Chapter 9
After placing a call, where Leo’s voice was so low Esmie couldn’t hear a single word, Leo cracked open the door, then guided Esmie out of the janitor’s closet.
“Wait, what about the internship fair? Mamá is going to kill me if I don’t attend. She already set up several interviews with recruiters.” Esmie stopped. Leo bumped into her.
Leo snapped his fingers, and his eyes lit up.
“Do you have your resume with you?” Esmie nodded.
“Okay, I’m going to run inside and hand it to each of the recruiters.
I’ll let them know you are under the weather, but I will schedule a meeting with each of them, on your behalf, to meet with them at the Downtown Internship Fair. I’ll personally escort you.”
“What will we tell Mamá? She knew I wasn’t feeling well and as you can see, sent me anyway.” Esmie pulled out a folder from her bag with her resumes inside.
“I’ll tell Mamá the District wanted to meet with you personally, so I dragged you with me for interviews with the different departments there.
She will be more thrilled about them than the recruiters here.
I’ll tell her the meetings will take a couple of days so you can spend the night by me to give us some time.
I’ll let her know, I rescheduled the interviews with the recruiters here for the Downtown Internship.
With me escorting you, she won’t be as worried about you going alone.
” Without waiting for an answer, Leo grabbed the folder and rushed inside the Auditorium.
Esmie snuck over to the bathroom and waited inside while Leo talked to the recruiters.
She retched whatever was left inside of her stomach.
Mamá put antacids in the pocket of her backpack.
Esmie pulled them out of her bag and popped two in her mouth, crunching on the chalky pills.
Fifteen minutes later, Leo texted her to come out.
Fortunately, the Morales children’s reputation preceded them, and according to Leo, each recruiter offered their well wishes and were glad to reschedule.
It took him a little longer because he had to inform his fellow recruiters at the Lab Enforcement Division booth of a family emergency.
Leo ensured Esmie’s sunglasses and the hood from her hoodie was pulled over properly to cover the purple on her face.
He led her into the main hallway, steps away from the arched doorway to exit campus.
The doors were in front of them when they collided with Dean Worley.
“Crap.” Leo mumbled under his breath while plastering on a smile.
“Mr. Morales, it’s good to see you. We have heard so much about your accomplishments.” Dean Worley didn’t wait to grab Leo’s hand and shake it with so much enthusiasm, Esmie thought he would pull Leo’s arm out of its socket. She stifled a giggle.
“It’s good to see you too, Dean Worley. You haven’t changed one bit!” Esmie rolled her eyes at her brother’s impeccable brown-nosing skills.
“Thank you. I’m always bragging about how you were one of our brightest students and I knew you would go far.
It’s an honor for this school to see how successful you’ve become.
And now your sister is following in your footsteps.
” Dean Worley paused, noticing Esmie out of the corner of his eye.
She tried to shrink back behind her taller brother, but it was too late.
“Esmie, I thought you were already in the Auditorium speaking with the recruiters.” Esmie’s mouth dried.
She coughed, bent over trying to regain control of her voice.
“Ah, yes sir, I already took Esmie around to speak with the recruiters. We did a quick run through because my supervisors asked me to bring her in so they could speak with her one-on-one. We also made follow-up appointments with several recruiters for next week’s Downtown Internship Fair, which I will escort her to myself.
If you can have her excused for the day. ”
Dean Worley bounded up on and down on his toes.
“How excellent! Another star student going into the Law Enforcement Division. I’m sure your supervisors will love her.
” He elbowed Leo, who responded with a grimace.
“Of course she is excused. Esmie has all the requirements needed to graduate already. Everything else is formality right now, but I will inform her professors.”
“Thank you, sir. You have a wonderful day.” Leo saluted the dean. Esmie coughed more to cover up her laughter. Leo wrapped an arm around Esmie shoulders, leading her away.
“Oh, Mr. Morales. Should I call your mother and let her know?” Dean Worley called out to them. They both froze. Leo composed himself faster and stood straight, turning toward the dean.
“Oh, no need. I’ve already informed her and of course she is thrilled. Thank you, though, and have a wonderful day.”
