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“Cariño?” His face pales with concern and he rushes to my side. “What is it? Is your mum okay?”
All I can do is point to the phone with a shaking hand. Tex reaches out, grasps it, and lifts it to his ear. When he hears that my mum is alive and well, he frowns and cuts off the call.
“Tell me what happened. Now,” he demands, taking my face in his.
“I think...I think...mama...my mum tried to…”
“Tried to what, cariño?” He asks desperately, giving me a little shake. The words won’t come, they're stuck in my throat with the bile from my stomach.
Knowing that it’s true, I whisper with horror, “Sell me.”
It’s the smell that hits me first when I come around. Harsh, chemical, strong…but not strong enough to truly mask the sour scent of desperation underneath.
I thought I’d known poverty and squalor before, but while there is something hauntingly familiar in the aromas of whatever place I’m now in, there’s also something so terrifyingly alien that I’m too afraid to open my eyes.
I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge, but just this once I need a little time. A little longer to gather my strength and be brave.
Just five more minutes of ignorant bliss where I can pretend I’m at home in my bed, waiting for my guys to come home or for a text from Joe…
Joe.
Motherfucker.
