Inez's POV
"Rose!"
"Rose?"
"Rose."
"Rose?"
"Rose!"
"QUIET DOWN EVERYONE!" Mama yelled. We all settled down and listened to Mama. She was short in size but her temper was enough to fill miles. Knowing this, we all sat down.
"Now we gotta get our story straight before the police find out about this," Mama declared. My fourteen year old sister ventured with input. "But Mama, why would the police care about some pitiful teenage orphan who never has showed up on anybody's radar screen?"
Mama scowled. "Because Marquita, Officer Sutton's son goes to the same day care as Ashley and Carmen! They could say something to him!"
I winced at her harsh words. Papa got up and put a hand on Mama's shoulder. "Lupa, dear, I don't think we need to be so hasty with this. We can give ourselves time to figure this out. Right?"
Mama shook his hand off. "Shut up Raul. The police could find out tomorrow for all we know," she snapped. Then- at the worst possible time- that one four year old... Austen? He came up to Mama and asked, "May I please have more juice?"
He held up his cup, assuming, or maybe just hoping, that Mama would fill it up with juice. But instead, she shoved the kid away from her. "Can't you see I'm busy? Go away!" she demands. He ran off crying.
I gotta say, I did pity him. I had always hated that Mama and Papa were foster parents and I had to live with all these kids I hardly knew, what with sharing bathrooms and bedrooms and food and whatever with them all. But still, some of these dweebs have it pretty bad. I could never admit this in a thousand years, but I really want Rose back. She was like a sister to me. Not the kind where we look to each other for advice and are BFFs, but the kind that fight and fight and fight and fight but at the end of the day still wouldn't want each other to get hurt. And, I can't help but wonder... what if she died?
I caught a glimpse of her at the bluff. She was standing tall and proud, yet still deadly serious, like someone being given some military award. And then, she just jumped. She jumped off the freaking cliff! Why? Were things really that bad for her? I think I was the only one who saw it. I don't think Mama or Papa saw. I'm secretly thankful. Even though the only way we're thinking about her is what the police are going to do when they find out. So at least there's hope, or an assumption, that she's alive.
I know that Rose and I were never close. In fact, that's an understatement. She probably hated me. I hogged all her food, time, room, and treated her like crap, but she was kind of like my lightning rod. I had all this stress and resentment and frustration and I spent a lot of time trying to keep that piled up inside. When I was with Rose, I felt like I could release all those awful, nasty feelings out toward her. I felt pretty bad about it, but it really became a habit. And now she's gone.
"And what the hell was that 'we love you' crap, Raul?" Mama sneered. Papa's face went smooth as he replied. "I was just trying to keep her from running off. I thought it was a decent strategy." Mama scowled. I knew Papa was lying. He had no problem with Rose. He was pretty close with her father.
Mama pointed a thick finger toward Papa, then at Marquita, then at me. "Now. I want you all to come up with believable explanations. Someone asks you where Rose is, you better know what to say."
She huffed and turned, leaving dramaticaly. Just like the villian she is.
