Page 34 of Rio
“We think alike, Raquel.You remind me of a younger me.”
“I do?”
“You have that air of determination about you.I like it.I get the feeling that you don’t trust people easily.”
She’s right.I don’t.“Are you psychic?”I ask, her words making me uneasy.This makes her smile.
“I have sixty-eight years on me, and by that time, you learn to read people and situations easier the older you get.”
“Not everyone does.”I’m reminded of Paul Knight again.
“Am I right?”she asks.“That you don’t trust?”
“You are.Frighteningly so.”
I like that Alma is calm and insightful, and she’s not afraid to call things as she sees them.
“How long have you been with EcoGuardians?”I ask.
“About twenty years.I was put in charge to head it up, a few years after I joined.”
“You have branches in other countries.I’ve heard of you before.”
“Big money and big corporations are everywhere, doing damage.We need to be everywhere to match them.To do what we can.”
“How much longer do you intend to carry on working?”
Alma chuckles softly.“You mean because I’m a grandmother?”
“No.Areyou a grandmother?”
Her face softens, and I instantly know she is, and that she loves it.“I have three grandchildren,” she says, pride and love infusing her voice.“Two boys and a girl.The youngest just turned four last week.Smart as a whip, and already bossing her brothers around.Her older brothers are five, soon to be six, and the oldest is eight.”She goes on to tell me that she’s been married for forty-four years to Samuel, the love of her life who she met in school when they were thirteen.He carried her books home every day.“He said it was because my bag looked heavy, but I knew it was because he liked me.It took him three years to work up the courage to hold my hand, and by then, I had already decided he was the one.”
I listen to her with the biggest smile on my face, imagining the thirteen year old Alma and her Samuel, walking home from school, to grow older decades later and leave a legacy behind them.She tells me how they built their house themselves, on a small plot of land his father gave them.“I want to keep this planet for my children to grow up in, and I want their grandchildren to enjoy it too.”
I like her so much.
“How about you?Do you have anyone important in your life?”
I let out an exhale.I dislike personal questions, but I don’t mind opening up to her.
“Not really.”I wish I’d said “No.”I hate that I’ve left myself open to more questioning.
She pauses, for a beat in which I pray she doesn’t probe.
“You work in Miami, for a law firm and as a lawyer I am assuming that you lead a very hectic life.We’ve never used your law firm before, but we were told that you’re good.”
“I don’t recall personally working on anything for EcoGuardians before,” I tell her.
“Somebody recommended you.I can’t remember who.”
“Hmmmm.”We have a global newsletter where lawyers and successful cases are highlighted.Maybe that’s how the recommendation came about.
“Your reputation precedes you.”Alma looks at me as if I am the one.“As I mentioned, we have branches all over the world, and we are constantly fighting for our planet, and for people’s rights.It can be exhausting.”
“I’m sure it is, but we’re fighting the good fight, you and me, and I’m glad to be here.”
“Are you up to speed with the Blue Star Eco Resort?”
