The Eye of a Hurricane

Lin

Miguel went back to prison later that day. When the cops showed up I quietly asked them to wait until I'd taken the girl away to cuff him. They nodded in agreement and waited in the hallway. I knew this was going to be hard.

Miguel seemed resigned to his fate and focused on making this easier for the girls.

"Isabel. Luna," he motioned them over. "Daddy has to go now. You need to go with Uncle Lin."

"But I wanna stay with you," Luna told him. I stood back, giving them space, but was there for backup if needed.

"I know," he said. "I want you to stay too, but I have to go back to prison. I did something bad and I have to face the consequences."

Luna climbed onto the bed, aided by her sister and gave him a long hug. She gave him a kiss, then climbed off, joining my side. Isabel's back was to me so I couldn't see her face, but I could hear she was crying.

"Daddy, I don't wanna go," she told him tearfully. He sat up some more and pulled her head to his shoulder. I saw tears in his eyes as he hugged his oldest daughter. He owed so much to her. When he tried to pull back, Isabel clung to him and sobbed. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her. Miguel looked at me, his eyes asking for help. Isabel wasn't going to go easily.

I slowly walked up and stood next to her, putting my hand on her upper back. "Sweetheart, we need to go. The officers are waiting."

"No!" she sobbed, not letting go of her father.

"I'm sorry," I told, tugging on her shoulder. She clung on tighter. "Come on, sweetheart."

Miguel put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back gently as I grasped her upper arms.

"Nooo!!" she protested loudly as I pulled her back.

"I love you," Miguel told her, tears in his eyes.

"Daddy, no!!" she screamed as I pulled her back, her body resisting the whole time. I had to somewhat forcefully pull her and steer her away. Finally, I got her to the hallway. The whole hallway turned to look at the commotion.

"Come on, Luna," I told the five year old, and she followed me. I had to push Isabel the whole way, my hands on her arms. It was breaking my heart.

Finally, we got to the street and I hailed a cab. I told Luna to get in first and to scoot all the way over. I guided Isabel inside as she sobbed and sat next to her. I told the cabbie the address of our hotel, then wrapped my arms around Isabel. She sobbed as I just held her head to my chest. Finally, she seemed to be accepting the fact that we had to leave her dad.

We arrived at the hotel and Luna was quiet, seeing that her sister was so upset. When we got to the room I put on the TV so Luna could watch it quietly while I could be with Isabel. She laid down on her tummy, burying her face in the pillow. I laid next to her on my side, rubbing circles on her back as she sniffled.

For a long time I didn't say anything; just let her get herself together. I started gently playing with her black hair.

"We can go visit him tomorrow before we leave," I assured her. She turned her head to the side and nodded. "Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," she said.

"How about we order some pizza?" I suggested, and I was relieved to see a little smile. I was still plenty frustrated with her, but she was in a rough situation. I don't know what I would've done at 12 years old if I'd been taken away from my hometown and separated from my father. I couldn't imagine.

___

The next day, our flight was around 1 p.m., so at 10:00 we went to the prison to say goodbye to Miguel. Isabel handled it better than I thought, and Luna didn't really seem to understand. Isabel was mostly quiet as we travelled to the airport and made our way through security.