Hmm. Good point. How would she ever get permission from Mom? She’d never agree to this scheme. Even asking her was the surest way to throw a big roadblock in their path. Would Dad give the permission? Maybe he was her best shot. At least he wouldn’t have as many things to react to as Mom would since he’s the one who got Carmen on the pill. Guess it was time to tell him. Mom would have to find out the hard way—after it was too late to do anything to stop them.
“Mr. Castillo, I’d like to marry your daughter.” Nate stood with his chin raised and his shoulders squared. Proud. Manly. He glanced at Tiffany on the couch on the other side of the room.
Tiffany nodded. She seemed to approve, but why not? This would get Carmen even more out of her way.
Dad’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Now? Why?” His gaze darted from Carmen to Nate and back to Carmen. “Are you…pregnant?” He glared at Nate.
“Yes, Dad. I am.” It wasn’t like he didn’t know they were sexually active. Birth control wasn’t for kissing.
“Wow. This is quite a shock.” He slumped back into his recliner. “Just give me a minute to let it sink in.”
They waited.
“A grandpa. I’m going to be a grandfather?” He didn’t exactly smile. He just tried on the label. Carmen nodded.
“I didn’t see that one coming.” Dad exhaled. “What does your mom say?”
Defining moment. “We haven’t told her.”
If Dad got self-righteous now, he’d make Carmen tell her mom.
“What? Why? She’s going to have a fit that you told me first.”
Tiffany cleared her throat.
“Wait. Tiff knew?” Dad chuckled. “Your poor mom is going to go apoplectic. Let’s just keep that bit of info to ourselves, okay?”
Everyone nodded.
“Now, what are your plans?”
Nate sat in the chair across from Dad. “I’ve found us a place to rent, and we want to move in right away so I can get Carmen back in New York, where she belongs. We’ll both get jobs, and then we want to get married as soon as possible.”
“You sound like you’ve thought things through. I just have to wonder if you really know what you’re in for though. Marriage is hard work. Raising a child is hard work. That’s true even when you’re thirty. You guys are so young.”
What did he know about marriage and hard work?
“We know, sir. It’s…it’s what we think is best.” Nate looked down at the floor.
“You know all of your options though? I mean, you’ve looked into abortion, adoption, even simply waiting awhile to get married?”
“We have, Dad. None of those are possible.” He was being cooler about this than Carmen had expected.
“Sounds to me like you guys are handling things well.” Tiffany’s eyes held a ray of hope.
Sorry, Tiff. There won’t be any bonding experiences today.
“The thing is, sir.” Nate coughed. “We, uh, need your permission. In writing.”
Dad rubbed his chin. “Yeah. I saw that coming. You want me to allow this to happen before your mom even knows any of this is going on?”
Carmen nodded. “You know Mom. She’s strict. She doesn’t even know that we’re…that we…”
Dad held up his hand. “I get it. I wish I didn’t know either.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment and looked five years older when he opened them again. “What do I need to sign?”
“Mom, can we talk?” Carmen leaned on the doorframe to the bathroom Mom shared with Harper. From the looks of things, Mom had about ten more minutes of makeup to apply.
“Sure. You talk while I finish up. I have a facial to do in Edgewater at eight tonight. Should be some good money, but I need to leave in the next fifteen minutes if I have any hope of making it there on time.”
Carmen nodded. This was such a bad time to tell her. She probably wouldn’t go do her party once she got the news. Or she’d storm out mad and drive like a maniac and get in an accident. “Never mind then. We’ll talk later.”
“No, no. I want to talk now. I’ve been worried about you, and I want to know what’s going on.”
She asked for it. Do it like taking off a Band-Aid. “Okay. I’m moving out.”
“Funny. You are so not moving out.” Mom continued to apply lip liner.
“I really am. Nate and I have rented a place, and I’m going. Tonight.”
