THE VISIT

Don't make me get violent,
I want my ring back, baby, that's a diamond,
You don't listen anyway, I'll be quiet.
I don't really feel like fighting.

***

CHAPTER VI

*****

THE ADDRESS IN my car that my mother had given me shot back into my memory, making me clutch Teo tighter in my arms and speedwalk down the hallway to my car.

I needed to speak to my father. I needed him to protect me because now I was more vulnerable than ever. I hoped deep down that this was just a stupid prank that someone had decided to play on me, but I couldn't be so naive anymore.

I had so much to lose and so much to risk and I honestly just needed to take all the precautions that I could. That meant finding my father and asking the man that I wanted nothing to do with for protection.

There was a large part of me that doubted he would be able to do anything. I mean, if Daniel had found me now with all the efforts I had gone through to stay away from him, then what made me think that a man in prison could do something?

But he had seemed to have protected my mother for this long so what was there to lose?

I placed Teo in the backseat, placing a small kiss on his cheek so as to not worry him before getting into the driver's side and slamming the door shut behind me. My movements were frantic as I rummaged through the glove compartment for the small note paper with the address messily scrawled onto it.

For a second, I thought I had lost it but a breath of relief had escaped me once I had brushed a finger against the rough material of the paper. The ink was smudged and barely legible, but I refused to give up until I had the full address of the prison typed out onto Maps.

The directions popped up on screen and after that, I wasted no time in starting the car and driving off.

My phone received Derek's message that was most likely sent a couple minutes ago, but I didn't pick it up or even look at it because that wasn't where I was going.

The prison was surprisingly close to where my mother lived and would only take me an hour to get there minus traffic but I couldn't help but feel my stomach drop.

Why did I feel like I wasn't going to make it there on time?

I stepped on the gas pedal, ignoring the way my mind screamed how much of a bad idea this was. I had no guarantee that my father would help me. Would he even believe that I was his daughter? I didn't think any normal person would believe a stranger who just rocked up and claimed to be their offspring.

Would I even have the opportunity to see him? The last I checked, prison visits had to be booked and I didn't book anything. Even if I did get to see him, how was I going to bring Teo in with me? I couldn't just leave him in the car, but I couldn't take him in with me at the same time.

Every cell in my body was telling me to turn back around and just head to Derek's safe house, but against my better judgement, I only stepped on the gas pedal and followed the address on my phone.

***

This was a bad idea.

I knew it. Everyone knew it. This was a very bad idea.

But I had already come this far.

I stared at the front doors leading to the reception of the prison and wondered why they had even let me in through the gates in the first place. They shouldn't have let me in.

I didn't know what prompted me to get out of my car and bring Teo in with me, but I had the inkling suspicion that it was because I believed that I wouldn't get far. I knew I needed to plan a visit before I was let in so I didn't believe that I would get far.

The realisation that my situation was going to be different came when the police standing at the front desk looked up at me and gave me a warm smile.

As if he was expecting me.

"You must be Araceli Cruz."

Run.

"Wait, wait! I won't hurt you." I stared at the man, holding Teo close to me as he ran his hand through his dark hair. His eyes were pale blue and his skin was extremely pale, most likely because he didn't get sun from where he worked. "Your father and I, we're good friends. He told me to let you in as soon as you show up."

"Not all black people are related to each other," I snapped, finding myself feeling relieved at his explanation.

He rolled his eyes as if I was the stupid one and exhaled. "I know that. Raymundo showed me a picture of you so I would recognise you when you show up."

"How do you even know it's me?"

The officer tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows, looking like a lost puppy in that moment. He pulled something out from under the front desk and placed it on the table.

"This is you, no?"

I stepped closer, letting my eyes run over the image of the very familiar person. There was no doubt about it. The girl with extremely curly, long hair, honey-brown eyes and a small smile on her lips was me.

I could even remember the day the photo had been taken. I just didn't know how Raymundo had gotten his hands on it. Very obviously, he had multiple means of escaping prison so why was he still in?

"Yes," I sighed, hating the fact that I was wrong. "That's me."

"Good. Follow me."

