by S. E. Rose
“Let’s go in the living room for a minute,” Jack says and ushers us all into the other room.
“Lily, have a seat,” he says.
“No, thank you. I think I’ll stand,” I retort.
“Fine.”
“Jack, please, talk to me,” I plead. “I can’t stand to be in the dark.”
Jack sighs and looks over at me. “I know, Lil. I’m sorry.” He runs a hand through his hair and over his face.
“Your father may not be dead,” he says.
“What?”
“We thought he died in a gunfight up at that house, but intel says no. We’ve been trying to get a location on him this past week but haven’t found anything yet. The mountains around here make for good hiding, that’s why FARC used them. Anyhow, we still haven’t located Mohammed either. We’re piecing together some other connections, but this is big, bigger than we thought. Sebastian will take your grandparents home later and we’ll have security posted on their street for the next week. We will go to get your stuff tomorrow and then we’re leaving the day after tomorrow. I can’t risk it here any longer. It’s not safe.” Jack pauses and lets me take this all in.
I take a deep breath and look to Lance. “What about my grandparents? And my uncle? Will they be safe?”
“Yes, it’s safer for them to remain here. I’m afraid after today, we should stay away from them for a while. I’ll make up something about needing to go abroad for work and you all coming with us for a few months. Once it dies down and we catch all those involved, then we can come back and visit and certainly call them.”
“I’m not giving them up, Jack. I just found them,” I say as feelings of panic creep into my mind.
“Of course, Lily, of course,” Jack says as he places his hand on mine. “Let’s go back out there and enjoy our time with your family. We can’t do anything else today.”
I nod and go upstairs to collect photos. True to Jack’s suggestion, I do my best to not think about what he has said, and I let my grandmother tell story after story about my mother and their family. She shows us photos of all our family most of whom are deceased, but a few cousins live in Bogota and one in Cartagena. Nick, Nicholas, and my grandfather talk soccer and Jack, Jesse, and Lance join in the conversation. My grandmother shares stories of her youth with my mom and me. The afternoon sails by much too quickly and before I know it, it’s getting dark out and I can see my grandparents are becoming tired. Uncle Nicholas excuses himself as he has to return to the church. Jack pulls him aside after we all say our goodbyes. I see that they are having an intense conversation and Nicholas nods a few times. Eventually, a taxi pulls up and Nicholas leaves with a promise to keep in touch and if possible come visit us when he is next able to come home to the States.
I nod at Jack and he calls in Sebastian and John and asks them to get my grandparents back home. We say our goodbyes. This is tougher, as I know my grandparents are older and the likelihood of something happening to them is much higher. I promise we’ll be in touch soon. Jack gives my grandparents a number to call if they need anything at all.
I get a bit teary-eyed as I hug my grandparents goodbye. I don’t know when I’ll see them again, but I know I’m not going to lose them now. I can’t lose them now.
My grandmother takes my face in her hands and kisses my cheek. She leans in and puts her forehead to mine and closes her eyes. She whispers to me that God has brought us to her and we will now be a family no matter where in the world we are. I hug her tightly and she hugs me back. I take in her scent, the feel of her skin and sound of her soothing voice. When I release her and turn to my mom, her eyes are filled with tears and we embrace. My grandmother hugs us together and thanks my mother. We all stand in this huddle for a moment and then Nick hugs us all and we start to laugh together. I look around at my family and I feel complete and full of love. This day is full of such paradox; my mind spins as I watch my grandparents get in the car. We all stand on the porch waving as Sebastian and John drive them back down the road.
It’s only 9:00 p.m. and I’m exhausted.
“I think I’m going to bed,” I announce as I turn to go back inside.
“We should head out around half past seven tomorrow morning,” Jack says as he files in after me.
“OK,” I say. I feel Lance behind me as I walk up to the bedroom.
He closes the door behind us. “How are you holding up?”
I walk into the bathroom and brush my teeth. “OK, I guess,” I say with a mouth full of toothpaste.
