Tortured Souls -Oscar Diaz 2-

Chapter 9

It had only been a few days since Monse's mother died. There was a funeral for her today, but Ruby was the only one going. Sofia was home with her Abuelita. Everyone else was gone, but that wasn't a surprise. Her family seemed to be spread apart lately, and it was hard. Her parents were having financial issues, and they were constantly fighting. Sofia knew they loved each other, but it wasn't easy to be around.

Sofia pulled open the drawer but stopped seeing there were no knives. "Crap." She slammed the drawer closed. Grabbing the plate she walked towards the table. Her Abuelita was sitting there already, scrolling through her phone.

Sofia was already eating what was on her plate before she sat down. "Why did Jamal download candy crush on my phone," the older woman said. "I'm addicted."

"It's fun," Sofia said with a mouthful of food. Abuelita glanced over the top of her phone and watched as the girl ate a plate full of pickles and cheese.

"Sofia," she slowly spoke. "What are you eating?"

Sofia glanced at the plate, "breakfast?"

"Why?"

"It sounded good," Sofia knew her Abuelita was judging her. "Pickels sound good. I don't know why."

Abuelita blinked once, then twice. "Right." Sofia ate what was on her plate, her body leaning back in the chair. The older woman watched her carefully and noticed as the color drained from her face. Sofia quickly stood up, a hand gripping the chair. "Sofia?"

Sofia was out of the room in a second, hurrying down the hallway towards the bathroom. Pushing open the door, she fell to her knees in front of the toilet. Abuelita rushed after her, watching as Sofia threw up in the toilet. She walked into the room and grabbed her hair, not wanting it to get dirty.

After a moment, the vomiting stopped, "sorry." Sofia fell against the tub. "I think I ate too much too fast."

"Sofia," Abuelita voice wavered.

"I promise I'm not sick," she chuckled. "I'm just stressed."

That much was true. Anyone watching Sofia recently knew the stress she had been under, but there was something else. Something only Marisol had noticed. "You know," she leaned against the doorframe. "When your mother was pregnant with you and Mario. I was by her side day and night. I made her anything and everything possible to eat. But she never wanted it." She waved her hands as she spoke. "You know what she did want?" Sofia waited for her response. "Pickels and cheese."

Sofia sat still for a second, not sure why she was telling her this story. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "What," she couldn't help but laugh. "You think I'm pregnant? Are you serious?" Her smile fell when she noticed the woman wasn't laughing. "Wait, you're serious?"

"The last few weeks, you've been sick throughout the day. You're not sleeping, and you're eating more-"

"I'm just stressed," Sofia argued. "That's it." There was no way she could be pregnant. But she had missed her period. Why didn't she notice sooner?

"Well," she shrugged. "Are you using protection?" Sofia stared at her, jaw falling open at the question. She did not want to have this conversation with her grandmother of all people. "Sofia," Abuelita noticed her shocked expression. "If you can't talk about sex, you shouldn't be having it."

"Okay," Sofia cut her off. "I don't want to talk about it with you. You're my family. That's weird."

"What's weird is a grown woman eating pickles and cheese."

Sofia wanted to argue but couldn't. "Yes, we use protection all of-" but she stopped halfway through. A specific memory in her mind. A singular time they didn't. The night Cesar came back, and Oscar found out about the Rollerworld money. "Shit."

"Sofia-"

"It was just the one time," Sofia argued. But now she was scared. She couldn't be pregnant. Not right now. There was too much going on, and she was leaving.

"Hold on." And with that, she was gone. Sofia's hands started to shake as she thought about the idea of being pregnant. She was terrified of the thought. Oscar had never talked about having kids, and right now, everything seemed to be falling apart.

In seconds, her Abuelita was back. In her hand was a box. A box of pregnancy tests. "Why do you even have that?"

"Don't ask questions," the woman threw the box at her. "Pee on the stick, and then we wait a few minutes."

"Okay." Sofia heard the door close, but she was staring at the stick in her hand. Everything about this situation terrified her.

Everything next felt like a movie. Sofia followed the instructions perfectly. Once she was done, she flipped the test upside down and walked out. Abuelita set a timer, and they both sat on the couch. Not a single word was spoken.

Sofia rocked back and forth the entire time. She was scared. No, she was terrified. What would happen if it was positive? What would Oscar think? Would he leave her? Her mother would be so disappointed in her. And Ruby. Would he hate her? She wanted to throw up again, but Sofia couldn't move. She was paralyzed.

After fifteen minutes, the alarm went off. The two women jumped at the sound. However, Sofia didn't get up. Her Abuelita took that as her sign and stood up. "Do you want me-"

"Yes," Sofia cut her off. "Please. I'm too scared."

"Of course." And she left to grab the test. Sofia's body was shaking, her palms sweaty. Her heart raced as her Abuelita walked back into the room. The test was in her hand. She had yet to look. She glanced at Sofia, who nodded, and then she flipped over the test.

The silence was heavy, and Sofia searched her face for a reaction. But her face didn't move a muscle. "What does it say?"

She looked up at Sofia, "it's positive."

"Positive," Sofia repeated. She was pregnant. "Oh my god." She pushed up from the couch.

"Sofia-"

"I can't," she paced back and forth. "I can't be. No. I can't."

"Sofia-"

"He'll leave me," Sofia spoke to herself. "Ma will hate me. Everyone will hate me."

"Sofia-" Abuelita grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stop moving.

"What am I going to do?"

She placed a hand on her cheek, "first, let's start by going to the doctors. We will go from there, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Sofia," Abuelita placed a hand on her cheek. "Take a deep breath, my love. Everything is going to be okay." And Sofia wanted to believe her, but she didn't. She was pregnant and had no idea what to do next.