Chapter Eight

Fabio.

I can't believe he would betray us. He was always like a brother to us, a son to my mother. He would eat with us. He's been in our home. He was family, but he didn't hesitate to give us away to that band of criminals.

I think of that terrible day and suddenly, his behavior makes sense. He was tense. That tool he borrowed. He didn't even want to come inside. He never even gave us a warning. How could he have so little consideration for us? It makes me so angry that I could spontaneously combust.

Aurelio's pleasure in telling me this was palpable. He couldn't conceal it. He watched me crumble to pieces and then glue those pieces back together. His confession destroyed me and he knew it would. They set a perfect trap for us, we had no way of escaping. With Fabio's help, they got all the inside information that they needed. Fabio knew all of us inside out.

Every negative emotion I felt before multiplied. Doubled. Tripled. Quadrupled. I turn on my side and stare at the door and thin