Chapter 4


Yanez Household


“He is just so precious when he sleeps, isn’t he Ozzy?”

“Yes he is our little prince. He looks so peaceful.”



Oswald “Ozzy” and his wife Valentina watched over their sleeping toddler. They had spent the day at the park and finally got their son Junior to go to bed. Ozzy loved his son, he has strong beliefs that family comes first. He taught Junior to talk, walk and everything else. Valentina never changed a dirty diaper and when Junior was young, he was formula fed. Ozzy wanted another child very much. He was hoping tonight Valentina would be willing to try.

“Well, how do you feel about giving Junior a little brother or sister?” Ozzy asked.

“Dios Mios Ozzy, do we really have to have this conversation now?” Valentina said slightly annoyed. “I’m still trying to shed the extra pregnancy weight from Junior! Can you imagine? All that hard work of cleansing and gym workouts right down the drain.”

“Oh stop it mi Cariña, what weight? You look beautiful just the way you are. Actually, you seem to look more and more gorgeous each and every day. It is truly a blessing I have a wife like you.”



“I want to make tonight extra special for you. I will cook you your favorite meal, run you a nice bubble bath, give you an aromatherapy massage then we can either hop in the hot tub or watch a movie together it is our anniversary after all.” Ozzy told his wife as he smiled at her.

Valentina's head started to spin. Was today really their anniversary? So, that explains why he has been so sweet to her and the Tiffany necklace he gave her this morning.

She was not trying to be intimate with Ozzy tonight. She hadn’t been since Junior was born. All of her friends have been telling her it wasn’t fair to Ozzy, and what she wouldn’t do some other girl will. She didn’t want her husband to see someone else, not like he would anyways. Ozzy was just a big softie, and Valentina did love him, but everything just went too fast.

Two weeks after her wedding, she got pregnant even though she was on birth control. She told Ozzy she never wanted to have children, and she took her pills every day without fail. Valentina believed Ozzy messed with her pills and got her pregnant on purpose and she was not going to let him trick her tonight.



“Ozzy, Honey,” Valentina began, “I have to go meet with Manny now, just for a few minutes and then I will come back and we can do all of that stuff okay?”

“Valentina, but tonight is our night. What do you mean you have to see Manny? Who cares about Manny?” Ozzy asked. He was getting frustrated.

“I said, just for a little bit. I will come back! Geez. . .” Valentina said



Ozzy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was his wife really this selfish? How could she forget this was their special night? He had thought all day long, she was just pretending like she didn’t know but now he saw she really did not and it hurt him.

“Who do you care more about Valentina?” Ozzy asked. Valentina turned her back and walked out of her son’s room. “Who is more important, your cousin? Or your own husband?” He asked barely above a whisper.



Valentina reached the bottoms of the steps and she didn’t want to deal with Ozzy and his drama right now. It was too much for her. She was supposed to be happy and he ruined her good mood damn it.

She headed towards the liquor cabinet in the kitchen and set drinks for herself all around. She knew she was wrong for hurting Ozzy like this, but it was easier than to face him and pretend she actually enjoyed the life he had given her.



The drinks went down one by one. The whiskey burned her throat as it went down and her head grew fuzzy. The living room was swaying and everything was in slow motion.



The beer went down and cooled her body down, but it did nothing for the dizziness. She sat there as straight as she could. Valentina heard her heartbeat loudly as it echoed in her empty mind.

She felt the excess drink come up and somehow she made it just in time to the master bathroom. She emptied her stomach and tears fell down her face.



“Valentina?” . . . “Valentina did . . . did you drink all of this?"

She heard Ozzy’s voice ring from the living room and the sound of glass bottles hitting the floor. She suddenly felt weak.



Weak from the drink but more from the knot of guilt in her stomach. Valentina collapsed back onto the bathroom tiles. Her head spun out of control, her muscles fought against her and trembled, refusing to let her stand. She laid there on the cool floor and passed out. Finally after what seemed like an hour, she woke up and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were glossy. Her hair was still decent.



Valentina’s dizziness was almost gone, but her head still pounded. Not like she cared. She popped a few aspirins and went into her room and changed into her party dress.



