Novel that deals with discrimination, machismo and difficulties experienced by women of the gallant life. All seen from the perspective of our protagonist who is going to tell us little by little how she got to her current situation.
By: Mahiro_retro
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Can you imagine having a shitty life since you were born? May your only memories be of the misfortune and abuse that you experienced since you were little by your parents and acquaintances.
But despite everything you kept smiling, your beautiful smile was not erased until many years later... when you discovered that the world cannot change, that the world is a mess.
×××
Sunday February 20, 2005.
It was a stormy night, lightning and thunder fell every minute, this made the earth shake and the wind roared more and more with each passing minute.
The city, susceptible to flooding, began to fill with water, so residents began to leave their houses in search of refuge in high areas.
Despite everything that others lived through, a blessing was happening in a small house in one of the poorest areas of the city.
×××
"Barrio Chamelecon, San Pedro Sula, Honduras"
"Uh...ah...ah..."
A woman with her legs spread wide and her belly inflated was fighting not to scream as she clenched her teeth hard, nearly causing them to break.
The woman's hands were red from the pressure she was applying when squeezing the sheets she was on, this action, although it seems rational, did nothing but hurt her, this can be verified by seeing small drops of blood drip down her hands her.
"She's coming out! Don't stop bidding"
An older dark-haired woman in traditional clothing was crouched in front of the woman's legs, waiting for the baby.
In her hands was a small blanket and to the sides of her were a bucket of water and a sharp knife.
At the command of the older woman, the mother-to-be forced her belly to push with all her might.
Slowly but steadily a small lump of meat was coming out.
The older woman waited until her head was outside of her and from there she was guiding the baby out.
It was a few minutes of extreme suffering for the mother, but in the end she got her reward.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
"S-she's a girl!"
With joy the older woman announced the birth of the baby, after which she took the bucket of water and gently bathed the baby's body, then wrapped her in a blanket.
Seeing that she was moderately clean, she took the knife and carefully cut the umbilical cord that united the mother and the baby.
Officially, the girl was born.
The mother smiled with joy at the news, so she quickly tried to look without caring about the pain she felt.
"Wait!"
In panic the older woman screamed, causing the mother to stop dead and lay back down.
Relieved, the older woman gently held the baby in her right hand, while her left pulled on her umbilical cord.
After some effort, the placenta came out of her mother.
With that finished, the older woman sighed with relief and proceeded to carefully clean the baby and then hand her over to the woman.
"M-My daughter"
The mother shed tears at the joy of having brought her first child into the world.
Meanwhile, the older woman began to order everything from her when she realized something that made her open her eyes.
"W-We have to go"
The older woman said in a panic.
"Because?"
"Look"
The older woman pointed to the plank door.
The mother turned there and her eyes trembled with fear.
Under the door water began to enter, although at first it was little, it gradually rose.
They were in a room at the back of the house, which means that the rest of the house is flooded.
It seems that nature does not spare anyone, even if they are giving birth.
The older woman ran to the mother's side and with as much strength as her old bones could carry, she helped the mother to her feet.
"Come on!"
The older woman held the baby with one arm while with the other she helped the woman walk.
Slowly but progressively they reached the door and opened it.
"My God..."
The other side was a mess, things floating everywhere, water almost 20 centimeters from the ground and to top it off, since they only had candles for the room, the rest of the house was in complete darkness.
As she could, the older woman walked around the house, struggling to remember where everything was so she wouldn't fall.
Fortunately her memory was in perfect condition, because in a short time they managed to reach the front door and she opened it.
The moment they got out, a gust of wind and water hit both of their faces.
The older woman used her body to shield the girl as she looked around for somewhere to go.
At that moment she saw a local man not so far away that he seemed to be heading towards high ground.
Using her hoarse voice the older woman yelled several times trying to get the man's attention.
The first few screams of hers didn't work, so she kept wearing her voice down with each scream.
Luckily for her, in her room she yelled at her, the man turned towards her and as soon as he saw them he ran in her direction.
The man was about to ask what was wrong, but the moment he saw the state of her mother, the tiredness of the older woman, and the newborn girl, he understood everything.
Without saying anything he approached her mother and put her on her back.
"There is a high area about 750 meters"
He said to himself as he started to walk.
The older woman sighed in relief and began to follow him.
"Thank God"
She murmured under her breath.
×××
The road was difficult, mainly because the man was only a teenager of about 16 years old and because of the physical condition of the older woman.
But after a few minutes they reached the upper area and began to climb.
