Unbroken

by Anne Schraff

  None of David’s friends wrote to him in prison. None came to see him. He didn’t expect to see Freddy or Augie. Prisons spooked them. But he thought somebody from the fried chicken place might at least send him a card.

  The only visitor David ever had was Paul. Paul also wrote letters and sent cards. Most importantly, Paul came to visit David every time they allowed visitors. He never missed. Paul was usually angry, especially in the beginning. He cussed David out. He berated him. He called him names. But he came. As time went by, Paul grew less angry. He started to talk about the future, when David would get out of prison. The brothers began to make plans, and thin shafts of light penetrated the total darkness of David’s life.

  David also joined the prison Bible study class run by Ivan Redondo, and that lifted his spirits too. For the hour and a half of the class, David felt like a normal human being again, not a convicted felon.

  Those two things—Paul’s faithfulness and the Bible class—saved David. But it was mostly Paul. He couldn’t have made it without Paul. For those two years, he was adrift in a dark, dangerous ocean, and Paul was the rope he clung to. Before he went to prison, David had used some drugs. In prison, they were readily available, and everybody knew it. Without Paul, David would have gotten into drugs again and would have sunk forever beneath the dark sea.

  The following Monday, David was working on Mr. Ibarra’s business on his computer. Paul and Carmen came into his cubicle. Carmen came over and planted a kiss on David’s cheek. “Whatcha doin’, David?” she asked.

  “Organizing some of the suggestions your father got at the meeting on the city budget,” David answered. “The one cent sales tax increase won’t go far, but it should help. We’ve got a bunch of bad options to consider for raising more money. Like the one about charging people fees when they make false fire and police calls. Some lady called nine-one-one to complain that gophers were eating her ice plant.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Carmen remarked. “Fine people for misusing nine-one-one. How dare people bother the firefighters and police for nonsense. They should chase the gophers on their own. I mean, how stupid can they be? If my cat gets stranded in the pepper tree, I’ll go up on a ladder and get her down myself. The cat usually comes down on her own anyway.”

  “And then we can get more volunteers at the libraries and the parks,” David said. “That’ll save on paid staff salaries.”

  “I’ll volunteer,” Carmen said eagerly. “I love the library, but I like all the people who work there too. I don’t want them to lose their jobs either, so that’s a tough one.”

  “She’s on a roll,” Paul laughed.

  “When I was gassing up my truck, I ran into Denise Valencia,” David mentioned.

  “I hope you told her to drop dead,” Paul told him, his voice bitter.

  “Whoa!” Carmen exclaimed. “Who’s she?”

  “Some creepy chick who used to hang with David. A gold digger. A barracuda in a bikini. Chicks like that give babes a bad name,” Paul raved.

  “That bad?” Carmen gasped.

  “Worse,” Paul responded. “If it wasn’t against my principles to hit chicks, I’d send her into the next county.”

  “It wasn’t her fault what happened to me,” David stated flatly. “It was my own fault. I gave her expensive stuff, but she didn’t demand it. I wanted to make her happy. I’m not shifting the blame onto her.”

  “You know what, dude?” Paul asked, throwing his arm around Carmen’s shoulders. “I wanted to buy this chick here a cheap little gold chain with her birthstone gem in it. But she—”

  “It wasn’t cheap,” Carmen cut in. “It was eighty dollars. Eighty dollars! No way are you gonna spend eighty dollars on some silly pendant for me. You work hard at the electronics store, and you need money for your filmmaking classes. I’m more than happy with a shiny pin from the drugstore.”

  “See?” Paul declared. “This is a treasure right here, man. She talks too much and eventually she’s gonna drive me crazy, but she’s worth it.”

  Paul grew serious. His arms were still around his girl when he spoke. “David, if that witch comes around our apartment looking for you, I’m gonna turn the hose on her. Fair warning.”

  Carmen poked Paul. “No!” she scolded.

