Debt

6: Alone

Shawn had been gone for a week, and Abrielle was surprised to be finding herself missing him as much as she did. To be missing him at all. She just wanted some company, she tried to convince herself.

It was lonely in the house. She was so used to having at least one other person there with her. If not two. She could always hear Shawn somewhere in the house. Or find him standing in the door while she was swimming. She was so used to him waking her up early for some reason or another. And everyday, she woke up wondering why she hadn't heard him banging. And then it dawned, she was alone.

She sat on her bed, looking through a magazine she had picked up from a stand earlier in the day. And then she had a dawning thought. She was home alone, and Shawn didn't have any way of knowing what she did when she was gone.

Abrielle left the house and went to the café, using the payphone to call Trina. She needed her friends to know that she was alive and well. She was sure they were freaking out and that her father wasn't giving out answers.

"¿Allo?" Trina answered in Spanish. Abrielle was sure the number on her caller ID had come up saying Colombia.

"Trina, it's me, Abrielle. Listen to me closely," she said softly. "Call Larielle."

Trina did so, and Abrielle put more change in the slot for another five minutes. Then she took a deep breath and spoke. The sun was going down and she knew she had to be back inside soon. Shawn always called just as the sun set and again a few hours later to see how she was holding up.

"I'll probably never see either of you again. Mi padre fucked up something terrible when I was in the seventh. He owes someone half a million dollars, and he kidnapped me. If I run away, he'll kill my father. So now I'm in Colombia with mi esposo."

She awaited their reactions, and the silence was heavy. She heard sniffing and choked sobbing respectively.

"Don't cry," she urged. She didn't want her friends to cry. She could do enough of that for the three of them.

"We haven't heard from you since the senior all night party, Bri. Don't you know how worried we were? Your parents are in the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Chavez were in a really bad wreck," Larielle whispered.

The breath flew from her lungs. Both of her parents were in the hospital, and she was in Colombia picking up women for an American man. What had the world come to for her?

"Have you seen them?" she asked, wiping her eyes before the tears could fall. She prayed they were okay.

"It's pretty bad, Bri. They're holding on."

"Where are my brothers?"

"It's not news you needa hear over the phone, Bri."

Her chest tightened. Her brothers had been granted leave for her graduation, but then they were right back in Afghanistan actively. Who had this many tragedies in one day? Why was this happening? She couldn't even think Shawn did it because she did everything she was told to do. And no one could plan a car accident. And only the enemy could plan killings in foreign war zones.

Her parents had been so proud of their boys when they enlisted in the US military. Said they had two brave soldiers protecting our country. That was all well and beautiful. But a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach told her she would be hosting a mass funeral and saying goodbye to everyone all at once.

She wondered if she had done something that made God feel she should be punished. That he should take away everyone from her.

"They're not dead," Trina assured her. "But... Seeing grown men cry... That is tough. Don't worry, everyone will be okay. Are you okay?"