Panting, the older woman took each step more unsteady than the last until she stopped walking and told the teenager that she was going to rest a bit.
Understanding the teen left her mother to sit on the ground and looked in the direction they were coming.
The older woman decided to do the same and her heart sank.
The houses below already had almost 1 meter of water, some people were coming in this direction and finally several fallen trees fell across the place.
But what worried the older woman the most was the shape of everything.
A valley with two small mountains on either side, dozens of trees around it, but stone at the bottom, if we add that to the fact that it had a long and winding shape... it looked like the mouth of a river.
Apparently the residents decided to build on a river.
Is it because the land is cheap? Could it be because they invaded the place? Is it because they don't have the resources to build elsewhere?
Anyway the older woman knew, if only with the beginning of the storm the place was already like this... it is possible that everything will be destroyed throughout the night.
He looked towards the woman and saw a look of despair and sadness on her face, it seems that she thinks the same.
The teenager, for his part, was also somewhat sad, but he seemed relieved to have gotten out of there on time.
The older woman looked at the girl in her arms and it seems that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
This made her smile and think that not everything was bad tonight.
After resting for a few minutes they continued walking until they came to an open field next to a main road.
Logically, they were not the only ones there, dozens of people were on the ground, some crying, others sad and many others relieved.
The older woman looked around her and she couldn't find a place for her mother to rest, so she started to walk towards a tree so that she could at least protect them from the rain.
The tree was not far away, so in a few steps they got close enough to be under its shadow.
"GET OUT OF THERE!"
Both the older woman and the teenager heard a scream, and before they could ask what was wrong something was heard breaking.
Time seemed to have stopped at that moment.
The older woman with her peripheral vision could see how the tree was leaning downward, it seems that the rain destroyed its foundations.
Dozens of thoughts and emotions went through the head of the older woman, but at the moment when she was going to try to save herself, she remembered the girl she was carrying in her arms.
The little body heat that the girl gave off next to her small body made the older woman make a decision that she knew she would not regret.
Time returned to normal.
The woman's body acted quickly and she threw herself back, trying at all times that the girl was okay.
With a "BOOM" the trunk of the tree fell on the lower part of the older woman, completely crushing her body.
Whether it was because of the adrenaline or because the tree was crushing everything, there was one thing for sure, the woman did not feel pain.
With her hands trembling she carefully placed the baby on the ground away from her and smiled.
She looked up a little and saw how the teenager's face and her mother turned pale as they looked at her.
Fortunately they were a few meters away.
The teenager left the mother and ran to the older woman's side.
"Take the girl away"
She said to the teenager.
The teen struggled to figure out what to do, but in the end he did as he was told and picked up the baby and took a few steps away from her.
Seeing that, the older woman closed her eyes and sighed in relief.
With a sliding sound, the tree that had barely stood still began to slide down the mountain because of the water, taking the body of the older woman with it.
The mother's eyes widened and her heart ached like never before.
The older woman was called Laura, she had helped the mother in her most difficult moments and was basically a mother to her, a pity her death.
Seeing what had just happened, several people ran in her direction and helped her mother up.
A young woman carefully picked up the teenager's baby and pulled an extra sheet over her body.
With the help of people, the mother reached a relatively safe place and sat down.
Carefully the young woman handed over the baby.
Like an empty shell, the mother looked up at the sky, thinking of Laura's face and all the help she had given her.
Little droplets of salt water began to form in her eyes and trickle down her cheeks to her chin, where they pooled with the rainwater.
At that moment the baby suddenly opened her eyes and began to cry.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
The mother came out of her stupor and turned her face towards the baby.
She tried to put her hand on her cheek in an attempt to calm her down, but the girl continued to cry harder and harder.
"It is possible that she is hungry"
The young woman who was still next to her gave a suggestion as she looked into the mother's eyes.
At that moment the mother remembered that she had not yet fed her baby, so she took her right breast out and carefully placed it over the baby's mouth.
By instinct the baby knew what she had to do and she began to suck.
One... two... three... no matter how many times the baby suckled, the milk would not come out.
Desperately the mother tried to squeeze her breast to the point where it hurt, but the milk never came out.
It was like... if there was no milk in the first place.
In that the mother remembered something and looked at her hand.
A thin hand with skin attached to it, you don't have to look at the rest of her body to know what's going on.
Seeing that with her malnutrition she would not be able to produce milk, the mother began to cry.
She cried of impotence, she cried for not being able to give her daughter milk, she cried for being a bad mother.
She just cried.