Thank you for beta'ing, MsSchneeheide!

triste-sad

"Hola, my girls!" Blanca calls out. "I'm home!"

"Hola, Mamí, why do you look so giddy?" Maritza asks as soon as Blanca steps through the door with a huge smile on her face. "Who gave you that necklace? It's real pretty."

"Mamaaaaa!" Raiza shouts with glee and runs to Blanca. She scoops up the little girl and gives her a few kisses on her tiny cheek.

"You made a rhyme, Mari," Blanca points out. She jiggles Raiza in her arms.

"I know! So cool. I could write a song or something! Oooh, I might become famous!"

"Go for it, girl!" Blanca exclaims. She turns to Raiza. "Did you hear that, sweetie pie? Sissy could make us rich someday!"

"I hope to! Are you seriously dodging mi pregunta, though, Mamá?"

my question

"No, I just got into the house."

"You must have had a magical time!" Maritza exclaims.

Blanca chuckles as they all sit on the bed where a couple of presents are. "I did, honey. Okay, ¿quién quiere que abra su regalo primero?"

Who wants me to open their present first?

Raiza and Maritza raise their hands. "Meeeee!" they chorus. "You're not gonna give me any details?" Maritza asks. "Por favor, Mamí..."

"Alright, I'll open them at the same time," Blanca decides aloud. "I'll tell ya later, okay, Maritza?"

"Sí," Maritza grumbles, but then she brightens up when Blanca reaches into the pink gift bag and pulls out a pair of fancy fake-gold hoop earrings.

"¡Ah, mis pendientes favoritos!" Blanca squeals. "Gracias, mija, te amo..." She kisses Maritza's temple.

"De nada, Mamá, pero...estos son de Raiza. I got you this." Maritza gestures to the purple present that's well-wrapped and tied up with a silver ribbon.

You're welcome, Mom, but these are from Raiza.

"Oh..." Blanca laughs and hugs Raiza to her side and pecks the top of her head while poking her nose to make the child giggle. "Gracias, mi niñita. Te amo."

"De nada, Mamí."

She then opens Maritza's gift and holds the black shirt with fishnet sleeves up to herself. "Ohh, this is nice! Muy bien, ¡qué linda! ¡Gracias, nena! I'll try these on with my leather jacket and a pair of jeans!"

Very good, how beautiful!

So she does, and the girls watch her with interest. The shirt is her exact size and the earrings complete the outfit, and she's quite pleased with her appearance when she looks in the mirror. It's not every day she feels that way, but her new jewelry, dress, and top being added to her treasured articles of clothing she already owns, make her more refreshed. "¡Usaré esto la próxima vez que salga!" It does cover up her bruises and scars better, after all. Although she loved her dress she got from her friends, she always has to wear a cardigan and a few bracelets with it to hide injuries that never healed completely, and if she's hot, she would just have to hope the room is dark enough.

I'll wear this next time I go out!

"Buena idea. Ahora...spill, Mamá. Your girls wanna know. We're aware that Karla and the other women got you the dress, but you haven't said anything about tu otra joyería...y you're still wearing it! The shirt looks cute with it!"

your other jewelry

"Gracias...y es de Diablo," Blanca admits.

it's from Diablo

Maritza's jaw drops in astonishment. "That's flirty! ¡Le dije que no se enamorara de ti!"

I told him not to fall in love with you!

Blanca rolls her eyes. "He was just being nice...¡es mi cumpleaños!"

It's my birthday!

"Alright, you win this round, that makes sense, and I don't wanna fight on your birthday. I just hope that you don't fall too hard for another dude again and get hurt."

"I won't, ahora sé que necesito tomar las relaciones románticas futuras lentamente, y prometo que siempre hablaré contigo y tu hermana primero, ¿de acuerdo? Vosotras venís primero, antes que nadie."

I know now that I need to take any future romantic relationships slow, and I promise that I will always talk to you and your sister first, okay? You come first, before anybody.

Maritza grins. "¡Oh bien, me alegro!"

Oh good, I'm glad!

"Dude!" his little sister screeches. "Get up! Don't make me late, I have to get to cheer practice! I'm hitching a ride with you like always!"

"In five minutes, Maritza!" Dario yawns, pulling the sheets over his head. She yanks his pillow out from under his head and hits him over and over again with that damn thing until he finally gives up and pushes her off his bed.

