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“Yes, yes. Oh, my dear. What has happened?”

“She collapsed suddenly.”

“You shouted at her,” Conchita said.

“I didn’t shout at her.”

“I heard you. I heard what you said. You’re selfish and cruel.”

Aisha pumped her mama’s chest, the burning in her own biting at the back of her throat and down her arms. “Come on, Mama.”

“Like you care,” Conchita said.

“If I didn’t care, I would have left here years ago. Grow up.”

Conchita started sobbing, and the woman left and returned with a box of tissues.

The sirens came, and Aisha willed them closer. She closed her eyes and counted to keep her focused, to keep her going through the pain that gripped her arms. She heard voices, and someone pulling her off her mama. Her initial resistance weakened as she became aware of the medical services. She moved away and sat with her back to the wall. Someone covered her in a blanket, and she realised she was trembling and cold. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the men attending her mama attached wires and fired shocks through her mama’s limp body, before they carried her away on a stretcher.

“San Juan De Dios Hospital,” the florist said.

Conchita and Aisha followed in a taxi. Aisha couldn’t look at her sister.

“I’m sorry I said those things,” Conchita said.

“I’m tired,” Aisha said.

They travelled in silence and waited in the hospital waiting room in silence. Six o’clock came and went, and then seven o’clock, and Aisha’s heart ached for Gabi. Exhaustion slowed her mind. Knowing she couldn’t leave the hospital until she had confirmation that mama was going to be okay numbed her emotions. “Go home, Conchita. You need to tell Papa what’s happened. I’ll stay here until we find out more.”

29.

GABI’S SENSE OF DÉJÀ vu kicked in at five thirty, and she walked up to Aisha’s house to find the front door closed. She didn’t linger in case Nicolás or Aisha’s papa saw her. She wandered back to the workshop confused and sat crossed legged against the wall that bordered the road facing Matías’s house.

Had Aisha told her parents? Had she changed her mind?

She didn’t know which was scarier.

Gabi hadn’t had to tell her dad, because he was never at home long enough for it to make a difference. Nana had known, probably before Gabi had worked out her own body, and had broken the news to him. Nana had hugged her and confirmed Gabi’s thoughts. Love wasn’t defined by rules, it was a gift of the heart, and Gabi was free to love who she wanted to love. Nana had also said that not every girl wanted to be kissed and that next time, Gabi should ask before acting on her feelings. She couldn’t imagine having to have that coming out conversation now, and with parents whose attitudes were a hundred times worse than her dad’s had been. Aisha didn’t have anyone to support her. She hadn’t had anyone to talk to her whole life.

She sighed and looked up and down the road, feeling Aisha’s pain acutely. She wouldn’t blame her if she had changed her mind. Buses passed every half hour, and the people inside stared at her as if she were something out of a freak show. She must have looked it, slumped against a wall crying. She closed her eyes to lose track of time. She would wait for as long as it took, until the morning if she had to.

Seven thirty came and went. At around eight, she stood and strolled a few paces to unstiffen her legs and back, and she massaged her numb bum. Maybe she had to face the fact that Aisha wasn’t coming. She wandered back to her house but stayed twenty feet away. Light filtered through the small window, but the door remained shut. Should she knock just in case Aisha had told them and they’d done something to her? She quashed the ridiculous thought, though part of her wouldn’t put it past them. The door opened, and Aisha’s papa came out of the house. He looked hurried and was heading straight towards her. She ducked for cover, and he walked straight past.

Gabi peered out to see Conchita in the doorway. She could speak to Conchita, couldn’t she? She waited until Aisha’s papa was out of view and ran. “Conchita.”

Conchita backed into the house.

“Please, Conchita. Where’s Aisha?”

Conchita shook her head, keeping the door between her and Gabi.

“Please. Just tell me she’s safe.”

Conchita nodded.

“Look. I’m not going to hurt her, or you, or anyone.”

Conchita shook her head.