Chapter 41 #2
“I believe she’s right. He was so angry, he promised to take revenge.
They laughed at him. But, as we see, he got the upper hand.
And they are still fighting over it today.
Anyway, we didn’t agree with what they did to him or what they were trying to do with glass.
When we brought this up with the Division Directors and even the mayor, we were dismissed and laughed at.
That’s when Mamá and I decided we were going to save our money and get out of the business and move to Las Afueras. ”
“Why didn’t you move out of Andloor altogether?” Esmie interrupted, thinking of Samson and Deepika, her heart constricting when thinking of the former. She forced her emotions aside, praying he was safe somewhere instead of believing he was gone forever.
“We didn’t know how,” Mamá answered shrugging her shoulders and glancing at Papi.
“Many said they knew of someone who left but when you get to the edge of Andloor it is filled with swamp land and no clear way out. Some have tried to navigate it and either never returned or returned days later, nearly dead, saying they were lost. So, we got as far away from downtown as we could as it seemed to be the worst there.”
“We watched people change while living in downtown Andloor,” Papi continued.
“People who were once kind, grew greedy. As more and more buildings grew taller, rent hikes were sprung upon people, culture was being slowly eradicated, and more laws were enforced to stop the crime. People were spying on each other and reporting their neighbors to the Enforcement Division where they would be taken away never to be seen again or come back broken with vacant eyes.”
“Like Papi said, the last straw was when a deal was brokered regarding glass.” Mamá picked up when Papi glanced at her.
“Papi and I didn’t know what glass was initially, but after some digging, once we found out, we knew it was time to leave.
We sold our business and used the money, along with our savings to get out.
You were too small to remember, but we used underground tunnels to flee.
Papi had a friend in Las Afueras, who helped set us up in this house and found us jobs with the local city here where we could blend in.
We knew there would be a time when Andloor Capitol’s reach would get here, but we hoped we could enact change before it happened.
With them controlling the narrative on the media, we realized there was no chance for us to convince others of the reality. It seems we fought in vain.”
“Why didn’t you tell us before? Leo and me? Maybe, we could’ve avoided this or knew how to fight them.” Esmie stood up, angry.
“Which is exactly why we didn’t want to tell you!
You wouldn’t have sat back and done nothing.
You’re a fighter.” Mamá stood as well, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Papi and I wanted to protect you and Leo for as long as we could, hoping that if we pushed you to excel in school you would create your own companies, or work in areas where you could make the changes necessary for all of our futures.” She glanced at Papi for reassurance and he nodded.
“And how could we have done that if we didn’t know what we were up against? You were so busy trying to protect us, you ended up sheltering us and putting us at a disadvantage.” Esmie crossed her arms.
Papi reached a hand across the table. “Then we’re sorry but it was the only way we thought we could protect you.
” Esmie covered her face with her hands, weary of the conversation.
Her parents knew so much and thought keeping it a secret would help when it only hindered.
She couldn’t blame them. They didn’t know any better.
“I need to go shower and change then find Leo. You mentioned underground tunnels. I need to get to Genetronetics without them detecting me. Are those tunnels still open and how do I access them?”
Mamá shook her head. “No, I won’t let you go. Papi and I have connections. We will get Leo ourselves.”
“You mean like your connection who never showed up?” Esmie slammed her fists on the table. It shook beneath her. Mamá’s light brown eyes widened.
“My connection did come, but when they couldn’t find you, they went into hiding. They were being followed and haven’t contacted me since. Lo siento. You know I would never allow you to be hurt.” Mamá’s eyes clouded over, the hurt evident on her face.
“I know you didn’t do it on purpose. You were taken advantage of.
But Leo was right. There are less and less people we can trust. Your connections could be corrupted, and I can’t trust they won’t turn me in without releasing Leo.
If they even come out of hiding.” Esmie placed a reassuring hand on her mother’s.
She didn’t blame Mamá for Chad almost capturing her.
Now seeing her mother’s face, she knew Mamá would never allow someone to hurt herself or Leo.
Papi stood and headed into the kitchen. He opened a drawer, removed something, then closed the drawer and walked back to Esmie. A folded paper map enveloped his hand.
“I will give you the maps for the underground tunnels. I may not know who we can trust on the inside anymore, but I will give you everything you need. I trust you.” Papi’s solemn expression held back the tears in his eyes.
Esmie went up on tiptoes, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek.
He kissed the top of her head. Mamá slapped her thighs.
“Pues, I guess there’s no talking you out of it. I’m going to go pray that Elohim protects you and brings you and Leo safely back to me.” With a huff she fled the room toward the sala.
“That’s her way of saying she’s worried but trusts you too.
” Papi winked at her. Esmie squeezed him one more time before grabbing her phone in the bag of rice then heading upstairs.
When she arrived in her room, she leaned against the doorway, amazed at all which had transpired since the last time she was here.
It felt like a lifetime ago. Her phone buzzed with a new message.
Peering through the bag of rice, her heart dropped.
“Turn yourself in to Genetronetics headquarters or your brother dies.”
~Chad