"God, for a pixie, you sure are strong," he groans, swaying a little as he gets out of bed. He's still half asleep as he mumbles, "Why can't you just get a driver's license?"

"Stupid panic attacks leave me unable to drive, remember?"

"Okay, I'll take you to your girly dancing," he says teasingly.

Maritza rolls her eyes. "The whole squad is like a dance team. It's not that girly! Shut up and get your lazy ass downstairs."

"Be careful out there!" their mother tells their father as he kisses her and the kids goodbye.

"Like you always tell me, Blanca. Adiós, everyone!"

"Hurry, kids, don't be late," Blanca says.

"Talk to him," Maritza mutters and points in her slightly older brother's direction.

Dario eats his breakfast of Cocoa Puffs slowly, just to annoy her, and then she hops into his Jeep after hugging and kissing their mother and baby sister Raiza goodbye. He gets in on the other side and starts driving to school. Five minutes later, they get out and walk through the doors. Everybody is there already, but they're exactly on time.

Maritza wakes up with a start and tears cloud her vision. She and Raiza never had a brother, at least, not in their lifetime. However, she had heard a few stories from Blanca about how at fifteen, she used to be almost six months pregnant with a boy, whom she would've called Dario, no matter how much Dean objected. Once again, Maritza couldn't quite see Blanca's husband in her dream, but she doubted that it was Dean. The man spoke some Spanish.

She wonders what it would've been like to live with an older brother. Maybe he could've helped their mother a lot better than Maritza and Raiza were able to all those years. Maybe he'd have grown up tall and strong and could get between Blanca and Dean and even punch his good-for-nothing father out and kill him, too. He'd gather his mother and his little sisters in his arms and take them away to safety.

Maritza felt so weak when Dean was hitting and kicking their mom. She was tiny and she could easily be pushed away by her brutal beast of a dad if she tried to stop him. She'd even gotten slapped in the face herself so he could get at Blanca instead. That would have never happened to teenage Dario, not in a million years. She'd screamed at them to stop fighting and she was so scared when she saw Dean pulling Blanca's hair for the first time, yanking her down, and then tossing her down the steps like a bowling ball. She'd run to her mother, knelt down beside her and cried, and then she'd glared up at Dean who was smirking at the top of the stairs. She was thirteen and had just gotten baby Raiza down for her nap when all the commotion started up again.

"I think you're old enough to know what happens to Mom when she doesn't behave herself," he'd said, and only that time, did she believe him. She thought maybe Blanca could've done something to deserve it. He was mad at her, and there had to have been a reason. She'd been confused too, though, because she never noticed her mom being a bitch or anything towards him. So, she'd gotten her mother some ice, helped her up and assisted her to the couch. Blanca has been limping and Maritza feels bad, but she can't help but wonder why her father would do this. None of her friends' parents fight like that. She doesn't even hear yelling when she goes to their houses, nor sees anyone's mothers sporting sunglasses when they go out on sunless days or wearing long-sleeved shirts and jeans in the hot weather.

Maritza lays on the bed next to her mamí and tears roll down her cheeks. She's convulsing and trying to keep her sobs quiet, but they burst out of her and she has to sit up, she's crying so hard.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong?" Blanca asks, bringing Maritza in for a hug. She kisses Maritza's wet cheek and wipes away the moisture, but the gentle affection makes Maritza even more upset. She doesn't deserve her mother's love, not after what she'd let her suffer through.

"Why sissy triste?" Raiza wants to know. She lightly touches Maritza's hand and snuggles into them.

"¡Lo siento mucho, Mamí!" Maritza wails. "Lo si...siento..."

I'm so sorry, Mom!

"¿Por qué, dulce niña?"

Why, sweet girl?

"¡Te torturó durante tanto tiempo y no lo detuve! Debería haberlo detenido y...I should've been born a boy so I'd be more of a badass and could protect you better! Instead, you got this...tiny little shrimp of a girl!" Maritza chokes on her sobs of anguish and lets Blanca hold and rock her while stroking her hair and humming a soft tune. "Why did you keep me if I was so useless? Why?!" Raiza keeps her small arms around Maritza's waist. It's what she does when Maritza is so sad.

He tortured you for so long and I didn't stop him! I should have stopped him and

"No eres inútil. Eres fuerte y valiente, mi ángel. Tú y Raiza sois las razones por las que le dejé. I love you both more than anything in the whole wide world. You girls gave me the courage to leave him, ¿entiendes?"

