She had a softer name for everything.
The social worker did not accept one.
— Was the door secured so he could not leave?
My mother hesitated.
— Only briefly.
Valeria closed her eyes.
The officer wrote something down.
My mother noticed and immediately became angry.
— You’re taking the word of a six-year-old over mine?
The social worker’s expression did not change.
— We are considering the child’s statement alongside the medical findings.
My mother pointed toward me.
— She put him up to this.
Clara has always been dramatic.
Ask anybody here.
My brother-in-law suddenly became very interested in the plate in front of him.
Valeria folded her arms.
Nobody rushed to support my mother now.
I reached into the blue folder again.
There was still the USB drive.
Julián’s handwritten note was taped to it.
I showed it to the notary.
— I haven’t watched this.
My mother’s head snapped toward my hand.
That reaction told me more than words could.
— What is on it? — I asked her.
— Nothing important.
The notary looked at the drive.
— Do you have a computer here?
Valeria’s husband finally spoke.
— There’s a laptop in the cabinet.
My mother stood.
— No.
This has gone far enough.
The officer stepped between her and the cabinet without touching her.
— Sit down, Mrs.
Robles.
She sat.
Valeria brought the laptop to the table.
The notary inserted the drive.
There was one video file.
No title that meant anything to me.
Just a date from six years earlier.
My fingers shook as I pressed play.
Julián appeared on the screen.
I forgot how to breathe.
He was sitting in this same living room.
Younger.
Tired.
Wearing the gray work shirt he always wore after long days at the shop.
For one unbearable second, I didn’t hear what he was saying.
I only saw the way he rubbed his thumb against the side of his hand when he was nervous.
Then his voice filled the room.
— Clara, if you’re watching this, I probably didn’t get the chance to explain everything myself.
I covered my mouth.
Mateo stirred on the couch but didn’t wake.
