Riding Invisible by Sandra Alonzo

a minute!” I shouted. “Tavo saved my life.”
    Dad’s eyes widened.
    Tavo set down the coffeepot so hard I was shocked it didn’t break. “Sir, I say truth to you and I pray you listen, because your boy Yancy, he is afraid. He need me for protect him and for protect the horse named Shy.”
    â€œYeah,” I said. “You can’t make me go back.”
    Dad stared at the floor and then straight at Tavo. Something passed between them. A truce? A bargain? Probably a realization that they were on the same side.
    â€œMy son belongs at home with his family,” Dad said.
    â€œShy and I need protection!” My voice was shaking.
    Tavo stepped close and placed his hand on my arm. Suddenly I was seeing my vulnerable world through his eyes. And for the first time, I could see it through my own eyes, too. Not through my parents’ perceptions. I could see the way I’ve always lived. Like when I fell off Shy and landed in the gully, alone and scared with no one around to help. That was how my life with Will had always been.
    And Dad’s expression, so powerless, almost like he could read my mind. And Mom, looking like her life had split in half with her two sons divided. Separate. Two opposing forces.
    â€œFor you to feel safe is exactly what we’re after,” Dad said.
    And Mom agreed that yes, of course that’s what they wanted.
    Tavo’s face, so sad and knowing, because who could be blamed for this?
    And the timing was perfect, oh too perfect, because Guess Who popped the door open? Will’s gaze, vast and glittering, darted around and stopped on ME.
    â€œHey, bro. Whassup?”
    Mom rushed to the door, to Will, the other son, and Dad reached over to touch my chin with his thumb. “Get your things, Yance,” he said softly.
    I didn’t move, and I barely even breathed, and everyone stared, waiting, and it was completely quiet inside the little trailer except for Will, who was inhaling in a powerful way, but that’s just me thinking about these details now, putting it all on paper, and I remember what I said next.
    â€œWhat about Shy?” Good question! VERY good question, because I was gazing through the window and did not see a freakin’ horse trailer behind the car…even though the Prius couldn’t handle one. “I’m not leaving without my horse.” My words, sucked helplessly toward my hopeful-looking father, then soaring off, like maybe out the door where my mother was hovering over Will.
    â€œI can trailer Shy to you on Saturday,” Tavo mumbled, staring at his bare feet.
    â€œOh good,” Will said from the doorway. “I LOVE Yancy’s horse. I’ve been missing that horse.”
    And for a person who might not understand the implications behind his evil mind, Will’s sentiments sounded very real and sincere, but to me the words hit hard. They made me remember my new strong voice, and somehow I found it, and the words came out almost like a scream. “That’s why I’m not going home! He cut Shy, and I don’t want to live with him.”
    â€œYou should’ve come to us about that issue before you ran away,” Dad said. “And now you have my word that he won’t do anything like that again. NEVER again. I promise.”
    â€œLike you can change reality,” I mumbled.
    â€œBro!” Will said. “I swear I’m not gonna torment you or the horse.”
    â€œI hope you mean that,” Dad said, glaring at Will. His voice had this stressed-out, frustrated tone, an extra sting I wasn’t used to. And even though my father sounded stern, he sounded really tired, too. Maybe he was tired of the same old shit. Maybe he was all worn out because there was nothing he could do to fix this. Not really. One of his kids ran away because it got so bad. His other kid has a messed-up brain, and that brain probably won’t be getting better. Just like