You're not useless. You're strong and brave, my angel. You and Raiza are the reasons I left him.

"No te protegí, podría haberle dicho algo a alguien, pero no lo hice...I could've whacked him over the head with a frying pan while standing on the counter for leverage, but I didn't! I'm sorry, I was too afraid of him and he'd blame my being 'aggressive' on you and hurt you even more...y ¡la primera vez, le creí cuando dijo que era tu culpa por hacerlo enojar!" Her voice is so shaky and it had taken all of her power to tell Blanca this.

I didn't protect you, I could've told someone, but I didn't...and the first time, I believed him when he said it was your fault for making him angry!

"Oh, está bien, bebé, no era tu trabajo. You were only thirteen when you found out his true colors. Any child would be confused. Yo era la adulta y debería haberme ido mucho antes. Sin embargo, primero tuve que idear un plan. Sabes qué, though, estamos todas aquí y we're safe." Blanca kisses the tops of both girls' heads and wipes away some of her own tears. "Eso es todo lo que importa. Now, please, just try to breathe slowly, inhale, then exhale, and let all the self-hatred melt away. You're a strong, beautiful, young woman, Maritza..." Blanca glances over at Raiza. "Y tú, my littlest one, you're pretty and smart, and I just love you both to pieces, okay?"

Oh, it's okay, baby, it wasn't your job. I was the grownup and should've left a lot sooner. I had to come up with a plan first, though. You know what, though, we're all here...That's all that matters

Maritza nods and sniffles. "Okay," she squeaks. She hiccups and gasps for air as she tries to relax and she looks up at Blanca while whimpering. She's still trembling, even when wrapped in Blanca's loving arms. Her mother gives her a reassuring smile and touches her nose fondly. Blanca does the same thing to Raiza.

"Mi amor por vosotras nunca se irá. That is a promise," Blanca tells them.

My love for you will never go away.

Raiza grins up at Blanca in response, while Maritza bites her lip to keep from making any more noise and not allowing them to sleep. She squeezes Blanca's hand and pecks her mother's cheek.

"Gracias, también te amo, Mamí." Maritza whispers.

"Me too!" Raiza chimes in.

They fall asleep to the sound of Blanca singing them a lullaby in Spanish. It's the shortened version of A La Nanita Nana from the Cheetah Girls movie, and it's so lovely, especially coming from Blanca.

While opening Maritza's bedroom door to check up on her daughter, Blanca finds a topless teenage boy making out with her twelve-year-old on top of the girl's bed. He has a light mustache and she wonders if he's closer to twenty. Maritza's barely dressed herself, just in short-shorts and a pink tank top. He's creeping his hands up and down her back, dangerously close to touching her butt. One of the straps of her cami had fallen off her shoulder, revealing part of her bra. Blanca sees red as history repeats itself and her shriek is ear-shatteringly loud. She grabs the first blunt object she finds-a broom-and hits him with it, but she misses. It's enough to scare him away, so she's satisfied. She's about to call the cops very soon. "Pendejo, stay away from my daughter or I will put you through the worst hell imaginable!"

"Shit! Angry pregnant lady on the loose." He's trying to put his shirt on and dodge Blanca's weapon at the same time. "I gotta skedaddle. 'Til next time, delicious lumps."

"Hey, I'll throw you in jail, cabrón!" Blanca shouts. She points at Maritza. "You wear some more clothes, young lady. No eres una prostituta."

You're not a hooker.

"No, wait, Biff, don't go!" Maritza begs, adjusting her shirt that had ridden up and throwing on a light white cardigan. "Biff Stratman, you get back here!" He disappears out the door anyway and Maritza pouts. "Mo-om!" she whines. "The fuck did you do that for?! We were just kissing!"

"Yeah, okay. I know what that turns into, and you're twelve! He's what, nineteen?"

"He's only eighteen! Six years, that's the age difference between you and Dad, right?"

"I'll never let you become me, is that clear?" Blanca growls."He's an adult...dating a child! That's disgusting!"

Maritza frowns. "Dad said he's okay with it and that I don't need to ask your permission for shit. Hmph!" She gets off her bed, but Blanca stops her in her tracks. "He's right downstairs, I'll tell him everything!"

"Hey! I'm protecting you," Blanca hisses, her hands curled tightly around Maritza's upper arms, but not enough to hurt her or leave marks. She'd never do that to her baby. "You're not to speak to me in that tone. Ever. Do you understand?"

