Carmen sat with her mom and dad in a well furnished
family room flipping through channels but thought it was getting late
so she headed off to bed.
“Carmen.” Carmen stopped in her tracks to face her mom and step dad.
“I think we should all talk.” It was inevitable; she would have to face it sooner or later so she sat back down.

“Carmen, your mother tells me, thatthat..” Carmen looked at her father disgustingly.
“I think its time,” her father continued, “that we start looking
for a good boy for you. You won’t be young for the rest of your life.”
Carmen looked at her mother, the expression on her face was easy to
read.

“You brought me here, so you and dad could set me up with some guy I don’t know?”

“No, No, Carmen,” Mercedes stepped in, “we just want the best for you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine ma! You know that.” Carmen let out a
deep breath but instead of crying she stood up and let her anger out.

“Ma, I love you, yes, but you can’t make me do something I don’t want
to do. I know what this is about; this is about me being *****. You’re
just going to have to face the fact that I love a girl.” Mercedes
looked away from her daughter who now stood and protested in front of
her. Carmen’ dad stood up.

“There will be no yelling in my house. And you must do as I say Carmen!” Carmen ignored him and knelt beside her mother.

“Ma, Ma look at me.” Carmen tried her best like it was the only shot she would get.

“Do you want me to be happy? Ma..do you want me to be happy?” Mercedes avoided her eyes.
“You know what this is all about ma. This is all about shame and
pride and you’re ashamed of me, but I don’t care, this is who I am. If
you marry me to someone that you don’t even know, I won’t change. I
won’t do it.”
Carmen’s step dad tried to get her up from the floor but she pulled her
arms back. She was getting to her mom; she knew it because she saw a
small tear fall down her cheek. She almost had her just a little more.
“Ma think about papa. Think about what you told me when I was
younger about how you guys were before he died. You use to talk to me
about him all the time. You told me that you two ran away to get
married because you loved each other. And it didn’t matter who you
would upset just as long as you had each other. What did Grandma do?”
Mercedes looked away, she couldn’t take it.

“She let you go ma! She let you go! And in the end she was happy for
you cuz you were happy. You can’t do this to me Ma.” Carmen’s step dad
was trying to get her up but she refused and in the moments that Carmen
thought she lost her mother forever, she was overcome with joy.
“Let her go.” Her step dad looked at Mercedes in disappointment
and let her go. Carmen reached for her mom and hugged her as tight as
she could.

“Thank you mama.”
“I’m sorry Carmen, I’m so sorry.”

Shane lay in bed hoping to fall asleep easily but it
was too difficult. Even though Carmen said she wouldn’t be calling that
night, she still hoped for her name on the call display. She couldn’t
help but feel alone. Jenny was still out with the girls and mark was
with his friends. She rolled over and leaned onto Carmen’s pillow. It
smelled like her and only made Shane miss her more. She felt the walls
close in on her and was scared for a moment or two. In the last minutes
her eyes were dry and little tears were finding their way to the
surface of her lids, a little ring was heard a few inches away from her
ear. She turned to look at her phone and who was calling. And all that
read on the phone was, “In coming callCarmen.” She had spent many
times comforting Carmen, catching her in the midst of her break downs,
but this time Carmen was there for her and it made her want to hold on
no matter how much it hurt when they were apart.