Falling with Grace

1. Grace

1

Grace

S arah’s blood smeared against a small animal's sun-bleached bones where she collapsed—her cut-up feet compacted with debris much like my own. "We have to keep going."

Dirt smeared across her pale skin, and her gaunt eyes resembled Death beneath the hood of her flaming red hair.

"I can't. I'm too tired."

I jerked her arms with both hands, my depleted muscles screaming as she found her feet. "If you stop, we die." My soles ached as I dragged her over the jagged terrain, her groans filling the darkening sky.

"Come on, Grace." Maria's shoulders hunched over, her hands on her knees twenty paces ahead. Her chest heaved for breath. "Just leave her."

A bird fluttered its wings overhead and squealed as my narrowed eyes locked onto hers. "Like I left you, right?"

"Like you left the others."

She returned my glare until I dropped my gaze to her worn-out sneakers.

"That's not fair." The words tumbled out of my mouth like a dying confession.

She's lucky.

The new girl arrived within hours of our escape.

They hadn't even taken her clothes or shoes away, so it was easy for her to discard someone while the rest of us tiptoed with bare feet over cactus, jagged rocks, and old coyote tracks.

Maria had yet to experience the horrors of twisted men. Given a little more time in the confines of our hell, they would've introduced her to a world not even the devil could conjure up.

My fingers intertwined with Sarah's as we hiked the hill, my feet slipping on the baked earth, sweat dripping down my hairline and into my worn shirt.

Maria shook her head as we met up with the group of seven ahead.

"Honestly, Maria." Viola tossed her greasy chestnut-colored hair over her shoulder. "Have some sympathy."

Maria huffed at her as she turned around. "I'm never going back there, and if I have to leave the weak link to ensure that never happens, then I will."

I spun around, the balls of my feet screaming as the cuts spread wide, my lungs burning in my chest. "The only weak link here is the selfish girl who's willing to leave someone behind to die." Pressing my finger to her chest, I applied pressure until she took a step back. "We're all in this together. We either help each other survive, or no one will."

Maria's deep brown eyes darted to the group surrounding us. "I won't let them do to me what they did to you."

I let out a laugh as a heavy silence fell over us. "If they catch us, you won't live long enough to experience much of anything." I took a step away from her, shaking my head. "He doesn't tolerate anyone who doesn't conform."

The group nodded in unison, except for Maria, who planted her hands on her hips in defiance.

I glanced beyond her toward the group. "In about two miles, we will be in America." I hiked a thumb over my shoulder. "If we make it there, we have a better chance at freedom. But we can't do that if we let selfishness get in our way."

Jorge rubbed his sparse beard growing under his chin, a gleam in his eye as he put an arm around my shoulder in comradery.

We were the last originals standing, the ultimate survivors in his twisted game of captivity.

We'd formed an unbreakable bond and became each other's pillars of strength.

He tended to my wounds through prison bars, and I, his. We offered each other comfort in the darkness through tear-streaked words.

He wasn't a brother.

He wasn't a lover.

He just was .

I turned down the path, leading the group toward a ridge that overlooked the Rio Grande, and let each person pass me as I held up the rear.

I wouldn’t leave anyone behind .

Viola linked hands with Duarte, and Isabella mirrored Viola on his opposite side, creating a flesh train up the untraveled path.

I licked my chapped lips, my teeth crunching on the gritty sand.

My hand clenched tight around the near-empty plastic water bottle Jorge and Duarte were able to steal off the back of a parked truck in town.

I'd forced myself to take small sips until we reached the Rio Grande, where I'd fill it up before entering America.

Not even fears of Giardia or any other unknown water-borne disease would deter me from drinking it.

Monica pointed up ahead and squealed. " Mira. "

Carly stood on her toes, her hand interlaced with Rachel's. "What do you see?"

"The peak." Maria spun on her feet as she turned back at us. "We've made it."

Not yet, but we were close.

The inky black sky sparkled with stars as we halted on the short rocky cliff, my muscles screaming with elation as the group’s exhausted moans erupted behind me.

I glanced down at the loose, rocky hillside and marveled at the green valley below with the wide, swift river running between.

For three unyielding days, we’d pushed our bodies to the limits, hiking through unforgiving terrain that rooted against us, hiding from anyone we might encounter.

No one was safe.

Everyone was a threat .

I turned back to the group. "We'll cross the river tomorrow." Groans erupted. "We need to rest before we attempt to cross it. Rachel and Isabella can't swim—"

Maria tossed her hands into the air, her steps shuffling closer to the animal path leading down the hillside. "Then those that can swim can cross tonight."

