Treasure of the World Tara Sullivan (inspirational books for women TXT) 📖

Even though I know it’s the only thing that makes sense, the hurt feels real. Mami wraps an arm around me and holds me until my sobs still. I know we should head straight back inside, but there’s nothing we can do for Daniel at the moment, and I can’t quite face everyone else right now. I realize this is the first time, since I got home, that it’s been just Mami and me. I sit back and look at her.

“César told me why you got married,” I say. “He said you did it because you had to. To save Daniel.”

She smooths my hair out of my face and nods, waiting for me to go on.

“I get it,” I say, “and I’m glad he was able to help Daniel, but are you really okay with this? Papi only died a week ago. Did you even want to be married again?”

Mami lets out a slow breath. “I am very grateful to César. He put forward the money that saved my son’s life. He connected me with someone who can give him a safe place to heal. He has taken on the burden of caring for me, my mother-in-law, and my daughter. He is kind, and generous, and patient. He listens to me when I have something to say.”

I wait, but she doesn’t answer my question about whether she wanted to be married again after Papi.

“Is that enough?” I ask finally.

Mami looks at the house where César, Abuelita, and Belén are caring for Daniel.

“No,” she says, a small smile softening her face, “but it’s a good place to start.”

That night, even though we all pretend to, none of us sleep. Instead, we lie where we are and listen to Daniel fight to get enough air to make it to morning.

Since Daniel took her place, Abuelita is sharing the big bed with Mami. César is on the floor next to it, lying on a pile of folded blankets. Their door is open so they can hear if Daniel needs them. Belén and I are in our usual alcove, and Daniel is on the cot. Just like Mami described, whenever his breathing starts to even into sleep, he jerks awake, gasping and coughing. The pain from that on his healing ribs keeps him awake and panting shallowly for the better part of an hour. Then, when he finally settles down, the whole process starts again. It’s awful and it convinces me, like nothing else could, that he has to leave.

The next morning dawns bright and cold, just like so many others. I feel like there should be some way to mark it, something to make it stick out in our memories. It should be raining, or snowing, even! Some kind of freak weather should mark this day as different. Instead, it’s just another mid-March day, as if Daniel leaving didn’t matter to the universe one way or the other.

As soon as it’s light enough to see, we all stop pretending to sleep and get ready to walk into town. The trip from Sucre to Potosí takes over three hours by bus, so César’s cousin won’t arrive before midmorning. We need to be ready to settle Daniel next to her for the immediate return trip to Sucre.

Abuelita says a murmured goodbye to Daniel while Mami packs his schoolbag with his clothes and things to send with him. After a quick breakfast, we’re ready to head out. Abuelita puts her hands on Belén’s shoulders. Belén gives us a weak wave. It’s Friday, so she’s off to school. Abuelita will stay home in case she’s needed.

Mami and I are going along so we can be with Daniel until the last possible minute. César will carry him. César boosts my brother onto his back and the four of us set off. With gravity pushing Daniel onto César instead of away from him, Mami doesn’t have to support him on the downhill walk. Instead, she carries his things. I feel useless with nothing to carry, but I walk next to Daniel the whole way down the mountain. I tried a couple of times last night to talk to him, but conversation was too tiring when he had to fight for every breath. Pretty soon, we gave up. Now I hang on to the laces of his tennis shoe like a three-year-old, wishing he didn’t have to leave us.

We need to stop a bunch of times to let both Daniel and César rest, but we make it to the bus station with twenty minutes to spare. César finds a bench against a wall and sets Daniel on it. I perch beside him while César and Mami head off to buy him a ticket.

After the jostling of being carried down the mountain, Daniel’s face is almost gray and his sweat has soaked through the collar of his shirt.

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell him.

“How”—Daniel scowls at me between gasps—“is any—of this—okay?”

I look at his eyes and realize they’re wide not just from the pain.

“Are you scared?” I ask.

Daniel hesitates, then nods.

“Don’t be,” I say softly. “You’re getting away. Far away from here. Far away from the mountain and the mines. Far away from the rocks and the cold. You’re going to a green valley, and you’re going to sink your toes into the soft black soil. You’re going to breathe air full of oxygen and grow strong and healthy.”

I see tears gather in the corners of Daniel’s eyes.

“We were—supposed—to do that—together,” he manages.

“Maybe it’s not quite like we planned,” I admit. “But having you alive is still a dream.”

With a screeching of brakes, César’s cousin’s bus arrives. She’s extra short and round with very bright eyes and a high, clear laugh. She reminds me of a bird in her bright colors and with her quick ways. César greets her with a hug and introduces her to Mami. As the women go over Daniel’s care and how they’ll stay in contact,