Chapter 9 - THE PROMISE AT THE GRAVE
The first spring rain came softly. The cemetery smelled of wet earth and
fresh flowers. Mateo stood beside Elena’s grave, holding a bouquet of
violets. He placed them beneath her name.
Bruno lay at the foot of the headstone. He had returned every week since
the funeral.
Mateo knelt and brushed a leaf from the stone. “I brought your
favorite.”
He placed a small chocolate wrapped in purple foil beside the flowers.
I stood several feet away, giving him privacy.
After a while, he turned toward me. “The restaurant is open again.”
“I heard.”
“We’re doing better. The workers came back. People have been leaving
flowers outside.”
“Good.”
He looked down at Bruno. “He still comes?”
“Every time.”
“Elena would have liked that.”
He hesitated. “Can I ask you something? Why did you help us? You could
have handed Marco over and walked away.”
I looked at the grave.
“Because I let him stand beside me for twelve years. Because I didn’t
see what he was becoming. And because a little girl paid for my
mistake.”
Mateo nodded. “Then don’t make her death mean nothing.”
“I won’t.”
He placed a hand on Bruno’s head. The dog closed his eyes.
For the first time since the funeral, I felt something other than anger.
May you like
It wasn’t peace, not yet. But it was the beginning of a reason to do
something different.
