Her aunt’s eyes were now so wide and bleak that Inés shrank in fear, mesmerized, chained to her spot. Yet she also felt the immediate need to escape that room, and so she forced herself to move forward, toward the door. Before she could reach it, Perla opened a drawer and took out a gun, pointing it at her.
“Don’t,” Perla said.
Inés froze in place. She swallowed. “I need to go, Aunt Perla.”
“No. You’re not going anywhere.”
“I won’t tell,” she promised.
Perla’s hand was firm upon the gun as she drifted closer to her. “You’re a liar.”
“I swear.”
“Don’t move. I told you, you’re not going anywhere!”
She stood still. The distance between them was short, and even if Perla did not have much experience with a pistol, Inés suspected she’d be able to shoot her with ease, so she was afraid to step closer to the door and incite her wrath in that way. They stared at each other.
The dog continued to bark, and now came a loud voice.
“Inés!” Ulises yelled.
His voice was like a cannon, startling Perla, and in that split second of surprise Inés made her choice and flung herself against her aunt, hitting her with a punishing blow that sent her reeling back.
Perla screamed in pain, but she held on to the gun, and even thoughInés tried to wrench it out of her hands, her grip was iron. In a fury she struck Inés, struck her face, and Inés held her hand as tight as she could. She knew that if she let go of the gun she was dead.
She raked the nails of her free hand across Perla’s face, and her aunt hollered. Inés’s fingers hurt with the effort of holding on, but she shoved Perla until her back hit the side of the desk. Perla yelped in pain and finally relinquished her grip on the weapon, which fell to the ground.
At the same time, Perla managed to clutch the glass she’d been drinking from, and she smashed it against Inés’s temple. A piercing, blinding pain made Inés gasp and stumble back. Blood gushed down her face as she landed against the door, felt the doorjamb against her back, and fumblingly managed to pull it open.
The dog was in a frenzy, barking and jumping excitedly. As Inés stumbled into the hallway, a shot rang through the house and a bullet bit her body. Inés gasped. She was almost grateful for the pain of the glass cuts on her temple because she could not concentrate and determine which wound hurt the most.
Her aunt stepped behind her, raised the gun again, but before she could shoot Inés kicked her in the leg. Perla screamed. Another gunshot went off, but this bullet hit the wall behind Inés.
Inés sprinted away, toward the stairs, and almost crashed into Ulises, who emerged into the hallway, looking startled.
“Run,” she told him, and he had the good sense not to ask any questions as they rushed toward the staircase.
They had practically reached the bottom of the stairs when Inés’s knees buckled under her weight and Ulises caught her, scooping her up like a bride upon the threshold and carrying her the last two steps.
“Criminals!” Perla yelled. “Thieves!”
She was at the top of the staircase, the gun still in her hands. She waved the weapon in the air and hurried down the stairs, but the dog ran past her, barking madly, and Perla lost her balance. For a split second she attempted to clutch the banister, but it was a futile motion, and then shewas rolling over and over until her body hit the ground with a sickening thud.
It was déjà vu, as if that terrible memory of her childhood had been granted fresh new life, and Inés thought she’d retch at the sight of Perla lying with her eyes closed at the bottom of the stairs.
Ulises and Inés stared at the woman, but for the briefest moment, then he was running, still carrying Inés in his arms, until they reached the car. She slid into the passenger seat and winced. The dog ran behind them and barked.
“Let it in.”
“For God’s sake—”
“Let the dog in,” she ordered.
He opened the door and Diógenes settled on the back seat of the car. Ulises took off his jacket and shoved it into her hands.
“You need to press this hard against the wound. It’ll be a short ride, keep pressing.”
“Where are we going?”