Terrified, I met my brother’s wide-eyed gaze.
“Move, hermanito!” I lunged for the window mere feet away and slammed my palm into it, snapping the small hook holding the glass panes closed in half. “Get outside now!”
Alejandro moved quickly.
Jumping off the bed, he skittered out the window, ripping his plaid pajama bottoms on a sliver of cracked wood.
Bare feet hitting the Colombian dirt with a soft thud, he turned and grasped my dress, gripping it tight. “Vámonos!” he yelled, jerking me toward him with more force than his rail-thin frame should’ve allowed. “They’re coming!”
Nodding, I placed my shaking hands on the open frame, but before I could climb through, my bedroom door burst open, and a lone man entered.
I stared at him, pulse galloping.
Why is he here?
What does he want?
Will he hurt us?
All three questions raced through my head, and with one good look at him, I hurriedly figured out the answer to each one.
Dressed in black, a red bandana hid most of his features. The only thing I could make out were his eyes, and the mere sight of them sent a chill rushing down my sweat-covered spine. Dark and menacing, they were as terrifying as the black pistol clutched in his right hand.
“Princesa,” he said through the fabric, head cocked to the side. “You need to come with me.” He pulled his bandana down, giving me a glimpse of his filthy face. Cheeks marred with what looked like knife scars, he appeared even more terrifying unveiled. “You’re a very pretty girl,” he continued. “Even more stunning than we were told. Carlos will be pleased.”
At the mention of Carlos, my heart stopped.
And suddenly, everything clicked into place.
Carlos Melendez, the man I correctly assumed he spoke of, was well known in Medellin. A cartel-connected narco, he was responsible for the disappearance of more than one woman. Everyone on our side of the city knew it too, including Mamá, who’d forbid me from going anywhere alone, especially after dark had descended.
But right then, her rules mattered little.
Over the years, she and Papá had both done their best to protect Alejandro and me, but at that very second, I knew their efforts had been futile because no matter how hard they’d tried to keep us safe from the streets, the streets had found their way into our home.
And now I must save us.
Latching on to every ounce of bravery I possessed, I prepared myself to run. “I’m not going anywhere with you, pendejo.” To my surprise, my voice didn’t shake as I fired off each word, a sneer contorting my beautiful face. “So go fuck yourself!”
Teeth gritted, the pissed-off man lunged for me.
But I was too fast.
Filled with fear from toes to scalp, I jumped out of the apartment before he could touch me, knocking my coveted crown to the dirt.
An angry roar echoed through the open window as I picked it back up and grabbed Alejandro’s hand. Adrenaline surging, I took off running, dragging my brother, a little boy I loved more than anyone else in the world, alongside me.
“Run, hermanito!” I screamed. “Faster!”
More terrified than I’d ever been, I wanted to stop and ask more than one person we passed while fleeing to safety for help, but I didn’t dare. The cartel had more than half the city in their pockets; it was impossible to know who we could trust.
Even going to the police was out of the question. With the way things worked in Medellin, there was a chance we’d fall straight into the hands of one of Carlos’s puppets, who would then deliver me straight to him.
And that couldn’t happen.
Bolting down one alley and darting up another, we stuck to the shadows, doing our best to hide. The sounds of footsteps didn’t follow ours, so I prayed we were no longer being pursued.
Sweat dripping from my brow, we darted through a desolate industrial area and onto a dimly lit mid-city street. How far we’d run or where we were, I didn’t have a clue. I should’ve been paying more attention, si, but the only thing that had gone through my rattled brain was finding safety, whether it be in a farm field outside the city or an abandoned building downtown.
“Carmen!”
Alejandro and I came to an almost sliding stop when our mother’s terrified shout reached my ears. Releasing his hand, I spun around, my heart nearing the point of seizing.
“Mamá!” I yelled as she ran toward us, her silver stilettos clicking against the cracked concrete sidewalk with each of her frantic steps. “Help us!” Moving as fast as she could, her lithe arms pumped wildly.
Relief flooded through me at the sight.
But that same relief died seconds later when the roar of multiple engines, followed by the sound of screeching tires reverberated off the dark buildings surrounding me.
Alejandro screamed as three Suburbans, all of them black with tinted windows, came to screeching stops around us, blocking Mamá from our view. With a wall to our backs and the idling vehicles to our right, left, and front, we were caged in.
Completely trapped.
Grabbing Alejandro by the shoulders, I tucked him behind me, shielding his body with my own as one of the vehicle doors opened, followed by others, and men, close to a dozen of them, spilled out onto the desolate city street.
I recognized one of them right away.
“Princesa,” the scarred face intruder from before said, a malicious smile tipping his pale, chapped lips. “You shouldn’t have run from me.” Moving around the closest SUV, he came to a stop less than twelve feet away.
Alejandro’s fingers dug into my back, his fear pouring off of him in waves, but I remained silent, refusing to cry out as my heart so desired I do.
Instead, I stood tall.
Defiant in the face of danger.
“You shouldn’t have chased me then,” I spat. “Just as you shouldn’t have broken into my home, a place you had no right to be.”
The man’s lip twitched. “You’re feisty. Carlos will enjoy it very much.”
Anger
