Chapter 53 A Long Ride
Dante's POV
She was sitting with her shoulders leaning forward and her face completely turned away from me.
I took a deep breath and approached her, not sure what I would say, but sure I had to say something.
As I stepped out and got closer to her, I noticed that right in front of her was a small garden that spread into a larger garden with carrots, fruits and other vegetables.
The garden was nicely pruned and looked very fresh.
“This is where I come to when I want to feel peace,” she said out of nowhere.
I nearly froze where I stood as I didn't see that coming.
“I hope I didn't startle you,” she said, laughing at her attempt at a joke.
I smiled, recognizing the irony in the whole situation. “I believe the roles should be reversed in this situation,” I replied with a smile.
“At this rate, I feel I've got eyes at the back of my head,” she joked again.
I reached where she sat and joined her on the log of wood. “I won't put it past you.”
She smiled and looked up at the garden. I did same too.
“It's beautiful,” I said, admiring how natural it looked.
“I groomed them from little to this. Cleared out the trees and shrubs here, then began this little garden,” she paused and gestured to the small one in front of us.
“And before I knew it, it grew,” she added, gesturing to the whole garden.
“On your own?” I asked.
“At first, yeah. Then they came around and added hands here and there. But I planted it all,” she explained.
I took ‘they’ to be her helpers or those still loyal to her.
“It was my first getaway after his death,” she added with a sigh before looking down to her hands.
I followed her eyes and landed on a small picture frame in her hand. She had it clutched between her hands and hugged against her tummy.
I looked to see what it was and when she noticed, she leaned back and revealed the picture frame.
It was a picture of her and who I believe should be Serena's mother, Vanessa. They were seated together and both looked pretty young.
“I don't know if I can face her again,” she whispered, almost like she was talking to herself more.
“You can,” I said softly to her.
“No, it's not as easy as you think. I've faced death countless times, even situations I didn't expect to make it. But this? This isn't a matter of death, it's a matter of blood,” she said weakly.
“She's your, your younger sister. Whatever it is, you need to take responsibility for your actions. You can't run from her forever,” I said in a more challenging way.
“Maybe I can,” she simply replied.
“And what of Serena? What of your little niece in there, don't you think she's going through what you're going through? Think of her, she needs you by her side,” I continued.
She nodded repeatedly. “You are right. I'll do it for Serena,” she admitted softly.
I tapped her on the shoulder gently. “Now, are you ready?” I asked.
“Ready to make amends for my past mistakes? No. Ready to ensure I don't make the same mistake with a new generation? Hell yeah,” she said and rose to her feet sharply.
I smiled and followed her as we walked back inside to find Serena waiting at the door with Nico outside.
“Are we doing this or not?” Nico asked in my direction with a smile on his face and his hands up.
“Get in,” I shot back with a nod.
As we reached the car, Maria leaned towards my ear. “You really need to get control over this your right hand man. He can be… over impulsive,” she whispered.
I gave her a look and simply smiled before nodding. She nodded back and rounded the car quickly. “I'm driving,” she called out, swinging the keys in the air.
“Won't have it any other way, Mrs Ramirez,” I replied, stepping towards the front door.
She paused at the door and gave me a look before smiling and stepping in, I followed suit.
“Where we heading?” She asked after ramming up the engine.
“Nico,” I called out and he handed over a tablet to me.
It was all cracked up and broken, but the screen still shone on. Strong shit they make these days.
I picked out the exact location and handed it over to Maria. She took it in her left hand while getting her glasses on with her right.
“Siete Diablitos?” She asked in a high pitched tone.
“Yeah, I believe that's the place,” I concurred.
“That's the seven Little Devils’ street, of all places Vanessa,” she gasped as she handed the tablet back to me.
“Why do they call it that?” Serena asked from the back.
“I think there's a spot there with special carvings or something like that,” she replied as she got the car moving.
“And why is that spot called the seven Little devils?” Serena asked.
“Legend says it's got spirits that possess couples when they go there and make them fuck around,” Maria explained as she pulled into the main road leading to town.
“For real?” Serena asked.
“Yeah, what baffles me is that these motherfuckers actually believe it,” she laughed as she stepped on it. “They say these couples later get pregnancies without knowing how it came around. Bunch of bull crap if you ask me,” she retorted.
I could feel Serena pressing down my seat as I kept track of the map.
“And you don't believe it?” Nico surprised me by asking.
“Not even if it's right before my bloody eyes,” Maria replied.
“Why?” Serena asked.
“These fucking baboons fuck around anyway,” she remarked as she made a bend. “I would bet you it's just an excuse. Won't be surprised if these animals go there to fuck around as usual with an excuse not to take responsibility of their damn actions,” she spat out.
“Damn,” Nico replied from the back and a chuckle broke from my lips before I could stop it.
“Useless motherfuckers be fucking in their sleep,” she continued and Serena chuckled from the back. “You wouldn't believe that even homeless hobos would fuck around, even in a damn foundation home,” she added and we are cracked a laugh, even Nico.
“I found some of them messing around in my foundation center. I couldn't even send them out as they had nothing, but mehn, even with nothing, they still gotta fuck,” she explained.
“Aunt Maria?” Serena called out, taking me by surprise. I turned slightly and caught that little smile on Maria's face.
“Yes, my daughter,” she replied.
“If there's, the little devil's street? Is there the little angels’ street?” Serena asked.
“Don't forget the seven, those nincompoops even numbered them,” she replied immediately, bringing another laugh from behind. “And yes, there's the little angels' street, my daughter.”
“So there's a place there that people go to and get possessed to do good?” Serena asked.
“Oh, there is. Trust these creative folks,” she replied.
“What's the story behind that one?” Serena asked.
“The folks that live there claim there are angels that protect them, so they made statues for them and shit like that,” she replied with a mocked laugh.
“You believe that one?” Nico asked.
“Another big piece of baloney. More reason to shit on the devil's story, these stories don't just match,” she replied.
I laughed then looked down at the map and realized we were still yet to cross a reasonable part of the journey.
“Ehm Maria? How long would this take?” I asked.
“You mean the ride? Oh it's going to be a longggggg ride. Buckle up peeps.”