Chapter 9

MY MIND DRIFTS AWAKE when Marisa gently shakes my shoulder. I scowl and shrink farther into the warmth of my hoodie. “One more minute,” I murmur.

A pause. A sigh.

“You’ll sleep better inside. Come on.”

Not Marisa.

Sleep drains away fast. Not Marisa. But she was here just now. She was right beside me, and we were talking…we were talking about something. Something important.

Wake up, Dany. Marisa’s gone.

Marisa’s gone.

Marisa’s gone, and her absence cuts a black hole in my heart. I could bleed and bleed and bleed and it wouldn’t bring her back but I wish it could because I miss her. I miss her so, so, so much.

I don’t cry. I manage not to.

Not when I get out of the car.

Not when I follow Zahira to our motel room.

Not when I lock myself in the bathroom.

When I lean back on the door. When I sink to the ground. That’s when the tears come, and I wish they could drown the whole world with me. 

-END OF PART 1-