Page 78 of No Merciful Corruption

“That wasn’t my fault⁠—”

She cuts me off. “But everything else that happened after was your fault. When you had the opportunity to leave her at the nearest hospital or make arrangements to send her home, you didn’t. No, you wanted to take her with us.” She throws her arms up. “You kidnap her and drag the rest of us along with you like you always do. I’m sure your desire to play the hero had nothing at all to do with the fact that you were screwing her. Or that you felt guilty she was even on the road with you in the first place.

“You don’t ask us, don’t consult with us, and you sure as Hell don’t apologize for the minor inconvenience of holding an innocent girl captive for an entire summer. Thanks for that by the way. So happy to have that weighing on my conscience for the rest of my life. You ungrateful asshole!

“To make matters worse you go and fall in love with her like a fucking idiot. And then, you send her home! For no reason! Because three months later, you jump on a plane and get her back. Fine. Wonderful. Then she lives with us. For a year!” She exclaims. “Luring us all into a false sense of security. Selling us the lie that maybe we really are a family. That maybe, just maybe, we can have it all again. We won’t have dad and we won’t have mom but you know what, we have something different. We have Dahlia.

“Things are okay. They’re more than okay. They work. We like each other. For the first time in practically my whole life I’m not the only girl in the family. I actually have somebody to talk to. And then you go and let her leave! A second time!”

Realization begins to settle in. “Leticia⁠—”

“And to make matters worse you expect us to clean up your mess! You call her from my phone, you send Diego to New York to speak to her. Well you know what Alex, did it ever fucking occur to you that maybe she left you because you weren’t a good man? And by turning your siblings into your messengers you were proving her point? So yeah. Sorry. I didn’t call or visit when she was in the hospital but it wasn’t because I didn’t want to.

“I can’t even face her I’m so ashamed. Diego and I had the nerve to beg her to take you back when we knew you were in the wrong. So you know what, I’m glad she left you. If she had any functioning braincells left, she wouldn’t take you back a third time! She’d tell you to go fuck yourself and this time, I’d tell her she’s right.”

She yanks open the car door. “Mauricio!” she shouts. “Take me to Dahlia’s.”

She gets in and slams the door shut behind her.

A minute later, the car pulls out of the driveway but I know it won’t get far. Mauricio doesn’t have Dahlia’s address but he’s probably too terrified to tell Lettie as much.

I look at my brother and he shrugs. “That about sums it up.”

“How long was she holding that in?” I snap.

“I think you forget Lettie isn’t a little girl anymore. How we live our lives has an effect on her.” His expression softens with sympathy but his words carry the bite of reproach. “Maybe have a little bit more compassion and understanding. You know how hard it is for Lettie to let people in. You weren’t the only one hurt when Dahlia left.”

“Let me guess. You’re upset with me too?”

“Actually, I am.” he digs the car keys out of his pocket and shoves them against my chest. “The difference between you and me is I don’t have tunnel vision. Dahlia was owed an apology but Lettie and I are too. We never consented to you bringing her into our lives and our family. You took it upon yourself to do that. It hurt us when Dahlia left but it hurt even more knowing you let her leave.

“Now I know you don’t approve of Karina and me. You’ve made that abundantly clear.”

“That’s not⁠—”

“Fine. Whatever. But I don’t regret it and I’m not going to be ashamed about it either. I saw my chance and I took it. I’m going to fight for her until I can’t anymore because she’s the one I want. And in five years from now, the rest of this shit won’t even matter.” He brushes past me on his way to the car. “It’ll barely be worth the memory.”

GLENN LIGON PEACE TREATY

Dahlia

Having a real backyard was always a dream of mine as a little girl. Growing up in New York, unless your family came from ridiculous money or had a house on Long Island, our version of a backyard was always the slab of concrete between the garage and the house. Usually no wider or longer than ten or fifteen feet each way but a city kid’s backyard was a playground for the imagination.

Now I have a real backyard. It isn’t large—no townhouse in Manhattan has that much space—but it’s roomy and beautiful with a living space and outside kitchen I’ve never used. I hate to barbeque and I really only come out here to enjoy the fire pit. Such an absurd amount of money but worth every penny.

Karina is still asleep and I doubt she’ll be up anytime soon. She wasn’t hysterical so much as wound up and riding an adrenaline high. A few hours ago she finally crashed and Lyss stayed with her to make sure she got some rest. I came out here to get some air and now I can’t bring myself to go back inside. Which I probably should because it looks like it’s going to rain any minute.

Karina will be waking up to a whole new reality. I may already be used to this kind of chaos but she isn’t. Alejandro, Diego, and I will have to guide her and watch over her, especially as she gets closer to her due date. Once she wakes up, I’ll have no choice but to have a serious talk with her about the Narvaez family, what they do, and why Alejandro and Diego can make the Brent thing mostly go away. How do I explain it to her, how much do I share, and should I even tell her at all? Will it make things worse?

I was relieved when the Li situation was finally taken care of and I’ve been on cloud nine ever since Alejandro and I got back together. While none of what’s going on with Karina and Diego will affect us directly, it’s still happening around us. They’re going to need our support for a while and we have to be there for them.

They’re our family.

The back door opens and I assume it’s Alejandro come to tell me everything’s been taken care of.

I nearly fall off my seat when Lettie steps out on the patio.

“Hi,” she hesitates. “Um…Alex said you might be back here.”