Chapter 1 - The Dinner by the Trash Can
"Papi, are you not angry with me anymore?"
Mateo Alvarez stopped in the kitchen doorway. His seven-year-old daughter, Sofia, sat beside the trash can eating cold chicken from a napkin. In the dining room, candles glowed over polished plates while his wife, Vanessa, entertained a dozen guests in a green silk dress.
"Why are you eating there? There's food on the table."
Sofia's fingers tightened around her fork. "Vanessa said I had to wait until everyone finished. Then Uncle Rick said I was making too much noise."
"Were you hungry?"
She nodded. "I spilled water. I said sorry, but she said I spoiled dinner."
He walked into the dining room. "Dinner's over. Everyone needs to leave. Now."
Vanessa's smile dropped. "Don't embarrass me in front of my friends."
"My daughter was eating beside the trash."
"She was being difficult."
"She's seven."
Ricardo, Vanessa's brother, stood and muttered, "Think before you make this ugly, Mateo." Mateo opened the front door and waited until every guest had gone.
When the house was quiet, he crouched beside Sofia. "Has this happened before?"
She pressed her stuffed rabbit to her chest. "Please don't make Uncle Rick mad. He locks me in the little room when I cry. He says if I tell you, you'll send me away."
Mateo felt cold spread through him. "What little room?"
She pointed to the narrow pantry off the back hall.
May you like
Then she whispered, "Vanessa says Mommy would be ashamed of me."
Mateo pulled her close. He had thought the worst thing in their house was grief. He was beginning to understand that grief had not been the only thing living there.
