Shut Up by Marilyn Reynolds

Author:Marilyn Reynolds
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sexual abuse; Brothers;
Publisher: New Wind Publishing
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

18

It’s around noon by the time I wake up on Saturday. I probably would have slept all day, but people are talking kind of loud, right outside the window by my bed. My first thought is I’ve got to call Jenna. Then I remember that my email to Max didn’t go through yesterday.

I sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes, only half-listening to the voices outside. When I hear my name mentioned, I start listening with both ears.

“She says Mario’s incorrigible!”

“I don’t even know what that means, but I know it’s a lie!”

I recognize Hector’s voice. I get up and take a quick peek out the window. Hector, Vincent, and Josie are sitting at the table, under the big eucalyptus tree, eating lunch. I don’t know where Eddie is, probably off trying to retrain Simba to fetch.

“It means he’s out of control. He refuses to follow any rules, he’s got a bad attitude, and . . .”

I sit back down on the bed, close to the window, so I can

hear everything they’re saying.

“. . . she wants them back down there tonight. She wants me to ride with them, so they’ll be sure to get there. I told her I couldn’t do it today, but I could maybe make it work tomor­row.”

I’d like to get dressed, but I don’t want to leave the win­dow.

“They’re not going back unless they want to,” Hector says.

“That’s not how it is, Papa. Carmen’s their legal guard­ian. It’s the same as if Maria said the boys had to come home. You’d see to it that they got home.”

“It’s not the same. No es igual!”

“Legally it is. Right now, the boys are runaways, and, ac­cording to Carmen, it’s all because of Mario.”

“They’re not runaways! They’re with us. Have her call me, I’ll tell her!”

“Carmen called me because she didn’t want to talk to you. She figured the boys might be here, and she asked me to check it out.”

“Why did she think they’d be here?” Josie asks.

“Well, they’d looked all over for them at the usual places, and when they noticed the car was gone . . .”

“They? Who’s they?” Hector asks.

“Carmen and her boyfriend. She says they’re planning to get married. She says this guy treats Eddie like a son. They’re both nuts about Eddie, but she says Mario’s turned into a real troublemaker.”

Hector says something in Spanish. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think it’s nice.

What I’m thinking right now isn’t nice, either.

There’s some shuffling around—probably Josie is up filling everybody’s plates.

“I’ve got to get back home. Elena’s got a book group meet­ing at three, and I told Hannah I’d take her to a movie, but I wanted to see what was going on over here. Where is Mario, anyway? I saw Eddie out in the yard with the cat, but . . .”

“Mario’s still sleeping,” Josie says. “That’s a long drive, and we stayed up for a while after they got here.”

“I’ll look in on him. See if I can at least say hello before I leave,” Vincent says.

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