Chapter Five Rags To Riches
Henry
Gabriela showed Hope her room first.
The teen girl stepped in and then when she gazed around at the room, she actually stumbled.
Her brother caught her before she fell. “Esperanza!” He straightened her up. “Be calm, mi hermana.”
She didn’t seem to hear him as she gazed around. Her face looked a bit white as her eyes were huge in her cherub like face.
The room was enormous; it had blush rose tones and some pink scattered here and there.
Staring all around, Maya exclaimed, “It is è meraviglioso!”
I stared at her as I realized she kept speaking Italian.
Well, she did that when she was surprised.
How interesting. I then followed her amazed gaze around the room.
The place was very nice, from the rose-colored curtains to the light pink walls.
Then the matching cherry colored mahogany dressers and bed were all gleaming.
I took in the absolute wealth that was very apparent in the room.
Well, the wealth existed throughout the entire house.
Hope simply stared all around too as her mouth dropped open. “T-this is m-my room?” she stammered.
Gabriela stepped over and took her hand. “It is. If you don’t like the colors we can change—”
Hope gasped and exclaimed, “No! I love it! Muy bueno.” Turning to stare at Gabriela, she gushed, “I have never seen anything like this! I-I feel like even my shoes are too dirty for the floor!”
Gabriela laughed “Mi chica. This is your room to do as you wish. You are good enough to be in it, enjoy it and make it yours.” She paused to see Hope staring at the canopy/princess bed.
“It is…” Hope gulped. “…Demasiado bonita para ser real!” Too pretty to be real!
“It is real, my girl,” Gabriela told her.
Hope kept looking around then she spotted a desk with a full out PC and speakers. Then a few feet over was a large screen TV. When I say large, I mean six feet by six feet along the wall, LED and a flatscreen. She again gasped.
The poor girl looked like she might pass out.
“Then this is your bathroom,” Gabriela announced as she pressed a button on the wall.
We all turned to see the wall slide.
No, this wasn’t a simple bathroom. It did have a formal bath with a large walk-in shower, just like she had told the teens earlier.
All in a room larger than some people's living rooms. It might be larger than the entire house in Catemaco that these twins had grown up in.
It had a large sunken tub with gold fixtures and lights along the wall above it that looked like candles.
A semi luminescent kind of fantasy design.
The counter was a gleaming rose-colored marble.
Lined up with various makeup products of all kinds.
Perfumes, body sprays and more were all under a very large lit up mirror.
Next, Hope spotted the unusual part. Flowers, growing in pots, all on shelves with different angles. The lighting in this room had been especially made for flowers to grow under them.
Hope laughed as she looked from one feature to the next as she jumped up and down. “Look Alex.” She pointed upwards. “There are stars on the ceiling!”
He looked just as stunned as she did as he nodded.
Gabriela stepped over and turned the lights off.
Both teens gasped loudly as they leaned their heads back to peer upward.
The ceiling glowed with stars. In fact, I recognized actual constellations up there. I even felt amazed.
“Oh, Dio!” Hope exclaimed as she let out a girlish squeal. “It is a dream! All of this is just a dream!”
Gabriela stared at her long-lost children as tears sparkled in her eyes.
Maya laughed in absolute delight. “Che meraviglia!” How wonderful!
Hope walked around feeling the plush towels and passing her hands over the real flowers in actual planters.
Then she saw the wall shelf… full of shampoos, bodywashes, loofahs, washcloths, various lotions and specialty soaps.
“I could never use all of this! I would need six other girls to help use it all. And these are all just for me?” she asked.
We all laughed.
“Si, it is for you.” Gabriela nodded. “Then you need to see your closet.”
Halting, Hope looked up at her to ask, “Why?”
Gabriela chuckled. “It is part of your room.”
“But I only have my small bag. Selena bought me a dress. And some um… undies. Then some PJ’s as she called them to sleep in.”
“No, my sweet daughter. You have a lot more than that.” Gabriela walked over to the bathroom wall and pressed a button.
Now this wall slid open.
We all turned to look.
When it opened all the way, again Hope gasped then slapped her hands over her mouth.
The closet seemed to be almost as large as the bathroom but it was what was in it that was the shocker.
Outfit after outfit hung there, as well as maybe 10 pairs of shoes across from that.
There were also wall dresser drawers holding more clothing above the shoes.
She even had a dozen designer bags and small purses on a separate shelf.
Hope turned to look at Gabriela and asked, “Was this someone else’s room?”
Gabriela looked confused. “No mia. It was just a guest room. Then mi esposo Berto had it decorated for you.”
“H-how?” Alex asked. “This would take months to do.” He spread his arms out.
“Yes, it did as well as your room.” Gabriela nodded at him.
I felt confused as well and looked over at Maya.
She also looked puzzled.
Gabriela took in our lost expressions and laughed.
“I told you that I never gave you up. The rooms have been waiting for you for months. I dreamed every day to have you back. He knew this and he had all of this done to show me that someday…I would…” Tears filled her eyes.
“I fought so hard to not lose faith. To hold on and keep praying to find you. To finally have you both back. The clothes were put in yesterday. Your stepsisters ordered them from a few local stores after we got the call from Selena and they were delivered last night.” She looked over at Alex and added, “Your stepbrothers ordered yours.”
I stared at her and looked over at all the outfits again.
I admit it sounded crazy to me too. To order this many outfits in a certain size then expect to have them delivered in like three days?
It would cost a small fortune at best. Then again, I had never had that kind of wealth.