"Sure, Mom," she says sarcastically. "Just burn all the romance novels in the world while you're at it too, alright?" Maritza blows her hair out of her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ruining love. You're trying to take away my freedom, and I won't stand for it!"

"No, honey, I'm not. It's awesome that you're wanting to go out with boys, but just make sure that they're between eleven and thirteen. High school or older is an absolute no. There's only one reason why an eighteen-year-old boy wants to be with a twelve-year-old girl. It's so he can take advantage of her. You seriously looked like you were gonna go all the way."

"So what if we did? He understands I'm not really ready, but...what harm could it do?"

"A lot, sweetheart. So much pain can come from one little mistake. Please...do me and yourself a favor and stay away from Biff Stratman and other assholes like him. Stay in your own lane. You're young and inexperienced...find someone like that. Then you can both learn about things together. Explore each other when you get older...a little holding hands and light pecks are appropriate for middle schoolers," Blanca advises her daughter. "Then later, more suitors will come and they'll be older when you are." Her grip on Maritza softens and she cups Maritza's chin in her hand. "You will be glad you listened to your mother in a few years from now. Break up with that loser."

Dean had heard that whole exchange from outside the door. Blanca was so frightened he would beat her to death, but instead, while Maritza went to camp for an entire week that summer, he allowed Stratman to force Blanca to stand on the table, starve, and piss herself twice for three whole days-until she started to stink up the kitchen. They were both sniggering at her and Stratman had said it was the perfect punishment for trying to take Maritza away from him and effectively cockblocking him.

Luckily though, Blanca's words had sunken into Maritza, and Stratman joined the army and seemed to forget about Maritza over time.

She just never wanted to see her little girl in the same position she was at age thirteen ever again.

Maritza is at a loss in the job department. She hates being a maid for the uptight Chapmans and Nicholses, she doesn't think of herself as any good with children except Raiza-they never listen to her and they're bossy and run away from her whenever she asks them to do something. She doesn't want to work anywhere that her friends-or worse, snotty classmates-could venture to. She doesn't know what to do. She can't just sit there and make her mom earn all the money for their family-it's simply not enough to cover everything.

It's not even been a month that they've lived in their apartment, and already, Blanca's panicking about them getting evicted. The horrible storm that day makes it a lot worse, the winds are howling, trees blowing, rain flooding the streets, almost. Their electricity goes out and they have to use candles and flashlights to see. Raiza's scared and crying and Blanca can't pay the bill. She hasn't gotten enough income, and she won't dare to express that to Diane since it sounds like complaining, Blanca says.

"You could ask for a raise," Maritza suggests.

"No, I can't...I should be grateful I even have this waitressing job."

"We cannot stay here! Could we just go to your bestie's house and figure shit out tomorrow? ¡Tengo hambre! ¡Toda la comida está fría! The cereal's gone...so is the yogurt and fruit...even the stupid salad."

I'm hungry! All the food is cold.

"Okay, let's admit defeat and go," Blanca grumbles. "We won't be able to live there for too long though, you know that, right?" She lifts up Raiza and they leave their apartment.

Maritza's heart sinks in disappointment. "Why not? What, you wanna live in a women's shelter? I don't! That's awful! Get a second job! Hell, maybe even a third! I heard that Diane had four in her years of poverty. Don't give up!"

"Sometimes, we have to. I'll look around for more places to work. We can't risk Dean finding us at Karla's casa and put her in danger, so we gotta stay on the move, my girl."

"Mama, where we goin'?" Raiza asks as they trudge through the water.

"Auntie Karla's house."

Maritza doesn't break down this time. She's known all along their life would never be easy while on the run. She wants to assist her mother, though. The problem is that she despises responsibility for anyone except her family and she wants to make easy money by just sitting there, but she knows that's impossible. Even children nestled under their covers with their eyes shut get up and need to be soothed back to sleep. The only kid she'd ever had experience with is Raiza, a traumatized little girl who had nightmares of real things that happened in front of them. All of her charges seemed fine emotionally compared to Raiza. They were not easy, though. Some were brats, some parents were rude or incompetent and didn't give her clear instructions, and one of them wet her pants and Maritza stayed up all night with her, but that was just one time. The family moved almost right away. While she slaved away at the rich, white blonde families' homes, Les was a sleaze, Marka a total cunt, Bill, Carol, Piper, and Danny never even acknowledged her, and there was nothing exactly wrong with Piper's younger brother Cal, but he liked rats and putting gross things in places that Maritza had to clean up, and it was so disgusting, but typical of a twenty-year-old punk boy.

