Chapter 5 - The Daughter Who Heard Everything
Mia ran across Mrs. Bell's porch and nearly knocked Ricardo down. "Grandpa's okay? Mom said he had to go away because he was bad."
Ricardo held her so tightly she squirmed. "He's at the hospital. He's getting help."
"Did he eat yet?"
That question made him release her just enough to see her face. She was ten, wearing a purple sweatshirt with a fraying star at the cuff. Her eyes were red.
"Why would you ask that, honey?"
Mia looked toward their house. "Mom said Grandpa wasn't allowed to eat upstairs. I brought him half my sandwich through the laundry door. Then Mom found out."
"What happened?"
"She said I'd be grounded until Christmas if I did it again. She told me Grandpa was making things up to ruin our family."
Mrs. Bell appeared behind them. "I've wanted to say something for weeks. Celeste stopped letting me visit. I heard Arturo calling from an upstairs window one night, but when I knocked, she said he was asleep."
Ricardo swallowed his shame. "You should have told me."
"I tried." She held up a printed email. It was a polite warning she'd sent to his work address. Somebody had replied, thanking her and saying the family was handling Arturo's medical issues privately.
The reply carried Ricardo's signature. He hadn't written it.
He called Leah from the porch. She told him to preserve the email and avoid confronting anyone alone. Then she said the hospital social worker had contacted the appropriate protective services office. There would be interviews, records to preserve, and questions he might not like answering.
"Ask me all of them," Ricardo said.
Later, he took Mia to see Arturo. The old man sat upright when she entered, embarrassed by his hospital gown. She climbed carefully onto the chair beside him and offered a paper bag.
"It's a cinnamon roll," she whispered. "You can eat the whole thing."
Arturo laughed once and then cried.
While Mia helped him unwrap it, he remembered something. "Ricky, your mother built a hiding place in the workshop. Behind the third shelf. She said it was for important papers."
"What papers?"
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"I didn't need them until now."
He squeezed Ricardo's hand. "And there's another thing. I think Celeste has already been inside."
