—Just look at that. The princess decided to return.
I turned around. There was Doña Ofelia, my mother-in-law. Short, heavy, wearing a flowered dress, and with a look that could turn milk sour.
“Where have you been, you useless thing?” he spat. “You probably went crying to your crazy sister.”
I didn’t say anything.
Then Brenda, Damian’s sister, appeared, and behind her was her son, a spoiled brat who saw Sofia and snatched the doll from her hands.
“That thing is mine,” he said, and threw it against the wall.
Sofia burst into tears. The boy raised his foot to kick her.
It wasn’t enough.
I held his ankle in the air.
The room froze.
“If you touch it again,” I said calmly, “you’ll remember me for the rest of your life.”
Brenda lunged at me, furious.
—Let it go, you stupid girl!
He tried to slap me. I stopped his wrist before it reached my face and squeezed hard enough to make him groan.
“Raise your son better,” I murmured. “You still have time to prevent him from growing up like the men in this house.”
Doña Ofelia hit me with a feather duster handle. Once. Twice. Three times.
I didn’t move.
I yanked the stick out of his hand and snapped it in two with a single pull. The crack sounded like a gunshot.
“That’s it,” I said, dropping the pieces to the floor. “From today on, there are rules here. And the first one is that no one ever lays a hand on that girl again.”
That night, Sofia ate hot soup without anyone insulting her. Doña Ofelia and Brenda whispered behind closed doors. The nephew never came near again. I sat Sofia on my lap and let her fall asleep against my chest.
Then Damian arrived.
I heard the motorcycle first, then the door slam, then his voice full of alcohol.
Where’s my dinner?
He staggered in, his eyes bloodshot, with the cheap rage of a coward who’s only brave around women and children. He looked at Sofia, then at me.
—What are you doing sitting down? Have you already forgotten your place?
He grabbed a glass and smashed it against the wall. Sofia woke up crying.
“Shut her up!” he roared.
I stood up with a calmness that disconcerted him.
“She’s a child,” I told him. “Don’t you ever yell at her like that again.”
He raised his hand to hit me.
