Galen raised his hand to the group motioning them to hold on.
“How sure are the police that this is true?” Eryx asked.
“I don’t know. What I do know is that his family has been searching for him and they’ve come up empty handed also.”
I heard Andy whimpering. Her head was on Bill’s shoulder.
“He was capable of it in his condition… of suicide, I mean.” Bill considered Gabriel’s recent behavior. “There must’ve been something that the cops are going by to have come up with that theory.”
“I’ll ask my mom this afternoon,” I told them as two guys approached Galen and Eryx to socialize.
Lunch was pretty gloomy after my announcement. Andy wasn’t in a talking mood. I was sure she was still mad over the fact that neither David nor I answered our phones that morning; that, and she was scared.
The news hit Bill pretty hard too. He wasn’t much into chatting either.
We all had mixed emotions over Gabriel. He was an ex-friend, but it didn’t mean he deserved the fate the police said he might have had.
“You’re worried about Gabriel,” David assessed.
I felt like I was cheating on him somehow.
“Yes,” I said in a soft voice. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? I’m not judging you. I realize he was important to you at one time in your life. I would probably react the same way.”
React the same way? Over who?
“Oh,” my jaw clenched. “I didn’t know you had ex-girlfriends.”
“Only a few,” He admitted.
“I see.” My brow automatically creased.
“Are you jealous?” he smirked.
“No.” I gave him a scornful look.
“Oh my Lord!” He covered his mouth. “You
are
! I feel grand.”
I rolled my eyes at him.
He pecked my cheek and laughed. “I love you, precious.”
That afternoon seemed strange for me. I felt something in my stomach telling me that there was some event about to occur. I was nervous.
After school, Andy had gotten over the unanswered phone calls. She complimented me on the promise ring and seemed more at ease than she had during lunch.
David and I were about to head for the car when I got the phone call from my mother:
“Isis, there’ve been some developments on Gabriel’s case,” she told me.
“What is it?” I stopped in the middle of the crossway at the parking lot. David led me to the other side by the arm.
“There was a body found around one of the fields where Gabriel’s car was discovered. They don’t know if it’s him, but the physique looks like it’s a match. The body is… oh gosh…” She sighed. “The body is unidentifiable. They think the coyotes got to it.”
“Oh my God!” I placed my hand over my mouth.
“I know, honey… I know,” she said. “I have to let you go, but could you please advise your friends so they can tell their parents.”
“Mom, how will they identify him then?”
“They’re going to do an autopsy and DNA samples will be gathered. It’ll be a couple of days before the results are in. Till then, let’s pray for that poor family.”
“Thanks for calling to let me know, Mom. I’ll see you later.” I clicked on my phone to end the call. I was in shock again.
“What happened?” David asked.
“They found a body in the fields near where Gabriel disappeared. The body is unrecognizable, but they think it’s him. They won’t know for sure until DNA results are in.”
Andy rushed to see why I was clinging on to David. She had been watching me on the phone call.
“What now?” she asked as if she expected more bad news.
I explained about the body being found in the field.
Bill broke down in tears before Andy. She was in awe, like it hadn’t sunk in fully.
I sniffled a little bit, trying to keep in all my emotions. I couldn’t digest the information Claire had given me. I felt sick to my stomach.
Chapter 15
“Are you going to eat something?” Claire asked as I sat staring at my food.
“I’m not very hungry.” I tapped the fork on my plate. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”
“Isis, I know this is hard for you. I had to watch that poor woman—his mother—give a statement to the local newspaper. She’s completely distraught. Mr. Betancourt wouldn’t give a statement. He’s angered that they’ve made this into a media affair. I would be too, but Mrs. Betancourt has hope that she’ll find her son alive even with the high possibilities that the body they found today was his.”
“I feel sick,” I said holding my stomach. “I don’t want to hear anymore.”
“Sorry, honey. I won’t say another word.” My mother stood up and hugged me. “It’s nerves. I know how you feel.”
“Mom… do you think I’m the reason this all happened to Gabriel?”
My mother’s eyes creased. “No. Why would I think that? That boy had problems.
“We each make our own choices, and he just happened to make the wrong ones. Don’t blame yourself for someone else’s poor judgment.”
“Right,” I said unconvinced. “Anyway, I’m going upstairs. I’m not in much of a mood for anything.”
I climbed out the window and onto the porch roof where I could view the starless night. The full moon seemed dull somehow. I felt like the night was in mourning along with me. I shivered as I felt the dead cold around me.
A knot formed in my throat. I couldn’t resist calling the one person that would make me feel better.
“Princess,” he sounded happy when he answered his phone.
