Page 47 of Morena
“Then?” I pushed.
“Maybe you have seen it too many times,” she said.
She was right. Death followed me, and I did not know how to stop it. Maybe that was my destiny, wishing for death, but seeing it only through someone else’s eyes.
1. Good
2. Damned witch
3. What's up?
4. Morena, tell me the truth.
5. Am I going crazy?
6. No, my life, of course not.
V.
Ididn’tpackmuch,only a small backpack with my favorite jeans folded inside. I had already said my goodbyes to Carmen. We didn’t say much, just a few words, as she promised to visit me in a month. I didn’t tell her about the dance festival either. I only said I wanted to arrive a little earlier.
I tried to find Maria, but she was nowhere to be seen. It felt like she didn’t even want me there, and maybe that was true. Maybe one day she would find a way to forgive me for whatever I had done that made her hate me so much.
After so much pain, I had finally chosen myself. My heart was still hollow from my mother’s death, and the thought of Carlos still haunted me, the fear that he might appear again and finish what he started. But deep inside, I felt something shifting, as if all of it would soon come to an end.
A strange feeling, que no?
I stood in front of the club wearing my favorite blue jeans and a white top edged with small daisies. When I stepped inside, the music hit like a wave, so loud it seemed to shake the air itself.Neon lights streaked through the haze of smoke, making it hard to see the faces moving in the crowd.
And then I saw him.
Francisco.
He stood beneath the disco ball, the light scattering across him. He reached out his hand, and when I gave him mine, he pulled me against his chest before spinning me around. My silver earrings caught the light as they twisted through my black curls, and for the first time in so long, I smiled. A real smile, one that rose from the heart.
And I felt his answer in the way he smiled back.
“Careful,1 guapo,” I teased as he spun me too close to another couple.
2“No me importa,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. His hand slid up to my jaw, drawing me closer.
Then another touch. A hand on my arm, pulling me away. I turned and found Maria.
“Maria,” I breathed.
Her voice cracked. “What the fuck? Why can’t you just let me be?”
“I...” The words stumbled, but before I could finish, she pushed through the crowd and left somewhere in the back, near the bathrooms.
Francisco caught my hand as I started to follow. “Hey.”
I pulled away softly. “Let’s face it. We aren’t meant to be.”
“Morena,” he called after me.
I was already moving. I had to follow her.
As I took another step, his voice chased me through the noise.
