Chapter 2: Afternoon

Thanks to VeraRose19 and Ms S for reading and reviewing. It means so much to me. Here is the Flaritza chapter. In this story, they are leaving in Colombia with Juliana. Blanca and Diablo who are in Honduras have two tween daughters Diana and Flora.

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"What's all the food behind you?" asked Maritza.

Flaca narrowed her eyes. The sunlight was reflecting off the phone screen, and she could barely see what was behind Blanca.

"Crepes and a potato salad."

"Are these the specialties of Honduras?" She scoffed, considering the dishes on the table, where Blanca was leaning.

"A friend of Diablo invites us to spend the evening in Tegu, but we prefer to eat by the river, all four of us."

"The river in the jungle?" Maritza chuckled, stretching her legs out on the coffee table in front of her.

"Open a geography book, girls. There's not only the jungle in Honduras," Blanca replied nonchalantly. "And you, what are you doing tonight?"

"We eat Colombian stuffs," Flaca replied, brushing an invisible dust off her jeans.

"Dios mio, you're cooking, Maritza."

"My tia is cooking."

Blanca laughed and added something but Flaca didn't react. She rested her head on Maritza's shoulder and listened to their chatter. She felt that the weight that oppressed her for weeks was slowly starting to leave her shoulders. Spending Christmas in this family she barely knew did not really make her happy, and she would have preferred to be reunited with Gloria and the girls for December 24. Her neck was aching, and she still felt the tiredness of working at the bank counter. In the evening, she was taking care of Juliana. She did it alone sometimes, her friend spending several nights a week in the clubs of Bogota with her cousins. This morning, Flaca was saying to herself that they would have to talk about it, that she had to put words on the discomfort that was welling in her.

Yet that December 24 at 4:30 p.m., she was watching Maritza gesturing in her red dress, accompanying her words with adorable grimaces. And, the very thought of spending Christmas with her filled Flaca with joy.

Often, she was thinking about her life without Maritza. She had never felt such a feeling of emptiness before that. It was as if something had been moved in the world. It was a very slight displacement. It hadn't stopped her from continuing to turn. Flaca could live without Maritza, it was just a different life, which no longer had the same meaning, a life where things that seemed easy became heavy, and what seemed beautiful no longer had flavor. When she was sad or upset, she was thinking of that text from Maritza.

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Nicky had taken her to a party with friends out of town. As they were drinking and chatting in a place that looked like a barn, she glanced at her phone which was beeping :

"Gloria gave me your phone number. I made it across the border. I'll be in Newyork tomorrow."

She still remembered the sound of her footsteps as she stepped outside, the soft ground under her shoes, and the cool air on her face. She had cried in the silent night. No joy but relief. Something she lacked had finally been returned to her.

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Even today, thinking about that, she was feelling an intense joy, which remained intact. She and Maritza should talk, their life in Colombia was difficult at times and she missed her friends. But tonight, she would celebrate Christmas with Maritza, for the first time since that show where they had laughed so much at Litchfield Camp.

"Merry Christmas", they cry in heart to Blanca, who had to deconect the phone to join Diablo and her daughters.