It was the grip of a warden catching an escaped prisoner.

“Sweetheart, look at the terrible scare you gave us!” she sobbed loudly, making sure the officers heard every tremor. “Your brothers have been crying for you all morning!”

As she held me, I felt her hand slide down to Mateo’s shoulder. Through the thin fabric of his shirt I watched her knuckles go white as she pinched him — hard.

Mateo let out a sharp shriek that morphed into a hysterical wail. “Savannah, come home!” he cried, his little hands grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. “Momma said if you don’t come back, we won’t get any dinner tonight!

Please, I’m hungry!”

The words hung in the air like poison.