The next morning, Dulcina Calvo came out of her room with swollen, red eyes.
Papa Dulcina and Mother Dulcina, who were listening at the bedroom door, were startled for a moment as soon as Dulcina Calvo opened the door, then turned and walked away as if nothing had happened.
“Papa Dulcina, what’s for breakfast this morning?”
“Just the pickle, where’s the girl, what do you want to eat?”
Dulcina Calvo pursed her lips and said, “You eat, I don’t have much of an appetite.”
Mother Dulcina frowned, visibly annoyed, “You didn’t eat last night either and you’re not going to eat breakfast this morning, do you want to starve yourself to death?”
Papa Dulcina kept gesturing with his eyes for Mother Dulcina to tone it down, but Mother Dulcina was so hot and angry that she couldn’t control her temper.
Dulcina Calvo reluctantly ran to the bathroom to wash up, and was just doing so when the doorbell rang.
Papa Dulcina pushed Mother Dulcina into her seat, “Sit down, I’ll get the door.”
As soon as Papa Dulcina opened the door, Esteban Zaragosa was standing outside it.
Papa Dulcina hesitated for several seconds, whether to let him in or not was a question worth pondering.
“Papa Dulcina, who is it?”
The Calvo family home was not large, and Mother Dulcina’s face sank as soon as she tilted her head and saw the big bastard who had lied to her daughter standing in the doorway.
“Close the door.”
Mother Dulcina’s cold, hard command had no intention of letting Esteban Zaragosa in.
Papa Dulcina was about to close the door when Esteban Zaragosa pressed against it: “Uncle, aunt, today I’ve come to set the record straight”.
Mother Dulcina became even more furious upon hearing this and turned to the door with an angry smile, “Just so we’re clear, what do you mean, you’re going to tell us that you’re married but you don’t love your wife, that you like our Dulcina and you want our Dulcina to be the little one?”
Dulcina Calvo heard them and, as she came out of the washroom, she saw Esteban Zaragosa standing in the doorway and her heart skipped a beat.
The lines of sight, at close range, are in the air.
Esteban Zaragosa’s look at Dulcina Calvo was one of pity and anguish.
He unconsciously avoided Esteban Zaragosa’s gaze.
“Uncle, aunt, it’s true I feel sorry for Dulcina in this matter, and I know it’s hard for you to understand why I’m married and have to mess with Dulcina, my marriage to Claudio Belles has been nominal.”
“Why did you marry her in the first place if you don’t have a real name? Your wife came to the door yesterday and told our Dulcina to stop bothering you. I see that your wife has feelings for you and has forgiven you this time. I advise you to go back and have a good life with your wife.”
Esteban Zaragosa knows that he is not at all convinced by these explanations, and even less so by the notions and ideas of the elders, which are unacceptable.
But he couldn’t explain the real reason for this, and even if he told Papa DulcinaMother Dulcina all about it, I’m afraid Papa DulcinaMother Dulcina would only consider him a big liar even more.
In thirty-two years of life, Esteban Zaragosa had never felt so frustrated. He had never been as unbeatable as he was now against the most formidable enemies and snipers, but with ordinary people like Papa DulcinaMadre Dulcina, he was completely out of his depth.
Because in Papa DulcinaMother Dulcina’s eyes, he was just a bad man who was married and having an affair, and even now, in Dulcina’s eyes, he may have been a complete bastard, and all the good feelings I had for him before, I’m afraid, have been erased.
Mother Dulcina stared at Esteban Zaragosa with a very serious face and said: “I don’t care who you are, whether you are Lázaro Morejón or not, please leave now, immediately, you are not welcome in our house, and Dulcina will not deal with you anymore. You are not welcome in our house and Dulcina will not deal with you again. As someone who has been there, I advise you to treat your wife well or you will regret it later.”
Esteban Zaragosa took a deep breath and looked deeply into the eyes of the pale girl who was not far away.
Her eyes wandered; she certainly wouldn’t go with him.
Moreover, in such circumstances, he was pressuring her, even hurting her, by asking her to make any decision.
“Dulcina, take care of yourself.”
After blurting out these words, Esteban Zaragosa turned around, his hand, which hung down the side of his suit pants, crumpled into a fist.
Dulcina Calvo’s eyes watered as she watched the lone, upright back of the man, whose step paused for a few seconds before descending the stairs.
The door, slammed shut by Mother Dulcina.
As soon as she turned around, mother Dulcina saw her daughter, who already had tears on her face, and for no apparent reason, she got angry again: “Dulcina Calvo, are you sad about a man like that? Don’t tell me you’ve regretted that bastard until now.”
Dulcina Calvo shuddered heartily, the emotions she had been holding back for so many days finally burst out after having nowhere to vent them, “Yes! I love bastards! I can’t get over the bastards! Please don’t make me do this again! I don’t want to like married men either!”
If I had known earlier that Esteban Zaragosa had a family and was a married man, I’m sure I would have run away.
But just when she had given her heart and herself completely, reality humbled her severely.
“How you talk, Dulcina Calvo!”
Dulcina rushed into the bedroom, slammed the door and locked herself in, leaning her back against the door and sobbing.
Outside, Mother Dulcina knocked relentlessly on the door: “Dulcina Calvo! You’ve got a hard-on, haven’t you? You’re in love with a married man and you justify it? If the neighbors find out, you’ll never be the same.”
“Then I’ll get out of here! Please don’t say another word!”
She closed her eyes and tears rolled down her face.
Her heart was so confused, she really knew it was wrong and she was really hurt.
“If I don’t educate you, you’ll go to heaven! It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault for not educating you right!”
Yesterday, Claudio Belles not only humiliated Dulcina Calvo, but also her as a mother. “Dulcina Calvo, do you think you are the only one who is sad about what happened? Your father and I were up all night yesterday, worried that you wouldn’t be able to think clearly, that you would be in the shadows and that you would be cheated again.” … Dulcina Calvo, how can you be so heartless …”
Mother Dulcina’s tone softened as she spoke and tears fell from her eyes.
On the other side of the door, Dulcina Calvo covered her mouth and bit her lip to stifle her sobs, her body sliding against the door, her shoulders shaking as she wept.
After a long, long time, Dulcina Calvo whispered through the door, “Mama … she’s sorry … it’s my fault … it’s all mine It’s no good. I’m the one who made you and Dad sad.”
Tears were falling from Mother Dulcina’s eyes, and even Papa Dulcina’s eyes were red.
“Ah girl, open the door, let’s have a good talk, you and your mother are always fighting like this, it’s not a solution. It’s also our fault for not paying attention to your love life and not putting a stop to it in time, let’s talk it over, okay?”
After half an hour or so, Dulcina Calvo opened the door, dropping her little face, just like a little girl who has done something wrong.
Mother Dulcina’s eyes trembled and she hugged her tightly, clenching her fist and punching her back, disconsolate and indignant: “Damn girl, you’re going to piss Mom off, aren’t you?”.
“Mom, I’m sorry.”
“Mom will do whatever you want, you don’t want to go on a blind date, mom promises not to introduce you to a blind date. But mom only has one request for you, don’t go out with that man again, Dulcina, mom begs you, okay?”
I will never again associate with Esteban Zaragosa.