Hair held back with a purple headband, lips lined with dark liner, eyes wild with surprise, Mom looked like a crazy person. “You’d need my permission for that, and there’s no way I’m going to allow such a thing.”
Oh man. This would sting. “I have Dad’s permission in writing. I’m sorry.” Carmen cringed. The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of another blow to Mom.
She sank onto the toilet, her face pale beneath her makeup. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah.” Carmen leaned against the wall, careful not to let her stomach stick out. Was it possible to get out of the house with Mom not even asking about the possibility of pregnancy? She didn’t know Carmen was sexually active, so maybe it wouldn’t occur to her.
“I know you hate it here in New Jersey. I know this move has been hard on you most of all, but don’t you think this is a drastic step?”
“It’s what I have to do.” Don’t crumble under the pressure of pleasing Mom.
“What about your sisters? What kind of message are you sending them?” A tear escaped and left a track through the makeup.
“It’s not like I’m abandoning Harper and Kim. It’s just a choice I’m making for my own life.” Carmen raised her shoulders. “This won’t be the last time a choice I make affects them.” She offered Mom a tissue.
“When is this happening? You said tonight?” She shook her head. “No. We need more time to talk about this.” Mom blew her nose and blotted her eyes.
“I am leaving tonight. After I pack enough for a few days. I’ll get the rest this weekend.” Carmen folded her arms across her chest. Don’t back down.
Mom shook her head. “Oh no. You leave this house against my wishes, you do it with nothing but what you can fit in your backpack or wear on your body. You’re not hauling boxes and boxes from this home without my blessing, and I certainly can’t offer it with nothing but a five-minute conversation.”
She couldn’t be serious. “What about all my other stuff like my books?”
“Everything stays here. I’m not going to argue or negotiate about this, Carmen.” Mom rubbed her temples like she always did at the beginning of a migraine. “You can hang around for a few days, talk it over with me, give me more time—and see what we come up with. But if you leave tonight, you’re going to do it on your own.”
She could probably have backed down and waited a couple of days. But Carmen wanted nothing more than to escape her apartment and hop a train to New York. To Nate. “Fine. There’s nothing I need that I can’t fit in my bag. I’m out of here. Call me if you come to your senses. And my phone is going with me. Nate bought it.” She’d have to get on his plan right away. From the sounds of things, Mom probably wouldn’t keep paying for her package. “It didn’t have to be this way, Mom.”
Carmen turned her back on her crying mother and stormed into her bedroom. She shoved as much as she could fit into her backpack and purse. Tied her favorite sweatshirts around her waist, grabbed her phone charger and hair dryer, and left. Carmen would have to call Harper and Kimberley when Mom was out later.
She jogged down the stairs and turned toward the bus stop, tears raining onto the sidewalk below her feet. Why did it have to be so difficult? She only wanted a good life. Why was that such a bad thing?
Hard to believe Mom never asked why this was all happening. It never crossed her mind Carmen might be pregnant or that there might be some reason other than general unhappiness? Would knowing the whole truth have changed things? Maybe Carmen should have led with the whole story. Would things have turned out differently if she had?
She leaned against the lamppo
st to wait for the right bus to show up.
Mom would come around. She had to. It had been just too big of a shock for her to deal with so quickly. Too much to process. It probably wasn’t fair of Carmen to throw it at her and expect her to adapt within the space of a few minutes. Mom didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. But what was Carmen to do? She had to think about herself…her new life…Nate…the baby.
Carmen shrieked as a hand gripped her elbow. She felt hot breath on her neck.
“Does your boyfriend know you’re out alone at night?” a voice growled just inches from her ear. “Big mistake, chica. Big mistake.”
Chapter 18
Marco flashed a sinister grin full of silver teeth.
Why hadn’t she listened to Diego and been more careful? Her last night in Hackensack and she was going to get murdered on the street. Or worse. So close to freedom, yet so far away.
