Mateo was upstairs, finally asleep, after the doctor cleaned his wounds and gave him something for the pain. Claudia didn’t want to leave his side.
I didn’t want to leave either, but I didn’t know if it was my place to stay.
Alejandro asked me to sit down.
He took a long time to speak.
“I saw him change,” he finally said. “I saw him fade away. And I chose to believe the easy explanations.”
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
“I brought her into this house.”
“Yes,” I said.
He looked at me as if he were waiting for a white lie. I didn’t give it to him.
“But today you were also the one who let her out.”
He covered his eyes with his hand.
“That doesn’t erase anything.”
“No.”
The truth doesn’t heal on its own.
The truth barely opens the door. Then we have to go in and deal with everything that was left rotting inside.
At midnight, two child protection specialists arrived. They spoke with me, Claudia, and Alejandro. They explained the protocol. Mateo couldn’t be left without follow-up. There would be interviews, evaluations, protective measures.
Alejandro signed everything without looking at the papers twice.
I offered to testify again if necessary.
I also offered something else.
“If Mateo wants, I can continue taking him to school when this is over. Only if he wants.”
Alejandro nodded, but the important answer wasn’t his.
The next morning, when the sun streamed through the kitchen windows, Mateo came downstairs wearing a baggy sweatshirt and walked straight to Claudia. Then he looked at me.
“Are you coming back?”
I couldn’t speak for a second.
“Yes,” I said. “If you want me to, yes.”
He held my gaze, as if testing whether that promise would be easily broken or not.
Then he nodded.
It was a small gesture.
