"Tim laughed at me when I told him about my distress. He said: 'Even if Fred dumps her, so what! She'll grow up! She'll learn a lesson.' I saw Vickie one more time before she left. I begged her not to leave; but she was completely a different person. She was no longer, the innocent girl I'd met two months earlier."
All the other five were so engrossed in what Rosa was saying, that nobody had noticed that Diana had moved and was sitting next to Jacob, They both were at the verge of break down; however Diana had her head on his shoulder and he had his arm wrapped around him.
"Let me tell you about Fred even though I know you'd met him. He must be in his forties. He acts like a cowboy without having the integrity of the one. He wears these worn out jeans, plaid shirt, and a cowboy's hat. He grows his facial hair, only because he is too lazy to shave. He is the worst man any parents wish for their daughters. And the farm he told Vickie about in Austin, was not his parents; in fact there was no farm at all. He just had some friends in Austin that he'd thought could help him, or better yet, he could use them.
"Before they left, I told Vickie to call me anytime she wants. I really meant it. They left on Labor day. The first call came only after two weeks. He'd battered her; he'd forced her to sleep with his friends for money..."
Suddenly Rosa stopped. A poisonous knot in her throat made her numb momentarily. She glanced at Jacob and Diana. Jacob seemed somber and thoughtful; Diana's head was hidden on Jacob's chest, but it was obvious that she was crying quietly. Her shoulders were shaking.
"After talking to her on the phone," Rosa began again with a tone that was barely audible. "I hated myself, I absolutely hated myself. I thought about contacting you and letting you know everything. Tim stopped me. I..."
"What else did she tell you on the phone?" Jacob interrupted Rosa with a very dispiriting face.
"She told me that she was like a prisoner; she had no way out. She told me that I was right and Fred was a worthless man. She told me that did drugs. She said that they forced her to do drugs, but so far she has been able to refuse it, even though they punish her for that. She told me that they do dog fighting and make money that way, too. I told her that I was going to get her, to bring her home. She said that she couldn't. She said that they would kill her if they knew she had contacted me. I told her to just run away and come back to Dallas. She said she had no money, and then she hanged up. I wanted to tell her to call the police, but she already hanged up. I had no phone number from her. I even wasn't sure if she really was in Austin. All I hoped for was that she could call me again.
"In this dark period, I tortured myself by remaining at home and cutting all my activities. I thought if I leave home, she might call. I imagined her, my beautiful sister, in the hands of all these horrible and wicked men. I felt guilty, yes, it was all my fault. I had put her in that situation for my own stupid revenge, for what my mother had injected in me since childhood. I recalled her singing to me. She had a beautiful voice, I am sure you know it. Her vice is so angelic that I think with a little training she can be a great operatic singer. I envisioned that she was singing some magical notes that throbbed like a human heart beat.
"I'd thought by ruining her life, I would gain mine, and I would get a well- deserved revenge from a man who had ignored me. But I was wrong. I've failed in my mission. My emotional breakdown, Tim told me, was an inexcusable weakness. I've lost my forward motion. I realized that I was fighting for nothing. I felt a deep loss. I felt degenerated and corrupt. All these emotions, seemed though, carving my body in pieces with their sharp mortification.
To Be Continued
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