-Well, we’d like to see your boyfriend, we have to talk man to man -said my father after a few moments of hug.
-But I don’t know if he would like to meet you, - I said hesitantly.
-Why not? -Asked my mother surprised.
-Well, he has a modern thinking and he believes that knowing parents is not until when you want to get engaged so in the meantime there is no need to.
- You have not told him yet? -my mother asked seeing my excuses.
-No, I wanted to see how you would react first, before facing my boyfriend-I said nervously.
- It’s important for him to know - said my father said in a reassuring voice.
- Okay, give me some minutes to call him- I said as I went to my room.
From there I called the boy I had been dating only a couple of years, but I thought he was the love of my life, I felt that way and I had told him many ti-mes.
-Hi, sweetie, how are you?
-I’m fine baby, tell me, what do you need?
-I just wanted to hear your voice, tell me, when are we seeing this week?
- You caught me very busy, you know, I’m with guys here in the workshop, we’re preparing a new bike to see if we can win the local races to qualify.
-That’s okay, but I’d like to tell you something.
-Well, tell me, I’m all yours.
-It has to be in person, it’s important.
-I don’t know baby, look, if you like I have a little bit of time now, but I want it to be quick, so nobody complains.
-All right let me tell my parents and I will be right there.
-I’ll be waiting for you, precious.
- See you love.
I hung up, left my room to tell my parents, they thought it was okay and they were happy for my courage, I don’t know if it was such or just the need to sha-re something so beautiful with the person I was in love with.
I got to the passage in a hurry and I met a neighbour with her small dog, this was a sad lady who we barely saw in the street, because she preferred to go out in the afternoons to take a walk with her dog, and did not keep too much con-tact with the other neighbours .
-Good afternoon, I said with a smile as I held the elevator door.
-Hello girl, where are you going in such a hurry? She replied as she entered.
-To see my boyfriend -I answered with a smile.
-Youthfulness, blessed youth age, I still remember when my husband went to work and I stayed at home preparing food waiting for him to come back home to give him a great kiss
Have you been together for many years? I asked surprised to know she had a partner.
- Almost twenty years, before he had the accident.
- An accident, I’m sorry, I said with regret.
-Yes, since then things have not being the same and then, little by little I was losing him.
I did not understand what she was meant, but I preferred not getting deep into it, knowing that it was painful, at that moment the dog began to bark and as it was a small space it resonated in the cabin.
-Be quiet, beautiful, Be quiet, the owner said to her dog.
-What’s wrong? I asked surprised.
-It is very sensitive, it quickly perceive women that are pregnant.
That disconcerted me, I had never heard anything like it. I did know that dogs that work in customs detected smells of bombs or drugs, or in the army detec-ted badly wounded people buried under the ruins of an earthquake, but never heard of something like this. I must have turned red, because the older woman told me,
-Don’t worry, it’s a blessing, we waited for it so long and it never came. If I had had at least one, I’m sure that my life would have been very different.
That saddened me, because it is true that many couples, for one reason or another, even wishing to have them they can’t have children, instead, me without expecting it I was going to have a new being in my arms, which at first had seemed sad for me but now I was very happy to see how it was something positive and desired by others.
-Well, tell me, girl, have you already given her a name?
- No, ma’am, I just found out I am pregnant and I still do not know if it’s a boy or a girl.
I had not think about it, I have been too worried waiting for other people’s reaction, my parents and my partner, that I had not taken time to think about the baby, which after all was going to be the most important thing in my life for the next nine months and in the following years.
-I don’t know, it looks like she’s a girl, a beautiful girl, the older woman told me.
-How do you know? I asked, stunned by her comment.
-You know a lot of things at my age, it shows on your face- she replied with a wink.
I did not know how that woman whom I would have seen many times, but have spoken to her only once or twice in my life, now knew so much about me, maybe as she said it was all written on my face, and only those that knew how to read it would know. We got downstairs and the old lady came out saying
-Take care of him, for you have received a blessing, give him all the love you can for he will give it back to you back times ten.
That been said, I went with the dog to the park, the truth is that I felt good, that little girl had given me a great joy, because she looked so clean and innocent.
I would have wanted to be like her when I got married, but those were diffi-cult times of economic crisis when we had no luxury and I think that was why we didn’t have any children.
My husband and I were always talking about the same thing, about how expen-sive it would be to have a child in such a difficult time, we would talk about the expenses that it would generate us and especially about how we would see the child, very little as we both were working.
I think that was why we did not have a child, neither of us were willing to give up a part of our lives to have a little time and dedicate it to caring for a new member in the family.
At that time I had no dog, neither the means to take care of it, because I would wake up very early, even more than my husband, I would prepare his clothes and make breakfast, we had breakfast together and then he went to work at the factory and I to the hairdressers.
The amount of hairs that I had cut, unraveled curls and dyed wicks, this despi-te occupying a large part of the day made me happy, because that was where I would talk to my friends, also when I was fortunate of having a cheerful cus-tomer that made the hours shorter.
This is how I learnt how to find out people’s secrets by their faces, since this after all is a reflection of who we are, what we want and also what we hide.
So many hours listening to the customers, observing their faces in the mirror to see if I made a straight cut, that it made it easier for me later to guess if they had a good or bad day as soon as they entered the door.
Later on, my subtlety increased and I could know without her telling me anything, if she had quarrelled with her husband or son, if she had a new love or if he had left her.
It’s so much that my colleagues named me little witch and it was me who so-me customers came looking for, even if they had a beautiful hair, they wanted me to take care of their hair and thus use the opportunity to tell me about their lives.
Little by little I acquired that skill also on the street, although I never wanted to ask people if what I saw in them was true.
In spite of