The Telenovela Episode #3 Who is V.M?

Recap: Last week we left Reina and Rey as she finally found the courage to break away from her family, move in with Rey and she finally had some hope for the future.

In Rey’s arms Reina felt as if everything was going to be ok. She didn’t know what was in store for her future but she knew that they could handle it together. Rey and Reina spent the next several weeks settling her into his apartment and being in the bubble of new love. They both worked but it was their time together that they enjoyed. Some times they would go out and sometimes they would just stay in all wrapped up in each other. They had successfully christened every room and piece of furniture in the apartment.

During this time weeks went by, turning into months and as it happens to all bubbles, Rey and Reina’s bubble of love was about to get popped. The stress at Rey’s work was starting to take a toll on him. He was doing all the work every day and his partner took the credit. He began coming home from work in moods. He was suspecting his partner more and more of trying to keep the spotlight on him and away from Rey. His partner knew that Rey knew all his secrets,… all his lies and he knew Rey wasn’t going to lie for him anymore so he kept Rey out of the lime light.

Rey loved his crew at the restaurant, he loved the business that he and his partner grew together. He couldn’t imagine his life any other way. They had wanted to go to New York City and make a name for themselves and they did! Their tables were always full and Rey received standing ovations for his food. It was the shifting dynamics with his old friend and partner that really bothered him. His partner spent his days in his own world of self promotion. He sat at the table in the restaurant and with his key board warrior fingers he took to his many social media profiles to give himself fake reviews and promote his many lies. Rey saw everything unfolding right in front of his eyes. He felt almost sorry for his partner for his sad existence of a life.

Reina took a new job at a new company still working as a mosaic restoration tech and she was still waiting to get paid. It had been four weeks and each week a different excuse was given to her as to why her pay check was late. Nothing was going right for Reina it seemed. She got a call from the credit bureau that someone had taken out credit cards in her name and had claimed her on their taxes. She made her calls to the credit card companies to report the credit card fraud and the IRS to report her name being used on tax documents. At the end of all her calls she didn’t feel any better she still had more questions then answers.

When Rey was at work and she needed to get on the subway to go any where it was a hour process. Reina looking at herself in the mirror telling herself she’s got this. She will just get on the subway, keep her headphones on, and her eyes down. She just won’t look at anyone at all. She was always looking over her shoulder everywhere she went looking for Gram’s or one of her guys. If there was a car that resembled one of her Gram’s cars Reina’s heart would skip more than a few beats.

They were starting a life together and it just so happened that starting a life together wasn’t as easy as one might imagine. For Rey he couldn’t have imagined that she had never gone anywhere alone before or how it must have been both liberating and terrifying for Reina just to leave the apartment everyday. He was starting to get an understanding of her life and he vowed to help Reina get her life back. Reina too could understand that Rey knew a lot of people but he too was alone. Knowing people and having people who are there for you are two totally different things.

Even though things weren’t ideal the two of them found solace in each other. Reina and Rey would stay up until all hours of the morning laughing together and talking about plans to solve each of their problems. On one such morning they got out of bed and both went to work. Reina was home before Rey and she started to paint to pass the time until he arrived back to a place she had learned to call home. She spoke with Rey on the phone and then ordered Mr. M-Noodle, enough for both of them. Reina continued to paint her ocean scene waiting for the delivery to arrive. The buzzer for the door never rang but there was a knock on the door,

She grabbed the cash from the counter and opened the door. Everything happened so fast after that. Before Reina cold react this big man with a scar on his left cheek that looked like a V grabbed her and was trying to get down the three flights of stairs with Reina struggling. She got loose and saw the front door open, she was prepared to make a run for it when the big scary man pushed her up against the wall, slapped her around to get her attention and spoke with a Spanish accent into her ear. ” Now you know we can get to you anywhere, anytime. I think it’s best if you get yourself back home before any real problems start. You don’t belong here! What did you think you could just go shack up with this guy and you were going to live happily ever after? ” He chuckled a deep unhealthy rattly phlegm filled smokers chuckle

With those words he let go of Reina leaving her crying in the corner of the entry way of their apartment building. When Rey got home she was drunk, angry and scared for both of them. Still shaking Rey could see immediatly something was wrong. She told him everything that happened and he made a plan to set up a security camera outside the door of their apartment and he put in a new lock on the door.

The following next few weeks were torture for them both not knowing what Gram’s was going to do next, they were always on video chat or texting each other scared of what might happen if they weren’t connected . When they were together they felt as though they were untouchable but apart they knew Reina was more vulnerable. All they wanted was to be free to be together and even this was being threatened. They were considering moving and felt as though that might be a good idea to get a dog soon when it happened. On Reina’s way to work there was this black van that had started to follow her a few blocks back.

