Chapter 18 - The Surface
“Guilty on all counts.”
Miriam didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She just stared straight ahead.
The judge sentenced her to life without parole.
Elena let out a breath she’d been holding for a year.
Rosa squeezed her hand.
Daniel got fifteen years. He’d testified, but he’d still helped. He’d still held the stick.
Elena didn’t forgive him. Not yet.
She went home to a new house. No pool.
Rosa moved into the guest room. The baby—Mateo—slept in a crib by the window.
One evening, Elena found a box in the garage.
Inside were her mother’s letters. Rosa had saved them.
She read them until the sun came up.
At the bottom of the box was a photograph of her mother standing by the same pool, years ago. On the back: “Don’t trust the water.”
Elena shivered.
She walked to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and drank it.
Then she went outside and watched the neighbors’ pool light flicker on across the fence.
Rosa came out with Mateo.
“You okay?”
Elena nodded.
May you like
“I don’t know yet.”
But she was breathing.
