Taina
THE SAFEST brOAD ALIVE
I used to think intuition was a myth. The idea that our bodies somehow know when or if something is going to happen feels akin to people trying to convince me they could bend spoons with their minds or something.
Those are the moments that I wish I could bend time to my will rather than a fucking spoon.
But as I approach my parents’ house, having been dropped off by a rideshare at the end of the street to avoid my mother’s incessant questions, there’s a weight that latches on to my bellybutton and yanks my stomach down to my ass.
It’s the only way I can explain it.
When I notice the black car sitting out front, I ignore it. It’d been sitting there, so I doubt they followed me since I managed to sneak out from the back door.
I hardly have a moment to find my keys when the door swings open.
“Get inside,” my father mutters, standing aside for me to pass him. And I hesitate, because what the fuck crawled up his ass? “Now.”
Without many options, what else can I do?
So I walk inside, only to find my mother standing to the left, in the sitting room archway.
“Is this an intervention?” I ask, placing my hand on my chest in mock shock. “Did Dr. Greene put you up to this?”
Mami’s nostrils flare at my sarcasm, and I wonder if she’d ever allow her beloved viewers to see her in such a state. Hair all fucked up, wearing sweats and a worn T-shirt.
“I don’t know what you said to her, but she won’t even speak to us anymore. Aside from letting us know that you’re attending, she doesn’t share your progress at all.”
“Probably because she realized I’m a grown-ass woman who doesn’t need to answer to her parents,” I mutter, wishing they would leave me alone to shower and figure out my next steps.
The clock is ticking, and I need to stop playing games and get it over with.
But I’d be lying if I said it’ll be easy.
Still, if I had to choose between killing that evil bitch and continuing to deal with these ones, I’d take the former.
“When you live with us, you live by our rules,” Papi barks, slamming the front door, and it bounces back.
“What the hell are you doing? And don’t tell me you’re going to therapy or the gym.
I stopped at both locations, and no one had seen you today.
And Dr. Greene was on vacation!” The cords in his neck bulge as he yells, and I shrink back instinctively.
“So you’re stalking me,” I toss out, annoyed that I’m even still standing here. “Imagine if that made the 9 o’clock news.”
I watch his face redden, and I can’t help the snort of laughter that erupts from my chest, up past my lips. These people don’t even know I almost died the other day.
Parents of the fucking century.
“You leave that boy alone,” he finally seethes, his body shaking as he attempts to rein in his rage. “If you want to get yourself killed, leave us out of it.”
“He’s your lawyer,” I counter, knowing that if Emiliano hadn’t been working with Papi , he wouldn’t have come here and whatever followed would never have come to pass.
“ ?Callate ya! You have no idea what the hell you’re getting yourself into.” He steps away and smacks his palm against the front door, finally closing it.
“So he’s good enough for you?—”
“ ?Te callas o te callo! ”
A thoughtless scoff passes my lips, and he turns toward me, his arm raised like he aims to hit me. Even as adrenaline spikes and the desire to protect myself overcomes me, I stamp it down and look him in his eyes.
“Do it,” I urge him, tilting my chin to give him easier access. “Then you can be another man who assaulted me and got away with it.”
That stops him in his tracks, and he blinks, his facial expression going slack. We stand there, and it’s like we’re finally seeing one another. Me, with my invisible scars and disdain for him. Him, with his desire to be rid of the stain in his perfect world.
He sighs, shaking his head as he passes me. Part of me wonders if this is over and I can finally go upstairs. But before he reaches the kitchen, he turns his head to say, “Get the fuck out of my house. And don’t come back.”
The swinging door to the kitchen groans as he shoves it open and disappears inside.
I glance at my worthless mother, who stands there with her arms crossed.
She’d never defy Papi , because she was raised in a world where a wife submits to her husband.
“You’re pathetic,” I spit out, turning to head toward the door.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” she hisses, and I look over my shoulder to see her eyes filling. “We tried to save you.”
“Oh fuck you,” I shout, yanking the door open and walking out. The sky grew darker while I was inside, and I rub my hands over my arms, prepared to walk until I figure out where to go.
I just hope they haven’t locked my bank account.
Shit.
I make it off their property and begin strolling down the street when the black car pulls up beside me.
It’d better not fucking be…
“Hey,” the driver calls out, and I immediately realize that it’s not Emiliano. Thank goodness, because I don’t want to see him right now. Not when my brain is scrambled about any and everything.
I continue walking, not facing the driver until the car pulls into the driveway I was about to pass, blocking me.
And when I glare at the driver, I realize it’s the young one who surveils the house at night. I don’t know him, but I already don’t like him.
“What do you want?” I ask, hoping my voice doesn’t betray me. I’m alone, I have no idea what I’m going to do, and I’m pretty sure several people out there would like me dead.
“You know he’ll kill me if I don’t bring you to him safely,” he says, resting his wrist on the steering wheel as he pleads with his eyes. “Make my night easier and get in the car?”
“You know I just met the guy, right?” I counter, shifting my weight onto one leg. “This could be seen as kidnapping.”
“Kidnapping?” He chuckles and puts the car in park. “I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. But I will have to follow you to wherever you end up.”
Wherever I end up. A bus station? A fast food restaurant? A park bench ?
Emiliano would snatch me up and caveman carry me to…who even knows where?
“I don’t know you. And I barely know him,” I point out, even though I can still feel his soft lips on mine. I can still hear him ask if I’m going to be his. I embarrass myself, rereading his texts that I never respond to.
“What’s there to know?”
I shoot him a pointed look, and he sighs.
“All you need to know is to be loved by golden boy Emiliano Pineros is to be the safest broad alive.”
Loved? That’s a bit much.
More than I need a place to live, I need safety. I’m so close to my goal, but I still have a few pieces left to maneuver before I’m ready for the kill.
And while this makes things a lot more difficult for me—more dangerous too—I can’t think of another place to go. And if this man can follow me around, anyone can.
Curiosity piques, and I ask, “Did you guys know I left the house today?”
My heart thumps wildly in my chest as I await his response. I snuck out specifically to avoid an audience to my antics, even though today proved fruitless.
The monster hadn’t been there when I showed up, and I stuck around for any movement, but all was still for several hours.
I feel like I’m losing my grip on him, so when I returned home, already defeated, that damn intuition of mine decided to be right.
“You were home all day, Ms. de la Matta,” he tells me, raising his brow, even though he’d seen me walking from the end of the road, back into my parents’ house. “Weren’t you?”
I’d rather not lie.
Instead, I open the passenger backseat door and brace myself on it, asking where he plans to take me .
“Boss had plans to head to his ranch tonight, so I suppose there.”
I climb in and shut the door, prepared to reevaluate my plans and figure out how to pull this off.
Like water, I’ll either find a way through or wear my obstacles down until I do. There’s always a path for me.
He’s silent as he taps on his phone before making sure I have my seatbelt on.
“Are you planning on letting him know?” I ask, settling back with only my phone and my license in my pocket.
The driver backs the car out and looks at me in the rearview mirror. “He already knows.”
What the fuck?