L. Castillo: After the Fall

“What?” Lash looked innocently at her. “It’s true. If it were me, she’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“Gabrielle can be a bit...stiff at times, but she means well.” Rachel’s big brown eyes glistened with tears as she looked into the distance, appearing to remember something. “She risked her life, coming after me, and she didn’t have to tell me how to get to the Lake of Fire.”

“Uh, hmm,” Lash looked at her skeptically for a moment, then turned his attention to Uri. “So, what did you do?”

“You don’t know?” Naomi asked, surprised. She figured since Rachel and Lash were such good friends, they would’ve talked about it by now.

“Lash knows I was killed and then was brought back. I just haven’t told anyone why,” Uri said, appearing flustered. He looked at Rachel nervously before he continued. “You see, I was a very different person back then. In 1400 BC, I went to the City of Ai with Raphael and Luci—”

“Oh, they don’t want to know about the boring stuff.” Rachel jumped off his lap. She rifled through the stack of bingo cards in the center of the table and looked closely at each one, avoiding eye contact as she spoke. “Uri was held captive by Lucifer and Saleos. And due to, uh, special circumstances, the archangels decided to, uh, let him”—she sank to her seat and swallowed—“die.”

“That’s cruel.” Naomi couldn’t imagine what he’d done that was so bad to have him and Rachel deserve to suffer like that. She eyed Rachel carefully, and she squirmed under her scrutiny. There was something she wasn’t telling her. Other than Lash, Rachel had grown to be one of her closest friends, like a sister, sharing everything with her—until now.

“The City of Ai,” Lash said. “That sounds familiar. Where have I heard of that before?”

Naomi was caught by surprise at Rachel’s forced, high-pitched giggle. “Look at this card, Naomi. La Muerte,” she read and then handed her the card with a picture of a skeleton holding a scythe. “It doesn’t look at all like Jeremy. It’s missing his new crocodile boots. Isn’t that right, Uri?”

Uri furrowed his brow, confused, then as if picking up on Rachel’s cue said, “Yes, his boots. Very nice.”

Naomi saw Lash stiffen and pause mid-shuffle at the mention of Jeremy’s name. Jeremy had disappeared the day after she was reunited with Lash. She had heard about the fight Lash had with him and felt awful about it. She had asked Raphael about Jeremy, hoping she could do something to help reunite the two best friends. Raphael had merely shaken his head sadly and said Gabrielle had sent him on an extended assignment and that he didn’t know when he would return.

“So, Jeremy’s back.” Lash resumed shuffling the cards, his voice strained.

Rachel gazed at Lash and then Naomi, her eyes filled with pity. She then turned to Lash with what looked like a forced smile. “I saw him this morning. Maybe you, Jeremy, and Uri could start up your poker games again.”

Lash’s jaw tensed. He stared down at the cards as his thumbs flipped through them. He tapped the deck against the table and shuffled again without a word.

The room grew uncomfortable as he avoided answering the question.

“That’s a great idea,” Naomi said, forcing her voice to sound cheerful. She glanced at Rachel and Uri, noticed the knowing looks they were giving each other, and sighed. More secrets. What was it with this place and all the secrets? She wasn’t used to having people keeping things from her, especially after Lash finally revealed that he was a seraph and Raphael had told her she was the seventh archangel.

Lash had even told her about his conversation with Raphael and how Rebecca, her grandmother’s guardian angel, was his mother and Raphael his father. And when he told her Jeremy was his older brother, she had thought they were done with secrets...apparently not. How frustrating! No wonder Lash was moody when she first met him. She didn’t blame him one bit.

“Explain it to me again: why do we have to use pinto beans?” Lash said as he grabbed a handful.

He was obviously trying to change the subject. She sighed. Maybe it was better to stick to playing Mexican bingo.

“We don’t have to use beans. Bingo chips would work just as well. Welita...Welita liked to use beans.” A familiar pang rung through her chest, the same one she felt whenever she thought of her grandmother and her cousin, Chuy.

When Naomi had first arrived in Heaven, she had checked in on them during breaks from her training. But each time she had, it had become harder and harder for her to tear herself away from the bridge over the stream, the only window she had to their world. Gabrielle had picked up on her inability to concentrate after each of her visits and ordered her to avoid the bridge until after her training was complete.

At first, she was appalled that Gabrielle was basically asking her to forget about her family. Lash, of course, was outraged and offered to bring it up to Michael, claiming she was working hard and checking in on her family helped to ease the transition to Heaven. After she had calmed down, she realized Gabrielle was right. Her new life and family were here with him, and the best way she could adjust was to delve into her new role as archangel.

“Naomi,” Lash gently touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about Welita. I miss her and Chuy.”

“I miss them too...and Bear,” Lash said about her grandmother’s Chihuahua. “Crazy little fur ball.”

Naomi wondered what they were doing at that moment. She wondered if it was late in the evening there like it was up in Heaven. What time zone was Heaven in?

Chuy and his best friend, Lalo, were probably sitting around the dinner table right now, just having gotten off work. Chuy would be on his second helping and Lalo on his third. Lalo was like a member of the family, and even he called her grandmother “Welita” rather than her given name Anita.

Naomi could actually see, in her mind, Lalo sneaking pieces of Welita’s chicken mole to Bear, while Welita was busy cleaning the kitchen.

Rachel gave a loud yawn as she stood up, scraping the chair across the floor. “I’m pooped. Come on, Uri. Let’s go home. Why don’t we play at our place tomorrow?”

“You don’t have to leave,” Naomi said.

Rachel went to her and gave her a hug. “I know that. You and Lash should have some alone time together. You’ve been working so hard lately. Besides, Uri says he has a special treat for me tonight.”

“Every night is special with you.” Uri swept her into his arms and flicked out his wings.

“Uri!” Rachel squealed. “What are you doing? I have wings too, you know.”

Uri walked around the table, headed to the living room, where a wall of windows overlooked the valley. All the windows were open, letting in a cool breeze.

“Lash, you’re smart moving out of the commune and into your own home.” He stepped to the edge of the center window and looked down. “The view from up here is magnificent. But why so far away from everybody?”

As much as Naomi loved living with Lash, it had been crowded in his small room. Lash had immediately rectified the situation by building a small cottage on the ridge of a mountain that overlooked the angels’ living quarters. More importantly, she could see the bridge from their home, a reminder that Welita was only minutes away. She loved it. But, in the back of her mind, she wondered if there was another reason why he wanted to live away from the others—or maybe one person in particular.

Lash wrapped his arms around Naomi and kissed her neck. “Oh, let’s just say we wanted a little privacy.” His hot breath hit against her ear as he whispered, “And space for extracurricular activities.”