‘Misfortunes never come singly.’ Why did she remember her grandmother, dead for more than ten years, more than ever these days? Abuela Juana used to repeat this a lot, whenever she talked about the family’s curse, and then she’d lock herself in the bedroom every day to pray for hours. Valeria was sure her grandma went through every bead of the rosary more than once. Maybe she, too, preferred to pray in solitude so no one would come and talk to her.
On the long sunny days in the city, Valeria did not feel like leaving her bedroom when she had no reason to. She went to school, visited her friends when they invited her to hang out, and she’d laugh and have fun for a while… but then she’d be back home, feeling more lonely than ever and wishing for her misfortune to be over. For Mateo to leave her alone.
[Vale, you won’t believe this, but I just saw your boyfriend outside of the mall, being super cozy this girl, Nina.]
[The one who works in the coffee shop in front of the school.]
Maria thought she was being a kind friend informing her of Mateo’s cheating, but it wasn’t something Valeria didn’t know about (as time went by, he did not bother hiding it from her). Hatred had no limits, and this was the first time she experienced this feeling. Who cared if he cheated on her?
Perhaps the girl she’d been once, who blindly believed in the fake version of him. However, she knew long ago he did not love her, and only resented that he wouldn’t leave her alone either.
[Okay.]
[Thanks for letting me know.]
The last time she’d tried to break up with him, not answering his calls for a whole week, he’d ambushed at the gates of school after class and taken her to his house ‘to talk’.
Sometimes, Valeria wondered why did he ever need her? Would he get bored of her?
Hope of being free abandoned her.
“Valeria, open the door.”
With lazy steps, she did as her mother said.
“Yes, mom?”
“Daniel came to visit. Aren’t you going to say hi?”Oh, true. He arrived yesterday, much to her surprise because his grandparents had been saying more than once how he wouldn’t come this year. For some reason no one really knew, Daniel dropped out of university in the middle of the semester, when he only had a bit more than a year left before graduating. Since then, he was not in speaking terms with his parents either.
“I’m going!” She put on her sandals and rushed to the living room.
***
As both of them sighed at the same time, a smile appeared on her face.
“So it turned off that way.”
“Yup.”
They had parked their bikes in the square and sat on a wooden table drinking the tutti frutti they got from the stall.
“I think my dad is at least trying to be okay with that for now. I did disappoint him, and you don’t know my grandparents - my halmoni and haraboji - are always deadly serious with this stuff. Having a college degree used to be the door for better opportunities in their time, it’s difficult for them to see it’s not the same nowadays.”
“Uhm, isn’t it?” She wasn’t sure, but she did know that Daniel was a smart guy who would do well this time too, if only he kept his focus for long enough “I think it’s pretty impressive you’re setting up your own company.”
“Well, it’s not just me. ” He smiled a bit. “I wouldn’t be doing this without Will.”
Same thing.
“And how have you been doing?”
Praying for that hateful man to disappear. Valeria did not plan to let Daniel know of all her misery, but how she wanted to say this, to have someone who knew at least some of it.
“Great.” She said with an enthusiasm that should get her some praise for her acting skills. “I’m about to graduate too, soon I’ll be a university student. Aren’t you proud of me?”
“Of course. Which reminds me, since I won’t be around next month…” He took out a little something from his backpack. “Happy eighteenth birthday.”
It was a pretty silver necklace with a lotus pendant.
“Isn’t this the type of things you give to a girlfriend?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“True, and you probably have more than enough gifts from your boyfriend.” And he pointed at the bracelet on her wrist. “StilI, I know you like these pretty things.”
Her drawer was full of expensive presents from Mateo, but she’d never use them unless he asked her to. To him, Valeria was just a pretty doll to play with or to show off to his friends. The bracelet was actually a present from her mother when she’d been placed as an honor student at the end of last year.
The band on her wrist was also helping her to cover the yellow bruise she sported thanks to Mateo, and she was glad Daniel could not see it from the angle he was looking at.
The sincere affection in his eyes moved her deeply. “Besides, you are you.”
“Thank you.” He really was her best friend.
Not Camila, who always defended her cousin. Not the girls at school who’d turn their backs on her when the gossips started to spread. Just Daniel, who would bring a bit of light to her world when she felt like drowning in despair.
“Tell me, what are you planning to do after graduation?”
Nursing had been in her mind for quite some time now, and her mother wanted her to study in a local school she could keep living at home. However, Valeria saw this as an opportunity to go away… to escape from the chains of fear that confined her to one person she loathed with all her heart.
“I’ll be a nurse. I’ve been studying hard these couple of years, you know.”
Daniel flashed a smile. “Are you going to invite me to your graduation party?”
“Will you come?”
“I missed your fifteen birthday, I won’t miss it for the world.”
But this was always going to be just a promise that would go unfulfilled.
***
Her eyes did not leave the result of the pregnancy test she was holding in her hands.
‘This can’t be happening to me.’
Abuela Juana used to say misfortunes never came singly, and in Valeria’s case, all misfortunes had been brought upon her by the same person.
What was she supposed to do with this?
Girls being mothers at her age was a very common thing, she knew, but Valeria had never expected this would happen to her. Moreover, it wasn’t the case of her making a mistake in some sort of romance stories, that act was never something she would enjoy. Every time he had touched her, she had wanted to die.
There were still three more months to go to school. Only with a visit to the hospital she could know just how far along she was, but what would she do if her belly grew bigger and people noticed?
What would she tell her mother?
Too many reasons kept coming to her mind, reasons why she couldn’t have a baby. She couldn’t have his baby. The thought of this made her nauseous and she ran to the bathroom once more.
