectations when you return to the family home?” Constanza asked.
“Is that where I’m going, to the family home?” Valentina inquired. She’d spoken up even though she didn’t intend to.
“Where else would you go?” Constanza asked.
Valentina turned to face her grandmother, and she eyed her for a moment before daring to speak again. She had always been the feisty one. Her grandmother should have known what to expect.
“I don’t know where else I should go; however, I’m sure you have another obsolete location to take my dejected self to.”
Constanza kept her eyes straight ahead, and then she looked in Valentina’s direction.
“We are taking you to the family home.” Constanza turned and looked directly at Valentina. “Do I need to review the house rules for you?”
“No, you don’t.”
Valentina turned her head away and looked out of the window. She had no desire to engage with her grandmother anymore. It was a waste of time. Valentina had already wasted enough time. She thought about all the time she spent alone, hearing the least little thing because it was quiet. There was no movement other than her own to produce sound. Valentina found herself angry and frustrated because she had to be alone, displaced from her home by her own parents and the woman who rode in the car seat next to her.
