Page 77 of Guarded

It takes me a moment to recall the memory. Genesis is an artist, so she needs visual stimuli whenever I describe something. I think about the man I saw in the lobby, the one who looked past me and rushed to the restaurant.

“He looked younger than him,” I say, sucking in a breath at the last word before I continue. “Not exactly like him, but it was the eyes. The eyes were cold. Full of hate. Just like, ” I take a deep breath. And utter the name neither of us has ever said out loud. “Lucio Biondini”

The name of our capturer falls out of my mouth, leaving a bad taste in its place. I didn’t even know the man’s name until I Googled it years later to find the articles. He had been married to one of the most notorious Don’s daughters.

Not one article ever reported why he did what he did, never explained any motives other than it being another tragedy to come out of the war on drugs in the United States. Genesis’s hand shakes around the cup.

“I never told you what happened.” She says, her eyes pinned to the cup on the table.

“Gen, you don’t-”

“No. I just need to tell you this one thing.”

She pulls out her phone and begins typing and reading and typing again. She takes a deep breath before her hazel eyes find mine.

Her eyes look just like her father’s. They were neither green nor brown but something in between the two. There were flecksof yellow and gold specks that made them almost too strange to be beautiful, and yet they were. Just like her.

“That night, the night when Lucio took me upstairs. I knew he was going to hurt me. Not like he was hurting us in the basement, Ari. The pictures were the least of what he wanted from me.” I watch as she takes a drink from the cup, hiding the streams building behind her eyes.

“He forced me to take some kind of drug before stripping me naked. I was scared he was going to do something to you if I didn’t obey.” Her voice cracks, and I reach across the table to grab her hand. She holds it briefly before pulling away to catch the tears threatening to escape.

“I should have told you, but honestly, I wasn’t sure what happened next. The drugs in my system made it hard to tell what was real and what was a figment of my imagination. He said I had to pay for my mother’s sins.”

“What do you mean? He knew Raquel?” I ask, confused.

Raquel, Genesis’ mom, was a pill popper. She wasn’t exactly a good mother to Gen, but there’s no way in hell her dad would let her live if she had something to do with our kidnapping.

“I don’t know. I asked her once, and she said I was having another episode. I can’t always remember things clearly, and maybe he never said anything about my mother, but I know what I saw, Ari.”

“Did he hurt you?” I ask, treading lightly on the word hurt. Asking the question, I never had the strength to ask her before.

“No. He didn’t have a chance. Someone saved me that night.”

“Who?” I try to think if I can remember anyone else on that estate with us, but my mind is blank. Gen takes another drink of her tea, and her eyes lower.

“There was a boy there with us. He was older than us, maybe fifteen or sixteen. I heard him and Lucio arguing that night. At some point, the drugs took over, but when I woke up, I wasfully clothed again. The boy was sitting on the bed watching me. His hands were covered in blood, and tears streamed down his cheeks.” The memory causes tears to stream down her cheek, and at that moment, I notice tears streaming down my face, too.

There’s this relief that nothing happened to her, but I can’t help but wonder if this is fabricated in some way. This could be a story she invented to cope with the trauma. If she had invented this, then I would listen. I would agree that I saw this boy even if I knew it would take her pain away.

“He hugged me.” She continues, her brows furrowed tight together. “You know what I never forget? That hug. It’s like even though I had just met him somehow, I had known him my whole life. He told me we were family. I know you think I’m crazy, but I swear this happened.” Her fist clenches and slams onto the table.

“I’m not crazy, Ari. We are not fucking crazy! That little boy led me back to the basement and told me he would call someone to get us. I walked past Lucio Biondini, bleeding out at the top of the stairs.”

“Why didn’t you tell them it wasn’t you?” I ask.

Everyone, myself included, was certain Genesis had killed Lucio. Our families covered everything up by setting the house on fire.

“I couldn’t tell if I was imagining things. I thought I had dreamed up the boy. I still think I’m dreaming him up at times. But I’m not. I saw him too, Ari. It’s not a figment of our imagination.”

“What do you mean you saw him again?” I question.

“I saw the article on you and Preston Cuevas. I started digging into him and found a lot of information on the upcoming election. Do you know who he’s running against?” She holds her phone up to my face when I shake my head. A gaspingSantoDiosescapes me when I see the three men. One almost identical to Lucio Biondini.

“Was that the boy who saved you?” I ask, and Genesis’s head shifts from left to right.

“No, this was him.” She zooms in on the man to the right. I squint and see another man younger with darker features compared to Lucio.

“I don’t understand. Who are they?”

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