Falling With Grace

The man who pulled the trigger stepped over me as the hands fell away from my hair, stopping me before him. “Kill her.”

I screamed and huddled into a ball, dragging my knees up tight to my chest, my free hand covering my face just as he raised the gun.

This is it.

My fate didn’t end on that hillside or the riverbed. It ended here, in a church before God, with evil men hidden fromhisview.

“Wait. What is that?”

I peeked through the crack in my fingers as the men stared down at me.

“What is what?”

“That mark.” The man pointed to a spot behind my ear, got down on his knee beside my head, and moved my hair out of the way.

“Do you think he would want to know about this?”

“We weren’t supposed to leave anyone alive.”

The two men argued with one another while the other two flanked my side. I drew my hand down my face, rolled over onto my back, and sat on my butt, keeping the men within my view.

“Spy,” one of the men said, then turned his gaze my way.

I bounced my focus between the two men, then shook my head. “I’m not a spy.”

They turned their attention to me, and I crumbled under their scrutiny.

“Now, why would you think we were talking about you?” the man closest to me said, his black hair tangled on his head.

“I-I just…”

“Deberíamos llevarla a Grimaldo.”

They wanted to take me to Grimaldo? Who was that?

The tall, scary man shook his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Ximén.”

“And what do you think we should do with her, Jesús?”

The man on my right, Jesús, shrugged. “See if she’s worth anything.”

The quieter man in the back flopped his hands. “And who are we supposed to ask for a ransom?”

Jesús gave the quiet man a sideways glance. “I think we all know who she belongs to.”

My skin went cold, and my stomach curled into a tight ball, threatening to expel my tea and donuts.

“I’m not anyone.” I shook my head. “I won’t tell anyone what I saw here.”

Jesús pressed his finger to his lips. “Cállate.”

“Please.I won’t. Just let me go.” My hands clasped together in prayer, and his palm connected with my cheek, throwing me to the floor.

“You’re either going with us or in a body bag.Entiende, puta?Do you understand?”

I groaned and nodded, cupping my sore, swelling cheek.

My face throbbed, drowning out their plans, the speech a muffled jumble mess.