That was the part that hurt the most.
Mayté let out a strangled laugh that burned her throat.“Does it really matter?None of you care.”She went over to her painting supplies.Thankfully the twins hadn’t torn into her stack of old drawings and paintings.This was where her heart was and surely among these was her most prized possession.Quite possibly her only way into Fortune’s Kiss.
“That’s not true,” Carlos said, but his voice sounded weak.“There has to be something I can do.”
It was far too late for that.“It’s okay, Carlos, it really is.”Her voice cracked.He was her older brother.He should have been there to help and protect her.He wasn’t a drunkard like their father or near empty like their mother.What excuse did he have?
And yet, despite it all, she could never truly hate him.There was too much between them.
She set down the different pages.Some colored, others simple graphite sketches.“Just make sure they don’t miss me too much.Tell them I’ll be okay.”
“What are you saying, Mayté?”Panic laced Carlos’s words, yet they both knew he wouldn’t do anything to stop her.“You’re not going to do something crazy, are you?”
Going to Fortune’s Kiss would be the craziest thing she had ever done, but now there was no going back.She couldn’t stay here.Not anymore.
“I’ll be okay,” she told him.She had fended for herself most of her life, after all.“I’ll make sure of it.”
FOURLo
Lo took the long way home.Different thoughts rippled through her mind like the whirling skirts of a hundred dancers.Fortune’s Kiss was here.It was her chance to get Mamá back, and yet …
Mayté’s face flashed through her head.The look when Lo brought up Mamá.Her smile, much too big.The flicker of panic in her dark eyes.Like everyone else, Mayté didn’t believe she was in there.Unlike everyone else, though, she was too kind to admit it.
Lo would just have to prove them all wrong.But to do that, she would have to get into Fortune’s Kiss.There was a lot to prepare for.
By the time she returned home, the stars above flickered like magic in a sea of soft violet and darkest blue.The shining moon was just a sliver away from being full.Her mind replayed the day’s events.There was so much, and so little, they knew now about Fortune’s Kiss.
She snuck in through the parlor and almost made it up the stairs when Sera jumped out from behind the corner.
“Where have you been?”Sera hissed, grabbing her arm.“Papá’s furious.”
Lo’s heart skipped a beat.Those two words alone could cause a lifetime’s worth of dread.“Wait.Why?”
“What do you meanwhy?Dinner was supposed to start almost an hour ago.You were supposed to sing too, remember?”
“Mierda.”How could she have forgotten?A chill crept through her, but as Sera scowled, as if to blame Lo for their father’s anger, her blood blazed.
“It’s too late for singing.The meal will be ready at any moment.What will Juan Felipe think?”
“Well, sorry.”Lo snatched her arm away.“It doesn’t matter.Juan Felipe’s already enamored with me and Father’s the only person in Milagro who’s hung up on punctuality.He shouldn’t be so angry.After all, didn’t he spend most of the day with one of his mistresses?”
“Don’t you dare say that,” Sera growled.The girl acted so grown up yet still believed their father’s lies.
“Whatever you say.”Lo stomped toward the dining room.In a way, she was glad she’d missed the singing.At one time she’d looked forward to her singing lessons and loved performing the new songs she learned for Mamá.That was so long ago, it felt more like a dream than anything, but at some point, like always, her father found a way to use her talent as a tool to benefit himself.Sing to impress his friends.Sing to attract suitors.Sing as an excuse for a lavish banquet.Each time she sang, she wanted to scream.
She lingered behind a pillar instead of making her presence known.The room was warm and extravagant with earthy orange walls that matched the patterned rug underfoot.A small chandelier glowed above, lighting up the medley of red-curtained windows.The centerpiece was the large table, carved from the most luxurious of dark woods and glossed until one could see their reflection on the tabletop.
Juan Felipe and Sofía were the only ones seated.
Lo’s lips curled, and she dug her fingers into the hard marble of the pillar until they throbbed.Of course, it had to behim.He was the one she hated the most.While the rest would be dreadfully boring and controlling husbands, Juan Felipe would be absolutely brutish, not unlike her father.
Sofía’s tight black curls bounced as she giggled and tried to grab Juan Felipe’s deep brown fingers, but he kept playfully pulling away.
Charming as cursed gold, Mamá would say.He had certainly shown his true colors earlier today.Lo rubbed her wrist, which still ached from when he grabbed her, but it was his words about Mayté that burrowed under her skin like barbed hooks.
“If I was old enough …” Sera’s whisper startled Lo.Her younger sister stood behind her, hugging herself.“I would be happy to marry Juan Felipe.Look at him.He’s so kind and handsome.”
No one else saw him for what he truly was.Lo gritted her teeth.“You don’t understand.”