“Hi,” I said in a broken voice. Tears had already started flowing from my eyes.
“Are you crying?” David asked softly.
“A little. It’s nothing.” I wiped the tears on my jeans.
“What is it?” he wondered.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Alright. What shall we talk about then?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you like to hear about Greece?”
“That sounds nice.”
“Very well, then… In Greece, my family owns a house atop a hill. It is in the city of Athens. It’s beautiful there. The house oversees the city and the ocean is near. There are architectural marvels and small villages in the surrounding areas. There are also a multitude of museums that I would like you to visit one day soon. I would be your personal tour guide, of course.”
“That sounds wonderful, but my mother would never allow me to go.” I shivered as a cool breeze of air swept along my back.
“You will never know unless you ask,” he whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” I asked.
“Because I’m wary of frightening you.”
“How would you frighten me?” I said noticing a shadow moving beside me.
I shrieked, dropped the phone, jumped back and almost fell off the side of the roof. David caught my arm and pulled me back to the window ledge.
“Shh,” he hushed me. “It’s only me.”
My body was trembling. “Don’t do that anymore,” I sounded upset.
“My apologies,” he said wrapping me in a small throw blanket that I knew belonged in his room. I had seen it the day Alezzander had called me a dog and rung my neck like a chicken. What a fun day that was.
“I knew you would be out here. I only wanted to comfort you.” He hugged me.
“Thank you for coming.” I snuggled closer to him. He was warm and his scent traveled through all my senses. I could almost taste the sandalwood, it was so strong. I had only now noticed that when David’s temperature rose, so did the concentration of his fragrance.
“How did you get here so fast?” I was surprised.
“How do you think?” he tittered. “Well, what do you think about a trip to Greece?” He returned to the subject.
“So out of the question. My mother would freak. Besides, I don’t have the money for a trip like that.”
“I would cover your costs.” He wasn’t jesting. He was sincerely asking me to take a trip with him to Europe. That was one of my dreams.
I pulled my head back to view him. “David…” I sighed and shook my head.
“Why not?”
“I can’t have you pay for that; it involves too much money.”
“You’ll be my wife someday. I should take responsibility of your financial needs.”
“Whoa!” I pulled myself away from him. “You gave me a
promise
ring. It’s not an engagement ring, remember? It doesn’t mean you have to take responsibility for my anything.”
“And if it is my will?” He lifted his brow.
“Well I suggest you put your will away, because my mother would never have it and neither will I. I want to enjoy being your girlfriend for a while.”
“You can enjoy being my girlfriend in Greece for the summer.”
“David, I want to go, but my mother would never allow me to fly to Europe with my boyfriend fresh out of high school. How much does that cost anyway?”
“That is not a deciding factor in this discussion. We’re both mature young adults with good judgment. I am not naïve and neither are you. We know what we do. You’ll be eighteen by then and capable of making your own decisions. I see no problem.”
I sighed, “Don’t you get it? There is a problem and her name is Claire. You saw how aggressive she was with the officers at the police station. Imagine if I were to ask her to let me go on a trip that my boyfriend was financing?” I pecked him on the cheek. “It’s not happening, dream boy… sorry.”
“We’ll have to see about that. I always get what I want.”
I rolled my eyes. He obviously wasn’t getting the point.
“Moving on…” I prompted him to change the topic.
“You know, a promise ring in my culture entitles me to look after your wellbeing and your material needs. My parents would be disgraced if they found you did not allow me to do so.”
“What?” My eyes narrowed. “Are you making this up?”
“Yes,” he smirked. “I want to take care of you.”
“David! Don’t do that to me! I get overly anxious with these things, okay?”
“How will you deal the day I ask you to marry me?”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“A little girl dreams of her prince charming all of her life… about the white wedding dress… the flowers. I want all of it.” I looked away from him. “I just don’t want it right now.”
“Oh.” David’s jaw hardened. “I thought we were on the same page. I thought you wanted to be with me forever.”
I held his hands. “I do. I love you… but you have to understand that I also have other priorities. I want to go to college. I want to make my mother proud. I want to experience life. Now that I don’t know if I’ll get to do those things, I want them more than ever.”
David sighed. “And how long do you think it will be before you’re ready to take this a step further?”
I bowed my head and looked at him from under my lashes. “David, I’m only seventeen. I don’t know.”
“I see.” He bobbed his head. “I suppose I am being overzealous and quite selfish. I forget that you’re so new and inexperienced.”
“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult.”
“Innocence is a beautiful rarity.” He caressed my head. “I would never change that about you.”
