If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.
—Kahlil Gibran
ALONDRA: In the parking lot of the hospital, I drive my minivan with jacaranda sap on the windshield, looking for parking. Out of the van step all three of us: Cecilia, Stéfi, and I. Each one of them holds onto one of my hands.
Mommy, what are we doing here? Cecilia asks.
We're here for your Dad, Cec. I zip up my girls' jackets and zip up my white hoodie as well.
ESTÉFANO: Alondra, amor, you shouldn't be out this late. Take the girls back home, and I'll be there as soon as I can.
No, I'm not leaving; not until you tell me the truth. Are you cheating on me?
Amor, let's go outside. I hold Alondra by the arm to escort her out.
Suéltame! Tell me, who she is?
It's not what you think.
That's what they all say. You know what, you think you can have two women - you're wrong! Here's your ring. Give it to your amante, maybe she'll marry a cheater, but I won't.
JACOB: Closing this home's front door, Alondra and the girls go directly to the kitchen to eat dinner— for the first time, without the man of the house. Alondra is massaging her temples; she is experiencing one of her recurrent headaches. The kitchen is a place of solace and comfort to the girls, as well as to Alondra. But without Estéfano, things are different. Without Estéfano, will she cook paella again? Will she write poetry? Apply lipstick and perfume? Will she do her happy dance in front of the mirror again? Will she still write our story?
YOU ARE READING
Once Again, I Dreamt of Water
RomanceOnce Again, I Dreamt of Water commences through the all-seeing "eye" of a pensive tree: a Jacaranda whose name happens to be Jacob. This is the peculiar story and diary of Alondra and Estefano in the first half. In the second half, Estefano's lover...
