Page 10 of The Guardian

I smiled again and shook my head. I wasn’t surprised to hear this, considering the poverty they had lived in.

“They always shared a room in Catemaco,” Maya explained.

Gabriela shrugged as she told them, “You have your own rooms. Your own beds and your own bathrooms with showers and bathtubs.”

The twins paused and glanced at each other, then back at her. They looked totally stunned.

“How can such a thing be true?” Alex asked her.

“Which thing?” Gabriela asked as her expression showed her amusement at the question.

“A-a bathtub and a shower?” he explained what he meant.

“You will see that it is so…And there are lots of surprises coming to you both. All good things. Then Maya will be just across the hall from you as well,” Gabriela explained as she looked over at Maya. “That is if she is staying?”

Both the twins gasped loudly and whipped their heads over to stare at Maya.

She let out a long breath and said, “I am unsure. I…There is something I need to do. Then I will try to come back here to see you both?”

As if it never occurred to them that she would leave, they both looked really upset.

“But we thought…” Alex stared at her.

“…that you would always be with us?” Hope finished his sentence.

Maya stood and looked at them both. “I didn’t mean that I would leave you forever.”

They both seemed to psychically slump in utter relief.

I had to squelch my chuckle. Well, they both could act as dramatic as the average teenager.

Gabriele did laugh as she clapped her hands together. “Ok, so let’s—”

At her clap, the teens jumped as if a bomb had gone off. They both stepped behind me to hide.

Looking startled, Gabriela stared at me while trying to see them. “What… Qué les pasa, mis amores?” she asked in Spanish. What’s wrong, my darlings?

I looked over my shoulder at the teens to see real fear on their faces. What the hell?

Chapter Four: How Complicated?

Maya

I raised my hands at the twins and tried to diffuse the situation, “Alex, Hope…It is okay. She isn’t upset with you.” I’d almost forgotten about this terrible truth. Although I probably would never really forget it. The trauma of it had even scarred me.

Gabriela stared at me and asked, “Please explain?”

I paused for a minute to think of how to explain this without upsetting her again. “The aunts would clap their hands to…” I let out a sigh and added, “…warn them.”

Gabriela looked puzzled. “Warn them? About what?”

“If they did not stop whatever they were doing. Like speaking or laughing. Or whatever it might be. Then…” I just did not know how to say it and make it sound sane. “They were horrible women, Ms. Mancini. They were harsh with strict rules and they used switches.”

Gabriela’s hands shook as she raised them to cover her mouth.

I looked over at the twins and said, “Alex…Hope. Come on and step out. No one here is going to hurt you.”

They did as I asked.