Hey There Stranger

3

Stuff like how her jacket began to feel damp from slow tears as Andy talked about her, "Nena"— her "corazoncito" who she'd had to say goodbye to.

Even drunk, the word "Mami" was a no-brainer to translate, but Maya hadn't known what either of those other words meant back then. It seemed obvious Andy was talking about 'little' Elena and not her mother though.

Next morning they woke up next to each other, still in their clothes from last night, hungover as hell. As they groaned into they're cups of coffee, Andy tried to apologize.

Maya wouldn't have it.

She did have one question though. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

And Andy had said no. So Maya let her know she was here if Andy ever changed her mind and that was that.

Over the years, if Andy ever brought the subject up it was her choice and Maya always listened. She never asked questions

She had one now though. "What do you need?"

It's a very simple question. It was also very much not a simple question because, what the hell could anyone possibly do to make this whole situation better.

Short of little Elena—that's what Maya tended to call her in her head all these years; little Elena—showing up and saying "Hey bio-mom! I was just kidding about that foster care stuff, I've had a loving family this whole time, just like you thought I did all these years! Wanna get to know each other?" There was probably nothing anyone could do to fix this.

Still, Maya asked because that was what friends did and that was the only thing she could do. They might be having their differences right now, but rough patch or no they're still friends. And Maya would do anything to keep that broken look from earlier off her friend's face.

Andy for her part, had no idea what she needed.

That's not true actually, she knew exactly what she needed. She needed to fix this, she needed to do something; to make things right.. That was who Andy Herrara was; a doer. She figured things out. She tackled problems head-on and figured out a plan to fix what was wrong; always.

But there was nothing she could do.

It was like she told her father before he'd left, there was nothing to do except wait and hope.

And Andy didn't like that, she didn't like that everything was out of her hands. She had to grapple with the fact that for all intents and purposes, she was powerless.

She wasn't handling that well; being powerless, not being able to spring into action and make everything better. She was done crying but now she'd cycled to feeling like an animal in a cage. Restless and pacing, filled to the brim with energy and nowhere to put it.

She answered honestly. "I-I don't know." She started to wring her hands. It helped a little, but not really. Like putting a band-aid on a broken leg. "I don't know l—"

"Andy, breathe," Maya'd put her hands on Andy's shoulders because she'd started to pace, moving from left to right a little ways with nowhere to go. "Just breathe for a second okay?"

Maya wasn't holding her shoulders very hard—just firm. It felt good; grounding. The blonde models calming breaths and Andy copies right back. It helps.

(But it doesn't fix it...)

Andy's mind raced, turning over and over. Wondering, thinking, thinking and thinking. Because she can only guess at the life Elena's led and she doesn't like what her brain comes up with. Because it must not have been a good life if she's going as far as to get legally emancipated. Why would Elena take such a drastic step otherwise?