“But it’s inevitable. She’s not going to get better. She’s not. I know that now. Not even a little bit.” Patricia adjusted Salma and wiped a tear from her eye. “She’s never going to fall in love. Never get married. Never have children of her own. Never…” More tears leaked from her eyes. “And I should be there for her. I’m her mother. I should be there for her. But I don’t think I can be, Diego. I don’t think I can. I’m…I’m scared of her. I’m scared of my own daughter.”

He hushed her, getting off his chair, kneeling beside her, stroking her back.

“We never should have given her away,” she went on. “She was our daughter. We should have loved her. We should have taken care of her. Now look what’s happened to her. Look what’s happened to our daughter.”

“We’ll take her back. I’ll take her back. Tomorrow—”

“To Saint Agatha’s?” she said, shocked. “Look what’s happened to her there!”

“We’ll be better this time. We’ll visit her. We’ll make sure they treat her right.”

“No, Diego.” She was shaking her head. “She can’t go back there.”

His face hardened. “She can’t stay here, dear. Not with Salma. I won’t allow it.”

“No, she can’t stay here,” she agreed.

“I’ll start looking for another school then—”

“Who’s to say another school will be any more kind to her? And what of when she’s too old for school? She will have to go to one of those institutions. Do you know what those places are like? And she’s pretty, Diego. She’s still so pretty. That’s the worst part. She will be a victim, taken advantage of. I don’t think I could live with myself knowing she was locked away in one of those places, getting beaten and raped and—” She took a deep breath and held her husband’s eyes. “I know this is a terrible thing to say. I pray for my soul. God, I pray for my soul. But this world wasn’t meant for her. There is nothing in it for her except suffering and pain.”

“What are you getting at, dear?”

“I’m saying…” But she found she couldn’t form the words. She couldn’t bear to hear them coming from her lips. Yet in the end it didn’t matter. She didn’t have to say anything.

Diego understood.

Jack

1

I returned inside the cabin. Pita and Elizaveta still embraced, their heads buried in each other’s shoulders. Jesus hovered next to them, speaking softly. And…aw shit. Rosa stood at the threshold to the bedroom, her eyes sullen, her hands clamped over her mouth. She seemed to be staring at everything and nothing.