Chapter 2
As so often after her weekly visit to the county jail in San Bruno where her brother, Santiago, was incarcerated, Catalina Vargas felt sad and frustrated.
She’d done everything at her disposal and within her financial means to help her younger brother, but she was out of legal options.
Now all that was left was something she never thought she would have to resort to: a crime.
She’d thought long and hard about it. Santiago had warned her off.
But she couldn’t let him rot in prison for the next six years, because nobody ever came out of prison a better person than when they went in.
Everything good in Santiago would likely vanish just so he could survive prison life.
His fellow inmates were violent offenders, and there was no guarantee that Santiago would even make it through his first year.
Her brother was a gentle soul, a young man who avoided confrontations.
Yet, his face had shown signs of a violent beating, even though he’d tried to play it down in order not to worry her.
But she’d always been able to tell when her little brother was scared. And now she was scared for him.
She had to follow her sixth sense, then everything would turn out well in the end.
Her grandmother, too, had often relied on her sixth sense and instilled in her, even as a child, to always follow it, because it would never steer her wrong.
Her mother had called it superstition and hocus pocus, but her grandmother’s influence had left her believing that if she listened to the voice in her head, it would guide her in the right direction, even if it didn’t always look like it at first. And her sixth sense was clear: if she helped overturn Santiago’s conviction, her life and that of those she loved would turn out well in the end.
She was still driving the old rust bucket her family had used when they lived outside of Fresno.
Buying a new car, or even one that had less than a hundred thousand miles on it, was out of her budget.
Her savings were all gone, and she wasn’t sure how long she could still survive on the little money she earned.
She pushed the thoughts about her situation back, not wanting them to cloud her judgment.
It was important that she kept a clear mind so she wouldn’t make a mistake now.
Everything had to go according to plan. Her brother’s future depended on it.
In her mind, she ticked off everything she’d taken care of already.
Few things remained. She was tired, not just physically, but also mentally.
The stress was getting to her, but she hadn’t mentioned anything about it to Santiago.
She didn’t want to burden him with this.
If he knew what she was planning, he would have tried to talk her out of it.
So she’d remained silent, but promised him that there was still hope.
That the verdict would be overturned on appeal, and that he would be free soon.
In the Tenderloin neighborhood, one of the seediest parts of San Francisco, she looked for parking.
Parking in one of the large public parking structures was out of the question.
They were too expensive. She needed to find one of the few spots on the street, where parking was free after six p.m. It was always a challenge to garner one of the coveted spots, because many residents in this neighborhood had no parking garage in their apartment buildings.
She drove slowly, her eyes peeled on the cars parked on either side of the street.
Whenever a pedestrian approached a vehicle, she stopped, hoping they’d get into their car and vacate the parking spot.
After circling the same four blocks several times, she finally saw a woman loading a few bags into the trunk of her sedan.
Her blinker on, Catalina waited for her to get into the car.
It took a few more seconds before the brake lights illuminated and the car began to move, slowly reversing out of the parking spot.
Catalina put her car in reverse to give the woman more space to back out into the narrow street.
The woman’s car was still blocking her from moving when she saw another car coming from the other direction turn into the parking space she’d been waiting for.
“Fuck!” she cursed, while the sedan in front of her pulled away.
Furious at the driver who’d stolen her spot, she jumped out of the car and crossed the street, just as he exited his SUV.
“Hey, that was my spot! I was waiting for it!” she yelled at him.
“Tough luck,” the arrogant forty-something in the fancy suit replied as he went to the back of his car and opened the trunk.
“You stole my parking spot!” The fury inside her was close to boiling over.
“It’s public parking. Better luck next time.”
He reached for something in the trunk. She grabbed him by the shoulder, and he whirled around, glaring at her now. Before either of them could say something, Catalina caught a movement in the corner of her eye. She spun her head to it. A meter maid had just stopped with her golfcart-sized vehicle.