“I’m pregnant.” Her words didn’t shock him at all.
“I’ll find a place where we can solve this problem.”
Nothing good could ever be expected from him, and yet Valeria was sickened by the way those words came out. So she should just go to a clandestine clinic to end the pregnancy?
Everything was so easy for him, while she would lose no matter what.
“I hate you.” She slapped him before she knew what she was doing.
He grabbed her arm forcefully, and Valeria couldn’t help but wince in pain.
“Are you crazy?!”
“Yes! Yes, I’m crazy! You’ve made me like this.” He turned her into someone she hated. “You can’t just have me go to a clinic because that’s more comfortable for you. I won’t do it.”
Even if she didn’t want to have the baby, this wasn’t something he would decide for her too.
That day she ran away and, unexpectedly, she got rid of him too. Two days later, Camila was the one telling her that her cousin was going to study in Germany.
If Valeria had any faith in God left, she would have thanked him. However, seeing a dark future ahead no matter what she chose to do, there was no way she could feel thankful for going through hell.
Many times she tried to tell her mother, and every time she’d freeze and step back from her resolution. Several weeks passed by before she could talk to her.
And then her mother cried, and the look of disappointment on her face when she confessed she did not want to have the baby, Valeria would never forget.
“What are you doing here?”“Just hanging out with friends.”“You’re not old enough to buy alcohol.”Daniel chuckled at the exchange between the two siblings, finally getting Meili to acknowledge his presence.“Hi, Dan.”“Hey, long time no see. You’re getting prettier every year Mei.”“I know.” The young woman smiled. “Would you please tell my brother to mind his business and let me be.”She’d come with her friends, but to her bad luck, ended up in the same bar where her brother was.&
Her mother named him Manuel, after Valeria’s grandfather.“Hi.”The child had been sleeping but woke up as soon as she entered the room, his big eyes staring at her with curiosity.Green eyes. If only he didn’t have those green eyes, she might be able to look at him. Or that was what she told herself. The truth was, the color of a baby’s eyes could change as he grew older, but even if the boy’s eyes weren’t green, Valeria would still stay away.She didn’t hate him. She thought she would because she certainly hated him when he was growing inside her. However, that was pointless now. Manuel was not at fault for his biological father being a fucking bastard. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to care as she should, either
“I’ve heard you are traveling during the holidays. So, you won’t be around for my party?” The woman batted her eyelashes coquettishly. At least, it was her attempt to do so.Daniel cleared his throat.“Ah, thanks for the invitation… but I’m visiting my grandparents.”“You must really like it there, you go every year.”They had just bumped into each other in the market, there was no need to make conversation beyond some polite greeting.“I guess so. Then… see you around, Monnie.”He didn’t like Monnie very much. However, her new year’s parties were famous and when they were teenagers it mean
“When Uncle Daniel comes, can we go on a picnic again?” Manu asked, standing right by her side on the boudoir as she tried to choose her lipstick color.“Of course. I will not have work until next month, so I can stay here with you.” She ruffled his hair. “We’re also going to the park and I’ll teach you how to ride a bike, what about that?”She’d managed to buy the bike for the kid some months ago, but it had stayed in a corner of the living room ever since because he did not want to ride with the training wheels…“Really?” Manu’s face lit up, full of excitement.“Yes. Now, your grandma and I have to go out for a moment, can you stay at Ana and Ale’s house to play with them?”
We all want to show our best side to that special person. It was almost an instinct that prevented Valeria to reveal her ugly scars to him. However, a contradictory thing it was, he was also the only person she could ever bring herself to be honest with.“Because I drank too much, I couldn’t defend myself from him. I just wanted to go home. I was so afraid.”Maybe one day, she’d tell him.One day when it hurt less… but that wasn’t the moment yet.She whispered those words in the absolute silence of the hour before dawn, convinced he was sleeping. Then he opened his eyes wide and rolled on the bed to look at her in the face.“What do you mean?”
Was he a fool that did not put enough attention to what happened around him? Daniel always felt that just doing his part of the job in the company was enough. He was a programmer and did not see it necessary to trouble himself with the administration matters. Moreover, he never thought Will would steal from him.“How could you not notice it before?” His father had asked him.Daniel just shrugged in response.“Let’s not talk about it anymore.”Well, he’d been busy doing his job, and he did go to Cartagena twice in a span of six months. He’d been distracted, and there were few reasons to be alarmed as he kept receiving a good part of his money, but the truth was still the same: he never thought that Will or Lisa (Will’s girlf
Valeria did not sleep well that night. Manu woke up coughing and with a fever around midnight had trouble going back to sleep. His temperature only went back to normal after uncountable cold compresses and a promise from his mother that she would stay by his side.Every time she closed her eyes, however, the worries piled up on her mind.Luz’s incoming message did not help either.[So I was speaking with Mario about our trip to Barranquilla. He thinks it’s okay for you and Manuel to join. So what do you say? Are you coming?][Why are you texting me at these hours?]Valeria thought about it a bit more.[Forget it. I don’t want to know.]
She was totally mad at him.This was the first time he wasn’t welcomed with a hug, and if the strength she used to hit him earlier with that ball wasn’t enough proof, then the way she kept smiling through lunch while giving short answers to all his questions about her new job at the school should be a confirmation.That was alright, he probably deserved it. He was a coward.While questioning his feelings for her, Daniel had lost all courage and avoided talking to her, fearing that he’d give himself away. This was not an option when he was unsure about what his next steps should be, because what if he screwed things up? To Valeria, their friendship was just as important as it was for him, but what if she knew what was going on in his mind?&lsq