Chasing Shadows

ROGERIO

“What do you mean she left? Are you saying that just to mess with me?” I asked, failing miserably to conceal my shock.

“To what end? You’ve made a mess of everything already; there’s not much I can do in that regard, is there?” she replied, rolling her eyes and then closing them.

I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. “Maria, I beg you, don’t play games with me. I don’t have time for that and I...” I uttered, but she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

“Some nerve you have to come here, wake me up just before dawn, and insinuate that I would waste my time going in circles with you,” she interrupted, shaking her head.

“Why would she leave then? Where would she go? She has nowhere to go, no family...” I began to say, but Maria opened her eyes with a look of disgust crossing her face.

“Was that why you let your family and everyone else treat her like crap? Because she has nowhere to go?” she sneered, and I swallowed, taken aback by her harsh tone.

“Maria, that’s