Page 72 of Hidden Falls

“Have you ever had a bad day?” Lei almost hesitated to ask.

Sophie’s smile dropped. “Yes. And those days are some of the worst of my life.”

“Then I sure hope that’s not where this is headed.”

“Me, too.”

33

Malia

Ending the standoff in the street, Lei’s friend Sophie texted Paulo with an address for us to go to for a meeting to work things out.

I kept pinching myself to make sure this whole freakin’ thing was really happening, and now I had bruises and pinch marks all over the insides of my arms. Hopefully neither Mom nor Papa would see the marks. Good thing I was wearing that ugly, long-sleeved school uniform blouse and it covered them up for the moment.

Paulo, me, and the driver headed to the address, sandwiched between the two white SUVs that had blocked us in.

We parked in an underground garage. Paulo escorted me, and we were joined by Mom, Lei, Sophie from Security Solutions, and a short older blonde lady named Dr. Wilson. We all rode in an elevator to a fancy conference room at the top of the downtown building we’d been directed to.

Papa stood waiting for me inside the conference room, along with his favorite bodyguard Joachim.

He was so happy to see me that his whole face lit up. He opened his arms. “Malia! You’re safe!”

He didn’t like to speak English; the fact that he did now was a concession.

I couldn’t help but accept his big hug and hug him back.

That was going to hurt Mom; I was making a statement by going to him. It was a statement I was gonna have to keep making.

I wanted both sets of parents. I wanted both of my families to be in my life. That’s what I was fighting for right now.

“Are you hurt?” Papa held me away and inspected me from head to toe.

I was glad the damage I’d done to myself out of stress was hidden by buttoned sleeves. “I’m fine. I just want us all to get along and figure this out.”

“We can try. But the law is on my side for once,” Papa said, embracing me again. He glared over my head at Mom. “Did everyone leave their weapons outside?”

“This is ridiculous. I can’t believe anyone would bring guns to a family therapy meeting,” I said.

“Fortunately, no one was foolish enough to do that.” Dr. Wilson spoke for the first time. “But we checked to make sure.”

Papa was still frowning at Mom over my head, and he hadn’t let go of me. I reached around, grabbed his fingers, and bent them back so that he had to let go. “Stop it, Papa. I’m not one of your minions.”

His eyes flared wide, then narrowed; he laughed. “No, you are not, my Tiger.”

The blonde lady stepped towards Papa; her hand extended to shake his. “My name is Dr. Caprice Wilson. I’m a psychologist. Security Solutions asked me to help your group come to some agreements.”

He shook her hand, then I did.

“My daughter seems to be in charge here,” Papa said.

“Since I am of age in Mexico, and almost of age in the United States, that’s appropriate,” I said. I was going to wrangle us into agreement if it killed me. “Will all relevant parties have a seat, please, and extra people, like Paulo, wait outside?”

Everyone glanced around, then Paulo, Joachim, and Sophie left the room.

“Auntie Lei, there’s a whiteboard over there. Can you take notes and make sure we have a record of our agreements?”

“Sure.” I was glad to see my mentor from the Maui Police Department; I could tell by how pale she was and the circles under her eyes that the last week had not been easy. I’m sure Mom probably made her life hell.

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