Death Row

12 Months

A glass wall. The only thing that separated Jordan and her mum from the man they used to know.
"How long do we have?" She looked to the guard standing near the door. He glanced at his watch "Two minutes."
Suddenly Jordan's mum began speaking. In Spanish really quickly. Quicker than Jordan could understand. Angrily she finished her rant off with "Como eres un hombre ¡ Incluso conoces a tu propia hija!" ( How are you a man? You barley even know your own daughter!")
The guard must've known Spanish as he instantly looked up and shot Jordan a sympathetic look.
Her focus was back when her mum snapped "I'm done. There's no getting through to you Alejandro Sanz."
Her ex-fiancé gave no indication that he was going to respond. Jordan's mum got up. "I'm sorry Cristína." The quiet mumble was enough to get a dirty look given back.
Jordan herself didn't know what to do know. Her mother sighed before mouthing I think it's better you speak to him than I .
Silently nodding, Jordan then looked straight at her dad.
There was so much she wanted to say to him. When she was four he had walked out on them.
Jordan winced as she was able to recall the moment...

It had been nearly an hour and Jordan could still hear arguing. The child was told to go outside with her soccer ball and despite her young age, she knew things weren't right. Mummy never smiled anymore and Papi was never around.
Jordan looked down at her no.9 USWNT shirt. Mia Hamm was a player she adored. She was one of the few things that helped brighten the young kid's life. That seemed to be falling apart.
Just then the door swung open. "You're going to leave?!" Mum screamed hysterically. "Leave your own daughter?"
Dad appeared calm. Well calmer than mum. "It's for the best Tína." He sighed and he shut the door, shut the mother of his child out his life.
Crouching down, Alejandro made eye contact with Jordan. "Listen," he told her and she did. "this isn't your fault. It's nothing to do with you. Just know that I love you and your mum very much." Looking at the sky, the man continued "This isn't something I wanted to do but it's my only choice. I'll be watching over you Jordan, God will always show you the way." Patting her ball and head, Jordan was told "Do me proud OK? You can be like anything you want if you put your mind to it and promise me you will?" Jordan nodded with a tear now visible on her chubby cheek. "I pwomise Papi...pwease don't go papi. I won't ever misbehave I pwomise ."
Her dad tried to laugh it off but he ended up fighting back tears. "I'm sorry Chiqa...just remember Papi always loves you."
With that he turned and walked away and that was the last time Jordan saw her father.

"How long do you have?" This shouldn't be the first question but Jordan wanted to get straight into it.
Her dad sighed. "Twelve months." Jordan tried to exhale but it didn't work.
"Why weren't you there?" This definitely took Dad back. "Where?"
There was no dodging Jordan "In my life? Why did you have to leave?" She looked to her mum "Am I not due some kind of answer?"
Her dad winced. "You are Chiqa...there's two reasons  why I left." Jordan was suddenly very nervous. "What were they?"
Dad took a deep breath. "The first and main reason is because... I was evading the police on drug possession charges. They'd find me quickly if I stayed at home." Jordan nodded. It had worked. Well for 13 years it did.
Then her dad sighed once more and Jordan noticed he kept fidgeting. And watching his ex nervously. "I also left...for someone else."
Things went slowly and so quickly all at once. The realisation of Dads words were slow but Mums reaction to the news was so quick.
A chancla hit the pane and the guard stepped in quickly to diffuse things. Jordan had never been more terrified from her mother. Cristína Costello had snapped .
Judging by the lump that her dad appeared to swallow, the worst had yet to come from him. "I left...not for a woman- a man."
Jordan was surprised. "I thought you're Christian." Her dad grimaced. "I thought I could only be in love with a woman but hey ho." Mum was (somehow) keeping a neutral expression. "May I speak to him?" Was all she asked.
Dad laughed but it wasn't genuine. "In the graveyard maybe." Jordan and her mums faces paled.
"Can we move onto something else?" Alejandro uncomfortably shifted in his seat. Both women nodded. "One last question..." Jordan looked to the guard knowing full well that her time was long up. "why did you kill them? Was it just spontaneous?"
Wincing her dad asked "Can we talk about this another time?"
That's if there is another time, Jordan thought but she simply gave a small smile and turned on her heel.
"Can we leave Mum?" The older woman smiled. "Of course Chiqa. You don't know how proud I am of you."