Ozzy had bought it of course. He was a successful business owner and that brought it a lot of cash money. Honestly, that was what caught Valentina’s eye first, but now she didn’t care about that as much. She was who she was. She loved to party and be wild. And Ozzy wanted her to be like some 1950’s housewife, popping babies and doing laundry.

“No way in hell is that going to be me.” Valentina said to herself. And she headed out to leave the house.



She didn’t see Ozzy had fallen asleep on the sofa while trying to clean up the mess she made, but she didn’t care.



The only thing that was on Valentina’s mind right now was going to hang out with Manny. She was planning to spend the night over her cousin’s house and come back home to get ready for Anushri’s wedding. Ozzy would just have to spend their anniversary alone.



“To the Skating Rink please, and hurry up.” She said as she got in the taxi and rode away.


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The Skating Rink



Valentina met her cousin and her best friend Manuel “Manny” outside of the skating rink. She was happy to be out with him no one else she knew loved shopping and nightlife like her.

“Hola Papi! Finally! I missed you cousin!” Valentina laughed

“Look at you Val! Lookin’ good. Happy Anniversary by the way!” said Manny.

“Oh thank you. But enough about that. Let’s party! Valentina laughed

“Ha to be honest, it’s kinda dead in there tonight we’d be better off kickin it at my crib!” said Manny



“In that case we’re totally going over your crib! I want to have nothing but fun. No worries, and no stress.” Valentina said.

“Fun is my middle name! Come on lets go inside anyways for a little.” Manny joked.

“Alright, alright. Woo woo!” laughed Valentina




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Yanez Household


Ozzy just woke up from his short nap. Earlier he had heard some noises and it was 3 am now. Surely Valentina is home now, she must have came in while he was sleeping. He was tired himself and went into the master bedroom to check on his wife, but Ozzy was shocked to see an empty bed.



“Damn it . . .” Ozzy said as he felt a headache start to form. Where was she? How could he have been so foolish to trust her word. She said a few minutes but it has already been hours. And he was still pissed from earlier and how she got drunk. Why was she acting like this?

Ozzy was getting upset and and he stormed back into the living room and tried to call Manny’s cell phone. No answer, so he called Valentina’s phone.



When she didn’t answer, he left her a voicemail.



“Valentina, this is your husband calling you. I am worried about you and I’m sick of your behavior tonight. This isn’t healthy Valentina. I love you woman!” He shouted into the phone, “I love you too damn much to let you ruin everything we have. When you come home you have two choices. Either you go to rehab, or I’m filing for divorce and full custody of my son.” He said as he hung up.


This was not the way he had planned his night and he felt like giving up on his wife. She was not the girl he had married. She was careless and selfish, she was not a good mother, and Valentina barely paid attention to Junior ever since he was born.



What happened to his marriage? What did he do to deserve this? This was a terrible night.



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The Skating Rink


Valentina and Manny were having fun skating and playing. It was 4am but they didn’t even notice the time.



When they came to a stop Manny pulled Valentina to the side to talk. He wants her to come over and hang out over his house. The skating rink was 24hrs but he didn’t want to be here anymore.



“Yeah let’s leave Manny.” Valentina said.

“Okay wait for me by the door, I need to use the men’s room before we go.” Said Manny.

“Alright!” Valentina said as she walked towards the front entrance. Suddenly, she came to face to face with none other than Ozzy’s best friend Hector Porras.



“What are you doing here?” he asked

“What are you doing here Hector.” Said Valentina.

“Same as you. I’m here to skate and eat nachos. Isn’t it your anniversary? Why are you here instead of at home? Oh I see . . . “He said as he leaned in and smelled the drink on her breath. “You’re at it again aren’t you?” Hector said as he covered his nose.



“Ha Ha you’re funny! Why don’t you just get out of my way little boy.” Valentina laughed in his face. She turned away from him and walked away from her husband’s friend. No way was she gonna let him ruin her good mood. She met up with Manny again.



“Hey, you ready to go now? I really want to leave Manny.” She said

“Hell yeah. Let’s go, c’mon!” said Manny as they hoped into his car and headed to his house.

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Yanez Household


Oswald tried calling his wife and her cousin over a dozen times. He even considered calling the police that was until his friend Hector called him and told him about his encounter with Valentina.

“So she was alive and out of harm’s way. Thank God for that!” He had said.