The officer didn't seem to care at all about his victory over me and instead led me out of the reception into a small hall that felt as cold as it looked behind huge metal doors. I had lost count of all the metal doors that we had passed, some needing multiple forms of identification and others just needing a small push.

I wondered if they were trying to keep the prisoners in or if they were trying to keep the outsiders out.

"Raymundo talks about you a lot," the officer said as he escorted me along the maze that was Rosemount prison. I wondered how long he had to be working here to know the place so well. "He'll talk about you to anyone who acknowledges him. He'll call you the most beautiful of names, tell us about how you're an angel sent from heaven above to touch the souls of the people you meet."

He turned around to smile at me as we stopped in front of huge blue heavy looking doors. "He says that he'd die a happy man if he were able to set eyes on you once again."

I kept my exterior cold and emotionless, but on the inside I was breaking apart. I didn't want this random stranger telling me about my own father. I wanted to hear it from Raymundo's mouth. I wanted to see him.

I wished I grew up hearing him say this.

"Is he your child?" he asked, acknowledging Teo for the first time.

As if understanding what he had said, Teo looked at him before clutching onto me tighter and burying his head into the crook of my neck. I smiled and rubbed up and down his back before looking back at the guard and nodding. "He is."

"Make sure to keep an eye on him," he said before pushing the door open and allowing me to walk into the room. "Just take a seat at an empty table and Raymundo will be with you soon."

I nodded, mindlessly walking to an empty table while I let myself take in the odd room. The walls were grey concrete and the windows were high bars, letting in the cold air but hardly any natural sunlight. There were a few round tables scattered here and there with plastic chairs on either side of them, but apart from that, there was nothing else.

There were some people in the room, around three police officers and then some other family members meeting inmates. For some odd reason, I didn't feel threatened by the fact that I was surrounded by criminals. Despite that, I still held Teo on my lap even when he fought to walk around.

Thankfully, before he could break out into a tantrum, the door to the meeting room had swung open and a large black man had been escorted into the room.

He was wearing blue overalls that were rolled up to reveal his tattooed arms and under them seemed to be a white shirt. His head was completely bald but considering how much facial hair he had, I realised that it was probably from his choice instead of age.

He waited patiently for the guard to uncuff him before slowly walking over to my table, as if unsure about meeting me.

In that moment, I wanted to run away. It was so difficult to act like this tough person that was indifferent and unaffected when all I wanted to do was scream and cry. After how many decades, I was finally meeting my father again. The man that I had no idea who he was but I loved because the memory of him that I kept with him from my childhood sang me to sleep each night.

My father loved me. And for the longest time, I felt like he was the only one that loved me. I wanted to meet him again. And I finally was.

But I didn't want it like this.

I didn't want it to be in a prison cell where he wasn't looking his best with four police officers watching our every move and me having to focus on our conversation as well as the multiple conversations going on around me just to make sure that no one was going to snap on me.

I had always dreamed of this moment but it was only turning out to be a nightmare.

For a minute, none of us said anything and I knew that he was thinking the same thing I was. He was wishing that this was happening in a different place at a different time for a different reason.

"Hello!" Teo exclaimed, snapping the both of us out of our silent staring as he waved at Raymundo and Raymundo stared down at him curiously.

Children were so oblivious to the world around them it was almost enduring. I found it fascinating that they could completely focus on one thing at a time, seemingly the least important thing as well and then forget all else.

Teo couldn't read the deeper meaning of the situation. Teo couldn't understand that this man was in prison and he was my father that I hadn't seen in years and that we were both in danger. All Teo knew was that he was a stranger and it was polite to greet strangers.

"Hi," Raymundo said slowly, as if confused before the tips of his lips stretched so far upward that he was grinning in no time. And it was one of the best things that I had ever seen. "Hey, little guy. Who are you?"

"Teo," he declared happily, seeming proud that he had remembered.

"I'm Raymond," he said, making Teo beam at him.

Taking me by surprise, Teo extended his hand for a handshake and Raymond let out a loud laugh before wrapping his large palms around his and shaking gently.

The handshake ended soon after and Teo quickly turned around to me again. He got up onto his feet and wrapped his arms around, burying his face into the crook of my neck as I smiled at my father.

