The Imposter

Chapter Seventeen

When I was finally able to fall asleep, I dreamt of my mother and father. We were taking a trip and I fell asleep on my mom’s lap. It was so peaceful. Yet, when I woke up, all I could think about was the awful thing that had happened the night before. 

I went downstairs and saw that no one was down for breakfast. This was my moment, I could eat breakfast, go upstairs, and act as if I didn’t even go out. I grabbed a bit of everything. I couldn’t complain all the food in this house was magnificent. As I finished grabbing my plate, I heard someone coming. I quickly ran into a closet and saw Mrs. Salazar speaking with Jaime. “I told you this was a bad idea. Ernesto got mad because I slapped him. What are we going to do now?” I couldn’t hear what Jaime said, but it comforted  her. All of a sudden, a move that I did dropped some things in the closet. They heard this sound and came to see what had happened. 

Mrs. Salazar saw me and grabbed me by my arm. “Why are you listening to our conversations?” I tried tugging at her, but she was a strong woman and wouldn’t let go. “You’re in trouble. I hope that you know that. I can’t believe what you did last night.” I could see the fury in her eyes. When I was about to answer, Mr. Salazar came to the rescue. “Let him go,” he demanded. Mrs. Salazar quickly let go of me. I fell to the floor with a loud thump. “What's wrong with you? This behavior of yours is going to push him away from us. We just got him back after all this time apart. Is that what you want again?” She began crying. She ran up the stairs and locked herself in the bedroom.

Even though I knew that she was not my biological mother, I still felt bad. I knew that she did this to help her husband, but deep down inside you could see that it hurt her to have lost her son as well. I wanted to get out of this place, but I wasn’t sure how I would do that. It was intriguing to hear what they had to say to each other. I wish that I could have been their real son. I would have hugged them and comforted both of them. Instead, I stood there until I could just not take it anymore. 

“Enough!” I said “Dad, why are you taking all of your anger on mom? She didn’t mean to be so mean to me, I just should have thought things out better. I knew that Alana had a boyfriend and that her parents don’t approve of me. ” I couldn’t believe what I was saying. Why was I being so nice to her? Mr. Salazar was surprised by what I was saying. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Let’s sit for a moment. I want to speak with you about some things.” I agreed. I was worried about her though. He must have seen this. “Don’t worry. I know her and what she needs now is time.”  

Daisy ran into the living room. “Have you seen the newest cover of this magazine?” she asked as she started walking a bit slower. “Where’s Elizabeth?” she asked, noticing that her sister was not in the room. Mr. Salazar asked Samantha to go look for her. When she came back you could tell she had been crying. I wanted to comfort her, but Daisy interrupted. “Are you okay?” I had forgotten that Daisy was unaware of what had happened earlier. “It doesn’t matter, we have a problem.”

She handed the magazine to Mrs. Salazar. Mrs. Salazar’s face changed radically. It was as if she were in shock as to what she was seeing. Mr. Salazar took the magazine himself and saw the cover. Did someone at that party recognize who I really was and told all the magazine editors? That would be a disaster! I ripped the magazine from Mr. Salazar’s hand. I saw the image on the cover and gulped. 

No, it wasn’t my true identity. It was my kiss with Alana. “What is wrong with these people?” Mr. Salazar asked. “What benefit do they get out of this?” I couldn't believe it. I flipped the pages to read the article that went along with it.“ What a wonderful day it was yesterday. The celebration of Alana Kalani’s birthday was one for the books.  It was an epic event that no one is going to forget. Who could forget it? There were many friends of the family including the Salazar's. Ernesto and Elizabeth’s son Esteban was also present, making his second appearance. We could see that he made a great friendship with Miss Kalani. Yet, is this friendship something else? Last night, we saw how he and Miss Kalani kissed. Elizabeth Salazar, in front of everyone, slapped her son. Everyone not only witnessed this, but they also questioned if there is some sort of love triangle between these two younglings? We know that Alana Kalani is dating Felipe Evans, who has on multiple occasions mentioned how he would love to marry Miss Kalani one day. What does he have to say about this sight?” It was impossible not to get angry at what was being said.  I threw the magazine on the floor. I stood with anger.