Page 25 of Hate That Blooms

Silence hangs heavy in the air as we all sit there, the tension impossibly thick. I know deep down that selling the house is not an option for me. It’s a symbol of my mother’s love and sacrifice, and I won’t let it be tainted by my father’s selfishness.

After a few moments, I finally spoke. “I won’t sell the house, Dad. I won’t let you or anyone else take away what belongs to us. If you want your share, go find it somewhere else. But this house will always be ours. Do us a favor and lose our number.”

Dad’s face falls, and Ana looks disappointed, but I don’t care. I won’t back down. Grabbing our stuff and picking Mireya up from the booth, I storm off down the entryway and out into the parking lot. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” My words whisper into her ear as I fight back the tears that threaten to spill out. “Let's get pizza and go home and watch a movie.”

* * *

After a large pizza, twoShrekmovies, and lots of cuddles, Mireya is in bed for the night. I pull my phone out and delete all the text messages from my father, begging me to reconsider. He can go fuck himself. I pull up the conversation I know I shouldn’t entertain. God, what’s wrong with me?

Life shouldn’t be this hard. How am I supposed to do all of this by myself?

I set my phone down on the coffee table and started cleaning up the mess from dinner. The ping of the notification goes off, and I walk back over and pick it up.

Why are you doing it alone? You have your mom.

For a moment, I contemplated unloading everything on him. To tell him that my mom died and that I was alone in raising my sister. But I decided against it.

It’s not like he would care anyway.

Chapter14

Joaquín

This graduation ceremony is dragging on way longer than it needs to. I sit there with my diploma in hand, waiting for Gabriela to walk across the stage to get hers, and I’ve contemplated booing her, but I think cornering her afterwards where I can have her all to myself is a much better plan. I watched her when she arrived, leaving her sister with a much older woman that looked nothing like her. It couldn’t have been her mother, maybe a grandmother.

Neither of her parents came to see her graduate. A part of me feels sad for her. At least my dad could get the evening off to be here. I didn’t even invite my mother, and who knows if my dad tried to reach out to her to let her know?

I overheard Gabriela when she was talking to her friends letting them know she wouldn’t be at the all-night graduation party tonight. Not gonna lie, that upset me. I wanted the opportunity to get her alone there. What I would have done, I’m not sure. Not like I was just gonna let all of this be forgotten, nor would she just forgive me, but I think taking some frustration out on each other would have been a fun way to work through some of it.

“Gabriela Alejandra Ruíz,” the vice principal, speaks into the microphone, and a barrage of students clap for her. I look behind me, and I catch Thiago clapping for her. I narrow my eyes at him, and he just shakes his head.

What the fuck? I swear he is going soft because of Cora. Who’s side is he even on?

The ceremony comes to an end, finally. We throw our caps, and I practically sprint to the back, zeroing in on where Gabriela is. I grab hold of her arm and drag her toward the bleachers. Once we are out of sight, I push her against the cement wall, boxing her in with my body. Gabriela’s throat goes taut as she looks up at me.

“What the fuck do you want, Joaquín? I need to get back to my sister.” She tries to push me back, but my feet are firmly planted; there’s no moving me.

“I heard you're not going to the party tonight because of your sister. What? Your parents couldn’t be bothered enough to take the night off to come see you graduate or take care of their own kid? To let you out for a night to have a little fun.” I sneer, bringing my hand up to push back a piece of hair that has fallen from her bun. She smacks my hand away.

Gabriela’s eyes fill with tears as her lower lip quakes. “You fucking asshole,” she whispers. “My mom died at the beginning of the school year. A drunk driver hit her on her way to work.” Gabriela sucked in a breath and fought to continue to speak through the sobs. “I’ve been raising my sister by myself. My piece of shit dad relinquished his rights to make me her guardian. So while you and your stupid,” she slams her fist into my chest, “fucking friends have been making my life a living hell; I’ve been trying to raise her, keep my grades up, and work to provide for her. By myself.”

I pull back, stunned, feeling a wave of guilt wash over me. I had no idea about what Gabriela was going through. “He just left you to deal with it by yourself.” I choke out the words, the remorse I feel, thinking about her alone taking care of her sister. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Tears continue to stream down Gabriela’s face as she looks at me, the anger and pain in her eyes. “The school knew. My friends knew. I had enough of my life being blasted all around the school, so I made everyone promise to keep it to themselves. Looks like they didn’t tell anyone. No thanks to you and your little dickwad friends, the student body already had an image of the type of person I was, why add to it.”

“My mom left because of your dad. I have every right to be pissed off.” I push her back into the wall. My heart beats against my chest, and I feel like I can’t get enough oxygen.She’s so fucking close…if I could just put everything aside… all the hurt. I’d kiss her so softly to tell her I’m sorry for her mom dying. For her being alone in raising her sister.

But I can’t.

Gabriela’s expression softens slightly, but the hurt is still evident. “At them. You have every right to be mad at them, Joaquín. Just like I am.”

I grab her by the throat and whisper just low enough to where she can’t hear me over the commotion of the graduation celebrations. “Odio cuánto te deseo(I hate how much I want you.)” I want to smash my lips against hers so I can taste her. Even if it’s just this once. But I don’t. I drop my hand from her throat and move back, staring at her instead.

She pushes past me, heading back towards the graduation ceremony. I stand there, momentarily feeling the shame, regret, and a newfound understanding of the pain I’ve caused. I know I can’t undo the damage I’ve done, and I’m not sure that I want to. Coming out from under the bleachers, I watch her cut across the field and scoop up her sister and make her way to the exit.

I pull out my phone and see the text messages from Nate and Thiago, wondering where I am. I shoot a text to our group chat.

Did you guys know her mother died?

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