After that day, Bella, who had overcome the passing of her friend during the few days of mourning, fell into despair.
She stayed in her room without wanting to speak to anyone or even eat. She isolated herself from everything and everyone, seeming to lack energy.
Bella has completely disconnected from everyone. Every time she closes her eyes, and plunges into the darkness of her room, the memories of Julio come back to her like a punch in the face. No matter how much she tells herself that she shouldn't hold him back with her selfish feelings, she can't free herself from the emptiness she feels, from the pain in her chest that seems to suffocate her but worse, from the realization that she will never see him again.
Bella cried during the night, the day, every moment in fact because the days and the nights were the same in her mind. She feels sad and vulnerable without her best friend, but above all, she feels great anger against these two men who killed her friend.
It was for such a stupid quarrel that her friend had to pay the price. A settling of scores between two dumb gangs over turf issues as if the land belongs to them.
Why did these people have to exist, why did these evil people come and ruin their lives? Not only do they extort the poor inhabitants of the district, rape, attack, and beat up its women and daughters, but now they are killing its people.
It's unfair that these people have to exist, she hates them so much.
Her dream is for all gangs and criminal organizations to disappear. But especially since their members die in the most atrocious way that exists, a world without these scrapings would be healthier. Anyone in a gang is a rot that doesn't deserve to live.
Bella brooded like this for days, feeling uncertain about her future in this neighborhood. Who's next? It is now obvious that the gangs no longer bother to check if there are innocent people or if the place where they engage in their shooting is not going to cause harm to innocent people.
What does the Familia do when it is the cartel that federates this region? She gritted her teeth feeling stupid asking criminals to fix a situation caused by criminals. But that's how it is in Acalpuc*, the police can't do anything about the resurgence of crime in this town.
The cartel is in charge.
Bella thought about not going out anymore, if Julio was killed just walking down the street, a crowded path he's been on all his life, then she doesn't know how to see the future in that environment. If only Julio was here, he would tell her what to do.
As the days pass, Bella tries to overcome the misfortune that has befallen her. Her family helped her a lot. She's gradually regaining her bearings even if sometimes it's too hard.
She had found a vacation job with Julio and they had started together. But it's not the same without him. His absence is omnipresent in her life and it is with great will that she forces herself not to lament about his departure.
It's another start to the week and Bella is already at work. She takes care of the housework in a large local society and even if it's trying, she adapts to it. She needs to save. She's not as smart as Julio so she'll settle for an average college. But for that, she must have money, if only to lighten the expenses of the room she is going to take near the university.
She pulled herself together, and she will continue her studies to become the person that Julio would have wanted her to be, that her parents want her to be.
She has already thought of everything, she has mapped out her future and she has to help make it happen.
However, lately, she feels washed out. Tired and her morale is low. Perhaps this is the hard blow she suffered.
That day, she finished work early, wanting to go rest. She needs it, having worked like a madman. Even her boss noticed it.
She arrived home, finding her mother alone because her father works late and Leïla is still at her job.
"Good evening mamá" she greeted, coming to kiss her cheek.
"Good evening mi amor, did you have a good day? Coming home early today," her mother replied before reminding her of her early return.
"Yes, just the accumulated fatigue of the past few weeks," Bella replied calmly as her mother came over to give her a peck on the cheek.
"You should go rest. I'll call you when it's time to eat," her mother announced and Bella just nodded going upstairs.
She arrived in her room putting away her things before frowning at the calendar. They had already reached the 05th of the month? She frowned, taking out her menstrual calendar. She doesn't remember having had her period last month.
Checking the dates, she realized that indeed, she did not have her period. She is clocked like clockwork, her periods always arrive at the same time, that is to say, the 10th of each month, but there...
The 10th has passed and she has not had her period, the new month has arrived and it will soon be the 10th too.
Her heart quivered as worry grew within her. Why doesn't she have her period? She calmed down thinking that it must be due to the emotional shock she had because of Julio's death.
Forgetting this fact, she continued her activities quietly thinking that her period would eventually arrive on the following 10th. But even with that certainty, the worry and anxiety inside her have only increased to the point where she can't focus on anything, and the pressure mounts after the 10 passes without her having her period.
Bella begins to ask herself unanswered questions and eventually, she decides to turn to temporary answers like going to the internet, and to health sites to understand the situation.
But what she finds only increases her anxiety and fear.
Several responses suggested certain diseases and hormonal disorders, but what immediately caught Bella's attention was one passage in particular:
The absence of periods is quite natural when, for example, the woman is pregnant, breastfeeding, or approaching menopause.
Pregnant….
Bella gulped.