was his fault, the first thing he ought to’ve done was call his Mamá and reassure her, the only thing I always asked of Leandro and Bebita when they went out at night was stay out as late as you like I’d tell them but please don’t forget to ring, fat chance, whole nights I’ve spent sitting up waiting for the phone to ring you’ll see soon enough your son’s little now but when he grows up you’ll see for yourself, they say Darío called his lawyer or one of his friends course he’ll’ve thought they’ll get me out first and then he’d tell his mother when it was all sorted out there was no need to worry her he’d ended up sleeping it off in one local police station or another on more than one occasion, never here of course for his Mamá’s sake and anyway how could he know it’d be any different this time. I mean I think he was in the right if he didn’t want his mother to find out, although some Jezebel or other was bound to go and tell her sooner or later you know what it’s like in these towns we’re never short of busybodies but not us, no, we’d never dream of it. Delia eventually ended up going home, easier I think, but she can’t have slept properly because at the crack of dawn the next day she was at the parish house knocking on Father Abeledo’s door who was in the throes of one of his depressions at the time I’ll tell you about them in a minute and I don’t know if she managed to get him out of bed I don’t think so, it’s so many years ago now, can you remember Chesi? No of course, if Father Abeledo’d been having one of his good days it was a joy to see him there was nothing a girl wouldn’t have done for him like a ray of sunshine he was this Jewish girl even wanted to convert but her parents slapped the idea right out of her head, the Brofmans I don’t know if you ever met them apart from that they’re well loved and well respected in town and as I was saying Father Abeledo would have given her consolation spiritual guidance such a shame it all happened during one of his crises and then … I don’t know if she’d planned it or if she had the idea there and then, the parish house is right next door to your grandparents’ and our Delia went right up and rang the doorbell. But you probably know more about it than I do, you must’ve been told by your … Oh, see what I mean, that makes two of us. You know how it is when you realise someone doesn’t want to talk about something, you don’t just go bringing the subject up, I never did find out where the feud between Delia and your grandmother came from, actually it was your grandmother who was the offended party, Delia used to act as if nothing was wrong always wore a smile she did Emily this and Emily that that’s how she pronounced it with an English accent imagine, a crying shame it was, the only two women in town who could speak proper English and they wouldn’t speak to each other, sometimes I thought Delia was doing it on purpose, she had a rather catty streak to her sometimes, and your grandmother obviously was always ready to answer her back but she knew how to restrain herself, a real lady she was, and now suddenly there she is in the wee small hours banging on her door like a mad woman, you know what people are like they don’t give you so much as the time of day till they need a favour, I don’t know if I’d been in your grandmother’s shoes I might’ve slammed the door in her face oh so now that you need me we’re friends are we slammm but your grandmother didn’t, did the dignified thing she did and showed her in.”