Page 113 of Rio

“He tries, but we don’t let him,” Dex says, his voice quiet.“We’re pushing back.”

“I need to fix things for Raquel.She wants nothing more to do with me.She’s pissed.”

“I understand why,” Dex says.“I remember how it was when Dani got upset with me and left.”

“We’ve got to work on something.”I mutter.“I’ve got people in and I’m already looking into things.It’s not true.None of it’s true.”

“What’s not true?”Dex asks slowly.

I tell him everything.About Belize and the eco resort, and how everyone pulled the wool over my eyes.

“These are standard business practices for a lot of corporates, bro.”

“I know.That’s what the old man says,” I say quietly.“Doesn’t have to be that way though, does it?Do we need to skimp on profit margins?Pay the workers so low?Cut corners?”

Dex sits back, watches me quietly.

“No, we fucking don’t.”I answer my own question.

“We need to be better,” Dex offers.“We need todobetter.”

“Just because the old man says it’s got to be done a certain way doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.I don’t want to be like him.I don’t want to inherit his practices.I don’t want Knight Enterprises to be a dirty, sleazy, greedy company that ruins everything in its wake.”I pause.“He always talks about legacy.But maybe Knight Enterprises deserves a better legacy than the one the old man gives.”

Dex places his ankle on the knee of his other leg.“Tell me whatever you need.”

“I have an idea.For now, I need Dani to be there for Raquel.”

“She will be.Don’t you worry.Those girls are like sisters.”

“Are we just one big family?”I say, almost smiling.

“You’re getting cheesy on me, bro.”

We sit quietly, drinking, contemplating.When Dani finishes her phone call, she walks back in.“I’m going to Miami, first thing tomorrow morning, to check in on Raquel.”

“Thank you.”

“She would have done the same for me,” Dani replies.

When they leave, I sit down and figure out what I’m going to do.

Then I pick up the phone and call Tomas.

***

RAQUEL

Dani arrives on my doorstep first thing the next morning.

I fall into her arms with relief.I’m all out of tears, but now they start up again.

“Hey, hey.”She strokes my hair.“Come on, hon.You don’t even have to tell me everything.You don’t have to talk about it, until you’re ready.I’m here for you, to cook for you, to listen to you, whatever you want, I’m here for you.”

I saw my face in the mirror, just before I opened the door.My eyes are red-rimmed.I look a wreck.I’ve lost my job.Alma doesn’t want to talk to me.And Rio turned up yesterday with the most ridiculous story.I already knew that Paul Knight was devious, but this level of calculation defies comprehension.And, for revenge?Against hisson?This man has never known, or will ever know, the meaning of family.

Dani being here is true friendship.True sisterhood.True family.I love this girl with all my heart, and my life would be so much bleaker without her in it.We sit in my living room, Kleenex tissues all spread out over my couch, and I hastily try to tidy up.But she stops me.

“Just sit, and talk.I’ll do the rest.”She picks up my crumpled tissues, some soggy, others long dried out, and she doesn’t balk in disgust.She simply gets on with it like its no big deal.And just like that it feels like such a big deal to me that she cares so much.Dani has always shown up for me.We’re not bound by blood, but by choice, and whether I’m crying, heartbroken, raging, or worn out, she somehow knows and appears when I need her the most.She clears up the mess, picks it up, holds it, clears the space for me to feel whole again.She never lets me go through the bad times alone, in the same way that I would never let her.We’ve always been there for one another.