"Hey daddy" I lean in to give him a kiss on the cheek. I'm surprise to see him smoking a cigar this early in the morning. Everyone knows that my father only smokes cigars when he is stressing over something. "Hey princess" he fakes smiles as he puts down his cigar. I know it's fake because his smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Something wrong Papi?" I study him as I take the seat across from him. I know that he isn't going to tell me what's on his mind. He never tells me anything but it's worth a try. "Just the fact that my baby girl is leaving" he gives me another force smile. My chest tightens up hearing how upset he sounds. I drop my head to play around with the fruits in my bowl. "Papi remember you promised that we were going to find a way to keep in touch" I remind him as I fight back my tears. I know that if I start crying now there is no way I'm going to stop. From underneath my moist eyelashes I see him nod as he smokes from his cigar. I reach for a strawberry and shove it into my mouth I don't know what else to say and to be honest I don't want to keep going with this conversation. My mind goes back to Bella I wonder if my dad knew about her?
"Papi can I ask you a question?" I lean back in to my chair. "Sure," he reaches for his cup of coffee. Ewk coffee and cigar? That's just a nasty combination. "Do you know about Bella?" I blurt out. His eyebrow raises all the way up to his hairline, it's kind of funny, "Bella as in Isabella?". Well I guess he does know who she is. "Yea Isabella" I say her full name it's such a beautiful name. He leans back into his chair and stares out into the meadow lost in his thoughts.
I wonder what he is thinking about? I want to ask him again but he is so lost in his thoughts that I would feel bad for interrupting. "I was 5 years old when Nina moved down the street from my house with Isabella I think she was just 3 years old. We grew up together we even went to the same school I was always one year ahead of her," he says. I knew that Nina and my father knew each other before my father became El Rey but I didn't know how far they really went. Wait, if my dad and Bella knew each other than that means Bella must of met my mom. "Did Bella know mom?" I ask hoping he would answer.