“I made myself concentrate on revenge.”
I sigh. “Nothing of the review came through?”
Henry frowns. “Well, some of it forced itself into my psyche, but I slam the door shut on it!”
“You’d be surprised what you learn if you leave the door open.”
Henry shakes his head vigorously. “Don’t come to me with that crap! Revenge is all that should be on our minds! Our gals killed us!”
I sigh again. “We killed ourselves, Henry. You’ve got to come to terms with that. I have.”
“Get out of here and don’t you ever come back!”
I wasn’t planning to. There’s no way I wanted to live forever in revenge limbo like Henry.
I decided I’d do what I had to do in this dimension and then move on. So my first act of freeing myself from all the entanglements I have inside is to enter my mom’s sleep. She looks like she’s having a rough night. I had thought of talking to my father, but I know he’s even harder headed than Henry. He refuses to acknowledge his damage.
No, it’s my mother I have to talk to. I do what Henry showed me and concentrate on getting in her head. In her dreams, she’s by a deep and ruthless river weeping and wondering if she should jump in and drown herself.
“Don’t do it, Mom,” I implore.
She turns her head and stares at me with astonishment, her face bright red with so many shed tears. “You’re dead, my son. There’s nothing left for me.”
I embrace her. I’m thrilled than in dreams I can do this even with my vaporous self. She clutches me for dear life. “There’s so much left for you, Mom.”
She shakes her head with desperation. “I’ve got nothing.”
“You’ve got you, Mom, and that’s a lot.”
“Your father—”
“Forget him!” I snap.
“What?”
“Leave him!” I burst with emotion.
Her face turns to agony. “Maybe if I had left him a long time ago you’d be alive! You would’ve never become like him and lost your life because of it,” she proclaims in despair.
I make her look at me. “Listen, Mom, stop that. The past is the past. It can’t be changed, but you can change your life now.”
“I don’t see how!”
“Leave dad, Mom. You deserve to be let out of prison. You deserve some happiness. You know that you hardly ever smile? Leave him! Leave him now!—and never look back.”
“Baby boy, I have no money, no relatives to take me in, so I have absolutely no way of leaving your dad!”
“Mom, be brave like Lucette. Follow her steps. Her example will show you the way.”
My mom wakes up with a start, bouncing me out of her dreams. I guess what I had said had really gotten to her. I just hope she takes my advice.
Next, I go into Lucette’s mind. In her dreams, she’s at the park again, huddled under the bench and waiting for me.
She’s having a nightmare about me!
“Don’t be afraid of me,” I murmur.
“You’re a monster!” she keens.
“I know,” I murmur.
“Have you got any idea what you’ve done to me?!”
“Now I do. I’m so so—”
Her face contorts angrily. “It’s time that I stop being afraid of you!” She scoots out from under the bench and faces me directly.
I nod solemnly. “Good for you.”
“Just so you know I’m not going to ever let you lay a hand on me again or say ugly things to me.”
“Don’t ever let anyone do that to you, Lucette. You’re much too valuable.”
“Get out of here then!”
“I will but first I have to tell you something.”
“What is it?!” she snaps.
“Do you think you can ever forgive me?”
“What?!”
“Please forgive me.”
She shakes her head incredulously. “How can you ask that of me?”
“I understand if you can’t. I’m going very far away and I just needed to apologize to you before I left.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to take responsibility and face the music.”
She eyes me with astonishment. “Take responsibility?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and blamed others. The person I did the worse to is you, so I don’t blame you for not forgiving me. Know that I’m disgusted with myself and really sorry for what I did to you. Know that.”
She nods at me. I start to move towards a small bridge that just appeared. Thick white clouds surround it. I know that when I cross the little passage, I’ll be out of this dimension. Lucette stares at me as I put one foot on it.
“Bye Lucette,” I say, turning to face her before I finish leaving. “Please just consider forgiving me.”
She nods slowly. “Okay, I’ll consider it.”
I smile at her. That she’ll even consider it is enough to free some of the entangled knots I have inside.
“Goodbye, gutsy girl.”
