Page 41 of Cavern of Silence
"There's juice for that," Hunter says.
"Think I'll pass on the Kool-Aid."
I'm going to need something strong to get through this night.
"Suit yourself."
Julieta and Miguel come back into the kitchen, having a heated conversation in Spanish.
Miguel pulls the drawer open and yanks out a folder of papers then slams down a pen. At the same time, a little girl in a nightgown comes running into the room, crying and yelling, "Tata." She looks like she might be five.
Miguel crouches, and she leaps in his arms. Another woman who looks like a carbon copy of Julieta busts through the doorway and freezes.
"Julieta."
"Josie."
Josie puts her hand to her mouth, and tears fall down her cheeks. She speaks in Spanish but gets choked up and can't finish.
Julieta responds, and they go back and forth.
After a few minutes, Julieta wipes her eyes. She turns to us and says, "This is my twin sister Josie and their daughter, Liliana."
Julieta picks up the pen, signs her name on several forms in the folder. She motions between Miguel and Josie while talking fast, and the only word I recognize is divorcio.
She's signing divorce papers?
He had them ready for her like he's just been waiting for her to show up and sign?
Julieta is distraught. I can see it on her face, but I'm frozen and not sure what to do. She grabs her glass of rum and the bottle before leaving the room.
"What did she say?" Hunter mumbles to Vanessa.
"She said she hopes they are happy together, and since she moved into her bed years ago behind her back, she can keep it."
For a long time, I stand in the kitchen, watching Miguel and Julieta's sister go back and forth in Spanish, while the little girl clings to Miguel.
Her sister is crying and gets more and more upset as the conversation unfolds, and Miguel tries to comfort her. He kisses Josie. He hugs her. He holds her as his own.
Disgust replaces my jealousy. It's at both of them but also myself.
The little girl is maybe five years old. Julieta said she hadn't seen Miguel in over four years. They named her Liliana.
I've gotten so much, so wrong.
Julieta is not only a victim of Santiago Gómez and whoever these Global Leaders are but in her marriage. She's been betrayed by her twin sister. Her niece carries her middle name that her ex-husband tattooed on his chest.
My stomach twists, and I swallow bile in my throat. And I realize I have more significant problems than just being off my game. I've become an uncompassionate jerk who can't give someone I have feelings for enough trust to explain a situation. She asked if she was supposed to trust me unconditionally, even though I didn't trust her, and I blew her comment off.
But she's right. I automatically assumed the worst instead of listening to what she was trying to tell me.
I go outside to find her, and Hunter says, "She just talked about blowing her head off, and she's drinking, too. I can't just let her be."
"She doesn't have a gun on her. Just give her some space," Vanessa replies.
"You don't know if there's a gun in that building. What if she shoots herself?"
My pulse increases. "What are you talking about?"