Who knew where she was? Mom and Nate. Mom wouldn’t be calling Nate tonight—that much Carmen knew for sure. Nate wouldn’t know Carmen was missing until sometime after ten o’clock when the train would arrive at the station and she wouldn’t be on it.
Another glint of silver sparked the space in front of Carmen’s face. This time from Marco’s hand. In a whoosh, she felt something cold press against the front of her neck as he spun her around. Did Marco have a real knife against her throat? He couldn’t be serious.
“Just start walking. Turn right at the corner.”
She started to move, numb from head to toe. Was she in shock? How was it that she was being dragged through the streets of New Jersey, pregnant, with a gang leader’s knife pressed to her throat? What a far cry from her old life.
“Marco. What are you doing? Don’t be dumb.” Carmen wriggled and tried to pull herself free. She clawed at the dragon tattoo on his forearm. If only she could reach his face with her fingers.
A sharp lash stung her throat. The knife! Was she bleeding? It didn’t feel deep, but how could she know without actually seeing it? Her heart thundered in her chest. This might be her last night alive. There was still so much she wanted to do with her life. Marry Nate. Have their baby. Maybe buy a house.
“Don’t you be an idiot, chica. Wake up and realize I’m in charge. Diego is nowhere to be found. Tonight you’re mine.” Marco laughed.
Think, Carmen. Be smart. Wasn’t Marco afraid of Diego? “But tomorrow Diego will come after you. Why would you want to make him mad?”
“Why do I want to make him mad? So he’ll come after me, stupid. Hopefully tonight…tomorrow might be too late for you.” Marco shoved her forward. “Get in there.”
Carmen stumbled toward the doorway of an abandoned building. “What are you going to do to me?” Every horror film she’d ever seen came rushing into Carmen’s consciousness. Why had she watched those stupid slasher movies with Dad? Her heart was about to pound out of her chest.
“Just get in there.” He kicked at the back of her legs.
Carmen fell forward through the doorway onto her face. Pain shot through her nose and radiated into the back of her head.
“Well, well. Whatchu got there, Marco?”
Oh no. José. He was worse than Marco, and he always had a gun on him. And when José was around, Shooter was never far away—judging by his name, he’d have a gun, too. If only she could see. Carmen lifted her cheek from the cool concrete and squinted against the darkness.
A match struck across the cavernous space, and when the flame met the cigarette, Carmen spied Shooter’s glowing eyes staring down at her.
A light came on in a room somewhere behind her. At least she could make out shadows and enough of their faces to know who was who and where they were. Except, who was back there? Who turned the light on?
“If you guys let me go, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” God, please.
“You think that’s some sort of prize? Your silence?” Marco laughed. “You still don’t know how this works, do you? Let me spell it out crystal clear for you.” He flicked his cigarette to the ground and smashed it into the dirty warehouse floor. “Here’s the simple version even you can understand. Diego, he our enemy. We want to fight him. I hear you’re having his baby.”
What? Where had he heard about the baby? How had word gotten around? She’d told no one in Jersey. Not even her own family. How could she convince him it wasn’t true? “I’m not—”
“Save it, sister.” José high-fived Shooter.
“You having his baby. So we get to you; we get to him. It’s simple.”
But Carmen couldn’t stand not knowing. How had they found out she was pregnant? Naturally they assumed it was Diego’s, but no one knew. Diego didn’t even know.
There had to be a way out of this mess. Carmen searched the space for something, anything. She couldn’t fight off three guys. Especially when one had a knife to her throat and at least one of the others had a gun. And there was some unidentified presence elsewhere on the premises. What would they do to her? What would they do to her baby? Shame it took the gravest situation possible for Carmen to feel the first inklings of maternal feelings toward the life inside her. She wanted nothing more than to protect her baby, but the situation looked grim.
God, please help me out of this mess.
José shoved Carmen into a rickety chair. “Sit there and don’t get any crazy ideas.”