"He's charming," he said, making me smile and pat Mateo's back. "He's your son."

It wasn't a question but I still found myself nodding anyway. P

"He is." I glanced down at him, catching him staring up at me before giggling and looking away. "He's actually the reason I came."

The atmosphere in the room changed and I felt the urge to just slap myself and leave. How would he feel knowing that the only reason I had seen him was because I wanted his protection? But I couldn't beat around the bush, could I? I Didn't have the luxury of time on my side.

"I know," he said, his voice deep as he turned to look at his hands. "Your mother told me."

I wished she hadn't brought her up. It was easy for me to hold back my heartache and act strong when I couldn't remember the reason behind my tears in the first place. Here, she was unavoidable. Even if we weren't father and daughter, that was one thing we shared in common.

Her.

But now she was gone. And all we had was the tarnished father-daughter bond to keep us together. It seemed like it would be almost impossible to fix, but once he looked up, his steel eyes meeting mine again and I saw all the pain he harboured in them, I knew that we would be fine.

I just needed to get myself out of this mess that I was in, but once I was completely free, I wouldn't ever try and lose contact with him again.

"You look just like her," he said, his voice coming out strained as he stared right through me. As if he wasn't even seeing me. As if he was seeing her instead. "You're a splitting image."

"It must be hell for you."

"No," he shook his head, making me raise a surprised brow. "What's hell for me is knowing that I missed twenty years of your life. Twenty years of you growing up and no matter what happens, I'll never get to see it."

In that moment, I looked down at Mateo in my arms who was Clinging onto me like he was going to fall and looked around the room curiously. I thought about Daniel. About how he had missed the birth of his own son - although it was torturous in its own right - and two years of his life. If it were me, I would feel upset.

I found myself sympathising with him.

"Look, Araceli," Raymundo called for me again. "I don't want what happened to your mother to happen to you. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you that I have the utmost confidence in my abilities and in my people. I don't trust them anymore. If there's someone that you need to go to for protection that will give it to you, you need to go to his father."

He pointed to Mateo and I felt my heart drop to my ass.

"Go back to Daniel."

"Over my dead body."

He sighed at my response and shook his head. "Look, I know it seems to be the worst idea out there but—"

"There's no buts," I cut him off, not wanting to hear anymore of his bullshit. "Daniel is the one that I want protection from. He's going to try and take Teo from me."

He frowned and his eyes shone with remorse. "He's his son."

"No, he's not." Tears stung the back of my eyes but I willed myself not to cry. This wasn't the way I saw this meeting going. Never in a thousand years did I think my own father would be encouraging me to go back to the same man I was running from. "You don't know what he did to me."

"What did he do to you?"

I wasn't sure if I should tell him. It had been a while since I spoke about my experience two years ago, but I really needed raymundo to understand how dangerous Daniel really was.

"We were together and I thought he was good, but then we had a fight because... Because he found out that uncle Isaac was working for the man that you have problems with and... Papa, this is a long story."

He looked taken aback by something, but it was only after going back over what I had said that I realised what it was. And honestly, I was surprised with myself too.

I just called him papa.

"Tell me as much as you can," he said, a small almost unnoticeable smile on his face.

"Isaac was feeding them information about me. Even when I wasn't with my mother anymore, he always knew where I was." I watched carefully as he clenched his hands into fists and gritted his jaw. He looked more than angry - he looked absolutely ready to kill. "He's dead now." I stared down at my hands to hide my shame. "I gave the order to kill him."

"Who are you?" he suddenly asked, making my head snap up.

I felt my heart thump in my chest and I gulped so hard I was almost sure my oesophagus would never be the same again. Did he hate me? Did he think I was an awful person? Was he doubting the fact that I was his daughter?

"You killed two big men in the mafia. The worst part is the Gang members in this cell don't hate you. They're not planning to put a target on your head when they get out. They fear you." The smile on his face grew and I tilted my head to the said.

"That's all Daniel's doing," I said, waving him off. I wasn't so stupid as to deny the fact that if it wasn't for Daniel, I would've dead by now. "He killed anyone who tried to do anything to me."