  During the next two weeks, two things happened to David that left him deeply confused. First, he was getting to like Livy Majors more every day. He found himself looking at her lovely profile and being very careful that she wouldn’t catch him. Second, he frequently took Denise’s cell phone number from his wallet and looked at it. He almost called her once. He was desperately lonely for a girl.

  On a Wednesday at lunchtime, Livy asked David if he’d like to go down to the lobby coffee shop again. This time Jeff Caudillo wouldn’t be with them. It would just be David and Livy. David was nervous. But the chance of being with Livy away from the office was so appealing that he accepted.

  As they sat in the coffee shop, Livy asked, “Have you heard anything about Bobby Padilla since he got home? Is he back in school?”

  “Yes, my friend Ernesto is keeping me posted,” David answered. “Bobby’s back in the freshman class, and he’s doin’ okay. Ernesto and the senior advisor teacher there at Chavez came up with a new program. They pair up seniors with freshmen kids who’re at risk. The seniors kinda give the freshmen attention and help if they need it. Ernesto’s buddy, Abel Ruiz, is paired with Bobby, and they’re really hitting it off.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful, David,” Livy responded, nibbling delicately at her scone. Then she looked up and asked, “Do you like music?”

  “Uh, yeah, I do,” David said.

  “There’s going to be a really good jazz festival downtown in a couple days with some really great artists. I love jazz. How about you?” Livy asked.

  “Yeah, I like it too,” David replied. “Better than rock.”

  “Maybe we could go, then, if you’re not busy with something else,” Livy asked.

  David turned numb. Was Livy asking him if he’d like to go somewhere with her? It sounded like that was what she was saying, but no way was that possible. David didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t say, “Sure, I’d love more than anything else in the world to go somewhere with you, Livy. But I’m an ex-convict, and you don’t know that. So it wouldn’t be fair for you to go thinking I’m a regular guy. If I told you about myself, you wouldn’t want to go down to the corner for a taco with me.”

  Instead, David mumbled, “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

  “Oh, good, it’s coming up this weekend, and we’ll make plans,” Livy said.

  All afternoon, David thought about what he’d done, and he was miserable. This was wrong, he thought. He had to get out of it.

  That night, Paul was on a date with Carmen. David dialed Denise’s number. He knew he’d never have the relationship with Denise that they had before. But Denise knew about him and didn’t care. And he just wanted to go to a movie and have something to eat with a girl. That’s all he wanted.

  “Oh, hi, Davy!” Denise bubbled when she heard his voice. She seemed genuinely happy to hear from him. To confirm that feeling, she said, “I was so hoping you’d call. I’d almost given up on you calling.”

  “Wanna go see a movie Friday night? Then we could get something to eat,” David suggested. “That fish taco place.”

  “Oh, Davy! You remembered how I love fish tacos! I’d love to go,” Denise gushed.

  “Okay,” David replied. “I’ll pick you up around seven. You still livin’ in the apartment on Oriole?”

  “Same old, same old,” Denise laughed. “Oh, Davy, I’m so glad you called. Oh, it’s gonna be great fun to be with you again. I missed you, Davy. I really missed you. You’re the greatest guy I ever knew.”

  When David picked Denise up on Friday night, she looked hot in a magenta sweater and skinny jeans. David glanced at her ears, where cheap hoops hung. He thought about the diamond earrings. What happened to them? Denise noticed him looking an
d explained.

  “Oh, Davy, those diamond earrings were so fantastic. But I hit a bad patch, and I pawned them and then . . . you understand. Things are better now. I earn okay money in the salon. I do nails, mostly older women. You know, they don’t look so good, but they want nice nails. It’s really boring, but what else can I get? I dropped outta Chavez in my junior year, you know. I hated high school.”

  David wondered whether Denise had had any boyfriends since he went to prison. He couldn’t imagine her sitting home on the weekends. “So, Denise, been seeing anybody I know?” he asked.

