Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Samuel: What?

He looks at me dumbfounded and for a moment I regret having questioned him, thinking that maybe it was all just a coincidence. But remembering the confidence with which he assured me that everything would work out a while earlier on the porch, that regret fades and I continue to look at him with a challenging look, waiting for a clear explanation from him.

May: What you heard and look at the route that you are going to kill us.

He obeys something in disgust.

Samuel: May I know where you get that from?

May: Well, to start with ... the engine had nothing.

I notice how he begins to slow down, until he exits the main road and parks, then turns in his seat and stares at me.

Samuel: And what is my fault that this piece of junk is bipolar like you?

He says hitting the steering wheel and I emit a sarcastic laugh.

May: That piece of junk is worth more than your life.

Samuel: Do you really think I did it on purpose?

May: What? Are you going to say that it is not so?

Bites his lip.

May: If it's a lie, tell me no then.

He sighs and starts the engine again, beginning to accelerate.

May: You don't know how to lie, Samuel.

I add in a reproachful tone as a last comment, without saying a word again for the rest of the trip, except when a while before arriving I ask him to stop to get my backpack out of the trunk. My fingers brush his when he holds it out the window for me, but I avoid meeting glances with him at all times. I even decide to return to the back seat, thinking that it is the most convenient to achieve the above mentioned. He doesn't say anything, just glances at me in the rearview mirror when I take the seat, hiding any expression of surprise, as if he expected that to happen after our discussion.

Little by little the green color that abounded in the fields begins to disappear, lightening until it becomes pure white. If fall was just beginning where we live, in this place it seems to be the coldest winter I have ever seen in my life. Although the car windows are closed, I can perceive the spectacle that they reflect and the icy air that must be out there running through my skin, so I take a jean jacket from my backpack and cover my shoulders with it. Samuel watches me and extends his hand, pressing something next to him that makes a sharp sound and causes the vehicle's air conditioning to stop working.

The sky darkened a long time ago when the car stopped, this time in front of two lacquered dark wood doors that form a semicircle at the top, like a huge O split in half with the appearance of a gate. To the side is a small building that has a small sliding window, which opens seconds after Samuel has stopped. The face of a man emerges from inside the place, who ... just by seeing Samuel saying my father's name, Oliver disappears again from the window, leaves where he was and opens the gate, letting us pass. Samuel makes the wheels of the vehicle roll again, not without first putting on his jacket and buttoning a couple of buttons on his shirt. Noticing that his tie is still missing, I suppose he left it somewhere in the barn.

After crossing the gate, my seat begins to vibrate and when I look out the window, I notice that the floor is rock. We are moving along a narrow road, surrounded by bushes covered with snow that mark its sides and do not go beyond the roof of the car. Seconds later, a huge stone construction looms a few feet away. Samuel stops in front of it and gets out, opening my door.

May: Nice place (I comment as I step on the ground and look up).

Samuel: It's weird that it surprises you. You must be used to these things.

He says something indignant, closes the door and steps forward, so that I don't even get to answer him, although the truth is that I don't even know that I would have answered him. Once inside, I meet up with my mother, who first asks why I arrived so late. I make the excuse that I read your message late and I think I have convinced her.

Dinner turns out to be the most boring hour I've ever had in my life. That man only talks about business with my father and my idiot brother listens excitedly. Mom occasionally exchanges words with the stranger's wife, a lady of a similar age to hers. There is also a girl ... about 14 or 15 years old, she seems to be just as annoyed as I am. Samuel, for his part, is present, standing a few meters away with an older man, an employee of the other family. I try to catch his gaze several times, but he completely ignores me, managing to make me angrier than I already am. After all, I have my reasons for being, not him.

Once the endless dinner is over, everyone begins to withdraw little by little. I'm about to leave the room when ...

- How long are you going to continue with that bad wave?

I recognize that voice and I turn around, seeing him standing a few feet away, approaching.

May: Until you take things seriously.

Samuel: Is this all about the car?

May: "Because of the car" Samuel could not have made it to this dinner.

Samuel: But you came, didn't you? And I did not see you so funny the truth.

May: Don't be silly.

Samuel: I don't do anything to myself, I just don't understand why you get mad like that.

May: I get angry because you do not accept what you did and you do not accept that it was a mistake.

Samuel (interrupts me, raising the tone of his voice): I have been in love with you from the first day I saw you.

He pauses, speaking again calmly.

Samuel: And I'm not an idiot, I know there was no chance that a girl like you would notice someone like me. I took advantage of the fact that for once we were alone and that you couldn't avoid me ... as you always do, because I knew that this didn't happen every day (sighs). So yeah, I did it on purpose so what? I do not regret it at all, for me it was not a mistake. Do you regret it?