CHAPTER TWO

Teresa and I have been to Javier’s house for eight months. Javier left to go on a business trip or something. 

I was laying in my bed when I felt a hand go over my mouth. 

“Tie her down!” A woman’s voice said. 

My legs were tied down. A woman held my arms above my head, and a cloth was placed in my mouth, and I was slapped across my face. 

“This puta thinks she’s all high and mighty because she's with the boss. Let’s teach her a lesson.” 

A heavily built man walked in. His muscles shined in the light. He got undressed and walks over to me. I tried to move away, but the woman had a tight grip. I screamed, but my screams were muffled by the cloth in my mouth. I tried to push it out with my tongue; all it did was make me gag. He climbed on top of the bed. He pushed himself into me. I screamed louder it was still muffled by the cloth in my mouth. I tried to push it out again. It came out. 

I breathed in and screamed at the top of my lungs. 

“Shut her up, Chino is still here.” The woman at the door whispered. 

“Chino!” I screamed. “Chino. Help.” 

“Put it in her mouth.” 

I pulled down, and the woman let go. I pushed the guy. But he didn’t move. He pinned me to the bed. 

“Get off me!” I tried to pull away. I kicked and kicked. 

The rope of my right foot became unloose. I kicked him in the nuts. He keeled over, and I pushed him to the side. I reached under Javier's side of the bed and under the pillow and reached for his gun. I pulled it out and pointed it around the room.

“Get the hell our here before I shoot you all.” 

“You think we’re scared of you. Stupid princesa, no one is here to save you. So, if your gonna shoot go ahead, and sh—” the woman next to me said. 

I shot her twice. I watched as her limp body fell to the ground. I turned to see the man coming towards, a shot was fired. His blood splattered across my face and my body. I looked towards the door; Chino shot the man through the woman who was standing watch at the door. Both of their bodies fell limp and hit the floor with a thud. I looked at the man. His arm was stretched out; he was reaching for my neck. 

Chino walked into the room. He cut the rope around my left foot with a pocketknife. He hugged me. 

“Are you alright?” He asked as he pulled my robe around me. 

“I’m okay.” I sat there on the bed. My whole body ached. I felt as though I had just died inside. 

“Are you sure?” Chino pulled me closer. 

 I looked at him. “Why would they do that? What have I done to anyone to deserve that?”  

“Nothing. You’ve done nothing. You have given the women Papa works with the utmost respect. This will be dealt with; no one else will do this to you again.”

 I look down at my hands. I was still holding the gun. I put it down.  My hands were trembling. I held my hands.

“I’ll go draw you some bathwater.” Chino went into the bathroom.

 I sat on the bed in silence. I felt the blood from the man run down my face. I went into the bathroom. I look across the room into the full body mirror. I jumped at my own reflection. There was blood everywhere. Chino was standing by the bathtub. He looked like he had something on his mind. Something was worrying him. 

“Hey, thank you, Chino.” I kissed his cheek. 

He walked out. I walked over to the bathtub. I sat down in the bathtub, the water turned clear to red. 

“Chino, are you still there?” I asked 

“Yeah, I’m here. I’ll stay with you if you need me to.” 

“Please.”

I scrubbed away at the blood on my body. It seemed the more blood I scrubbed, the more blood remained. It seemed hopeless. My body was shaking. I looked down into the bloodied water. The metallic taste was in my mouth, and the stench was in my nose. My knees came to my chest, and I pulled them closer with my arms. I sat in that position and cried.

A couple of minutes, later I heard frantic footsteps coming in the bathroom.

“Isabella?!” Teresa dropped to her knees next to the tub. “Oh, honey, what happened. Are you okay, did they hurt you? I’m so sorry I couldn’t hear you. Isabella. Oh my god, this is bad. This is bad. Honey, you’re crying. I’ll kill everyone who planned this. Isabella. Javier must come home immediately. “Teresa’s mouth was going a mile a minute. 

I looked at her. I must look so weak. I was supposed to be the strong one because I was the oldest. She looks up to me. Look at me now. 

She stopped her rambling and looked at me. 

“Isabella. I’m so sorry this happened to you. This is weird, normally you’re the one trying to help me put myself back together. I don’t really know how to do this. How do you always know how to make me feel better?” She sighed. 

She reached out and hugged me. “Again, I’m so sorry.”

I hugged her back.  “I’ll be fine. I promise.” 

We sat there in silence. She looked down at the floor. What’s on your mind?” I asked 

“Your aunt and your cousin, they must be worried sick. You have been in America for a while, but you haven’t seen them. Maybe you should stay with them. You’ll be safe.” 

“Teresita, Texas is a big place I don’t even know where to look.” I grabbed my towel and stepped out of the bath and drained the water.

“This could happen again.” Teresa walked with me into my room. 

“I will talk to my husband in the morning.” 

When we walked into the room, everything was cleaned up. The sheets had been changed, the walls were cleaned, and the bodies were gone. 

 “Promise me you’ll talk to Javier about going to see your family,” Teresa said. 

“I will talk to him.” 

Teresa walked out.

I put lotion on my body and put on my underwear and my robe on. I laid down. The darkness of the room covered me like a blanket. The shadows of the room seemed to move eerily. I pulled my blankets tighter. I stared into the darkness, and I felt it staring back. 

My brain was so occupied with the terrible darkness that I didn’t notice that time had passed. I heard the creak of the door to my room open. I pulled the gun from under my pillow.” 

The lights turned on. Javier was standing at the door. 

“Javier, your back!” I put the gun back and ran to him. 

He embraced me and picked me up. He kissed my cheek. 

When he put me down, he held my face, I saw tears forming in his eyes. He pulled me back into his arms.

“Oh, mi amor. What have I done?” Javier's face fell.

“This wasn’t your fault Javier. You had nothing to do with this.” I put my hand on his cheek. 

“I should have taken you with me. This would have never happened.” His head leaned into my hand.

“It doesn’t matter now you’re here.” I smiled. 

He smiled back at me. 

“Javier, I have a question.” 

“What is it?” 

“When I came here with Teresa, we were supposed to go to my Tia Rosita. I think she probably going insane, just wondering what has happened to me. Can I go see her?” 

“Of course, baby. You aren’t a prisoner here, my wife. You don’t have to ask me to do anything. We are equal to my love.” 

I smile at him. “I love you.”

“Well, let’s rest for now.” 

We got in the bed. He held me as we fell asleep.