I shook my head, my legs aching, my feet unable to move another step. "And leave those who can't behind?" My cheeks puffed out. "Have you learned nothing?"

"We can have a few stay behind to help them cross."

"No. We stick together." My teeth clenched tight as I leaned against a large boulder wedged between two towering trees on the cliff's edge. "The river may look slow running, but its current is swift, and it will drag you under." My fist clenched at my side. "We'll need our strength if we're going to cross safely. Including you."

Maria rolled her eyes, her teenage attitude shining through. "How do you know? Have you crossed it before? "

"She's right." Jorge stepped up beside me.

"Of course you'd take her side." Maria rolled her eyes as Duarte and Viola walked behind her.

Jorge scored his lower lip between his teeth, his clothes threadbare as he wagged his finger between me and himself. "We didn't go through the trouble of breaking all of you out of your cages just to watch you drown in the river." He sighed and pinched his brow with dirty fingers. "Grace has a point. We're all exhausted. Maybe it's best if we wait it out for now."

"No." Maria shook her head. "I can handle my own."

"My sister and I can do it too." Carly grabbed Rachel's shoulders. "I want to get out of this fucking country."

Isabella stepped forward, her chestnut-colored hair matted at her shoulder. "All the coyotes travel under the cover of darkness."

"Listen," Jorge said, "We've gotten you this far—"

"It's fine." I moved forward and placed my hand on his chest, his rib poking against my palm. "If you think you can do better, go down there and try. Don't say I didn't warn you, though."

Viola, Carly, Rachel, and Maria led the way, followed by the quieter Duarte and Isabella. They descended the steep path towards the river.

I tossed my bruised and scabbed hands into the air, then stared at the remaining group. Jorge, Sarah, and Monica watched them with worried gazes. "I won't fault you if you also wish to leave."

Jorge slumped against the rock, and Monica copied him on the opposite side. "We know it's smart to wait. They're just eager."

I shook my head. "Patience is a virtue."

My mother used to say that to me when I'd get all worked up about Christmas or Easter.

The presents, the egg hunts—everything was so thrilling. I was like a child buzzing with sugar, incapable of waiting for the next day.

Monica's shoulders slumped. "They won't cross at night ."

"I hope not." I shrugged, translating her Spanish words. "It only takes one of them to lose their footing, and they'll all go down like Dominoes."

My eyes followed the cliff's edge, more akin to a steep hill with fragments of rocks, small boulders, and the river at the basin.

Jorge patted my shin, slid down until his back rested on the compact dirt, and closed his eyes. "Get some rest."

I walked over to the ledge. "She's right, you know?"

Monica replicated Jorge's movements as if she were his shadow, and Sarah slumped against a tree.

He raised a brow. "How's that?"

"The coyotes cross the river at night. It's the best time to escape the authorities."

Jorge sighed and rocked his shoulders side-to-side to settle as a set of baying dogs quieted in the distance. "The agents expect them to. They double their efforts at night. You made the right call."

Had I?

It wasn't just the river we had to wade through with its strong currents, but the mountain range on the other side.

Sure, some roads ran through the park, but it would draw a target on our backs if we were to use them.

Border patrol frequently combed through this area, hunting for those doing the same as us. We couldn't risk one being corrupt or meeting up with the Mexican Federal Police or military.

"I don't know..."

I glanced down at Isabella leading the way, the valley below shadowed and dark. She slipped, her barefoot swinging upward, and a delayed, echoed scream danced on the breeze.

Maria reached out, preventing her from landing on her backside. They continued down the path, their nervous laughter echoing through the rugged terrain.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I breathed a sigh of relief, then shuffled the dirt around with my sore big toe.

It wouldn't be long now, and we'd be free.

"Do you still plan on finding your sister?"

I walked back to my boulder and sat beside Jorge, who threaded a rosary through his fingers, his lips moving with silent prayers.

He nodded. "I just have to find the family who adopted her."

A sympathetic smile touched my lips as I rested my head against his shoulder.

"What about you, Sarah? "

She took in a big breath, her arms folded. "I want to see my mom and tell her it wasn't her fault I disappeared."

Crickets chirped around us, and a small, eclectic ticking bug competed with the night sky.

"Monica? Y tu? "

"I want to work," she said in Spanish. "I want to get a job and just live my life."

I nodded, my eyelids drooping as I fought the need for sleep.

"What about you?" Jorge bumped me as he put his rosary in his pocket.

Exhaling, I settled in closer to him, the weight of my limbs pinning me to the ground. "I want to go home."

My dry lips stuck together, my confession springing tears I couldn't afford to shed.

It will all work out in the end.

For their sake and mine.