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The door opened to an empty house, dark and unwelcoming. Shane walked in without bothering with the lights, tired and disturbed. She sighed as she slogged with heavy steps to the couch and sunk deep into it. She threw her head and rested it on the couch, finally giving herself permission to cry, to let the tears fall freely. It had only been an hour, but she was missing her peach terribly. She wiped the salty tears that were irritating her eyes and smeared her eyeliner in the process. But she didn’t care, the tears flowed as freely as before. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the emptiness that was amplified in the house. It didn’t work. So she burrowed her head into the couch, and finally… finally let out a series of sobs, finally allowing the inevitable truth to sink in.

She had lost Carmen.

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“Papito…”

Carmen greeted her step-father apprehensively, hand clutched Roddy’s tight. Roddy gave it a reassuringly squeeze before stepping away; allowing Shane, who had came up behind Carmen, to step forward. Mercedes moved up behind Carmen and Shane, and gave them a friendly shove. Awkwardly, Carmen cleared her throat and said “Papi, this is Shane…” and pointing to her family members one by one, she informed Shane, “This is Carla, my big sister; Jose, my brother-in-law; Ricardo, my eldest brother; Pedro, my second brother, and his wife, Esther.”

Shane looked around, the expressions on the faces of Carmen’s family members were mixed. Carla looked friendly, being the first to step up and hug Carmen, and extending her hand to Shane. Jose followed closely behind his wife, and politely expressed some greetings of welcome to Shane. Pedro and Esther were next, hugging Carmen and shaking Shane’s hand as quickly as they could, as if they couldn’t wait to get away.

But the look on Ricardo and Mr. Morales’ faces were not of friendly nature. They look menacing, with eyes boring right thru into Shane, acting as if their space was violated. Mercedes came up between Ricardo and Mr. Morales and gave them a nudge. Instantly, Ricardo cleared his throat and stepped forward, extending his hand stiffly out at Shane. He cast a quick glance at Carmen and gave her a half-hearted smile. And Carmen felt the disapproval from her big brother. She held her tears in, her brother, whom she loved and adored, who had never cast a disapproving eye on her, who had supported her every decision, now looked at her like she was some stranger.