Free Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole

don’t want me anymore.” This is a hint, to see if she still loves me and wants me back. I mean, if I were a mother, I’d want my child back no matter what.
    “How could I want you after everything you’ve put me through? The humiliation! All my friends will find out about this. You’ve ruined my life, and you’ll be a bad influence on your little brother. Can you imagine if he’d found and read those texts?”
    The cell is on speakerphone. Everyone’s hearing everything.
    “I’ve replaced the locks. You’re never stepping foot in here again unless you tell me her name. That girl’s parents need to know what she did and how her actions have destroyed our lives. Go ahead, stay with those immoral people who enable you to not be honest with your own mother. Live it up. You’ll have no rules now, and no one to set limits or tell you what’s right or wrong. Have a fun life.” She clicks the cell off.
    I feel my throat tightening. Tears want to burst out of my eyes but I won’t let them. I need to keep it together.
    “ Uy, Shylita.” Viva helps me sit up. She lifts my chin with her index finger. “Your mami loves you mijita. She is just scaring you into changing.”
    “Shyly, don’t worry. Your mom’s just overreacting because she’s shocked and hurt. All this time she thought you were straight and her close friend. Give her some time. In the meantime . . . you’re about to start your full-time job and you’ve got us.”
    Rynn jumps in. “Your mother’s the one with the problem, Shai, not you.”
    Why doesn’t it feel as if my mom destroyed our relationship? Why does it seem like it’s all my fault?
    People in good relationships take them for granted, as if you knew your loving family will always be there for you no matter what. No one ever teaches you that there are threats to your life that can instantly destroy everything that was once precious.
    Something feels broken inside me. I’m so damned lost.
    Soli tells Viva about how there are millions of homeless kids and some commit suicide after their parents kick them out of the house. Viva’s eyes show concern. “We love you mucho, mucho, Shylita. Tings will be better. You will see.” She smoothes her hand on my face. “I is going to buy you a bike in a little while, after I take a bath. No need to get yours at your mami’s. And soon, I will buy you a cell phone.”
    Viva takes a merenguito from her dress pocket and hands it to me.
    I don’t want anyone to worry about me, or think that maybe I’ll be ending my life, so I act goofy. “Yummy! White plastic sugar!” I lift it in the air. “ Merenguitos, nothing can be better for a quick diabetic coma!”
    Neruda takes a flying leap and almost grabs the merenguito from my hand. The right side of Viva’s lips lifts as she giggles. She holds my hand like only a mother can. She kisses my right cheek and Soli kisses my left cheek. I think that maybe, just maybe, I’ll live through all this.

7—Landscapes
     
    Rick stayed in Miami two weeks. Marlena and I were bummed. She had to see him every day. The good thing was that she snuck calls and texts to me every second she wasn’t with him. And, we talked every night via video phone before going to sleep. Yesterday, Rick the Dick left. Woooo hoooo!
    Last night, after an early no MSG Chinese takeout dinner, while listening to blasting music, I helped Soli weed her closet of clothes she’d outgrown . I learned something about Soli: she kept Sunday dresses she wore as a kid in a box, tucked away in a corner of her closet. She said, “They remind me of happy times when Pipo took me to parks and museums.”
    Her floor ended up littered with piles of clothes she’d grown out of. I ended up adopting jeans, minidresses, sneakers, sandals, vibrant colored blouses, shorts and winter jackets.
    Viva came by shuffling her feet in a silly dance, carrying a bag full of clothes she spilled at my feet. “They no fit me no more.” She pulled out a pair of