Tormented: Day 3

Word Count: 18,007

Summary of Events:

Esperanza managed to jump her guard and get away with his gun in an attempt at escape; she was caught just before she was able to escape, though. Riel, having decided to spend a couple of weeks in Mar del Plata, wandered around the villas miserias and ended up coming upon Esperanza's little brother, Pedro. Esperanza was sedated and taken to do a sort of modelling thing again — from the best she could guess — and did it because she had no other choice. Riel wandered around the villas miserias again and ended up running into a confrontational man whom he managed to get away from. Esperanza was given the news by her guard that she'd successfully been sold.

Excerpt of the Day:

""Did you like your sister, Esperanza?" Riel asked

"A little bit," Pedro replied.

"What did you like about her?" Riel asked.

"She wasn't bossy like Violetta is, and she never told us we were playing our games too loud, and sometimes she'd play with us, especially football*, but sometimes she got scary when playing football," Pedro replied.

"Why?" Riel asked.

"Because she always wanted to win, and she'd kick the ball very hard; one time she even knocked a whole house down because she kicked it so hard," Pedro replied.

"Oh my," Riel said. "What didn't you like about her?"

"How she always wanted to win at football," Pedro replied. "And she was a girl, and she didn't always do things when we asked her to, or like we asked her to."

Riel nodded. "Do you think you'll ever see her again?"

"No," Pedro replied. "The police can't find her."

Riel nodded, wishing he had something else to say, but all his ideas would either lead him to become emotionally unstable, or would be likely to infuriate Pedro and make him leave.

"I don't like that they can't find her," Pedro said. "I'd much rather Violetta have gone away and the police not be able to find her. She's not nice. Anza was a little bit nice, and more fun, and she let us have more fun without her too."

"I don't like that they can't find her either," Riel said.

"You like her?" Pedro asked.

Riel startled, then shook his head and tried to laugh slightly. "No, I've never met her."

"Then why don't you like that they can't find her?" Pedro asked.

"Because it's too much the same as when my sister disappeared," Riel replied, looking into Pedro's eyes.

The dark eyes widened and surprise came over the boy's face. "Your sister disappeared too?"

Riel nodded. "She went to a party, and when I went to pick her up she wasn't there."

"And they didn't find her?" Pedro asked.

"No," Riel replied. "They didn't."

"Did you have lots of policemen come talk to you?" Pedro asked.

"Yes," Riel replied.

"Asking you to tell them if she was behaving odd when you last saw her?" Pedro asked.

Riel nodded. "Yes."

"And they went away?" Pedro asked. "Or do they still bug you?"

"They went away," Riel replied. "Now it's the newspaper and magazine people who bother me about it."

"Oh," Pedro said.

"She's been gone, for nine years," Riel said.

"That's a long time," Pedro said.

"Too long," Riel said, gazing at the ground."

*football, here, is referring to soccer.