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Shane looked around the room tentatively, everyone was solemn and quiet, whispering amongst themselves. Only Carla directed her attention to her, causing Shane to smile with appreciation.

“How is she?” She asked.

“She’s doing good, the pills sometimes do that to her.” Shane glanced over to Mr. Morales involuntarily and caught the tail end of a cringe. She looked away as quickly as possible so that she didn’t have to lock eyes with the man that now intimidated her to death. “The hurling is less frequent now, ‘cause she takes nausea pills too, but sometimes, lil’ things can trigger it.” Shane continued explaining to Carla as best as she can, her voice escalating as she realized that the entire family’s eyes were on her listening to her explanation.

Carla placed a comforting arm over Shane’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “It must be really hard on you too.”

“Yeah well, I’ve learnt to deal with it.”

With a shrug, Shane bowed her head down and slanted her eyes up, catching the eye of Mercedes. Mercedes gave her an encouraging smile before addressing her family, “Okay, who wants more desert?”

The children started jumping around screaming ‘me me me’, causing the entire family to laugh. “I’ll help you momma,” Carla said, getting up and walking into the kitchen after her mother. Roddy always went where the food was, and followed his elder sister eagerly.

That left Shane vulnerable and alone. The only two support she felt she had left, leaving her to deal with the different pairs of eyes penetrating her. The uncomfortable eyes of Pedro and Esther, the confused eyes of Ricardo, and mainly the angry eyes of Mr. Morales all bore into her soul, and she shifted her legs in discomfort.

Esther cleared her throat awkwardly and announced, “I’ll go see if there is anything that Roy could eat,” hurling the baby into the kitchen faster then the words came out.

The silence was deafening. Shane felt like she rather be shot dead then be here another minute longer. As she was about to make an excuse to escape, Ricardo suddenly asked, “So Shane, I heard you take good care of my sister. Thank you.” It wasn’t exactly warm, the voice, but it was adequately cordial, and Shane appreciated it, knowing how uncomfortable it must be for the eldest sibling Carmen had.