I spit the toothpaste out and throw on a soft, cotton, oversized t-shirt. I lie down on the bed and Lance turns off the light and crawls in next to me.
“It’s going to be OK, Lily,” he murmurs.
“I hope so,” I whisper back before attempting to fall asleep.
Chapter 25
Lily’s Playlist: “Heroes” by The Wallflowers
Sleep does not come to me. I toss and turn all night even when Lance lies half over me, which I think is his meager attempt to keep me still. I can’t stop thinking. My mind spins and replays every event since I’ve left home nearly six weeks ago now. Finally, I see the sun begin to rise through the window and I crawl out of bed and jump in the shower. I wake Lance as I walk downstairs to start the coffee, only I’m not the first one up.
“Good morning,” Jack says from the breakfast bar as I walk into the kitchen. The sky looks ominous with dark clouds overhead.
“That doesn’t look promising, Jack,” I state as I gaze out the window while pouring myself a cup of coffee.
“It’ll do.”
“The roads out here aren’t great you know?”
“So I gather, but we need to get your stuff, Lil, and then we need to get back here and pack up for our flight tomorrow.”
“What time do we leave tomorrow?”
“I have us all on a two forty p.m. flight to Bogota.”
I give him a look. “Are you sure everyone’s OK with flying?”
“We need to get over what happened and move on. Now’s as good a time as any,” he declares as he takes another sip of his coffee.”
“If you say so,” I jest as I take the seat next to him.
“Didn’t sleep, huh?” he asks, nudging my arm.
I shake my head.
“Me either.”
I look over at him out of the corner of my eye and smile.
He winks at me.
We sit in silence letting the caffeine begin to wake us. After a little while, my mom and Nick mosey downstairs, and I hear Lance get in the shower. My uncle is the last one down. Jesse has been fairly quiet and busy on his computer since he arrived. He sets the computer down on the table and takes a cup of coffee from my mom and begins typing.
“Jesse, you coming with us?” my mom asks, a hint of irritation in her voice.
“Actually, I really need to be on a conference call this morning. Sorry, guys,” he says shrugging his apology.
My mom huffs and walks out front. Jack nods at Jesse and follows my mom.
“Is everything OK, Uncle Jesse?” I ask him once we are the last two in the kitchen.
He stops typing and looks up at me. We haven’t really spoken much since he got here. He smiles at me and comes around to give me a hug.
“Sure, kiddo. This company is just sucking up all my time right now. I really need to get some more staff in to help me. I never thought it would grow this big, this fast,” he explains. He pulls back and looks me in the eye. “Truly, I am sorry I can’t go with you today.”
“No worries. It’s really not a big deal. I just need to pack up some stuff and say goodbye to some of the kids,” I say, and I give him a quick peck on the cheek before heading out to the car.
Jack drives us, and Sebastian and John follow in the other car. It takes us a while to get there. I make Jack stop, so we all can get more coffee and arepas on the way.
We pull up to the orphanage mid-morning. It seems quiet. I knock on the gate and Yenny answers. Her eyes
widen, and she throws open the door and pulls me into a tight hug.
“Gracias a Dios!” she exclaims. She proceeds to tell me what has happened since I’ve left in a rapid fire of Spanish. I physically have to lift my hand and signal for her to slow down. She takes a breath and then suddenly realizes that I am not alone.
I introduce her to my family and she gives them all a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. She ushers us into the kitchen and makes us sit while she pours us coffee. I can see Jack doesn’t like this and wants to hurry up and get out of here, but I give him a warning look and he stands against a wall in the corner and accepts his coffee.
Yenny begins to explain again that she was frantic when she woke and couldn’t find me. The directora said I had to leave early and sent my apologies. I frown at that and let her continue with the story. Patricia acted like nothing had happened and that makes me frown even more. Yessica and she tried to console the kids who were upset that I hadn’t said goodbye, particularly Leidy. It wasn’t until several days later when the policia arrived that she realized something really bad had happened. An officer finally told her right before the directora was handcuffed and led away. Then Patricia was taken away as well. It turns out the evidence I had found in those files helped the federal police put two and two together. Yenny explains how she found them and gave them to the police after I disappeared. The directora had been involved the entire time. I shake my head at this.