And I keep walking into the next dimension
Chapter 53
Lucette:
Graduation day came quickly. I’m in the ceremony listening to one of those mandatory uplifting speeches by a politician. I grin. I’m just glad I made it here. Just a short while ago, when I was a slave to Justin, it seemed like an impossibility.
I go inside my head to think of all the amazing things that have happened. So much has occurred! Can you believe that Justin’s mother wrote me an email? When I was with Justin, I had sent her some thank you ones when she had Justin and me over to dinner, so she knew my email address.
In the note, she told me that she in no way blamed me for Justin’s death. In fact, she apologized for not having done more for me when I was with her son.
Here’s the kicker!
She thanked me for showing her the way. She escaped her husband the same way I did and is now starting a new life with the help of a battered women’s shelter.
Most surprising of all is that she asserted that Justin had visited her in a dream and told her to follow my lead. Surprising, isn’t it? The funny part is that Justin also came to me in a dream and asked for forgiveness. I wonder if this supernatural stuff is for real. Does Justin really need my forgiveness from the beyond? I’ve been asking myself that question over and over again.
As the ceremony comes to a close, I give a huge yelp as I throw up my cap. Finding my special friends and boyfriend, we head out to the Sanchezes for a fiesta. My parents had wanted to celebrate my graduation by taking me to Europe, but I really wanted to be surrounded by the people I had grown to love. Besides, I have to celebrate with the Dynamic Trio and Alfredo!
The Sanchezes went all out by decorating their house with graduation decorations. Outside, in their yard, there are dozens of tables full of the most remarkable Mexican food. Mariachis play their incredible and loud music. It’s pretty awesome. Even my parents seem to be having a great time. Let me tell you that it’s just so impossible not to be taken in by the Sanchez warmth.
Impossible!
When they give me a graduation gift, I start crying at their generosity. Mrs. Sanchez had sewn some beautiful clothes for when I get to college. I’m so touched and thrilled I’ll be wearing garments she made with her own two hands.
At that point, I give her the graduation gift I had gotten my parents to give me. The astonishment in her eyes makes me giggle. She keeps staring at the deed to her house. Behind her, Mr. Sanchez also stares at it open mouthed.
“No, we can’t take this,” Mrs. Sanchez mutters, trying to hand it back to me.
I cross my arms in front of me, so she can’t give it to me. “You’ll insult me if you don’t take it,” I say sternly.
My parents stand up from where they’re sitting and go to the Sanchezes. “Yes, you’ll insult us if you don’t take it,” my mother chimes in.
“But it’s too much,” Mr. Sanchez murmurs.
&
nbsp; My father shakes his head. “It’s not anywhere near as much as you’ve done for my daughter. A million of these deeds wouldn’t even begin to cover it.”
“And we don’t accept you not taking it!” my mother bursts. “We’re so grateful to you. Please don’t deny us the pleasure of doing something for you for a change.”
Mrs. Sanchez slowly nods, her eyes watery. “Okay.”
“Thank you so much,” Mr. Sanchez murmurs with his own eyes brimming with tears.
I’m just so thrilled, so full of love and happiness at the moment. My life is pretty awesome right now, and I’m about to start a new adventure. In a few months I’ll be starting college at UT El Paso. The Dynamic Trio and Alfredo will be starting school in the same place. I don’t know what the future holds for Alfredo and me, but I do know that I can now trust myself with making good decisions.
Life is good.
More, More, More
Mia’s novels—some with sequels! Get to know her work. Take advantage of the price-less downloads for now!
Tween:
The Warriors Club
Young Adult:
Planet High School
Lucky Lucette
Lovestruck/ Sequel: The Key of Hearts
Paradise Abductions/ Sequel: Paradise Escape
Supernova
Adult:
Flowers For The Living
My Mama’s Tamales
Pride and Preference
Broken Watermelons
Forever Hearts/ Sequel: Forever Destiny
Paranormal Revenge
A Beautiful Haunting
Spiritual:
GodQuest
A Christmas Passage/ Same series: Angel Gifts
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