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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SONIA
If there’sno other way out, use the front door.
After dinner, I ask to be excused, then go to my room, where I finish going over everything I’ve packed. There isn’t much. Two changes of clothes, toiletries, and the money Amelia and I combined.
When everyone retires for the night, my sister returns to the bedroom with the keys I’ve been waiting for. Our mother’s car keys. “It was easy. She didn’t even notice me digging through her purse.” She hands them to me as I gather my things. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I am. I just need to get settled, then I’m sending for you. We’ll raise that baby together.”
Giving me a weak smile, she nods. “Be careful, little sister.”
I give her a tight squeeze, then head out through the quiet halls. Though my father placed extra security after he learned I was seeing Santos, it’s all in the back of the house where the bedrooms are. But it still surprises me how easy it is to slip outside and to the drive, where my mother’s vehicle is parked.
Leaving the lights off, I turn on the engine and head to the bus station. It’s about eleven forty-five when I pull over three blocks away. I leave the car on the side of the road, just in case someone comes looking prematurely, then walk the rest of the way.
My heart is beating wildly in my chest when I enter the building and find a quiet corner to wait in. I tug the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and watch as people begin to fill the space. Every person who comes in has me jumping, searching each face, hoping it’s Santos.
But as midnight comes and goes and he still doesn’t show, that foreboding that’s plagued me for weeks returns full force.
“Where are you?” I murmur when once again someone other than Santos walks through the door.
“Attention passengers of bus number thirty-one with service to Chihuahua,” the woman at the counter says over the speakers. “We will start boarding in fifteen minutes through this door. Please have your tickets ready.”
Everyone around me begins to collect their luggage and form a line. I remain where I am, my stomach sinking further.
Half an hour later, I watch as the bus leaves the station. The woman at the counter glances at me with pity.
“Are you alright,mija?” she asks, coming to crouch in front of me. “Do you need a ride somewhere?”
“Someone is meeting me here,” I say, staring at the door, willing Santos to appear. “He’s just running late.”
As I say that, I spot the bright headlights of a car pulling in. I sit up, peering through the window hopefully.
But though I know the man who comes in, it’s not Santos. It’s my father. His green eyes search the station with desperation I’ve never seen in them before. And when they find me, he runs to my side.
“Soni!” He scoops me up into an embrace I return without hesitation. “I was so worried about you. I thought I’d never see you again. How could you have left like that? Thank God someone told me they saw you here.”
“I’m sorry,” I cry.
“Were you going to run away?”
I nod, almost unable to speak through my sobs. “I love him, Pa. I don’t want to live without him.”
My father pulls away slightly, peering into my eyes with concern. “You were running away with him?” He scans the station, then looks back at me. “When is he coming?”
Wiping my face on his shirt, I say, “He was supposed to be here at midnight. But something must have delayed him. He’ll be here.”
“Do you really love him so much that you’d leave your home?” my father asks.
“Yes.”
“All right,” he says, sitting and tugging me down beside him. “I’ll wait with you.”
“You will?” I ask in surprise, lifting my eyes to his. “Even though you hate him?”
“I don’t hate him, Soni. I also don’t believe he’s good for you. But I would rather you be with him here than in whatever hellhole he’s planning on taking you to.”
