The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa

Author:Armando Lucas Correa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2024-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

On the Friday that Antonia leaves Mont Cenis, the voices in the building return.

As I’m carrying her heavy bag to the taxi, I get an image of two men observing me from across the avenue but push them to the back of my mind. I must concentrate on Antonia now. I’m worried that frail Alejo won’t be able to properly care for her. More likely, she will be looking after him when she gets home.

“Alejo needs me,” she says resignedly. “The old man misses me.”

Opening the taxi door, I help her climb inside, slowly.

When I lean in to give her a goodbye kiss, Antonia whispers in my ear:

“Your neighbor is back. She’s watching us from her balcony.”

If in all these days the husband hasn’t appeared, and we haven’t heard her calling for help or sobbing, that must mean the divorce has gone through.

I hear the taxi meter start up.

I’m on the verge of begging Antonia not to go, but I don’t. I now see what she has seen all along, that Alice isn’t good for me, that I can’t help her anymore, that getting caught up in her life again will only do me harm.

As the taxi leaves, a strange silence falls on me; it fills the streets, even the oak trees on the sidewalks. It’s a dense, troubling lack of sound, which I now must force my way through to get over the threshold of Mont Cenis. I shield myself with the image of Antonia’s lovely face, her protective gaze.

Opening the front door releases a rush of voices:

They’re going to change the windows in the building. I bet they make us pay for them.

If they carry on with the repairs to number 22, we’ll have to move. The ceiling’s going to come down on us.

Ouch, that hurts! Let go of me.

Leaving the elevator on the third floor, I can feel Alice hiding behind her door, peering through the peephole.

As I approach my apartment, I notice a small crack in the wall between numbers 33 and 34. I hear Alice turn the lock. The door opens slowly, and the light from the corridor reveals a shoulder, then Alice’s arm, her hands. Her face is not yet visible.

“It’s all over,” she says.

I put my key in the lock, turn it as hard as I can, and smile. “That’s wonderful. It’s about time. You see? There’s a solution to everything.”

“Leah…”

With my hand still on my key, I turn. My smile is so wide it hurts.

“So your divorce has gone through?” I ask.

“He has all the documents and has accepted them. He’s going to bring them to me, signed, in a few days. He understands that there’s no going back, that we each have to get on with our lives, apart from one another.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“There’s no reason to worry, Leah,” Alice continues. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in this… really, truly sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. What else could you do? The good thing is that he’s finally going to leave us… I mean,” I stammer, “that he’s finally going to leave you in peace.

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