TITLE: Prison Break 07/20/2017 By Gloria Pierre Dean 07/20/17 |
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Four feet eleven in her socks, round bodied and pretty she would call herself.
Desire Santos dressed carefully and assisted the seven-year-old twins to do the same.
Today was the big day; Daddy was coming home!
They travelled the five miles to the prison reception area in her car.
There was plenty of time before he arrived. Desire told the children to wait quietly.
On the other side of the waiting room, was a pretty tall young woman. She was also waiting for someone. They smiled at her briefly.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the prison van carried one man to freedom. Pecos Santos was a tall handsome Hispanic man with sparkling dark eyes. He was glad to be wearing regular clothes after eight years of incarceration. He had been granted early release for good behaviour. He had so much to look forward to. He was released today and unbeknown to his wife Desire he was not going home. He had met and courted Rosella while in prison. He was going to marry her after he got divorced.
His wife Desire did not know of his release, or so he thought. He felt a twinge of conscience because he was deserting her.
" She would be fine," he thought. She had written to him and told him that she had gone to nursing school while he was gone and was now a nurse and owned a car.
"She could keep the house," he thought to himself. "She earned it." He had kept the news of his early release from her. He had no intention of returning to their home. Rosella was now the love of his life and she was waiting for him.
Desire too had a secret; she had kept news of the twins from Pecos. She so wanted to surprise him. They had always wanted children so she was sure he would be overjoyed.
Pecos ran off the bus and headed for the reception room and into the waiting arms of his beautiful Rosella. He spun her around and around then he stopped dead in his tracks; in the opposite corner of the room sat three people.
"Desire, what are you doing here?" he squealed in horror and surprise and "Who are these children with you?" he added. Desire had a shocked look on her face. Her mouth was open, tears were streaming down her face and she was whimpering as she hid the children's faces in her skirt.
On leaden feet, Pecos crossed the room to where she stood. Rosella in her now clear English speaking voice said: "Husband, meet your daughters Pisa and Petta."
"Girls, say hello to Papa," she said almost inaudibly. In unison from long practices, they said smilingly "Hello Papa."
Pecos looked shocked. He had not planned for this. He was a father!
"They have my eyes", he said almost inaudibly. Rosella edged closer to the family group. She did not know that Pecos was married but somehow she did not care. She reached out and held on to his arm. He must not forget her.
At this point, Desire decided to leave the waiting room. Taking the girls' hands she left. Her heart was broken and she felt such despair. Once in the car, she secured the girls and drove slowly and tearfully away to their home. Over the next months, she slowly removed all traces of him from the home except a photo that was in the girls' room.
Years later she looked back on that day and was glad that she had chosen to forgive Pecos. He had divorced her and married Rosella. She no longer wept over him. With the help of the Lord and her local church, she had rebuilt their lives. More recently she had begun to have thoughts that she may marry again. After all, she was still a young woman in her thirties. The girls were now teenagers and doing well. The difficult moments came when they asked about Pecos. She was not sure but she thought he may have returned to Mexico with Rosella. In her heart, she wished them well.
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