Page 189 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

When my father, Lucía, Eric, and Luz go have a drink in the cafeteria, my sister sits next to me.

“Congratulations, Judith. You’re a mom.”

Raquel hugs me.

“This is for life, Cuchu. Little Eric is beautiful, and I’m sure he’ll give you many joys. The bad thing is that they grow up, and one day they start going out with girls, looking at dirty magazines, and smoking joints.”

“Raquel...”

We both laugh. It’s impossible not to laugh with my sister.

“Well, tell me something new.”

“Jesús and I, by mutual agreement, filed for divorce twenty days ago.”

“Seriously?”

“He has a new girl, and, apparently, it’s serious. And, taking advantage of the hurry he’s in, I mentioned the express divorce.”

“Wow, that’s great. You’ll be a single woman for your wild little tryst.” I laugh. But when I see her face, I know something’s not right.

“How’s it going with your wild little fling?”

“Very badly.”

“Very badly?”

“He wants us to go live in Mexico with him.”

“Oh my God.”

“That’s right, Cuchu...and I said no. First, because I don’t want to be away from Papá and you so much. Second, because Jesús won’t agree to letting me take the girls so far, and, third, because if it were the other way around, I wouldn’t want Jesús to take the girls so far away from me. And before you say anything, Jesús may have been an ass with me, but with the girls he’s always tried to be a good father, and I’m not going to make him look like a fool. I know he loves them, and they, especially Luz, love him. It’s one thing to get a divorce and another to take the girls from his side.”

I consider what she’s saying and understand completely.

“So, the guy—as Luz says—feels rejected and hasn’t called me in ten long and stormy days.”

“So, you call him.”

“No way.”

“Did you tell him about your divorce?”

“Not yet.”

“You have to explain things to him the way you explained them to me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because Juan Alberto has not given me an option. When I said no to Mexico, he got very stubborn after getting angry and didn’t let me explain. He literally said, ‘Very well, my queen; you go have a beautiful life.’”

“He said that?”

Raquel nods.

“What did you say?”

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