Armando Returns (Barboza Brothers) (2 page)

Dwayne produced a grim chuckle and looked in his daughter
’s angry eyes. “You need to watch the way you speak to me.”

Lisa McCormack narrowed her eyes at her husband.
“Please, Dwayne. We knew she’d be upset. Let me talk to her.”

He shook his head and looked down at the ground, then silently headed back to Armando
’s car.

Lisa
’s eyes, filled with pain, stared into Katie’s. She glanced at her husband to make sure he was out of earshot, then lowered her voice to a whisper as she focused on her daughter. “Please, sweetie. Trust me this time. I know it’s not fair but I can’t explain it to you right now. I just can’t.” She took her hand from Katie’s cheek to wipe her own tears away. “Please, for the sake of our family. Forget about this boy.”

Katie had never seen her like this. Her mother seemed desperate, like she was begging a friend for help, not like a concerned mother trying to comfort her daughter.
“What do you mean, our family?” Katie asked. “Are we in trouble?” She glanced at her dad, who was now pulling luggage out of the backseat of Armando’s car. She then asked her mom, whispering, “What could Armando possibly do to our family? Why are you so afraid?”

Her mom sighed.
“There’s a lot of history with his family…stuff you don’t need to know about.” Tears fell down her face and she suddenly threw herself against Katie, hugging her and sobbing.

Katie
’s stomach went sour as her mother cried on her shoulder like she was the one who really needed to be soothed. Her mother was the strongest woman Katie knew and she had never seen her like this--vulnerable and desperate, with no explanation.

H
er mom took one big breath, calming herself, then whispered in Katie’s ear, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it’d come to this. I thought you only dated for a few weeks.” She groaned quietly. “Now I know you were sneaking around this whole time. I thought I kept a better eye on you.”

Katie thought back to that wintry night when Daddy caught Armando in her bedroom, just seconds after he
’d climbed in through the window. Daddy had forbidden her to see him again and he grounded Katie for a month. Little did her parents know they sneaked around before and after that for months, seeing each other almost every day. “Mom, I love him. No matter what you do, you can’t keep us apart forever.”

Lisa pulled away and took her daughter
’s hand, gazing into her eyes with a sad grin. “I know you love him. And I’m sure your dad’s gonna rant and rave about you being too young to know what love is, but I can see that look in your eyes. And that’s why you’ve been so happy lately.” She sniffled, trying to stop her tears. “Because you knew you were running off to marry him today, right?”

Katie nodded and began to cry again.
“Yes.”

“
Sweetie, I’m sorry. I mean it. Words can’t express how much I mean it. But I’m begging you, please try to move on.”

“
How can I do that if you won’t tell me why? I’m worried sick about Armando.”

Lisa glanced away to see Dwayne leave the car and head to the store.
“You know I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t have a good reason, right? I hate to see you hurting like this. I want my kids to be happy, and that boy makes you happy. I’m sorry. Please, trust me. If nothing else, do it for your dad.”

Katie grunted.
“I’m not doing anything for him. I didn’t know he could be so mean. I’ve never seen him like this.”

“
You better not be thinking about running away. ‘Cause if you
do
find a way to run off, you’ll never see us again. Not your sister. And not me. Your dad won’t allow it.”

“
What? He can’t do that!”

“
He was capable of doing this today, wasn’t he? He can call in favors just about anywhere.”

“
Yeah, in Texas.” Katie scoffed. “All we have to do is leave the state. That’s why we were going to New Mexico, to keep you two from hearing about the wedding. I’m eighteen. Daddy can’t stop me anymore.”

Her mom
’s face crumpled as her tears flowed once again. “Oh, sweetie. Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say? Your dad
will
keep you and Armando apart.” Her eyes widened. “Trust me.”

Katie
’s breath hitched; the haunting look in her mom’s eyes chilled her to the bone. “You don’t mean…he’d do something...to Armando?”

Her mom
’s eyes went to the ground as she wept, quietly.

“
Mom.” Katie’s mouth gaped as she waited for her mom to answer. “Surely not. Daddy wouldn’t…” Her voice trailed off as her mom’s face grew even sadder. “I can’t believe this. How can he be so ruthless?” She looked away, nausea building again in her stomach. For years she had heard rumors about Daddy. Occasionally she overheard conversations she knew she wasn’t supposed to hear. Ones that made her question his integrity. But she always chalked it up to misunderstanding. She loved her father dearly, and until today, she had never seen him so calculating. He was always strict and overprotective, but never like this. No. Something was very, very wrong. She waited a few moments longer until the disgust coursing through her subsided enough for her to speak. Then she asked, “Mom, why would you stay married to someone like him?”

Lisa took a deep breath and started to answer her, then caught a glimpse of Dwayne heading toward them. Softly, she said,
“Sometimes you just gotta take the good with the bad.”

Loudly, Dwayne let out a weary sigh and put his hand on Katie
’s back as soon as he was close enough. His tone was gentle. “I’m sorry I had to do this, darlin’. I love you. You know that. I didn’t mean to be so harsh with you.”

Katie shrugged away from him, chills going through her body from the touch of his hand. He sounded like her loving, overly protective father again. Except now, he was someone Katie didn
’t know at all. And she was too numb to cry, as though every emotion from horror to devastation flooded her senses at once and she didn’t know which was strongest. In a volume barely loud enough for him to hear, and without looking him in the eye, she asked, “Where’d they take him?”

“
Don’t worry, honey,” he said. “They won’t hurt him. They’ll just scare him a little.”

Katie gulped, then nodded, staring straight down at the ground.

