Chapter 32

The ride home from Marco Perez’s mansion was even more strained than the one that took the Cano family there. It was painful for Bella to look at her husband after what he had seen, but every time she sneaked a peek he was looking somewhere other than at her. She wanted desperately to talk to him, but she couldn’t in front of the children. And the children were trembling in shock. She held her son tightly while Manuel cradled their daughter in his arms. Bella spoke comforting words to both children, but they wouldn’t speak. At least they hadn’t witnessed the shameless act Marco had put their mother and father through. But her son felt the knife at his throat. Even at four years old he knew that was dangerous. And her daughter saw it. Bella remembered her curled up on the floor shaking and sobbing with her thumb in her mouth.

When they arrived home, Bella carried her son and Manuel carried their daughter from the limousine into the house. Her son clung to her with his face buried in the crook of her shoulder and neck. His small fingers clenched a lock of her hair and wouldn’t let go. Neither he nor his sister spoke a word. Would they ever speak again after what they had experienced? They went into the living room. The unfinished game of Chutes and Ladders was spread out on the floor as if they were a normal family. She’d put it away later.

“They are traumatized,” Bella said to her husband. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know.”

Bella tried to hold her son out in front of her to talk to him, but he wouldn’t let go of her hair and it stung. She brought him back against her body and patted his back. She walked up to her husband and stroked her daughter’s hair.

“Honey, are you okay?” Bella said.

Her daughter didn’t answer. She buried her face in her father’s chest.

Bella glanced at her husband and then back at her daughter. “Lola, it’s all over. No one got hurt. That man is mean, but he didn’t hurt us. We are all okay. Mama and Daddy will never let anything happen to you or your brother. Don’t be scared.”

Her daughter spoke into her father’s chest. “He was going to hurt Manu.”

“Honey, he didn’t hurt your brother. That man only wanted to scare us. He was making believe.”

Manuel raised an eyebrow. Bella shrugged and shook her head. Her daughter lifted her head off her father’s chest and twisted around to look at her mother.

“He was yelling,” her daughter said. “He had a knife.”

“Honey, he—” Bella took a deep breath and let the air out. “Let’s talk about it.”

Bella pried her son’s fingers from her hair and sat him on the couch. She took her daughter from her husband and sat Lola next to Manu. She knelt in front of her children, clasping their four small hands within her two.

“Lola, Manu, listen to me. I will never let anyone hurt either of you. I promise. Do you believe me?”

The two stared at her without answering.

Bella looked up at her husband and then back at the children. Tears formed in her eyes. “That man is a bad man. But as long as I do what he tells me to do he won’t hurt us. Do you understand?”

“But they did hurt you,” her daughter said. “I saw them push you to the floor when they came to the house. They threw you down. And they kicked Daddy in the belly.”

“Sometimes adults get into fights.”

“But he was going to hurt Manu.”

Bella looked at her son. “Manu, did he hurt you?”

“He pulled my hair.”

“Is that all?”

“He scared me. You told us not to play with knives. That we can get hurt.”

“I know. And he shouldn’t have done that. He’s not a nice man. But he didn’t hurt you.”

“I was scared.”

Bella pulled her son to her and hugged him. “I was scared, too. That man scares me. But he didn’t hurt you or your sister.”

“Why did he do it?” her daughter said.

Bella sat her son back and placed a hand on her daughter’s knee. “Honey, he’s a bully. He picks on people. He wants us to be afraid of him. That’s what bullies do.”

Manuel dropped to a knee next to Bella. He patted his daughter’s other knee. “Listen to your mother. She’s strong. We all need to be strong like her. Can you be strong like Mama?”

Bella’s head whipped around. Wide-eyed, she stared at her husband.

“I can try,” her daughter said.

“I can!” her son shouted with a big smile on his face. “If Lola can, I can. I’m almost five!”

Bella cupped her husband’s face in her hands and pressed her lips to his.

“Ewww,” her daughter said.

“Ewww,” her son said.

Bella turned to her son. “Manu, why did you say ewww?”

The boy looked down. “I don’t know. Lola said it first.”

“Mama,” her daughter said, “can we finish the game? I was winning.”

“Can I play, too?” Manuel said.

Bella’s eyes opened wide and she smiled.

Her daughter crossed her arms and pouted. “We already started and I’m winning.”

“We won’t change anything on the board. I’ll just start from the beginning.”

Her daughter jumped off the couch and pushed through her parents. She ran to where she had been sitting before Perez’s men had disturbed the game. Her son followed and was soon on his knees where he had been. Bella kissed her husband on the cheek and smiled.