Tuesday, 24 April 2035 #3
And I stood there and finally released the rest of the tears I’d been holding in. I almost drowned in them.
‘Hey, what is it?’ Rafael asked as he moved closer and held my face in his big, rough hands.
I remained frozen to the spot but then I couldn’t hold back any longer and grabbed on to him and hugged him until I thought he might break.
I still hadn’t stopped shaking but now it felt safe to be vulnerable.
Because even though he wasn’t my dad, he was Leo’s dad, and maybe I could be his forever too.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’
We broke apart momentarily but only cos Leo wanted in on the hug as well, and when we squished back together, Rafael and I locked eyes and he said to me, ‘It’s okay, Ivy. You’re home now. I’ve got you.’
I didn’t want to let go of either of them.
I didn’t want any other thoughts to rush in, though I knew they would.
I knew I should tell Rafael that their cover had been blown and that the Thompson-Pierces knew where I’d gone and who I’d gone to.
But in that moment, all I wanted was to push away the bad thoughts and hold on to that fragile, hopeful feeling with my family.
‘Dad, can we go home now, I want to show Ivy my workshop!’ said Leo, tugging on his arm.
‘Hey, come on, dude, let Ivy catch her breath first,’ said Rafael. ‘She probably wants to freshen up and get a drink. Are you hungry? I’ll make you anything you want to eat. Or do you want to go home and rest?’
‘Home home!’ said Leo.
Leo and I walked to the car as Rafael went to grab some supplies and say goodnight to the decorators who were just finishing up for the day. The house wasn’t far away but tricky to find.
It was dark by the time we arrived at their place, up in the hills overlooking the bay, but Rafael switched the lights on outside the house so our way in was guided.
The place was enormous, fronted by wrought-iron gates and the gardens surrounding were so overgrown, you could barely see the house beyond itself – Santu read the broken sign above the tall rusty gates.
‘Hacienda Santuario?’ I said aloud.
‘Yeah,’ said Rafael, pulling on the handbrake and stepping out of the car as we followed him. ‘It’s a work in progress so you’ll have to excuse the work going on. I sort of … inherited it.’
‘Yeah, I read about it in one of the Sweetpea books.’
‘Oh, you did? Good. You’re fully up to speed on everything then. And your room’s all ready for you.’
‘It’s next to mine.’ Leo beamed, already playing with the hoverboard he’d torn from the box and singing a stupid little sweetpea song he’d just made up.
I did remember reading about the Hacienda from Book Three in Freddie’s Sweetpea series.
Rhiannon had come here not long after she left me.
She’d lived here quite happily with an ex-cartel hitman for a while.
She’d been tortured by his henchmen here.
She’d cut off her own hand to save some kids here. Rafael seemed to read my mind.
‘It’s quite safe here. We don’t get any trespassers. And we’ve cleaned it up a lot. Been here about two years now, all told.’
I nodded, yawning for the first time since I’d arrived. I did feel safe here already, even though I’d only just met Rafael. And Leo was just a bundle of delights and loved me as much as I loved him. He kept hugging me and begging his dad to let him show me around the place.
‘Can I show Ivy around the gardens?’ asked Leo as Rafael gave me the tour. ‘Please, Dad! It won’t take long!’
‘It’s too dark, Leo; tomorrow okay?’
‘No now!’ Leo whined. ‘Can you switch the outside lights on, just for a minute? Please, Dad, please?’
‘All right,’ he said. ‘Just ten minutes while I make Ivy something to eat – she’s had a long day, okay?’
‘Okay, okay.’ Leo bounced happily and dragged me bodily outside, through an avenue of spiky plant life into a huge garden with flower beds, and a pool that looked more like a covered swamp.
Lights came on little by little, all over the outside space.
Some were rooted in the soil, others draped across pergolas, lighting our way through the overgrown garden towards a thicket of trees and bushes.
The place was hidden high in the hills above the town, far from the rest of the world, but it didn’t feel lonely — it felt sheltered.
Twisting vines snaked over cracked paths, and cacti stood like silent soldiers, guarding against unknown threats.
As more lights flicked on, shadows shifted across the plants, and for a moment, it felt as if the whole garden was watching us as we walked.
‘Dad’s gonna clean the pool out for us so we can play,’ Leo told me as he held my hand and swung it as we walked. ‘Come see my little den.’
‘Okay, okay, slow down,’ I laughed as he tugged me through the long grass of the lawn, through a mass of trees and brambles to the very back where there sat a small shed, nestled among the trees.
‘This is my workshop,’ Leo announced proudly. ‘No unauthorised entry.’ So said the sign on the door in red paint. He flashed the little torchlight at the door and dropped my hand to unpick his rope lock on the handle.
‘What kind of stuff do you do in here then?’ I asked, as he swung open the door to reveal a mess of bikes and scooters, a broken hoverboard, a bucket, tins of paint …
And, in the centre of it all, the torch beam fell on something moving – a young boy, around Leo’s age, dirty, gagged and bound with the same rope that had been tied to the door.
The boy winced at the bright light in his eyes.
It took me a while to register what on earth I was seeing but I slowly realised what was happening as my brain caught up with the events unfolding before me.
His hands were tied behind his back, his face had been punched and pummelled ruthlessly.
He was shaking all over and his filthy, deformed feet, bloody and bare.
And two of his toes had been cut off by the gardening secateurs which leant up against the workbench where all Leo’s little walnut insect creations lay.
The blades dripped with fresh blood. The light fell on the jars lined up along the windowsill, each one holding a tiny animal suspended in liquid.
Their eyes stared blankly, paws curled, wings stiff, frozen mid-motion.
I looked at Leo who was grinning widely.
‘What … the … fuck?’
‘This is Gus Herrera,’ he said, pointing at the wriggling boy. ‘The kid that broke my hoverboard.’
I could barely choke out the words. ‘What the … hell have you done?’
‘What you told me to. You said give him a taste of his own medicine. You were right. He didn’t like it when I fought back, did ya, Gus?’
Leo walked towards the boy, kicking him hard in his ribs, laughing as he did so, as I winced and reeled back from him. The weakened, bound Gus Herrera coughed and retched and struggled against his bindings. Beside him in the dirt lay his two freshly severed toes.
And when I glanced up, Leo was smiling at me – a smile I recognised with dread. A look which froze my spine from top to bottom. Sweet to sour in one facial wipe. And now sweet again – the sweetest of all possible peas.