1963

"Alondra!"

Alondra stood and smoothed her skirt. A redhead seated across from her offered a tight smile, mouthing good luck. Unfazed, Alondra grinned.

She followed the secretary into the small office, shoes scuffling along. She needed new shoes, but that was at the bottom of her list. Hopefully, this interview would hinge on something far more essential than footwear.

Life was perfect.

Alondra had graduated two months ago from St. Joseph's College, with an admirable GPA. Luto was doing so well, he was able to buy his own cab. I'm a business owner! He had raced through the small apartment, shouting the sentence over and over, until Natalia had thrown a book at his head.

"Mr. Miller, your next appointment. Mizz Sanogwet."

Alondra hid her flinch as the secretary mispronounced her last name. Sanoguet, with "gay" at the end, like happy people, her mother had always told others.

Alondra summoned the secretary's name from memory.

"Nice to see you, Mrs. Davidson."

From the expression behind her pink-rimmed glasses, old Mrs. Davidson had no idea who she was. Yet, she nodded and murmured a response.

"Yes, thanks Mrs. Davidson," Mr. Miller said.

His baritone filled the room. Alondra twisted her hands behind her back, hoping Mrs. Davidson wouldn't notice. Their eyes met. The niceties seemed to drain from Mrs. Davidson's face as she looked Alondra up and down. She raised a brow pointedly at Alondra's feet before whirling away to her desk.

Good thing I don't have to convince her.

She faced Mr. Miller. A tense moment stretched in the air.

"Please, sit."

She forced herself to smile until she was sitting in the upholstered chair, facing who she hoped would be her future boss.

This was also the year Luto had finally proposed. She loved the way the engagement ring sparkled on her finger. Even now, she admired the set of the stone and gold band against her caramel skin.

Mr. Miller was different now. He seemed shorter, but his voice was gruff as always. He spoke in short, clipped tones, firing off questions about where she had studied, her concentration, and teaching philosophy.

While she had practiced in anticipation of these very questions, having to answer them so quickly was a bit jarring, and she supposed that was the point. Mr. Miller was trying to set her on edge to see what she was made of.

Too soon, the questions ended. Though it only felt like 5 minutes had passed, Mr. Miller dismissed her. Thanking him, Alondra reached out to shake his hand. It was something Luto had taught her to do. Mr. Miller stared at her hand, with no obvious intent on shaking it.

"Good day," he said, frost edging his tone.

Back in the waiting room, the redheaded woman and Mrs. Davidson giggled and whispered. When they saw Alondra, they stopped and chastely moved away from one another. The redhead waved as she entered Mr. Miller's office, her heels clicking smartly.

There's something about the walls of a school that bring out the mean in people, she thought.

She wondered if it was the austerity of the brick entrance, or the threat of tedium. Whatever it was, she feared she wouldn't be invited for a second interview.

When she arrived home, Natalia was packing.

"What's this?" Alondra asked, though her sister's intentions were clear.

She needed to go back, to be with Obi. That's what she told Alondra. The Island was her home now, and she had wasted enough time here.

Some perfect life.

Alondra slumped on the couch and cried.

"Obi just got a promotion off base," Natalia said, her hand running up and down Alondra's back. It was soothing, barely what she needed to quell her breaking heart.

Her reaction was too much. Mama would have wanted her to act the big sister. She took a watery breath and played the part.

"I'm happy for you," she smiled through the tears, "and sad for me. I'll be okay."

It wasn't the best sisterly reaction. She should've hidden her sadness. It wasn't fair to put that on Natalia.

They hugged. She helped her younger sister fold knick knacks into old rags, and she sat on the suitcases so that Natalia could close them. They shared a few Maltas and laugh-cried over memories of Camila, Luto, and Genea.

Alondra thought the day couldn't get worse.

Then Camila came home.

~*~

I did something.

Alondra stirred. She had fallen asleep at the kitchen table while reading the classifieds.

The words had echoed as if from a disembodied source.

Alondra checked around her, but the kitchen was empty. She shook her head. It must have been the last remnants of a dream, the kind of dream that slipped away as you woke up.

She rose and rubbed her face. Deep sleep lines had etched into her face from the newspaper. She chuckled to herself. Then, she remembered the failure of an interview, Natalia's departure, and wished she were still asleep.

I did something terrible.

Any semblance of laughter choked in her throat.

Alondra was very much awake now. The words could not have originated from a dream at all. Again, she looked around in the kitchen to see if one of her sisters had spoken. In the hallway leading to the bedrooms, a figure waited.

The hallway light was off. In the shifting shadows, Alondra couldn't tell who it was.

"Natalia?"

No answer.

The shadow didn't move. After a moment, Alondra questioned if it was anyone at all, or if she was just imagining things.

"Camila?" Hesitancy trembled in her voice.

As though unfolding, the shadow moved. It crept forward, and Alondra took several steps back. As it came nearer, a draft of cold air drifted into the kitchen.

Alondra hugged herself to keep the cold out.

"Camila?" she repeated weakly.

The light from the kitchen slowly revealed the shadow from the hallway. It fell first on a pale face with yellow eyes. It was a man, and then Alondra realized it was just a boy. He had long, black hair, and no color to his cheeks. In greeting, he shared a smile that chilled her heart.

Alondra squeezed her eyes shut. Willing the man away was the one thing she could do. She waited for a ghoulish hand to reach out and grab her, but that did not happen.

Upon opening her eyes, the man had gone. She whirled around, but no one was in the hallway or the front entrance. She summoned her courage and groped at the light switch. The hallway was empty. What she had seen must've been the result of too many monster movies with Natalia.

The light from Camila's bedroom was on. Alondra knocked on the door, thought of how stupid that was, then entered.