Tell Me Something True by Leila Cobo

Author:Leila Cobo [COBO, LEILA]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC044000
ISBN: 9780446558273
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Gabriella

Her father’s call on her cell phone woke her up this morning, at seven sharp her time, 4 a.m. L.A. time, his way of not taking no for an answer, because after all, what excuse can she possibly give for not picking up at the crack of dawn?

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked irritably and with no preamble.

“Here,” she said nonchalantly, and immediately regretted the unintended insolence of her words. “What’s wrong?” she added carefully, fully aware that he’s had to either wake up at four, or stay up to call her. Both options are dramatic.

“You’re unreachable, that’s what’s wrong,” he answered curtly.

“I’ve been really busy, Dad,” she answered, sounding uncharacteristically formal. “You know it’s hard to call with the time difference. I’ve spent weeks in Europe without calling you.”

“But you’re not in Europe, are you?” he snapped back.

“No,” she agreed testily. “I’m in Colombia.”

“Precisely,” he said curtly.

“Precisely, what?” she countered, egging him on, although she knew full well what he was about to say.

“It’s dangerous,” he replied slowly. “Colombia is dangerous. You cannot, ever, be incommunicado, and you have to return my calls in a timely manner.”

“It’s dangerous?” she asked with a laugh, thinking, If you only knew. If you only knew that I’ve been sleeping with someone who has the ability to have anyone he wants killed.

Gabriella takes a deep breath and lashes out at her father. “It’s not Iraq, you know? And if you would ever take the trouble to look into it, or to come here, you would realize that,” she adds.

She could hear the meanness in her voice, but the distance between them emboldened her.

“Gabriella, do I need to cut this trip short?” he asked tersely, but underneath the terseness, she heard the defensiveness—no, the impotence in his voice.

He doesn’t know that if he were to call Nini right now, she’d ship Gabriella right back to him in a heartbeat. All he knows is she’s an ocean’s distance away. She is an adult. If he were to close the purse strings, she could still do as she pleases. Just like her mother could, all those years ago.

Left out once, left out twice. Her father’s grasp on her is unraveling, just as it did with her mother. Everything in his world has changed since then, but here, all remained the same, time crouched still, waiting for her to resume her mother’s footsteps.

Did he know? she wonders. Did he feel something had shifted against him in the same way he now does, the empty seconds ticking away—one, two, three, four—at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per minute?

“Gabriella, I know something is wrong. Tell me what’s going on,” she heard her father say, his tone changed from chastising to entreating, and she felt the urge to reassure him that it was okay, that, despite everything, she was still his. But immediately, she rebelled against her own thoughts.

She was the one who needed comfort now. She was the one who needed someone who could listen, just listen, not say a word.

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