The next minutes felt like a whirlwind of emotions and movements. Dante first felt Naya's arm slump off his shoulder. He looked at her, not sure what to expect, but the only emotion apparent on Naya's face was shock. An image flashed through his mind of his own mother falling to her knees the night she got that fateful call that told her her first child was dead.
The officers started talking again, probably telling her what was going to happen next, about them taking her to the police station and talking about the situation in depth there, but neither of them heard a word. The next thing he knew, Dante saw Naya being guided by the police to their car. Naya reached out for Dante's hand, only able to touch the tips of her soft fingertips before she was out of reach.
The absence of Naya brought back Dante's subdued feelings about the warrant on his brother, and he lost the ability to process. Naya was escorted into the police car, her fists balled up around the hem of Dante's t-shirt. He watched the patrol car roll off the front lawn, leaving dirt tire marks on the grass, taking with them someone who had become much more than just some random girl he met just a couple weeks ago.
Alex was the one who pulled Dante back in from outside and sat him down on the couch. Dante ran his fingers through his hair, his mind flooded with dark thoughts, unable to focus on just one, but perhaps that was a good thing. Dante felt guilty for worrying about Naya leaving when his brother was missing, but he felt even more ashamed when he worried for his brother when he knew that Naya was having her whole world crumble in front of her.
Alex, Freddie, and Gloria were sitting in silence around Dante in a circle of chairs they had pulled from the dining table. They hadn't heard everything, but they knew the gist. They looked at their panicked and stunned silent friend, feeling totally helpless. There was nothing they could say, nothing they could do, that would do anything for Dante right now.
Freddie felt more guilty. He'd known something was wrong with him when Manny wouldn't pick up his phone. Freddie had tried to tell Dante, but he didn't want to worry him in case it was nothing. But it wasn't nothing.
"Are you…" Freddie hesitated, "going to tell your mom?"
Dante flopped back on the couch, his fingers still on his head, as if that could do anything for the splitting pain in his head. If anything, the sudden movement only increased the nausea he hadn't realized he was experiencing till just then.
"Ah shit. What else do I gotta do? Let's see, find my dumbass brother, come up with bail money for my dumbass brother, go to court for my dumbass brother, and hope he doesn't go to juvie. Thanks for adding 'crushing my mother's hopes and dreams of having at least one of her kids getting out of this dump' to the list."
Dante hadn't meant to be so crass. Freddie was right, they had to tell his mom, but the weight of the whole situation seemed to be crashing on Dante alone. He hadn't been able to catch his breath that entire week. It had just been mess after mess. When had his life become so damn complicated?
When he'd met Naya.
Not that any of this was her fault. It was more like she made an appearance in his life when he needed it the most.
Dante rubbed his eyes of phantom tears and groaned, "Sorry dude. I just… I can't do it. I can't do that to her."
Freddie paused for a moment "If you want, I can do it," he offered. Dante had been there for him countless times. He could do this if he needed to.
Dante had to think about it. The offer was tempting, but he knew it was his responsibility.
"Nah man, I can do it. I need to do it."
Dante pulled out his phone and called his mother's number. She answered in her normal motherly, bubbly voice.
"Ay Dante! Are you okay mijo? Freddie called me and told me Naya had to stay over because of the storms. Is she okay? Ask her how she slept. Oh mijo, the storm really scared the bejesus out of us. We had to run to your Tia's house with those aluminum trays over our heads. And then Marcie totally forgot the alarm and we overslept and had to run back to the restaurant in our soaked socks in time for opening. Ay, I wish I could have you seen you boys this morning," Dante's mother continued to yabber on like she usually did.
Dante's heart grew heavy in his chest, and he felt the greasy bacon from his breakfast threaten to do a u-turn. He thrusted the phone in Freddie's direction and said, "I thought I could do this, I really did, but I just can't."
Freddie looked at the phone, understanding what it would mean to take it. He could still hear the faint sound of Mrs. Garcia talking over the phone about the random things that she was eager to tell her son.
Freddie put the phone to his ear and walked to a quiet corner of the room. In the gap of a few moments she took to take a breath between stories, Freddie told her what happened as gently as he could. Dante found himself dry heaving as he watched Freddie nod his head a couple times before handing the phone back to Dante.
"She wants to talk to you."
Dante took the phone, and put it against his ear.
Dante heard his mother again, her voice devoid of all the playful banter that it was usually filled with.
"Dante, I'm coming home now, but I need you to go out and find your brother now."
"Okay, yeah, I'll find him," Dante said. He pushed his fingers against his temple, "What do I do if... I mean, when I find him?"
"I need you to turn him in to the police."