She waited for a rope to appear around her body or her wrists, but none came. At least they hadn’t killed her right off. Every moment she kept it together was another chance of getting out of there alive.
A cell phone rang. “Where is he?” Marco’s voice growled into the dim room. “Let me know when he’s two minutes away.”
Silence.
They waited. For what? Who else was coming? Carmen squinted. If only she could see through the dark better.
Minutes that felt like hours passed.
“He’s here, Marco.” José laughed. “He’s got company.”
“Figured as much. You be lookout at the window. Shooter, you watch the door. I’m going out.”
Carmen strained to hear.
“Well, if it isn’t my old pal Diego. Whachu comin’ ‘round here for?”
Should Carmen yell to let him know she was in here? If she didn’t tell him, how would he know?
“You got my girl in there? You tell me.”
Oh, Diego already knew. Of course. Dangling her safety was how they got him here. Carmen’s deceptions had put another life at risk.
God…
No, praying was silly. No one was up there to hear the prayers, but if there were some deity, some creator of the universe, He’d never waste time with her. She’d already blown it, big-time. But it wasn’t fair that so many other people would go down because of her. He should save Diego at least. And the baby. Please, God, save the baby.
“I want yo money and power.”
“Why’d you think Diego could give you either?”
“You been made in the deal that went down yesterday. I want the cash. And, as for power, you just need to make it known. La chica is my girl.”
“Ain’t happenin’.”
“Oh? Has Diego gone soft on a girl? First time for everything.”
“You don’t want her. She too backpack for you.”
“Sayin’ it like a true baby daddy.”
“I’m not a baby da—put the gun away, Marco.”
“Nah. I’m about up to the rims with you. I think it’s time we say good-bye.”
Bang!
Bang!
“Marco got plugged. Get out there, Shooter.”
“They both down.” José crouched at the window and clicked something on his gun. “Let’s go. Diego gots two more gunners out there.”
Shooter and José crept through the door, staying low to the ground. Had they forgotten about her, or did they expect her to stay put? Not happening. She had to move while she had the chance. But who was that person who’d turned the light on earlier? Would she come face-to-face with her worst nightmare the
minute she stepped outside? A risk she had to take.
Her heart pounded so loud, she was surprised they didn’t hear it and come running back to secure their prize. She crossed the warehouse floor and made it to the back door, away from the action outside. Through the door and into the fresh air. No problem.
Run. She ran and ran as far away from there as she could get. Her backpack bounced against her lower back as her legs pumped like pistons.
Move, legs. Move. Carmen’s thighs burned, and her lungs were about to explode. She couldn’t run another step if her life depended on it. Oh, it did, actually. Keep going. Keep going.
She looked back down the street. The deserted warehouse was now a dot in the distance. No one had followed her—that she knew of anyway. She’d never claim to have the best street smarts. She spied a pay phone hanging from the brick wall of the drug store. Please work. She didn’t want to call from her cell, which they could easily trace.
“911. What’s your emergency?” a cheery female voice answered the phone.
“I need to report a gunshot. The victim is injured—I think unconscious.” Carmen gasped for air.
“What’s the address?”
Breathe, Carmen. She gave the street name and an approximation of the building number. Breathe.
“Your name?”
“Um…this is an anonymous call.” Would they take the info and act on it if Carmen didn’t say who she was?
The sigh came through the phone wires. “Fine. Care to share any more information?”
“There are other men there; some have guns. I saw at least three guns. But there might be a fourth.” Would she ever find out who the secret man was in the back?
“Anything else?”
“Only that you should hurry.” Carmen hung up the pay phone and hurried into the night without looking back.
Carmen took deep breaths and let them out slowly, trying to calm the trembling reverberating deep in her bones. The train squealed to a stop, and the doors slid open at Grand Central Station. She lifted her bag and made her way to the station platform. How would she ever pull off keeping Nate unaware of the night’s events? She should just tell him what happened.
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