Leo grabbed Esmie’s hand, yanking her out the door as Dean Worley nodded, whistling as he ambled away in the direction of the auditorium.
Despite the coolness of the day, the sun beat down on them, agitating Esmie’s eye, sweat creeping down her back, but Leo wasn’t in the mood to slow down.
He raced across the street to a black Chevy Camaro that had seen better days. Esmie paused.
“That’s not your car.”
“It’s a colleague’s, who also happens to be my best friend.
I didn’t bring my car because I had to sell mine.
” Leo kept walking, his head bent down as he sent a message.
“Ok, Mamá knows what’s going on. I told her I’ll call her later when she gets out of work.
” Leo paused, noticing Esmie wasn’t next to him.
“You didn’t call her?” Esmie crossed her arms.
“No, we don’t have time to call her.” Leo took a couple steps then stopped again when Esmie didn’t follow.
“You know how she is when she receives a text message. She’s going to flip and probably call me.”
“Then tell her what I told you to say. We’ll be fine.” Leo walked back over to Esmie. He sighed. “What’s up?”
“It’s not as easy as you think. When you left, Mamá got worse with her helicopter parenting. She keeps such a close eye on me, I feel like I can’t breathe.” Esmie mimicked choking herself. Her hands dropped to her sides.
“It can’t be that bad, Quita.”
“But it is! If she finds out what I did, my life is over. I don’t even want to imagine what she’ll do to me.
I’ll never see the light of day again. How can I go to the Downtown Internship Fair looking like this?
I can’t wear sunglasses. They won’t take me seriously.
Never mind about school. I won’t be able to go back to classes.
Will they stop me from graduating, even when I’m this close?
My life is in ruins right now.” Esmie slapped her thighs wanting so badly to cry but it would only make her head hurt more than it already did.
“I know you don’t believe me right now, but those are the least of your worries. Your concerns can be dealt with eventually. We have time. But right now, we need to get you out of here.” Leo’s eyes darted around them.
“What do you mean? You said in the closet, I’m not safe here, but why? You know about purple glass, don’t you? Even Mindy didn’t know about it, and she knew about the others. Do you know what’s going on and what’s happening to me?” The anxious ridden questions rushed out of her.
“Yes and no. Do you know what glass is? What it can do?”
“Mindy explained the other colors to me, but I can’t remember right now.”
“Glass is a form of drugs, but I can’t explain more because this isn’t a safe place to talk. There are cameras, listening devices, lots of things around to hear and see us. We need to go into hiding before someone from downtown sees you.”
“Why would someone downtown seeing me matter?”
Leo sighed. “Quita, you need to trust me when I say, you can’t trust anyone else except for who I say is safe.
And right now, this school, this place, is not safe.
But inside the lab I can set up protocols so no one can listen in on us.
Got it?” Esmie nodded. “Good, now stop worrying so much. I’ll answer your questions soon enough but not here. You’re just like Mamá sometimes.”
“Shut up.” Esmie stuck out her tongue at him then shuddered.
She wasn’t sure if the shudder was from his comment or the fear in his eyes, the fear he was trying to hide from her by rushing her along.
Leo knew more than he let on and she needed to know why, but if he wouldn’t tell her unless she went along with him, then she would go.
She trusted him after all, but lately he had been secretive with a lot of things, and she wasn’t sure if she could trust him to tell her the whole truth.
He still saw her as a little kid, although she was a grown adult almost ready to move into the working world.
Leo needed to have more faith in her, just as she needed to in him.
“Come on.” He gestured for her to follow him.
Esmie dragged her feet as Leo opened the car door, pushing the front seat down to allow her to squeeze into the back maroon and black cracked, leather seat. He reset the seat then jumped in.
“Thanks man. I owe you.” Leo spoke to another man next to him in the driver’s seat who looked oddly familiar.
“No problem. I understand about emergencies.” The man answered, his voice smooth, strong, yet calming at the same time. Dark eyes watched her from the rearview mirror. Esmie gasped. It was the attractive stranger from Nightcrawler she saw across the dance floor. He was Leo’s best friend?