Page 68 of Through You
My alarms bells went off. Was he one of the men who came looking for my mom only to make her cry? He didn’t look like those men. My eyes landed on the older boy standing there, waiting for his father. They all seemed fine when they were having dinner together as a family. If this man had been bad, I didn’t think the boy would be waiting for him like this. I grabbed the hand the gentleman offered me and guided him to where my mother was.
When we walked by the older boy, the man spoke to him.
“Artemis, get in the car and tell your mom to head home.
Albert will stay with me and I’ll come home later by cab.”
“Dad . . .”
The boy got in the car and we made a quick departure before they drove off. A tall man dressed in black had come out of the car and was closely following in our steps.
I tensed up, and the gentleman gave my hand a squeeze. “You can relax. He’s here to protect us, okay?”
I nodded again. My mother was awake by the time we arrived at the clearing we called home. She looked worried. The man let go of my hand, and knelt to face me.
“I need a moment with your mom to talk. Could you go keep Albert company?”
I looked at my mother, and she nodded so I did as he asked.
I didn’t know what they discussed, or understand what was going on. I only knew that we left our spot in the park and got in a cab.
The gentleman and Albert got in another.
“Mommy, where are we going?”
Her eyes were red and she hadn’t stopped crying since she’d spoken with that gentleman.
“We’re going to . . . My little girl, things are going to change.”
She grabbed my face with both hands. “I’m going to change, for you. That man has offered your mom a decent job.”
“Are we going to have food?”
She nodded and smiled while tearing up. “Lots of food.”
“And a bed?”
“Yes. And we’re going to take a long shower.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes when we finally arrived at the house, and I stared at it with my mouth wide open. It was beautiful and reminded me of the houses I’d seen on the pages of the magazines my mother and I used as blankets. Mr. Juan introduced us to his family as soon as we came in. There was Sofia, Artemis, Ares, and baby Apolo. My mom bowed her head with gratitude. Right after he showed us to our room and took his leave, we ran to the bathroom to clean ourselves. This was the first bed we’d had in a long time, and we didn’t want to get it soiled.
Mr. Juan left a few women’s clothes from his wife for my mom. He also brought me clothes that belonged to the older boy, who was nine years old, and whose name was Artemis. The shorts and the T-shirt were way too big for me but I didn’t mind because they smelled clean. My mom was exhausted and quickly fell asleep. I didn’t blame her—the bed felt like a dream. However, I was very hungry. Mr. Juan said we could eat whatever we liked.
In the kitchen, I opened the refrigerator and couldn’t believe its contents. I let my impulses take over, and reached in to pick a little bit of everything I saw. Bread, jam, cheese, deli meats.
“You’re going to get a tummy ache.”
I froze when I heard a voice in the kitchen. With a hunk of bread in my hand, I turned to find Artemis.
“You need to eat slowly.”
I chewed and swallowed the piece of bread I had in my mouth.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He gave me a friendly smile.
“I wasn’t scolding you, dummy. You need to slow down when you eat or your tummy will hurt if you stuff yourself with too many things all at once.”