Blanca knocks on Karla's door while still carrying Raiza and Maritza rings the doorbell a few times. Almost right away, Ramón opens the door and a concerned look crosses his features. Maritza can't help but notice that he has a black eye, but she doesn't say anything. She and Blanca just exchange a confused glance and shrug in unison.

"Oye...¿qué te pasó en el ojo?" Blanca asks.

Hey, what happened to your eye?

"Nada, estoy bien. Hola..." He glances over his shoulder. "¡Karla, mi amor, por favor, ven aquí!" Ramón turns back to them. "You can come in. Estamos a punto de cenar."

Nothing, I'm fine. Please, come here! We're just about to eat dinner.

Karla practically runs to him. Her hair is frazzled and she appears to be so tired. A small cat follows her and curls around her feet while meowing. "Oh, Blanca, niñas," she murmurs as she puts her arms around Blanca and Maritza and kisses Raiza's cheek. "I'm so happy you dropped by! Hope you're hungry, porque I'm cooking up some enchilada casserole!"

"Mmm, ¡deliciosa!" Blanca exclaims. "Sí, our stomachs are growling. We're about to pass out. Muchas gracias, mi amiga."

"Wanna see my Pokémon cards?" Benji asks as he waves at them while jumping up and down.

"Sure, but later, kid, we're starved," Maritza responds and ruffles his hair.

"Nada de cartas Pokémon en la mesa," Karla instructs her son on their way to the dining room and he begrudgingly drops them on the coffee table beside their living room couch.

No Pokémon cards at the table.

They're soon sitting at the table and eating dinner and Blanca tells Karla and Ramón about what happened. The couple is of course very sympathetic and Karla has tears in her eyes as she squeezes both Blanca's and Maritza's hands.

"Lo siento mucho por ti, y sabes que puedes quedarte aquí todo el tiempo que necesites," Karla says sincerely.

I'm so sorry for you, and you know you can stay here as long as you need to

"Muchas gracias, Karla, pero no podemos...no por mucho tiempo. He knows we're best friends and your house could be the first place he hunts for me. No puedo ponerte a ti ni a tu familia en peligro."

Thank you so much, Karla, but we can't...not for too long. I can't put you and your family in danger.

Karla smiles at Blanca sadly. "Podríamos comprar un arma para protección...pero no podemos permitir que mi hijo o tu hija lo encuentren. I really wish there was something else we could do, querida..."

We could buy a gun for protection, but we can't have my son or your daughter finding it

"We're about to lose our apartment," Maritza informs the Córdovas somberly. "Mamí's officially poor. Like, no más dinero. She got a job, pero...she can't pay for nada no more."

"Te ayudaremos a buscar refugios para mujeres in our area...y mientras tanto, sigue trabajando en Friendly's, solicita turnos más largos y pregunta a Diane si tiene recomendaciones for other jobs," Ramón advises Blanca.

We'll help you look for some women's shelters...and meanwhile, keep working at Friendly's, ask for longer shifts, and ask Diane if she has recommendations

"Ay coño, tengo que trabajar para los viejos otra vez," Blanca grumbles.

Oh fuck, I gotta work for old people again

"Can I work at your jobs too, Mamí?" Maritza wonders aloud. "Quiero ayudar."

I wanna help.

"No te van a gustar," Blanca warns her.

You won't like them.

Suddenly, Maritza has an idea. She's seen El Callejon de los Milagros with Flaca, and Almita had made a stupid decision, not even having been poor as an acceptable excuse, but Maritza is desperate. It's a movie and things can't be all that bad. She would get so rich that they'd be able to live in a mansion within a few short months-or at least be able to make ends meet with very cheap housing.

"That's okay, Mamí. I'll look around for some other options," she hears herself say. "I don't even care how far away it is from wherever we end up. I'll do anything to help, and I'll stay out of dangerous areas, too. I'm hella street smart and I'll come home before dark unless I'm sleeping at a friend's house."

Blanca beams at her and pats her cheek. "Gracias, sweetie."

"De nada," Maritza says and swallows her fear for what she's about to do. She fakes a smile instead.

She won't tell a soul about her upcoming profession.

Not even Flaca.

Thank you for reading and reviewing, Juliette45!