Consuelo's Death Pt 2
Date: September 23, 2015 Time: 5:00pm Location: Azoth Manor Characters: Desiderio & Rosa Vargas Description: Desiderio returns with news of Consuelo’s death... Status/Rating: PG-13, mentions of death.
Desiderio returned to Seattle was a mixed bag. He flew First Class this time around, he hadn't needed to rush. Not rushing also left him time to think. In many ways, Consuelo's death had lightened some of his load. Freed him in ways he'd been caged for so long. Had to be restrained, expected to act in a certain manner. He'd stretched the restraints of his vow as far as he could in matters of the... body. Now he need not do so. He could indulge himself where he couldn't before. Not that he would do so wildly as he had in his youth. He'd learned lessons. He was now a man more worldly and wise. He'd be careful this time.
He also had the task of sharing the news with his daughter, family and allies. This was something he wasn't sure on. He suspected how everyone would react... except Rosa. It was a delicate subject. Absent though Consuelo had been, the woman was still Rosa's mother. There would be no changing that. So he worried as to how she would take to the news.
There was also the fact Desiderio was now a widow, a single father in truth. There would be certain expectations from his family now he was free and the acting Head of Illusion to re-marry, more properly this time. There would be his aunts and other older relatives back in Spain plotting who to push to have as the new Vargas Matriarch.
The plane touched down and he sent out texts to his family, Rosa, as well as Emma and Zach. He would speak to them all in turn. He told Rosa to wait for him in his room, and as soon as he arrived he made for the third floor. Entering he smiled as he placed his over night bag down and came to Rosa to give her a firm embrace; a lighter smile on his lips than Rosa had likely ever seen before. "Ah, mi hermosa hija. Te he echado de menos." He then pulled back and kissed her forehead before going to sit, pulling her with him. He stayed with Spanish as he spoke. "I have news... serious news for you, my little princess..."
Rosa hadn't thought anything really of her father's sudden departure. Things came up with the family or with business that had often had him leave quickly. He also kept in touch with her and was rarely gone for a long time. She was never left alone so she wasn't afraid of him being gone. But this time there was a curiosity that caught her in his leaving. But Desi said he would tell them when he came home so she would wait.
It didn't take too long before she'd gotten his text and that he was coming home soon. He's only been in Chicago o that wouldn't be long enough. He sent her his arrival times and had asked her to meet him. She would of course, ti would never be a thought that she wouldn't; her curiosity piquing once again.
Leaving her room at the time approached Rosa moved to the 3rd floor and his room, sitting on the couch and enjoying her tea. She wasn't sure how long it had been but upon his entrance she smiled and got up and hugged him tight. "Papa, welcome home." She smiled ad stepped back and looked at him. Something was different. She could see it in his face. Te he perdido demasiado Papa. ¿Que pasó? She watched him and moved back toward the couch. "This is why you had to rush to Chicago isn't it?"
"Yes, it does," he said as they settled down, his expression turning into a serious one. It was time to tell her, and she was old enough. He wasn't going to withhold details about who her mother had been. He wouldn't tinge them in telling to her, and try to keep to the facts alone.
"Alright, I am going to tell you the facts I have learned. Allow me to get through all of the details before you begin to question me." He waited for her acknowledgement before going on. "I received a call from the Chicago Police Department. A Jane Doe had been picked up after a drive by shooting and died in transit to the Hospital. Later her passport was discovered, naming her Consuelo Vargas. My wife, your mother. They had called me to verify her identity, it was why I left suddenly. They would not give me details over the phone, so I went to them. From interviews and eye witness accounts it seemed that the shooting was done by a local gang that had dealings in drug trafficking. On Consuelo's body were various track marks and markers of heavy drug use. It was suspected she had stolen from them and her death was a result of that, but nothing could be proven.
"I went to Chicago and was taken to her. I verified her identity and have made the arrangements. She is in transit to Spain where she will be buried in her families' plot." He paused for a moment, watching Rosa. "Your madre is dead, and will be buried in three days. If you would like, I will arrange for us to fly to Madrid for her burial."
She frowned as his expression changed. She knew him well enough to notice mood changes and it concerned her Rosa looked at him when he'd made his request and she nodded slowly. She wasn't sure what to think, of what was to come. She reached out an took his hand. "It's okay Papa, you can tell me."
But as she sat there and listened, Rosa heard the words and she understood what he said but there was something that she just couldn't comprehend fully. Consuelo, her mother, was dead. She should've been upset and devastated, but.... she wasn't. She was very sad and felt a loss for sure. But Consuelo hadn't been a part of her life since she was very very young. Other than a few pictures, Rosa had vague memories of her but that was it. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, her eyes wet but she wasn't crying. She just tried to take all of this in and make sense of it. No one deserved to die like that but especially not her. She couldn't think of anything more sad and lonely.
"I..." she started, cautious to steady her voice. "I know she wasn't with us but, she was my mother Papa. I don't think it would be right if we missed it. I think we should go."
His daughter, she was so strong. A strong young woman, a Vargas to her core. Compassionate and everything that could possibly make him a proud papa. He loved her dearly, her and her good heart. Thankfully she had Lucia and his mother as good examples of how a woman should be. Strong and beautiful. He couldn't ever be more proud of the child he had right here with him.
He gave a slight nod of his head. "It is not so much a matter of what is right and wrong in the eyes of others, Rosa. It is a matter of what is right for us. We must weigh everything. the safety of our family, the reasons behind why going could be hazardous. We will be expected to go, that will put eyes on her funeral that could be looking to harm us, it would need security measures to ensure we are safe. It would also mean dividing the family, and taking us out of this tense situation... which our absence from could hurt our own cause." He laid it out for her and fell silent, waiting for her to think it over and re-asses her decision. She was 19, it was time she start taking on responsibilities which included making decisions that affected multiple people and thinking of the consequences of her decisions.
Her head was a mess of thoughts and confusion. She knew she had to think rationally but she also thought she should be devastated and hurting. And in some ways she was but she'd seen loss and hurt before and she wasn't feeling that now and it confused her too. She stayed close to Desi and took strength from him as she'd always done.
"We can't put the others in danger Papa, not just for this but I think it is important for us to go. I know it isn't wise to divide the family but Lucia and the boys don't need to go. If it's just you and I, we should take Warren with us. Rafe and Mateo can look out for themselves and Lucia, and we should see if one of our allies, our friends can look out for them while we're gone," she was trying to think as he had taught her, that she would have to do as head of a family eventually. "Being gone can be risky but we're not going to disappear; and we can make sure we are only gone for a few days. Or, I could go alone, which I know isn't favorable but it would ensure you're presence remains here. Though I would rather be selfish and you be with me."
Frankly if Rosa wasn't torn about Consuelo and her death in some way, Desi would be worried for her. But he knew his daughter. It was a difficult situation for her to be in. She also didn't know her mother as Desi did, or the rest of her family for that matter. Even Rafe had concrete memories of the woman. Rosa had no solid ones and so was left with what had to be a questionable emotional state.
"Alright. Then we will go, and no. I will not let you go alone. We will go together. He pulled Rosa in a tight hug, letting his chin come to rest on top of her head. Giving her comfort and support. He was perhaps not the most affectionate of men to others, but he loved his family, and none more than his daughter. "I will make the arrangements, mi princesita." He then settled in to hold and comfort his daughter for as long as she wanted him. His talk with his siblings would come soon enough. for now he would give his time to Rosa.