Moreno's (Moreno Brothers Series) - Elizabeth Reyes Page 0,37
that,” Alej said, feeling a little annoyed by this.
He’d mentioned his dad wanting to move to the other side plenty of times. How they’d been working on getting their visas as well. Yet Isa had never once mentioned her mom’s aspiration of moving out there too.
Isa shrugged. “You and your family moving seemed more realistic to me than us ever making the move, I guess. Your dad has always had a plan. Both you and your sister are older and will be able to get jobs out there as well. I just figured my mom was dreaming. She’d been saying it for so long with no actual plan, and nothing ever came of it, so I thought it silly to even mention it. I figured your family would be long gone before we’d go anywhere out of this little pueblo.”
“You did?” Alej asked as the pain of her indifference about that sunk in. “And you were okay with that?”
Isa chuckled dryly. “What was I supposed to do, Alej? Insist you take me with you? My mother would never let that happen, and your dad wouldn’t either.” She shrugged, looking suddenly as pained as he was beginning to feel. “I guess I preferred not thinking about it or hoping, if it did happen, it wouldn’t until I was old enough to be married. Unlike your dad and my mom, I’ve never cared where I ended up, Alej. As long as we’re together.”
“So now you’re leaving?” he asked as the knot in his stomach grew heavier.
“I don’t know yet. There’s just been a lot of talk about it. Only this time it’s feeling like it’s really more than just a dream. My aunt and uncle in Juarez have already started to make the move though.”
“They have?”
This was more alarming than Alej first thought. That he and Isa would someday be separated because of him moving to the other side had always been in the back of his mind. But as she said, he’d hoped the move would happen years from now when they were married so he could take her with him. His dad hadn’t even mentioned any progress with their visas in a while. Alej hadn’t bothered asking or even bringing it up since he didn’t want to seem the least bit anxious about the move.
“Well, they’ve given notice to their landlord that they’ll be moving out at the end of the month, and they already started packing.” She nodded, staring at him blankly. “They’re moving for sure.”
“Has your mom said it’s a sure thing for you guys too?”
She shook her head, relieving him somewhat, but she still looked too unsure. “We’re tied into the lease at the house we’re renting for at least another three months. Though my grandma said the owner was flexible and would work with them. But that’s all I know.”
Well, at least he had that. Hopefully, the landlord wouldn’t be too flexible and Alej would have at three months to try and prepare his heart and come up with a plan to be sure they stayed in touch no matter what. As soon as he knew for sure if Isa was really moving, he’d start pestering his dad about those visas.
As if that weren’t a big enough distraction and change to his world, a week later one of Cido’s uncles was murdered in Juarez. It was a shock to the small pueblo where everyone knew everyone—a shock only because it was so close to home—but not because of the violent way in which he was killed. Things had progressively been getting more and more dangerous in Juarez, the closest city to the pueblo. Though Cido professed to not knowing anything about it, his uncles had been rumored to be getting involved in some illegal activities in the city recently. But it was never confirmed if that had been the reason for his death.
A lot of murders occurred in the months leading up to his death, so much so many in the area were talking about moving away. Not only did his uncle’s murder have Octavio and the rest of his brothers also talking about moving away somewhere safer, it helped make up Isa’s mom’s and grandmother’s minds to decide to move for sure.
Now Alej was down to two months to come up with a plan. But even before her mom and abuela confirmed they’d be leaving for sure, Alej had begun to plan. He’d picked up another gig so he could start saving up to possibly