We were two well-dressed prisoners agreeing not to mention the bars.

What I did not know, that morning in the lounge, was that Isabela had a spine her family had never managed to break, only bend — and that when the truth finally came, she would be the first of all of us to stand up straight.

But that was still hours away.

In the lounge she was only my careful, reserved bride, and I was already, God help me, walking toward the window and another woman’s child.

Chapter 3 — My Eyes

Then I saw Gabriela Cabrera.