The Arroyos

The Arroyos are an ordinary family in Spanish Harlem, whose members include Carlos, Maria, Sophia and Manny. In a city known for power and secrets, their name is tied instead to kindness on the street: they took in Ivy, a girl adrift on the streets, and made her part of their family.

Ivy never stops speaking of that kindness. If it weren’t for the Arroyos, she says, she would still be wandering the streets.

“I would be still wondering the streets if it weren't for the Arroyos. They took me in. Made me part of their family. If there's one person in New York I would trust to do the right thing it's Carlos.”

“要不是阿若悠一家，我现在还在街头流浪。他们收留了我，让我成了他们家的一员。要说纽约有谁我信得过会做正确的事，那就是卡洛斯。”TL

When she picks out presents at the holidays, even the shopkeeper asks whether it’s a gift for the Arroyos or for herself.

“This a gift for the Arroyos or yourself?”

“这是给阿若悠一家的礼物，还是给你自己的？”TL

Carlos Arroyo, the head of the family, is running for mayor of New York, and Ivy once went to Lady Geist herself to ask whether she would donate to the campaign (see the Fall of Mendoza). She trusts Carlos: if there is one person in New York she would trust to do the right thing, she says, it is him. She is eager to bring her friends home, too, inviting Bebop and Miss Shelly over for dinner; when Kelvin invited her on an expedition, she declined, unable to bear being away from home that long. Rem says outright that he likes the family, and longs to be an Arroyo too.

Yet that warmth is also a weak spot. Drifter has threatened to pay the Arroyos a visit; the Doorman has declared that in five years one of them is going to die; and Vyper has toyed with kidnapping them to drag Ivy out.

“Ivy, you're a good person and I have no desire to torment you here. Just know this: in five years one of the Arroyos is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

“青藤，你是个好人，我不想在这里折磨你。但你要记住：五年后，阿若悠一家会有一个人倒下，而你对此无能为力”

Baba, for her part, has demanded of Ivy how any of this is helping the Arroyos.

“How is this helping the Arroyos?”

“你这么做对阿若悠一家有什么好处？”TL

And Rat King sneers that she gave her loyalty to the wrong family.

“Gave your loyalty to the wrong family, Ivy.”

“你把忠诚献给了错误的家族，青藤。”TL

Infernus, an old acquaintance of Ivy’s, guessed the moment she turned up that the Arroyos needed help too. The Arroyos are fine, Ivy answered.