ANGEL
“You can speak English?!”
My mind was still trying to catch up, she’d understood everything I’d said, so why did she pretend not to?
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I took a step back, my heart racing. Part of me wanted to bolt right back out that door.
“Mija, I didn’t mean to keep it from you.” She smiled softly. “We just don’t see many foreigners around here and you appeared out of nowhere… You took me by surprise.”
My heart was still pounding but it started to slow down a bit. She’d only been testing me because I was a stranger?
Relief shot through me, I’d already started to imagine the worst.
“Everyone calls me Nessa around here,” she continued, gesturing to the women still watching me from various corners of the room. “Let me introduce you to the others, Mija.”
She poi