Yenny proceeds to explain that Patricia knew what was happening. She apparently stumbled upon a similar situation as I did but decided it best to keep her mouth shut. She confided in the directora and was told if she spoke, she’d lose her job. So, she never said anything to the social workers who came looking for kids, or the nuns that questioned things when they volunteered. This all makes so much more sense now. She was scared and in being scared she made bad decisions. I almost feel sorry for her.
I shake my head and ponder aloud where the children might be taken. Jack answers in fluent Spanish. He says the best that they can tell the kids are drugged and sent by truck out to the coast. Then, they are put on container vessels. The captains are paid a mighty sum to look the other way. They are also salaried by Mohammed’s company. Before that, they were salaried by a company owned by Alexei. I shudder at the sound of Alexei’s name. Apparently, my father, Father James, played a key middleman role in getting the kids from these types of facilities to the middlemen for Alexei and then Mohammed. The kids were then sold into various forms of slavery. Some were sent to work as child soldiers, child laborers in illegal factories and drug labs, some were sent to act as drug mules and others were sold into the sex trade. I can see my mom’s face lose color as Jack speaks and I grip her hand under the table.
She mouths “I love you” to me and I nod and mouth it back to her. Jack finishes with his information and we all sit in silence for a few moments as the gravity of this sinks in for all of us. I ask Yenny if I can say goodbye to the younger children before they head off to school. She nods and leads me to the homework room. My family follows me, and I notice for the first time that my mom is holding a bag of something.
I give her a curious look and she just smiles a small smile back as she enters the room right behind me. The children all look up from their various states of play and silence falls upon them. Then, as though recognition takes over slowly, they come running to me one by one. Suddenly, I am pulled down into a pile of hugging children and I laugh as I take as many of them as possible into my embrace. Some of the kids are crying and some laughing and all of them look so excited to see me. I hold back tears of joy at our reunion and begin to ask each one how they are and what they’ve been up to these past two weeks.
I look across the room and see the new volunteer, Lucia, sitting quietly and watching us. I nod to her and she nods back to me and says she is glad I am well. The kids are all talking at once and telling me tales of their weeks and school and play. Finally, after about ten minutes, a few of the kids go back to their play and only three are left. Leidy, my little sidekick, is one of them. She is so adorable. She sits on my lap and she and two other girls ask if I will play dolls with them. I glance back at my mom and Jack. I explain that I need to pack up my stuff, but if time allows I promise to come play for a few minutes before I have to leave. They nod, but Leidy doesn’t budget from my lap. I give her a big hug and whisper in her ear if she could help me pack. She nods, and I can tell she’s trying hard not to cry. She bites her lip and rises stoically, taking my hand in her little hand. My mother then announces she has gifts. She hands Yenny a bag of chocolate and says Yenny will give everyone a piece of chocolate after lunch. Then, she hands Yenny a second bag with some clothes in it. She turns back to the kids. She opens her bag and asks them to form a line. They all quickly get in a line. She says she heard that they might need some things for school as they are all getting big enough for learning. I see a few nods from the bigger kids and I smile. One by one they approach my mom and she hands them each a pencil, small notepad, an eraser shaped like different animals, and three crayons. They are all excited and as they walk away they form a big circle in the room and begin coloring and drawing. I give my mom a thumbs-up and proceed with Leidy to my room. My mom tells Leidy she will hold onto her things until she finishes helping me. Leidy seems appeased by this, and we make our way upstairs.
