Valeria Torres and the Midas Vault

Chapter 30: Deja Vu

Valeria wasn't sure how much time passed by - maybe a minute, maybe a year – before her mind returned from the void. She saw an assortment of intertwined memories, and it became difficult to separate past, present, and future. The first memory to manifest was one from her childhood.

Her father was outside their small villa in El Salvador, looking up at the night sky. He pointed at the moon while holding her with his free arm, tracing stars across the night sky. "Mira, Valeria, los planetos estan fuera esta noche magnifico." Look, Valeria, the planets are visible on this beautiful night. "Luna, Jupiter, Saturno, y Venus."

Her five year old self turned toward her father with a toothy grin. "Venus comienza con una V. Como mi nombre." Venus begins with a V, like my name.

Her father nudged her cheek with his nose. "Si, lleva el nombre de la diosa del amor." That's right, it's named after the goddess of love.

Her younger self laughed. "Diosa del amor, es tonto." Goddess of love? That's dumb.

Her father shook his head. "Nunca subestimes el poder del amor." Never underestimate the power of love. He tickled her, and as she giggled, he added, "Siempre te amo." I will always love you.

Valeria wished she could stay there with her father, but the memory changed and he reappeared on the ground, motionless. She tried to shake him awake, but he wouldn't move. Her eyes moistened with tears as the memory flashed forward again.

She was a teenager on the streets, starving and barely making it day by day. She was neglected, abandoned, and riddled with despair. There were so many times when Valeria felt like giving up, but she always heard her parent's voices in the back of her mind. When she ended up at the girl's detention center in Camden, New Jersey for the first time at age thirteen, she would lie awake in bed and look for Venus in the night sky. She ventured in and out of this detention center over the years, finding herself trapped there for non-violent offenses.

The memory shifted to one of her earlier visits. Valeria slouched back in her chair, surrounded by a circle of other delinquent girls attending a group therapy session. This was her first time attending therapy at age fourteen; she didn't know anyone around her as she rarely made an effort to socialize anymore.

"Valeria," the therapist said, "I asked you a question. Can you give us an answer?"

Staring at the floor, she offered her response. "No one cares about me. Okay? No one is waiting for me on the outside."

The therapist coughed. "That's not true. You've just been hurt and have shut yourself off from the world. But just when you think love is gone, it will find its way back to you."

"You sound like my dad," she said, rolling her eyes. "He always used to say never underestimate the power of love. But I'm an adult now, and I know love is a myth like Santa Claus. You're wasting your time, lady."

The therapist coughed, adjusted her glasses, and leaned forward. This time around, she seemed... familiar.

"You are not an adult," the therapist said, her tone authoritative. "You are just a girl. You will find people to care about soon enough. In fact, I'll bet people will compete with each other for the chance to adopt you. I know I would."

Valeria looked up and studied the woman's smooth dark complexion. While she didn't recognize this woman back then, she couldn't mistake her face now.

Jada?!

Was this her imagination, or was she really there two years ago? She didn't get a chance to process this as her memory fast-forwarded again. Now she sat across from Frank at the diner after they left the detention center. Jada must have sent him there!