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Maria took Ana during the night. I knew where they were but I couldn’t go there. I’d be shot on sight. I believed Maria when she said as much.
Maria’s family was one of the wealthiest families in Mexico. She lived in a gated mansion with armed guards.
Her last words to me were that I should just accept that I will never see Ana again. But that wasn’t something I would accept. I didn’t want her growing up thinking I had abandoned her.
Maria was difficult. She had believed I’d cheated on her and without proof, she believed the gossip. There hadn’t been anything I’d been able to say to convince her otherwise.
The memory came back.
“I’ll never be able to trust you, Francis!” Maria hissed.
“I didn’t do it! I wouldn’t do that,” I shouted as I slammed my fist against the table so hard it cracked at the edge. “Fuck!”
Anger filled Maria’s eyes. “My Bisabuela’s table! What is wrong with you?”
“I’ll pay to get it fixed,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“This is done, Francis. I can’t do this anymore,” Maria wailed. “You’re immature. You’re an imbecil!”
She walked from the room and I knelt down to examine the table. When she came back seconds later, she was holding Ana’s hand. The fear in my daughter’s eyes had turned to me stone.
“Don’t follow us. Don’t come looking for us. My daughter can’t be around this. It’s not good for her,” Maria said.
She didn’t say another word. The door slammed. I hadn’t been able to move my feet until I heard her start her car.
“Maria!” I shouted. “Maria, stop! She’s my daughter too!”
Red brake lights were the last thing I saw.
Now, here I was living in a cabin on the beach. Some would probably tell me not to complain. But I wanted to see my daughter. I had every right.
Maria was easy to anger. She blamed me for everything, even when I wasn’t to blame. Her parents were in her ear ever since the day we’d met.
Her family and my father had never gotten along. Competition. Also, no one seemed to like my father much.
After she left, my father didn’t say a word. He didn’t even seem upset that he couldn’t see his granddaughter. He just thought it was another thing I’d screwed up.
I tried to find a lawyer that would help me but the second Maria’s family name came up, they’d immediately back out. Most of my free time was spent trying to find someone that would work with me at an affordable price and willing to take on the case.
I also wrote countless letters to Maria. And notes to Ana I was sure she wasn’t given.
Morning came quickly. It was a challenge for me to get more than five or six hours of sleep due to the chaos of my life.
Every day I went to work in an attempt to show everyone I wasn’t a screw-up but it didn’t seem to make a difference. My father still wouldn’t help me get my daughter back. I was pretty sure he’d written me out of the will.
The hot sun just over the horizon beat down on me as I typed my letter to Ana. I started the letter the same as always… telling her how much I loved and missed her.
I hadn’t heard Antonio but saw him walking down the beach with his bags and baskets. He waved as he headed my way.
“Buenos dias, Francis,” Antonio called.
“Is it?” I asked. “Are you behind schedule today?”
“A little,” Antonio said wearing a sheepish grin. “Met a lovely lady. She wanted to stay over and I couldn’t tell her no.”
I chuckled. “That’s a good excuse.”
“Just don’t tell your father,” Antonio said. “This is the best job I’ve ever had.”
“Bringing fresh fruit and cleaning cabins is the best job you’ve ever had?” I asked squinting at him.
A serious look appeared on his face. “Si. The folks who stay in the cabins are mostly tidy. Half the time, they just want fresh towels. And I get to eat fresh fruit as I work. I really can’t complain.”
“Fair enough.”
Antonio leaned closed. “And the women. Beautiful women everywhere.”
He glanced over his shoulder as my neighbor stepped out onto her patio wearing the same black bikini. I shifted in my seat and forced myself to look away.
“Beautiful women like that,” Antonio said softly. “You’re lucky to have such an incredible view here.”
“Hmm,” I said turning my attention back to my laptop. “Nice seeing you again.”
“Oh, right,” Antonio said. “Busy, just like your father, eh?”
I snorted. “Something like that.”
My father owned the resort. When I lost Maria and Ana, it wasn’t all I’d lost. My father had nearly disowned me. Instead of working in the office, I had to help out with odd jobs. A lesson I needed to learn supposedly. To work my way up. Things shouldn’t just be handed to me, my father had said.
