If Gloria put herself first, she likes to think she would’ve walked away years ago. Just packed all her things while Frankie was out and left, the only evidence that she was ever there being a signed note about what a monster he is. Who’s to say if she would’ve actually gone through with this. She’s known many strong women, her mother included, who have stayed in marriages like this for their own reasons. For Gloria’s mother, it was the financial security that was necessary while raising Gloria and her sisters. For Gloria, she stays because her son doesn’t see his father as a monster. How could she tear Pazito away from Frankie, especially at a young age?
Over the years, the time to leave has never felt right.
First, Gloria thought things would change when she was pregnant.
She was wrong.
Gloria thought things would change when her son was born.
She was wrong.
Gloria thought things would change when her son slept through the night.
She was wrong.
Gloria thought things would change when her son started speaking.
She was wrong.
Gloria thought things would change when her son began preschool.
She was wrong.
Gloria thought things would change when her son booked a movie.
She was wrong.
Gloria thinks things will change.
She hopes she’s not wrong.
But she’s planning to be, thanks to Death-Cast.
Moments after Frankie leaves their bedroom, upset at Rolando again for some new mysterious reason, Gloria is struggling to fall back to sleep. She listens in on the news, which is still covering the fatalities from Times Square tonight. She had stayed up with Pazito watching the celebrations when she heard the gunshots. Quick on her feet, Gloria switched off the TV and told him those were fireworks, and when he asked to stay up just a little bit longer to watch them—that boy loves him some fireworks—she apologized and sent him to his bed. She wants to keep her son as young as she possibly can and not force him to grow up too soon. Who knows what traumatic thing he could’ve seen if she hadn’t turned off the TV?
Now she has her answer. The camera teams present to capture the night managed to get some disturbing footage, including one man being shot in his neck by someone in a skull mask. Then there was a close call as a teen boy bravely tackles another to the ground, saving his life. What a hero. The reporters cut back to an image of the assailant in his mask, sharing that he has not been identified or caught at this time.
Gloria shivers and switches the channel where another news station is reporting on a grounded flight in Arizona where Death-Cast called a pilot minutes before takeoff. Her heart goes to that Decker’s family, but she’s relieved at how Death-Cast potentially saved the lives of all those passengers. It’s unclear if more people would have died had that pilot flown that plane; it’s hard to say without knowing how Death-Cast knows who is and who isn’t dying, but she’s choosing to believe this is a miracle.
Before she rolls back over, hoping to get some more shut-eye before she has to take Pazito to an audition for a commercial later, Gloria checks her phone to make sure that she isn’t such a heavy sleeper that she slept through the ringer that is said to be impossible to sleep through unless you’re dead. There are no warnings from Death-Cast.
She isn’t dying today.
Sadly, this doesn’t bring her the comfort it should. Not dying doesn’t mean she can’t be hurt, and that dread is alive and well. It may not always be that way.
Gloria thinks things will change.
She hopes she’s not wrong.
Naya Rosa
5:55 a.m.