I cried. Not because I missed Mauricio.
I cried for myself. For all the times I swallowed my discomfort to avoid making a scene. For all the times I convinced myself that love meant enduring.
WHEN THEY “FINALLY” CALLED ME
At noon on the fourth day, my cell phone vibrated as if it wanted to break.
Mauricio.
Then Lidia.
Then one of her sisters.
Then a cousin I only saw once at Christmas who still felt entitled to call me “Sofi”.
I didn’t answer until night. Not because I doubted myself.
But because I needed to hear myself clearly first.
When I finally answered Mauricio’s call, the first thing I heard was not “sorry”.
It was a:
—Sofia, don’t exaggerate. Just… open the door. I need my things.
I laughed. A dry chuckle. Humorless.
“Your things?” I said. “Mauricio, you didn’t have things. You had access.”
Silence.
“Valeria is pregnant, Sofia…” he tried, as if that were a magic card.