Yes, I had a good amount of money saved up, but not THAT kind of money.
I also never had children taken from me.
I could only imagine the pain poor Gabriela felt for all those years.
I imagine that Mancini had done it to give her hope to show her that he would do anything he could to reunite her with her children. In fact, since Carlos had brought them to her would probably be why Mancini would not hurt him.
Hope jumped in place as she applauded the clothing. Then she ran over to look at them, squealing and gushing like a cartoon girl. She came repeating, “Oh, my… oh, my,” in Spanish as she looked at an outfit, then at some shoes, then at the purses.
I slowly shook my head. It reminded me of that old movie, the Chocolate Factory, when all the poor kids were allowed inside and saw all the fantastic sights. Like chocolate waterfalls and giant-sized swirly candy lollipops.
Gabriela smiled the entire time. After a few moments of watching Hope, she looked over at Alex. “That door over there is to your room.”
With a start, he whipped his head over to look.
“I will take him,” I offered.
Alex went to the door and hesitated.
“Go ahead,” Gabriela urged him.
I laughed and looked at Maya.
She stood with tears in her eyes as she gave me a tremulous smile. She looked so happy and yet so sad that I didn’t know what to do or say. Turning, I followed Alex into his room.
The teen boy had halted just inside the doorway.
Looking over his shoulder at the room itself, I saw why.
The room was entirely different from Hope’s.
All in deep blue and black trim. It had a large Captain’s bed, a top of the line PC and gaming system as well.
A large TV and deep blue carpeting. All definitely for a young male and all brand new.
He had a small sofa with end tables across from the TV.
There were some posters of skateboarders and BMX bikes.
Along with race cars. He, like Hope, had a small refrigerator, a microwave and kitchen counter with barstools.
Alex simply moved through it all in like a quiet reverence. He finally turned and looked up at me.
I paused as I did not see the happiness on his face that Hope had shown. “You do not like it?” I asked in some surprise.
He nodded. “Si, of course I do.”
“Then why do you look…” I didn’t want to say unhappy, but he looked very serious.
“I do not trust it,” he quietly replied.
I stepped closer and asked him, “Why?”
“Maya had taught us to read and write. Then she would buy us books. The old tías never knew it as we kept anything she got us hidden. They would have destroyed them. She bought us things like clothes too, and they said they must be paying her too much. They were hardly paying her anything.” He seethed as anger showed on his face.
“But in one of those books, I read a story. A story about two kids who were adopted and taken to a mansion. They were given riches beyond their dreams. They believed it all and then the mother turned into a witch and ate them!”
I tucked my head back at his absolute horror. I did pause for a minute before I formed the answer I needed to give him. “I get it, Alex. In this life if things seem too good to be true then they probably are.”
He looked up at me. “I-it feels like we are being bought and I want to know why.”
I stared at this young man realizing that he was wiser than his years and perhaps smarter than even I was at this same age.
Then again, he also had been shown the harshest most beleaguered life possible ever since he was a baby.
On one hand, I admired his caution. On the other, I felt sadness at his jaded attitude at only fourteen years old.
“I will protect my sister,” he stated as he clenched his hands into fists. “How do we know that this Berto is not evil? That he is faking being a man of good?”
I bit my lip. The man in question had been a very bad guy at one time.
Known as Houdini Mancini – he literally made people who challenged or crossed him – disappear, never to be seen again.
Not the kind who would hurt a child but he was a real gangster.
From what Selena and Rain had found, he had gone legit in the last two years.
No drug running and no gun running as far as they could tell.
His cousin Stephano had also done the same.
This had been said to be the son’s influence for the families to go legit.
I did know that if Rain had discovered this then it was most likely correct.
The man was a master at digging up the truth.
I looked at Alex and made my attempt at advice, “I cannot blame you for wanting to protect your sister. I think it is very grown up to do that. I also can understand your hesitation. It is only smart to be careful in this world. Especially if you have another person to look out for.”
“So, what should I do?” he asked me.
“First of all, your Uncle Carlos knows of Alberto Mancini. He knows all about him. Rain and Selena had reported to me that yes, he used to be a gangster of sorts.”
“Like you said in the hallway?” Alex nodded.
I paused and realized I may have inadvertently caused this problem for this young teen by saying that earlier.
“Yes, he was. However, he has changed. He has legal businesses and is known as a good man now. Rain found this out and I trust what he finds.” I mentally scoffed as I realized I was giving that blowhard Russian lots of credit that I would never admit to his face.
“But also, Carlos would have never rescued you both from those bad women then turn and give you to a bad woman.”
Alex kept looking around and shaking his head.
“Take it slow, Alex,” I advised. “It is a huge change. You barely had what you needed and you lived in a house that looked like it was going to fall down. So this is all natural. You feel uneasy about all of this sudden wealth, thinking it is too good to be true. This is very wise of you to feel that way.”
“So, what do I do?” he asked me.
I paused again. What the hell did I know about kids?
And who was I to give all this advice? If I told him the wrong thing…
I let out a sigh and replied, “Look, just take it all in as good as you can. Watch everyone closely. Give it a little time. But I do believe Gabreila. That woman loves you. She has waited for years to be reunited with you. I do know that what she has said about it is absolutely the truth.” I paused as I remembered the recording she made when she put out a reward for the return of her children.
It had been one of the saddest things I had ever heard.
I wish young Alex could hear it, but it would also open a virtual can of worms as well.
Like the description of what happened to their father and who had murdered him.
The poor kid did not need to know that his grandfather was practically the devil himself.