The dragonfly tattoo artist

18

The fourth month they shared stories.

Sunday had arrived and they didn't have much to do. Their outdoor date must've been suspended when a terrible storm started, so they only had the option of kissing on the painter's dirty couch.

It was when their lips went numb that they decided to take a breath.

"Tell me about your parents, Camz."

Both were lying on the sofa, Camila's body placed on top of Lauren's while her head rested between her breasts. The caresses in her hair began to relax her.

"Milika and Gordon?"

"No. About your birth parents."

The tattoo artist took a big breath before she started. It was hard for her to talk about a past she preferred to forget.

"Their names were Sinuhe and Alejandro Cabello" Camila began to relate "Their job was to transport drugs across several borders... I was born in Cuba, by the way. They were on a business trip when the contractions started and, believe me, they didn't consider me a godsend."

Camila felt a tear slip down her cheek. When she went to dry it, she discovered that her girlfriend had already done it for her.

"They kept me by their side only because I could help them in their work. I was small, so I was able to easily sneak with the merchandise" Every second felt worse, but Camila couldn't stop talking "...I was educated at home only because they knew that growing up, an illiterate woman wouldn't be useful. Yet half of the classes consisted of shouting, insulting, and threatening."

A knot formed in her throat and, little by little, the tears doubled their amount.

"Camz, you don't have to talk if you don't want to" Lauren stopped her clearly worried.

"I want to do it. I trust you."

She really did.

"When Sofi was born she wasn't treated better, but she's lucky not to remember it" She whispered in the middle of a sigh, and almost seemed relieved with this fact "...We were at home when they were killed. It was a reckoning, or so the police said. I managed to hide next to Sofi in the basement, but they weren't so lucky... When the police arrived the house was nothing more than a bloodbath, but I don't remember that scene. My mind blocked it."

A silence followed her words. Camila didn't know if she felt better with a lost memory, or if she preferred to have in her mind a traumatic memory that confirmed that those cruel beings were no longer at her side.

"After many visits to the therapist and several nights in the orphanage Milika appeared. There was some kind of connection between us, I still can't explain it, but, after a short time, Sofi and I were already home..."

"Milika must be amazing. I can't imagine how hard it must be to make such a big decision as adopting a child, to offer love to someone completely alien to you." The painter hugged her strongly, seeking to give her support. And, at that moment, they seemed inseparable.

Neither had a sense of what was going to happen four months later.

"She's great" Camila admitted "...she took care of Ally when her parents died and rescued Normani from the streets. She gave us a new life, Lauren, and I don't really know what we gave her in return" Her hand reached out for Lauren, who played with her fingers to make her calm "Sometimes I get to think that her life would be better without us."

At these words Lauren silenced her with a kiss.

"Don't think that, Camz. Please. Maybe you don't notice, but you gave her life something as pure as love. You don't understand, but she is infinitely happy when you smile, and maybe that's what she was looking for... She wanted to see you happy" Lauren made her reflect.