"Doesn't that mean that he's the best person to go to, then?" He leaned in closer and I raised an eyebrow at him. "Believe me there are much worse people out there that you need to stay away from. Your husband isn't one of them."

"He put me in human trafficking!" I finally exclaimed, garnering the attention If everyone there as well as my own son who looked at me as if I had grown two heads. I couldn't blame. I spent so much time telling him to not shout but her I was anyway. "After he found out that I wasn't pregnant, he out me in human trafficking because he believed that there was no use for me."

His lips were set in two straight thin lines as he leaned back, Hús brows furrowing as he thought long and hard. Finally after shaking his head, he focused on me again and frowned.

"You can't trust anyone." I wasn't sure if he was telling me or telling himself as an afterthought. "I'll try my best and see what I can do, but do not rely on the people that I send if I send any at all. Because they'll rat you out as fast as they did your mother." His frown deepened as he thought of her. "They don't respect me in here anymore."

"Why is that?" I found myself asking. "Pápa, you have the means to leave this place." I knew it wouldn't be hard for him to leave. The question that arose was, "why are you still here?"

"Because there's no reason for me to," he chuckled sadly. "There's no one who will jump up and run to me when I come home. The only people who are waiting for me are my enemies who are ready to do anything to see my destruction." He shook his head and sighed. "I'm safer here."

"I'll wait for you."

His eyes met nine, but he only frowned and shook his head. "I couldn't burden you like that."

"It's not a burden!" I argued, not wanting to miss the chance to get my father. "You're my dad and I love you. I want to see you out of here and I want to see you happy." I smiled sweetly at him. "Once I get out if this mess with Daniel I'm going to visit you every day until you agree to leave this place and come live with me."

"Are you not scared?" he asked, his eyes holding curiosity as I rolled mine. "Do you not worry that I'll just turn and flip and hurt you?"

"While Daniel had no obligation to not hurt me, you do. You're my father so no. I'm not."

He smiled but said nothing else and instead looked to Mateo. "The little guy looks like he's getting bored."

I smiled and held him up, making him look at me with a pout. "Wanna walk," he mumbled, kicking out his legs so I would let him roam around, but I only sat him down on my lap and turned back to my father.

As expected, that was when the waterworks showed up. "Mama!"

"He's just like you," Raymundo said, gaining my attention. "Whinging and whining over unnecessary things."

I glared at him superficially but couldn't help the smile that broke out onto my face.

"We should probably get going," I said, standing up as Teo started literally screaming. His face went red and tears trailed down his puffy cheeks, making me wonder why he was taking it so bad.

I would pay to not have to walk anywhere.

Raymundo got up to leave and did something that surprised me to no end. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled in for a hug, effectively shutting Teo up in the process.

I returned it as best I could and even considered staying longer since Teo wasn't crying anymore, but I knew him better than that.

"You have a safe trip," he said, nodding at me. "I'll have some men to watch over you, but the only thing I can tell you is to always make sure you're carrying a gun and it's loaded."

"How will they know where I am?"

He smirked and gestured to the door. "I always know where everything is."

*****

This chapter was originally 4900 words but there was way too much unnecessary bullshit so I cut it out and now it's only 3700. It's a huge leap from my normal 2000 but as of recent, I've been trying to experiment with chapter length.

I've got a plan of what's to go in each chapter and if it reaches like, idk, 10k words oh well. So be it.

Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet because that would be a pain to edit, but I feel like I'm on the road to getting there. Like, in a book that I'm working on in the background, a single chapter has reached 5200 and after looking at everything I've jam-packed into the plan for the last chapter, there's no doubt that it'll get there. Hopefully, that won't happen for this book.

I planned to post this yesterday, but I was lazy so instead of reading over it myself, I looked for an online tts to read it for me. I didn't find one so I didn't post lmao.

I still don't have one and I haven't read over it either so here's a somewhat late warning.

Sorry if I'm talking too much. You can skip this if you want. I just feel lonely I guess. Maybe I should make a book where I just write about shit that matters to no one lmao.

Anyways, prepare yourself for tomorrow's chapter and have a good day/night.

Love yall,
Ommy.