  “You remember Antonio?” she answered. “We’ve gone out a few times.” Antonio was a big hulky guy who drank too much and worked as a mechanic when he was sober. “I ain’t seen him in a while. He’s got a drinkin’ problem. I went out with a coupla other guys, but, Davy, you spoiled it for other guys. You were always so special and nice. When you got arrested, I thought how unfair it was. You’re a good guy. You didn’t deserve to get locked up.”

  “No, Denise, I did the crimes,” David insisted. “I stole from a lot of stores. I got a lotta money. I deserved what happened to me.”

  “You got a job now, David?” Denise asked. “Somebody told me you worked down at the city council. I couldn’t believe it.”

  “Yeah, I have a good job,” David replied. “I’m very grateful.”

  “Do you make a lot of money?” Denise asked.

  “More than at the fried chicken place,” David told her.

  “Are the people nice down there? I’ve heard that all politicians are crooks,” Denise remarked. “They get all they can from the people, and they don’t deliver the goods.”

  “I work for Councilman Ibarra,” David responded, a little annoyed. “He’s a good, honest man. He’s doin’ a lot of good, and I’m proud to be able to help him.”

  They saw an action-adventure movie with a lot of special effects. David enjoyed the movie more than Denise did. For part of the time during the movie, she was texting her friends.

  When David and Denise were last dating, they had often stopped at a little Mexican seafood place for fish tacos. They went there after the movie. It was still in business, and the tacos were as good as David remembered. Something about the sauce was spectacular.

  “Wow!” Denise exclaimed. “Does this bring back memories!” After a few moments, she looked at David and asked, “Was it really awful in prison, Davy?”

  “Not a good place to be,” David answered.

  “Did you get beat up and stuff?” Denise asked. “I’ve heard terrible stories about what happens to guys in prison.” She dabbed taco sauce off her full, red lips.

  “I stayed outta trouble,” David said. “There are rules. Not only the prison authority rules, but the inmates’ rules too. They’re just as important. You don’t crowd anybody. You don’t hog the facilities. You try to respect the other inmates. I didn’t have any serious trouble, but it was an experience I never want to repeat. I’m never going to do anything that’d get me in trouble again. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  “You know what’s so great, Davy?” Denise commented. “You aren’t changed. I thought you might come out of prison hard and bitter. It thought you’d be like a different person, but you’re the same sweet guy I remember. I’m just so glad we got together again. I don’t think a day went by that I didn’t think about you and remember the good times we had.”

  David studied the girl. She was as beautiful as he had remembered her. She was even more beautiful than in his dreams, as he lay in that prison cell and longed for her. At one time in his life, he thought he would marry her and love her forever.

  “Davy,” Denise remarked, “you look so deep in thought. Are you thinking about the old days? Weren’t they great? I had more fun with you than with anybody I ever knew. Only trouble was your brother. He was such a little punk. He hated me. I think he always hated me.”

  David drank his soda slowly. He said nothing.

  “Know what, Davy?” the girl went on. “I think your problem has always been your brother. He’s been a real drag on you. I remember when we used to go out. He’d be there glaring at me, like I was evil or something. He really had a bad attitude. You guys are like night and day. I don’t know how you stand living with him now. It must be awful.”

  David continued drinking his soda.

  “He wore those hoodies and hung out with creepy guys,” she rattled on. “He shoulda been the one going to prison, not you. You were always nice, but he can be so ugly. I bet he’s done plenty of crimes that nobody knows about. His kind never gets caught. The cops are so stupid. They just nab poor guys like you while bad dudes like Paul get away.”

  David looked at Denise again, at her pale, smoky brown eyes and her long lashes. She was wearing a lot of eye makeup, more than she used to. David tried to recall the days when he loved Denise. He tried to get in touch with the guy he used to be. But that guy seemed a stranger now.