“Here.” Dwayne handed his keys to Lisa. “You girls take the truck home. I’m gonna drive this,” he nodded toward Armando’s car, “back to Turnbrook.” He bent down and kissed Katie’s forehead. “Tonight we’ll go to San Antonio, to that restaurant you like.” He gave her another kiss then walked to the car.

Katie closed her eyes, thick with tears.
Yeah. My favorite restaurant. That’s gonna smooth everything over?

It was ten minutes before Katie spoke again. Lisa was content to let her daughter sit beside her in silence as she drove down the highway.

Every time Katie closed her eyes, she saw Armando
’s face. Blood running from his mouth by the work of her father’s fist. Her throat was scratchy from screaming, trying in vain to stop the chaos. She whispered, “I hate this.”

“
I do too.”

“
You’re still not gonna tell me anything, are you?”

“
No.” Lisa patted Katie’s knee. “It’ll get easier. I promise.”

Under her breath, Katie muttered,
“Yeah, right.” She cleared her throat and said louder, “Can you at least tell me where they took him today? When can I see him again? I’m scared.”

“
You can’t see him again.”

“
But I just wanna know if he’s okay!”

Lisa shook her head.
“He’ll be okay. He’ll be even better if you stay away from him.”

“
I’m sure Daddy’ll make sure I stay away, won’t he?” Katie quickly began sobbing. “He’ll lock me up in my room and threaten me.”

“
He’ll keep a tighter watch on you, that’s for sure, but he won’t lock you up. There’s no need for that. He just wants you to stay away from that boy and his brothers. That’s all.”

Katie let out a sarcastic laugh as she cried.
“So, that means Armando’s younger brother Ramon better not start dating Chelsea, huh? They’re about the same age. He’s only a year ahead of her in school.”

Lisa groaned.
“Please don’t say such things.”

“
Well? What if she does? Maybe you and Daddy need to make a list of all the boys we’re not allowed to talk to.” She wiped her face with a tissue. “There might be family history we don’t know about. Sure as heck don’t wanna get anyone killed or imprisoned because we fell for ‘em…”

In a stern voice, Lisa said,
“Katie, it’s just
those
boys. And you’re such a pretty girl, you could’ve had your pick of all the guys at Turnbrook High. How were we supposed to know you’d pick one of
them
? Now just calm down.” She took a deep breath, trying to keep the tears at bay. “We’ll all get through this. Armando’s gonna be fine. They’ll keep him in a holding cell for a few days until your dad works something out with—”

“
A holding cell?” Katie’s heart raced with fear. “You mean, jail? For what? He didn’t do anything.”

“
I know. It’s just a holding cell. It won’t go on his record. He’ll be investigated for illegal immigration for a little while, then they’ll—”

“
Illegal?” She turned to her mother in disbelief. “He’s not illegal! Is that what this is about? Daddy hates him because he’s from Mexico? He’s lived here since he was ten!”

Lisa smirked.
“Your daddy doesn’t hate anyone from Mexico. You know that. I’m sure they’ll find nothing and he’ll be let go.”

“
So, he called in a favor to keep us apart for a little while? Like I’m gonna get over it by then? Take me out to dinner and wait a few days and I’ll forget Daddy had my fiance hauled off to jail?”

“
Nobody expects you to forget, sweetie.” Lisa wiped a tear from her eye. “We love you. I’m so sorry.”

Armando’s head throbbed as the scorching sun beat down on him. After the three days he spent in that jail cell, he thought his situation couldn’t get worse.

But he was wrong.

He woke up on the side of a country road. There were no houses in sight. Just hills and dirt as far as he could see. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. His head hurt and his throat felt like sandpaper. But at least he wasn’t in jail anymore.

He trudged slowly up the hill, hoping he was going the right way. From what he saw, the road down the hill only led to more hills. Nothing but more dust and dirt. He swallowed as much saliva as his mouth could produce, and trudged ahead.

Maybe this is all a nightmare
...I’ll wake up beside her, and everything will be all right.

For ten minutes he walked, praying to God to show him the way home. To erase the miserable days he spent without Katie. The thought of her was all that kept him going.

They won
’t stop us next time. Fuck ‘em. Fuck Dwayne McCormack and all those crooked assholes. I’ll expose them for who they really are. They can’t get away with this. Katie’s mine. She’ll
always
be mine.

A few more steps, and Armando
’s knee buckled as his entire leg seized in a cramp.

“
Shit!” He fell against the jagged gravel below, scraping his hands as he tried to brace himself.

Closing his eyes, he contemplated rolling off the road to the dry grass. At least there he could rest until he felt well enough to continue.

Then suddenly, a glimmer of hope. Gravel crunching in the distance. The low hum of a car engine.

“
Ow. Damn it…” It took all of his strength, but Armando pushed himself up to stand on wobbly legs and wait for the vehicle. Again, he swallowed, anything to moisten his parched throat.

He closed his eyes and pictured her face once again. Heard her voice screaming his name as they led him away. As much as he desired vengeance, what he wanted more than anything was to collapse in her arms. Then whisk her away in his car to try again.

Through his pain, the thought made him smile.

A cloud of dust from the dry road preceded the vehicle, making it hard to see. As it drew closer, Armando held up his arms, waving. “Help! Help me!”

When the dust died down, he saw a bright red pick-up truck that had obviously seen better days. It had one dark blue door and the shocks emitted a faint squeak with each rotation of the wheels. As it drew closer, Armando heard a mariachi band blasting from the radio. Then he saw two middle-aged Hispanic men inside, both of them staring at him with curiosity.

Armando thought they were going to drive by and leave him alongside the road, but the truck stopped, kicking up more dust. Coughing, he covered his mouth and shuffled toward the truck.