“This is how you crushed my son. This is how you him in small pieces. I wanted you to see that”, he says, coldly.

Shane shakes her head stubbornly.

“No. This is how he crushed himself. This is how he wasted his own life”, she says, “And yes, you’re right. Maybe I did facilitate the process, but he shouldn’t have touched Carmen”.

“McCutcheon, I don’t give a shit about your explanations, your excuses or your justifications”, Jack Sanders hisses, “I only care about my son. The son you’ve taken away from me”.

“What about the son YOUR son stole us?!”, Shane yells, moving a step forward him, “What about the baby Carmen was carrying, what about the life he interrupted, what about Marshall and those two people in Milan, what about kidnapping, menacing and beating our friends, what about my wife’s memories?! You son of a bitch, you have no fucking problem in justify yourself and him, but you have to know what the truth is!”.

Carmen pulls her by her arm, pulls her back against her body. She cups her face with both of her hands and whispers something in Spanish. Shane tries to turn her head back to Sanders, but Carmen keeps her still, forcing her to watch her straight in the eyes. She keeps whispering words in Spanish, her eyes begging her, supplicating her to listen.

And Shane listens. She listens in silence for a very long time, then nods, slowly, angry tears running down her cheeks, and Carmen kisses her, inhaling deeply through her nose. She kisses Shane with all of her love and desperation, several times, small kisses on her lips. And Shane, finally, gives in. She just takes Carmen into her arms, burying her face in the crook of her neck.

”You tried and tried to use my life
To keep your aggression trivialized
Never an ego in control
But now who’s the shit that sold his soul
You did it all, did it all
In the name of pity”*

I look at Jack Sanders, and he seems unimpressed. Maybe even disgusted. He nods to one of his bootlickers and the guy pulls Shane back, handcuffing her just like he did with me. Carmen tries desperately to clutch to her shirt, but the other guy grabs her by her shoulders, holding her back.