  Finally David spoke quietly. “When I was in prison, only one person stuck by me. I was so depressed that I thought I’d die of loneliness. I felt totally abandoned, except for this one person who gave me a lifeline. That was Paul, my brother. He saved me. He saved my life.”

  Denise seemed taken aback. “I wanted to come and see you, David,” she began to prattle. “I swear I did. But I never been inside a prison before. It looked so cold and scary. I didn’t even ever visit my father when he was in prison. I couldn’t imagine goin’ in there and being frisked and maybe the iron gates closin’ behind me. I was even scared right after you were busted. I was worried that they’d come and arrest me for havin’ the stolen diamond earrings.”

  “I didn’t steal the diamond earrings. I paid for them,” David told her.

  “Yeah, I know that,” Denise responded. “But I always thought maybe the money you used to buy them was from . . . you know, something illegal that you were doin’. I was so terrified that I’d get in trouble for havin’ the earrings.”

  David finished his soda.

  “I know it’s wild, David,” she went on. She was being defensive. “But I thought they’d somehow link me to whatever you guys were doin’, you and Freddy and Augie. I think . . . I mean, I guess that’s another reason I didn’t come to see you in prison. I didn’t want them to think I was, you know . . . part of . . . like a crime gang or something.”

  “So you knew I was burglarizing stores at night, Denise,” David asked in a flat voice. “You knew that’s where I was gettin’ all the money for our good times and the gifts. You knew that me and the other guys were criminals. You figured that the diamond earrings weren’t bought with money from the fried chicken place, right?”

  “I never knew for sure,” Denise admitted. “But, you know . . . I thought there was something going on. I tried not to think about it.”

  David took a long deep breath.

  “Davy, you’re out of prison now,” Denise told him. “And all the bad things are behind you. You’re home where you belong. Life can be good again for you—for us. Denise stared at David, who was not responding. “It’d be like old times, Davy.”

  David got up and went to the cash register to pay for the fish tacos and sodas.

  Denise stood beside him. She tried to smile at him. Her perfect white teeth showed through her lips, wearing a shade of ruby lipstick that David always liked.

  They went out to the pickup truck. Neither of them said much as they drove to Oriole Street.

  In front of her apartment, David got out of the truck and walked Denise to the door. She drew close to him, as if she expected him to kiss her goodnight or, better yet, to come inside. But David said flatly, “ ’Night, Denise.” He turned and walked back to his truck.

  On the way home, David wondered why he even went out on a date with Denise. She was part of the reason he went to prison. He doubted whether she ever cared where the money came from. She just liked getting nice things. “Her and Augie and Freddy,” David thought, “they all let me take the r
ap. They didn’t really care whether that’d break me.”

  He stopped the truck at a curbside trash container. He tore up the little slip of paper with her phone number and let the small pieces flutter into the trash.

  David could hear his brother’s voice in his head: “Unbroken.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  That night, David Morales lay in bed, tossing and turning and unable to sleep. He thought about his prison record and how he’d screwed up his life. Maybe, he figured, he didn’t deserve any better than Denise Valencia. Maybe he deserved no girl who was better and more decent and more compassionate than she was. But, David thought, if that’s so, then he didn’t want any girlfriend at all. He was sure of very little, but of that he was sure. There were worse things than loneliness, David believed, and being with Denise Valencia was one of those worse things.

  At the other side of the room divider, Paul Morales spoke sleepily. “Dude, it’s one in the morning. Why aren’t you sleepin’?”

  “How do you know I’m not sleeping?” David asked.

  “You’re thrashing around like a fish in a net, man. What’s up with you?” Paul asked.

  “Livy Majors,” David explained, “the girl down in Mr. Ibarra’s office. She thinks we’re goin’ to the jazz festival together on Sunday. I don’t know how to get out of it.”

  “I thought you liked jazz, man,” Paul said.

  “You know what I’m saying,” David groaned. “It’s not fair to hang out with her when she doesn’t know the truth about me. It’s not right. She’s a nice girl and—”