“Thanks.” I lay my head against his chest. “I wouldn’t change anything about you either.”
His stay was short by my definition. David made me go inside my room before he left. I asked him to leave his blanket, infused with his scent since he insisted on leaving before being discovered by my mother. He didn’t understand why I wanted his blanket. When I told him it was to have his scent on me, his ego rose through the roof. It made me happy to see his wide beautiful smile. I felt like it meekly made up for the earlier conversation where I had crushed his excited state of emotion.
Journal Entry 13, 10:32 P.M.
It’s as if he has been swallowed whole by the soil his foot walked upon. The sugarcane fields whisper their secret as the wind sifts through each stem.
What happened to Gabriel Betancourt?
I know nothing of his whereabouts, but I pray that God might hear my plea.
I pray for all that is life and for all that is His will. I pray, and plea and beg that I might remain as I am said to be—in His own image.
* * *
It was Thursday morning, and I was off to school with prince charming, where I was surprised to see posters of Gabriel along the white hall walls. As if I needed more reason to feel utterly disgusted with myself for not being there for him. Now I had his eyes staring at me all over school. Creepy.
David brought up the subject of Greece again in a group discussion at our table. Galen couldn’t care less, but Eryx shook his head and rolled his eyes at the idea. He was obviously against it.
“Europe would be the ultimate summer vacation before college,” Andy sounded excited. “I would so kill for that experience.”
“Yeah, but there’s the matter of money involved.” I pursed my lip and raised my left eyebrow.
“There’s only the matter of requesting permission. The cost is irrelevant,” David pursued his argument.
“It is too relevant,” Andy retorted. “That’s like thousands of dollars, isn’t it? I don’t think her mother is in any position to spend that much money.”
“No, she’s not,” I agreed.
“The trip would be at my expense,” David explained.
“Well in that case…” Andy raised her shoulders. “I say start begging Claire for permission as of now.”
“I wouldn’t be too confident about that going over too well with Mrs. Martin,” Bill said before he took a sip of his milk.
“Thank you,” I said raising a hand in the air. “There you have the voice of reason.”
“Touché,” Eryx agreed.
“Three against two. Subject closed,” I said leaving out Galen who was busy attending to two flirty girls at either side of him.
“I doubt this is the end of it,” David laughed mockingly.
“Whatever,” I mumbled.
When I got home that afternoon, Claire was in the laundry room sorting some clothes.
“Hey,” she said throwing a shirt into a pile of dark clothes. “How’s the royal family?”
“Hi,” I hugged her. “Nyx sends her regards. Alezzander is out of town on business.”
“Give her my best tomorrow, would ya? Tell her we need to get together for some coffee or something. I’d love to visit with her again.”
“Sure.” I started helping her sort through the dirty laundry. “Have you heard anything about Gabriel?”
“Nope,” She said examining my face. “How are you feeling about this whole thing? You haven’t really opened up about it.”
“Horrible. I feel like it’s my fault.”
Claire stopped what she was doing and looked at me. “Now how in the world is this your fault?”
“Mom… I… I haven’t told you everything.”
Claire placed her hand on her waist. “Well spit it out,” she sounded angry already.
I lowered my head, knowing all too well she was about to go ballistic with what I was about to expose.
“Gabriel had already been harassing me. He picked a fight with David and then showed Bill the gun before this all happened. I tried to tell him I wasn’t interested in him anymore. He was acting weird—crazy, even. I brushed him off and ignored him.”
I heard my mom take a deep breath. I was a little too intimidated to look at the raging lioness.
“I cannot believe you kept something this serious from me,” she said in a calm voice, with her hand on her temple. “Look at me,” she demanded. “You are to never, ever keep anything like this from me again. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Mom, I knew him since forever. I never thought he’d go postal on us.”
Claire’s eyes were burning through me. “Isis, I thought you were more responsible than this. Haven’t you any common sense?”
“I do, Mom. I just didn’t want you to overreact.”
Claire threw a few more articles of clothing on some piles. “You’re grounded, Isis. How’s that for overreacting?”
“Mother!” I protested.
“I don’t want to hear it. Go to your room,” she was furious.
“I don’t understand your reasoning. Why am I grounded?” I tried to talk her out of it.
“I said go to your room… NOW,” she raised her voice at me.
“You’re grounding me for being honest?” I defended myself.
“Don’t even try debating with me, young lady. Keeping this from me is by far the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. How do you expect me not to overreact?” She threw some whites into the washer.
“Your life was on the line, Isis. Do you understand that?” She slammed the lid to the washer.
“I’m sorry, Mom. Geez. I’m fine. Look at me. I’m in one piece.”