Santiago was the firstborn of eight children to an extremely toxic mother. She debased, beat, terrorized, and ridiculed her sons daily. Santiago grew up to be just as narcissistic as his mother. Like his mother, by the age of eighteen, Santiago had three children, born in the same year, by three different women. He has eleven children with seven different women, while solely financially providing for his youngest two children. Every other child never received any monetary or emotional support. His older children envied the youngest two, given they are the ones he had a vested interest in. Fiscally, Santiago did very well for himself however, he began to lose his fortune due to the drinking. Indiscretions were rampant in the marriage. Physical abuse of his wife was a staple and how he maintained total control. Santiago’s affaire with the bottle superseded all things. When he tired of running the streets and returned home, no one was spared of his vitriolic nature. The years of abuse manifested in excessive weight gain in his wife. She had gastric bypass surgery as a means of reinventing herself. While home recovering from the surgery, Santiago beats her, fearing she may finally leave. His youngest daughter is effortlessly striking, coquette. As she walks down the street, there is no shortage, in the awe of men. Habitually, Valentina was debased, ridiculed, and terrorized by the man responsible for loving and protecting her. No wonder, She lacks any motivation beyond being a kept woman even if it means grave degradation. Her lifestyle may seem foreign to many although this is how Valentina was groomed. Santiago projected the hollowness he felt within onto his daughter and she believed him.
Labyrinth
Carolina worked as a bottle girl in an underground after-hours spot, with her allure, body, and personality, an average night yielded between $1,000 and $2,000 in tips. After numerous attempts at the 9 to 5 world, the numbers simply did not add up. Working forty hours per week at $15.00 per hour, after taxes the balance did not even cover room and board, in New York City. Besides, she truly felt alive and in her element after hours. Being popular with the customers garnered a great deal of jealousy amongst fellow bottle girls. Carolina had a knack for men with deep pockets, independent of their marital status. She bewitched the owner of the establishment where she worked, trusting abundance would flow. Quickly the lifestyle ensued. Jet-setting became her new norm, knee-deep in love, Carolina was that girl. The outpouring of love and affection (love bombing)was exceptional until Lorenzo alienated Carolina. He placed her in a high rise apartment, within a gated community, like a caged bird, while disappearing for weeks on end. Left without money or food, Carolina had to fend for herself, lacking in resources, she reached out to relatives for some sustenance. Carolina was undeterred by Lorenzo’s wife back in the states however clueless to his second wife and kids in Panama. Learning of his second wife left Carolina feeling lonely, desperate, and destitute. Patiently hoping for her lover’s return. As Mistress, holidays were reserved for wives, so Carolina was granted time before or strictly following the holiday, never during. The wives knew of Carolina, as she knew of the wives although no one dared to leave their covenant. Lorenzo excelled at grooming thirsty young girls who could easily be inspired/manipulated by the illusion of a lifestyle. Lorenzo frowned upon any sign of autonomy amongst his women. Needy co-dependent and grossly insecure were pre-requisites. Any sort of fraternizing without Lorenzo always required his consent. Approved outings were routinely subject to a last-minute cancellation by Lorenzo, just because he lived in perpetual fear of his women conspiring against him. Independent of having two wives and a mistress, Lorenzo routinely sought out additional women and never concealed anything. As a means to keep women away, Carolina often participated in dalliances with Lorenzo although nothing ever tamed him. After years of living in a labyrinth with Lorenzo, Carolina’s sole desire was a child which Lorenzo immediately denied ending everything for Carolina.