“Yeah, she is alive man, but she’s putting her own self in danger. Did you know she was drinking again Ozzy? I thought she got over that already. Wasn’t she going to AA or something?” his friend asked him.

“She supposedly successfully completed that program. Obviously not, man. But, hey, I appreciate you calling to let me know man. You are a true friend. I will call you tomorrow, I have to go check on Junior and then get some rest.” Ozzy had said.

“No problemo dude. And yeah I’ll catch up with you later.” Hector told him.

Now, Ozzy sat in his son’s room with his head in his hands. He didn’t know what to do anymore, and honestly he didn’t feel like thinking about it. His eyes began to close against his will and he was too tired to fight back.



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Arroyave Household





“So after we hang out for a bit, you want me to drop you off or are you calling a cab?” Manny asked Valentina

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Manny pulled his car into his driveway he turned to his cousin. He loved hanging out with her. They had been inseparable since their birth. When Valentina left Columbia and went to the states with her family, Manny was left behind. It wasn’t until Manny graduated from high school that he was able to also leave and be reunited with his cousin. Unfortunately, by that time she was married to Oswald and he never really liked Manny.



“I mean what’s the deal? It’s already 5:00 am Val, I’m just saying, you might as well stay here instead of going home to your boring husband.”

“Manny, stop trying to pick on Ozzy. He is a good husband!” Valentina said defensively.

“If that’s the case why are you here and not with him instead?” asked Manny.

Valentina didn’t have an answer for that and Manny didn’t want to get all serious and start an argument with her.

“C’mon Prima, let’s go have some fun. Forget all the drama. Hey, the Sun ain’t up yet!” Manny laughed and Valentina joined too.



They went off to play catch and laughed all loud. Then they decided to relax in Manny’s hot tub in his back yard.



The two cousins laughed and talked mostly making more plans to hang out soon. And before they knew it, the sun slowly began to rise over the horizon.

“Geez, It can’t be morning already! Ugh, Dios Mios, I know Ozzy will have my head!” Valentina groaned.



“And today is Anushri’s wedding. Man, I don’t know . . . it’s already 7 and it starts at 9 o’clock by the time I go home and get ready . . .” Valentina began



“Just don’t go then. Tell her you got sick, I’ll cover for you. Ha Ha. Hey! We are family girl. Family comes first, blood comes first. If things ever get too tough over there at home, you and Junior are always welcome over my house Val.”



“Yeah, thank you Manny, you are the best cousin a girl could ever ask for! I love you dude. “

“I love you too Val! Hey, enough lovey dovey stuff. Let’s have some real fun, it’s Hookah time!” Manny laughed.

Manny and Valentina got out of the tub and headed towards the Hookah.



“Just let go Val. Live for today!” said Manny between coughs.



“Oh yeah, man, I’ve already let go. Where’d you get this stuff?” Valentina said.

“I got a dude from Riverblossom, makes it in his own greenhouse and shit.” Manny laughed.



Time flew by and Valentina’s mind went numb. Forget the wedding, forget Ozzy all that mattered was the moment. She would face the consequences of her actions later. Right now she didn’t feel like being someone’s mother, or wife. She just wanted to feel free.










After about a few hours outside with her cousin, Valentina finally felt the need to go home. She still had a terrible headache only now she was starving and Manny had nothing to eat except ramen noodles and malta.



She just got out of the shower and changed back into her clothes. The clothes Ozzy bought her. A wave of guilt came over her, as she was now more sober. She suddenly wanted to go home to her husband and try to smooth things over. But, she still had to deal with her friends. . .

Anushri would be so disappointed in her. Farrah would shed her sweet girl image and curse her out, and Olivia would just give her the cold shoulder like she never existed. Valentina sighed, only they knew why she had her addictions, and it had a lot more to do than just Valentina being a pleasure seeking person, it was so much more deeper than that . . .



“Hey Manny? I’m leaving now okay?” Valentina called out.

“You sure you don’t want me to give you a ride? I live in Cedarwoods not The Crestview Country Club which is halfway across town!”

“It’s okay, I’ll call a cab or something. Look, I’ll be fine okay? I just . . . gotta get home and deal with some stuff. I’ll text you later. Love you.”



“Bye Manny.” said Valentina as she walked out of Manny’s house.

“You better text me when you get home safe. . . love you too.” Manny said as he waved goodbye.



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