She couldn’t see into any of the windows but she could see the silhouette of the driver. He didn’t look like anyone she knew and Reina began to laugh it off a little bit. She was just being overly cautious there was no danger. Before she could reach their favorite corner store Reina had been kidnapped and thrown into the back of the black van. Hands handcuffed behind her back and a cloth bag over her head she could hear voices but none that she could recognize. They pushed her onto her back and began to search her pockets and bag for her cell phone and any other electronic with a sim card that can have the location be traced.

In the middle of all the commotion she could hear Rey texting her cell phone and then he started calling. Frustrated by the constant calls they turned off her phone. She tried to listen to where they were going and who these people were. She could hear three men with deep voices and one man with a softer voice. He scared her the most. The man with the softer voice was constantly trying to touch her skin and hold her hands. Reina began to cry she couldn’t keep it in any longer and she feared she would never see Rey again. This was one of her worst fears coming to life.

He was pacing the floors of the apartment again, trying to make sense of how Reina could just disappear like that. Was it her Gram’s? The apartment showed no signs of a struggle that he could see. All of her clothes and belongings were still as they left them this morning. He lit up a cigarette and continued to pace while he thought of what could happened to her. He put on his jacket to go wait outside of her Gram’s apartment to see if he could see any sign of Reina.

Hour after hour went by and no sign of her or the Gram’s. Rey finally went home and he continued to call Reina. Her phone went straight to voice mail. He checked the security camera footage and it showed them both leaving together for work and then nothing until he came home that night. How could this be happening to them? They were being so careful. He thought about going to the police but he didn’t know what he would tell them or if they would take him seriously. He knew what he had to do he grabbed his jacket searching the pockets for his phone and wallet, as he walked out the door of their apartment.

Reina tried to remember anything helpful from all the crime documentaries she watched growing up. She listened for vocal cues as to who these men were and where they were from. All she understood was two of them Spanish and they spoke it well. There was no ghetto terminology spoken so Reina knew that they couldn’t be sent from her Gram’s. All Gram’s guys spoke in broken Spanglish they learned from the streets of New York.

Her thought’s were going a million miles a minute. She had no idea who else could want to kidnap her and for what reason. The van stopped and two men helped Reina to her feet. They guided her out of the van and escorted her up some metal stairs. She could hear the sound of the metal from the impact of everyone’s shoes as they too were walking up the stairs. Once they reached the top of the stairs she was then guided down a narrow hallway and shoved down into a seat. They took off her coat and left the cotton bag over her head. She could feel two of them sitting in the seats next to her. They buckled her seat belt and then their own.

Reina knew she was in trouble she just realized she was in some sort of airplane. How was Rey going to be able to save her now? She could feel herself starting to cry when she remembered on one of the crime documentaries they said for your best chances of survival due your best to remain calm and focus on whats around you. So that’s exactly what she did. She focused on trying to understand what the two men next to her where talking about and she heard ” el quiere hablar con ella y luego decidira que quiere hacer con ella. el concocia a su padre y eso es lo que yo se.”

Her Spanish was good enough to understand they are taking her to go see someone who knew her father and she might die afterwards. She couldn’t stop thinking of Rey and how unlucky they were to have found each other in this life time in this way, during this time. She hoped he wouldn’t feel as if she just left him, surely he would know something is wrong. Rey doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this life. She started to cry again but this time she didn’t try to stop herself. One of the men shouted ” Stop crying no ones going to hurt you just follow directions and stay quiet.” She was in shock her body started trembling and she felt freezing cold. She couldn’t breath she was having a panic attack and with the bag over her head her air was even more limited.

A man from the back spoke up and said “leave the blindfold on but take the bag off her head so she can breath for Christ sake.” Someone took the bag off Reina’s head and she slowly began to catch her breathe again. She was still blind folded but she could look down and see the floor. She was in a private jet of someone with the initials of V.M. She thought of everyone she knew and she knew no one who had the initials V.M. None of his was making any sense. Gram’s had told her that her father was a drifter and he had seduced my mom and left the following day. How could a man with a private jet know a drifter?

She was trying to make sense of it all when she was offered a glass of water. Reina drank the water as if it was going to be her last and then everything went black. She couldn’t see the floor and her body felt heavier then usual. She closed her eyes and sat back in her seat. the warm heavy feeling was flowing through every part of her body now and she had no choice but to let it take her. She could no longer see or hear anything but her own thoughts and they were all about Rey. How he looked at her and how he smelled. How when they are together she felt safe for the first time in her life.

Rey was back at Gram’s apartment building. He was going to wait and watch for awhile and then he is going right up to her door and demand to know what she did with Reina. As he was watching the apartment he noticed that there was a car parked on the same side of the street about 5 car lengths away with two men inside who also seemed to be watching Gram’s apartment. Rey began to roll a cigarette and light it as he kept his eyes on the two men. Just as he decided to go talk to the man in the car he got a text. It was from Reina…