“Lady, is that your car?” she asked, already pulling out her device to issue a ticket. “You can’t stop here.”
“This guy stole my parking spot!” she replied, pointing at the man who was now pulling a gym bag from the trunk of his car.
The meter maid shrugged and started tapping on her handheld device.
Catalina looked at her, then back at the guy who’d stolen her parking spot, her brain freezing for a moment.
If she engaged with the meter maid, the jerk in the SUV would leave, and she’d have no chance at getting the spot.
But if she didn’t move her car now, she’d get a ticket, which she couldn’t afford to pay.
Tears threatened to burst from her eyes.
She tried to push them back, but they already clouded her vision.
Knowing that she couldn’t risk a parking ticket, she pivoted to cross the street to stop the meter maid.
She saw the approaching taxi too late. For a split-second, her entire body froze as panic surged through her.
Somebody grabbed her from behind and yanked her out of the path of the taxi.
Her heart raced, and suddenly everything around her seemed to happen in slow motion.
The meter maid was simply staring at her and her rescuer.
She still held her ticketing device in her hand, but she’d stopped entering information into it.
Finding her breath again, Catalina turned around slowly, breaking the physical contact with the person who’d saved her.
At first, she looked straight at his shirt before tilting her head back to look up at his face, because he was about a foot taller than her.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the guy with the SUV still stood there, a blond woman with a pixie haircut not unlike her own, watching them.
“You okay?” her rescuer said, the timbre of his voice sending reverberations through her body.
He had black hair and blue eyes that bored into her. When she nodded, he looked past her to the blond woman.
“Mom, can you please take care of her while I sort this out?”
Catalina wasn’t sure what he meant by this, but simply remained standing there, her body still trembling from the shock. The blond woman, who didn’t look much older than her rescuer, approached while he walked up to the guy with the SUV.
“I’m Nina,” the pretty blonde introduced herself. “You must be in shock.”
“Yes… I almost…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, only now grasping the significance of what could have happened. Had she died, who would help her brother get out of prison?
“Well, luckily, Benjamin was able to get to you in time.”
Catalina looked past her and saw that her rescuer, Benjamin, was still talking to the guy who’d stolen her parking space.
“What’s your name, honey?” Nina asked.
“Catalina. My name is Catalina.” With every word, her voice became stronger. “I don’t know how to thank him.” She hesitated before continuing, “I must have heard wrong when he called you Mom.”
“You didn’t. Benjamin is my son.” She smiled gently. “I’m older than I look.”
Just then, Benjamin turned away from the man with the SUV. He gave her a reassuring look.
“Let me speak to the meter maid.” He crossed the street, and it took only a few moments before the woman got back into her vehicle without issuing a ticket and left.
Benjamin returned. “It’s taken care of.”
“Thank you. I don’t know how to thank—”
The last word got stuck in her throat because she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The man who’d stolen her parking spot was backing out of it and driving away.
“What? How did you…”
He smiled. “Go, get your car, and I’ll make sure nobody takes the spot in the meantime.”
Her hands trembled again, and when she pulled her keys from her pocket, she dropped them. Benjamin picked them up.
Nina reached for them. “How about I park your car? You’re still in shock.”
Before she could protest, Nina walked to the car and got in. As they watched her park the old rust bucket, Benjamin addressed her.
“I’m Benjamin. What’s your name?”
Her mouth went dry. He’d slid his hand under her elbow to keep her steady. Only then did she realize that her knees felt wobbly, and that she was swaying.
“Catalina looks a little pale,” Nina said, making her realize that she’d already parked the car. “We live on this block, honey. Come, you need to sit down.”
Without protest, she allowed the two strangers—mother and son—to lead her away.
She wasn’t sure why she trusted them not to hurt her.
But she did. They’d both helped her when she needed help, and that meant something to her.
For the first time in a long time, she felt that she wasn’t alone in this world and that there were good people willing to help her.