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“No, it’s not okay,” she said, shaking with fear and anger. “This isn’t medieval times. I don’t have to marry anyone if I don’t want to. I will not marry that criminal!” She ran from the room, running down the hallway to the big suite where she’d prepared for the dance. Stripping off the ballgown, she sat in only her slip and bra, crying on the bed.
“Londyn? It’s me. Maria,” said the soft voice. Her best friend for the last ten years came into the room. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she cried, shaking her head. “My father is giving me to that criminal! He’s nothing but a lowlife. A drug dealer!” Maria frowned at her friend, touching her shoulder, forcing her to face her.
“Londyn, do you not understand who your father is? What he does?” She stared at her friend, frowning.
“My father is a local businessman. He owns a produce market and a hardware store.” Maria swallowed, looking behind her to be sure they were alone.
“Londyn, your father is one of the most feared Mexican gang leaders in the barrio. My father works for him. They charge other businesses for protection. They have the police in their back pockets. They sell drugs and stolen goods. They help bring other criminals across the border. And they work with Perez and his gang.”
Londyn’s face paled as she shook her head, whispering over and over again.
“No, this can’t be. It can’t be,” she said, shaking her head.
“Londyn, you need to get out of here. Keep your head down and stay on your father’s good side. Finish school and go to college just like your father said you could, but don’t come back. Find somewhere to hide, somewhere they don’t know you or your father.”
“He gave me to a criminal,” she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.
“He is a criminal, Londyn. You need to face the facts. Your father is a criminal. I’m sorry. I thought you knew. We never spoke of it, but all this time, I figured you knew who your father was and what he did. Londyn, men who own markets and hardware stores don’t need to carry guns, and they don’t drive a brand new car every year.”
She let those thoughts float through her brain, and Londyn realized how very immature she’d been. The signs were all there, right in front of her face, but she just couldn’t believe her father would do such a thing.
Londyn took her friend’s advice and kept her head down, finishing high school in record time. When she chose a college, she made sure to choose one far from Houston. The University of Indiana was about as far as she could get from her home. With her undergraduate degree in hand, she applied for dental school and was accepted in three locations.
“Londyn, you need to come home,” said her father.
“Daddy, I’ve been accepted to dental school, and I’m going,” she told her father on the phone. “You promised me this opportunity, and I’m going to take advantage of it to fulfill my dream of becoming a dentist.”
“I promised undergraduate. That’s all. It’s time, Londyn. You have to come back here. I won’t be paying for dental school,” he said. She stared at the screen, her gut clenching with anger and fear.
“I’ll get loans. I’m not coming back to Houston, Daddy. I’m sorry.” He nodded at her, staring at the screen. He opened his mouth several times as if to say something, but each time, he closed it again, only nodding.
“Good luck to you, Londyn.”
The screen went dark, and Londyn felt a cold chill run down her back. With three choices, none of which she’d told her father about, she decided on the University of Virginia. With her loans secured, she moved into a new apartment. She had just settled in when her phone rang.
“Maria! I’m so glad to hear from you,” she said excitedly.
“Londyn, I’m so sorry,” she said, sniffing into the phone. “Londyn, don’t come back here. Don’t return to Houston. Perez and your father, they fought. There were weapons fired, and men died, lots of men.”
“Maria,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, Londyn. Your father is gone. My father is gone.”
“God. Wh-what happened to Perez?”
“He’s dead, but Cisco is alive and vowing he will find you, Londyn. You need to make sure that you stay away from here. He’s got a lot on his plate right now with rival gangs trying to take over your father’s businesses.”
“Are you safe?” she asked. Maria laughed at her.
“No one is safe here, Londyn. No one. Adios, mi amiga.”
It would be six years later that she was sitting in a small clinic, praying that it would be her opportunity to be hidden away forever. The ad had appeared in her feed one morning last week, and she jumped at the chance to apply online. Within twenty-four hours, they were asking her to come out for an interview.
At first, she didn’t even see a clinic. When she depressed the button on the intercom, a man told her to pull through and park next to the building on her left.
“What building?” she murmured. It was as if it appeared out of thin air behind a veil of huge trees and shrubs. Parking her vehicle, she took in a deep breath, praying that this would be her opportunity.