I can see the shock on my mother’s face at the closet-like space I called home for nearly a month. I ignore it, and we begin packing things. I have Leidy place all my socks in my duffle bag. Since the room is so small, I tell Jack, Lance, and Nick that they should go help the younger school-aged kids with homework. Leidy announces that she will stay with my mom and finish packing. I smile at her and lead the men downstairs. In the homework room, I am greeted again with hugs and kisses from the kids. I spend another thirty minutes hearing various stories and then explain to the kids that we have some volunteers to help with homework. Jack takes two kids in a corner to work on division. Lance sits down with five kids and begins helping with a science lesson and Nick takes the rest of the kids and works on Spanish grammar. I leave them and head back upstairs, stopping to get hugged and kissed by Yessica on my way.
I enter my room and see Leidy is busy folding shirts for my mom who is placing them in my bag. Most of my other few possessions have been put away in my backpack. About twenty more minutes is all we need to finish, and then we head back downstairs. It’s close to lunchtime now and I know the older kids will arrive home soon. My mom and I help Yessica get lunch ready for the kids. I lose track of Leidy. I smile to myself when I find her sitting on Lance’s knee while he helps a group of eight- and nine-year-olds with grammar. I can’t help but stifle a laugh as I hear her correcting him. I stand in the doorway for a few minutes and watch them in silence. My heart melts as I see Leidy kiss Lance’s cheek when he gets something right. His face flushes slightly and he smiles at her. After another moment, I clear my throat and announce lunch is ready. We usher the kids into the dining area outside and feed them lunch and their chocolate. Then, we get the little ones fed. Leidy doesn’t leave Lance’s side the entire time except to come sit with me at lunch. She insists Lance sit next to us.
Once lunch is over, the older kids arrive home. There are only three of them right now, two thirteen-year-olds and a twelve-year-old. We feed them lunch last and then Jack gives me the look that says it is time to go. Leidy stops me and tells me to wait. I stand at the entrance and she runs back with a painting for me. It’s a picture of her and me holding hands out in the playground. She has drawn some of the other kids from school in the background. I praise her and tell her how amazing it is. She smiles at me. Yessica calls me from the kitchen and I go to say goodbye to her and then Yenny. Lucia comes to say goodbye as well and so does our gardener, Jose.
I ask Yenny if they know when they will get a new director. She shrugs and says for now two social workers are sharing the responsibility and several nuns are also helping out during the week. I secretly vow t
hat I will put in a good word for Yenny. She’s been there forever, and although she isn’t highly educated, she knows how everything is run and could easily take some college classes.
We pile my few bags into the car. John ends up taking my mom, Nick, and Jack. Sebastian stays, so I can say my final goodbyes. Jack warns me to not take long. I can tell he’s hesitant to leave us, but Nick says he needs to get back for a conference call. Mom snaps a few photos of Nick and me at the orphanage and then makes Jack take one with all three of us. Eventually, they all pile in one car and I’m left with just Lance and Sebastian.
I ask Lance to take some photos of me with Yenny and Yessica and some of the kids. Lucia announces we need a big group photo and she wrangles all the kids and takes a few photos of everyone. I get more hugs and kisses and a few extra from Leidy. I promise her I’ll be back soon to visit. Yenny promises that we can video chat with the one computer they have. I smile at that, and Lance and I get in the car. I hold back my tears as we drive down the road. We haven’t gone very far when I yell at Sebastian to stop the car.
“What’s wrong?” Lance asks.
“I forgot my picture from Leidy. We need to go back!”
“I’m sure they can mail it to you.”
“We haven’t gone far. Sebastian, please turn back,” I beg. He nods and turns around. We drive back down the lane, and I hop out when he pulls up to the orphanage.
“I’ll just be a second,” I call out as I run up to the gate.
It’s eerily quiet as I knock at the gate door. I know some of the kids have gone back to school, but I can’t even hear the little ones. Usually, they are out playing in the afternoons, while the oldest kids are doing homework. Yenny’s face appears at the small opening of the gate door. Her face is ashen, and she looks scared.
“It’s just me, Yenny. Open up. I need to get something that I forgot,” I explain in Spanish to her. Her eyes tell me to go away, but she does as I ask. I walk through into the courtyard, and then I see why she is so scared.
