Page 35 of In the Lonely Hour

“Please. I’m going to call Layla so I might need you with Dior while she’s here.”

“Of course.”

Andres closed the door and led them both to the living room. It wasn’t decorated yet, but his furniture had arrived. His mother sat down, allowing him to take the lead with Dior. He led her to the smaller couch and sat next to her.

“You said I could call you if I needed you but I didn’t want you to not answer my call, so I came to see you instead.”

Andres smiled. “You’re not gonna let me live that down are you?” Her head tilted as she stared at him, unsure of what the phrase he’d used meant. “What happened at home?”

“When mommy and daddy came back home, they had a fight. Crystal gave me my headphones so I wouldn’t hear it, but when she ran out of my room I followed her and saw daddy hurting mommy. He had his hand around her neck like this…” Dior paused and wrapped her thin hand around his neck. “And her toes were off the floor. I hit him and tried to make him stop buthe pushed me and I fell. That made mommy really mad, so she started hitting him a lot. Then he picked her up and took her to her room and wrapped his hands around her neck again until she went to sleep.”

She sniffled as her tears fell. “The police came and mommy talked to them for a while before telling me daddy was never going to hurt us again. I just said okay because I knew he wouldn’t because I was coming to you. I wrote her a letter and got her credit card for the Uber. She was sleep so I put it on her bed. Can I stay here with you? I don’t want to live with her and daddy anymore. They fight too much and she’s not happy when he’s there. That makes me sad.”

“Breathe,” Marilyn guided from the other couch. “Stay calm.”

Gripping the black sofa, Andres channeled his anger there.

“Dior,” he called calmly, steadying his tone and breath. “I’m glad you came to me and that you trust me, but next time, please call me first so I can come and get you. I want to make sure you are always safe, and I don’t want you riding with strangers when I can come to get you myself, okay?” She nodded. “Is it okay if I call your mom and tell her that you’re here so we can all talk together?”

Dior frowned for a second. “If she will come without him. Yes. I like her better when she’s with you.”

Andres’s heart squeezed. He blinked rapidly, trying not to get emotional. As his nostrils flared, he looked up at his mother as she stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders.

“I got you.”

He smiled softly as his eyes dried before looking back at Dior.

“I promise I will make sure he doesn’t come here, okay?” She nodded. “My mom is going to sit with you while I call Layla. I’ll be right back.”

Andre squeezed the bridge of his nose as he headed back to his room. He already felt like he owed Carlos an ass whuppingbecause Layla chose him. Now… he really wanted to kill him. Putting his hands on either one of them was unacceptable. No matter how long it took Andres to find him, Carlos was going to pay in the worst way.

He dialed her number, forgetting she had him blocked. At this point, he couldn’t even be irritated by that. Andres grabbed his mother’s phone and called Layla from it. When she didn’t answer, he texted her and told her to answer, hoping the vibration would wake her up.

Her voice was groggy when she finally answered with, “Andres?”

“Don’t be alarmed. Dior is here at my house.”

“What!” Layla yelled.

“She ran away. She said she left you a note and put it on your bed. Read it and calmly make your way here. You know she’s safe with me, so I don’t need you driving recklessly trying to get here and have an accident.”

“O-okay. I’m on my way.”

After disconnecting the call, Andres returned to the living room, where Marilyn and Dior were in a deep exchange about Dior’s summer so far. Instead of interrupting them, he sat back and watched them converse. Since Emily, Marilyn hadn’t gotten close to any other girls with Autism. Even with her devotion to the foundation and center, that closeness felt too triggering. It warmed his heart to see her with Dior. For a moment, he wanted to offer Dior to Marilyn as her first grandchild. But that would never be the case.

About twenty minutes later, Layla was at the door. When he opened it, he stepped out onto the porch instead of letting her in right away. He could tell by her puffy red eyes and lips that she’d been crying, and he also noticed the bruises along her caramel colored neck.

“What happened?”

Andres listened intently as Layla gave him her version of events, which was pretty much the same as Dior’s.

“What made him so upset that he put his hands on you?”

Scrunching the messy ball at the top of her head, Layla looked down for a second as she breathed deeply.

“I basically told him that I didn’t want him and would never want him. That I resented him for taking you away from us.”

Andres sighed, thinking back to the last time he’d seen Veronica. Even though she’d gone bat shit crazy, he still shouldn’t have put his hands on her. Seeing his reaction to that being done to Layla further reminded him of what his parents had already instilled in him. If he felt like it wouldn’t give her the wrong impression, he’d call her to apologize. But instead, he just asked God for forgiveness.

---