Chapter 6 - Nobody Takes Alma
Daniel reached the school before his mother could return. The principal met him by the office door and handed him a visitor log. Beatriz's name was there, signed in at 1:42. Beside it, under "reason for pickup," someone had written FAMILY EMERGENCY.
"We didn't release Alma," the principal said. "Your mother refused to explain why she was telling people Mariana had died."
"Where is she?"
"With the counselor."
Alma sat on a small blue couch clutching a paperback about sea turtles. At nine years old, she knew when adults were choosing words carefully. She took one look at her father and asked, "Is Mommy really dead?"
"No." He knelt, though his knees hurt. "She's in the hospital. She's very sick, but she's alive."
Alma's face folded. "Grandma said if I cried, everyone would know I was a bad girl."
Daniel held her until she stopped shaking. He remembered all the times he'd called his daughter too sensitive, using his mother's words because they were easier than finding his own.
"We're going somewhere safe," he said.
At Ruth's house, Alma refused hot chocolate and sat by the window watching passing cars. Ruth made two calls: one to a trusted friend who could stay with the child, and another to the hospital social worker.
"I have to ask," Ruth told Daniel quietly. "Are you going to bring your mother back into the same room with Mariana?"
"No."
"Say it again when she starts crying."
Daniel nodded, ashamed because Ruth knew him well enough to ask. Then Alma appeared at the kitchen door.
"Daddy, did Grandma tell you Mommy refused to eat?"
"She did."
"Mommy wasn't refusing. Grandma took the food away when Mommy wouldn't say sorry."
Daniel felt the floor shift under him.
"Sorry for what?"
May you like
Alma looked toward the window, where a dark sedan had slowed near Ruth's driveway.
"For telling Grandma she couldn't decide what happened to the baby."
