Chapter 13 – Alana
Chapter
Thirteen
ALANA
Lucia and I are sitting in the den watching TV by the time Alejandro arrives home later in the evening.
I thought about telling her about Blake myself, but I decided it was better coming from him.
I have no idea what happened to Lucia’s ex-boyfriend other than the fact he’s dead.
She will have questions and they’re ones that I can’t answer.
Besides, I suspect he might be better at breaking this kind of news.
She grew up in his world, and close as Lucia and I are, sometimes I think he speaks her language better than I do.
There is part of her that he understands in a way I don’t.
He walks into the den and sits beside me on the sofa, slipping his arm around my shoulder and planting a soft kiss on my forehead. He looks tired and raises an eyebrow in her direction. I shake my head subtly letting him know she’s still blissfully unaware.
“We saved you some dinner,” I say as I place my hand on his thigh. “Do you have time to eat? It’s bacon cheeseburgers.”
“I ate at the hotel,” he replies sadly, looking at Lucia and the carefree way she’s laughing at the movie we’re watching. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay,” I tell him, my eyes taking in his frown and the fact that his shirt and tie look more disheveled than normal. He gives me a quick hug.
“Hey, Lucia, can we talk to you about something?” he says.
She turns to look at him, seeming to know straight away that this is serious.
“Sure. Is everything okay?” She sounds nervous, and my heart bleeds for her.
She can’t catch a break, and she must feel like every time she dares to rest, the rug gets pulled from beneath her feet.
From what I’ve gathered, her life has been that way for a long time now.
I hate the fact that we’ve torn her away from the comedy on the screen, that we’re going to tell her something awful, but there’s really no getting away from it.
“I think we should turn off the TV,” I say to her and she pauses the movie immediately, looking from my face to Alejandro’s.
“It’s about Blake,” he says, and Lucia pulls a disgusted face. “He’s dead,” Alejandro finishes.
Well. That was blunt, but I don’t suppose there was an easy way to say it.
She blinks at him for a few seconds before she speaks. “What?” She reaches out and fumbles for my hand. I squeeze her fingers gently.
“Where did you find him?” she asks.
“He was in Philadelphia. He was found this morning.” Alejandro replies.
“Did you…?” She starts to ask the question but doesn’t finish it. Maybe she doesn’t want to know the answer.
Alejandro shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t us.”
She swallows before nodding her head gently and placing her free hand on her stomach. Protecting the baby that she and Blake created together.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
“Yeah. It’s just kind of a shock to know that he’s gone.”
“I know. And it’s okay to be sad,” I tell her. “I get that things were complicated between you, but he was an important part of your life.”
She looks up at me, chews the inside of her mouth. “I’m not that sad. Not really. Shocked, maybe worried, but not actually sad. Does that make me a horrible person?”
“No,” Alejandro and I reply in unison. We definitely both speak the same language now.
“I mean, I thought he was my friend, I thought he loved me, but all he ever did was use me,” she says as tears form in her eyes.
I squeeze her hand tighter.
“He was as bad as my father,” she sniffs. I feel Alejandro stiffen beside me and wonder what that’s about. What was her father like? “Is it bad that I feel kind of relieved that he’ll never come after me or my baby again? It is, isn’t it? I really am horrible!”
“No, no, that’s not bad at all, sweetheart. In fact, it’s perfectly understandable,” I assure her. “Do you think I’m a horrible person, Lucia?”
“No. Alana, you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met.”
“Well, let me tell you something…I’m also glad that he can’t come after us again. You, me, your baby. I think we’re all better off without him in the world. I genuinely do think that, so either we’re both awful human beings, or neither of us are.”
“Me too,” Alejandro chimes in. “For what it’s worth.”
Lucia nods and wipes the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. We seem to have convinced her that her feelings are valid, and that’s helped. “What happened to him?” She directs her question to Alejandro.
He looks at me first and then he sucks in a breath. “He was buried alive in cement.”
I wince at the thought of such a horrible death, but Lucia simply frowns. “Wow. Classic. Do you know who did it?”
“Not yet,” Alejandro replies. “Any ideas?”
She gives it some thought, but then Lucia shakes her head. “He was an asshole. But he wasn’t stupid. He didn’t usually piss off the type of people who would be likely to bury him alive in cement.”
Alejandro raises an eyebrow at her and she snorts.
“I guarantee you that if Blake had realized Alana was your wife, he would never have laid a finger on her. He only goes for easy prey. Like me, once my family was all gone. Not that my dad gave much of a shit about me, but for the sake of pride he’d have skinned anybody who hurt me alive, just to save face.
But without him? Yeah. Easy prey.” The way she refers to herself as easy prey and how accepting she is of that fact breaks my heart.
I hold her hand tighter. I can’t even comprehend what this young girl has gone through in her life and how she is still this sweet, lovable kid after all of it.
How did that side of her survive all the trauma?
I already know the answer, and it’s because she’s incredibly strong as well. Stronger than she knows.
“Well, you’re far from easy prey these days,” Alejandro says with a wink. She rewards him with a smile, even though tears are still shining in her eyes.
“You never were, Lucia,” I add. “You survived the night your family were killed, when you were supposed to have died with them. You survived on the streets. You escaped from Blake even though you were alone and scared. You found a safe place for you and your baby, even though you had to lie to find it. You did whatever you needed to do, and you’re still here to tell the tale.
Your father isn’t. The men who killed him aren’t.
Blake isn’t. Who’s the weak one, honey? Who’s the easy prey now? ”
Her smile gets bigger, and the tears start to dry.
“Yeah. You have a point. Want to watch the rest of the movie with us, Alejandro?” Lucia asks. “It’s really funny.”
I guess she’s reached her limit for the big emotions, and that’s okay.
Alejandro looks at the screen, which is paused on a still of kids in a high school hallway.
I know that he hates these kinds of films. In fact, he barely watches TV at all.
I’m surprised when he sits back against the sofa and puts his arm around me.
“Why not? I could do with a distraction,” he says, weariness and relief both present in his voice.
I sit back too and lean against him, placing one hand on his thigh and keeping hold of Lucia’s with the other.
Against all odds considering the conversation we’ve just shared, within a few minutes the three of us are laughing at the movie.
It’s a dumb movie, but it’s just what we need.
I turn to Alejandro, looking up at him. He smiles down at me and squeezes my shoulder.
It’s a simple thing. A simple moment. But it’s also perfect, and I don’t think I’ve ever loved him quite as much as I do right now.