Anecdotes of a Fleeting Mind – Chapter Two
ELENA
Fat Elena brought life to the neighbourhood. She was always selling her irresistible tamales on the corner and she was, without a doubt, the most loved person in the community.
With her maternal love, she not only filled the bellies of all her clients, brightening their afternoon with a simple bite of the most delicious meals, but just listening to her scandalous laughter or her out-of-tune songs a couple of blocks away, even the unfortunate neighbours felt instantly joyful and pleased with life.
She was also the one who established the bingo and bachata Sundays in the tavern. To “scare away the Sunday-blues”. But not even a drop of liquor was allowed. Then, as grandmothers used to say, “alcohol is the father of all sins.” And nobody would dare to contradict Fat Elena. As loving as she was, she could also transform within seconds into a furious, intimidating person.
DOĆA MILAGROS
DoƱa Milagros also lived in the area. She was a 59-year-old widow who, in the past, had belonged to the upper class of the city.
She had been married to her husband for 37 years. Sadly, his husband found himself in great debt and the only escape he found was to hang himself in the park, leaving his wife penniless and with the greatest public embarrassment of her life.
That is why the only thing DoƱa Milagros could do, was to move to the other side of the city, leaving all her luxuries behind her and settling in a humble neighborhood.
Of course, she never put aside her elegance and, much less, her infallible character to prove herself superior to every person she met on her path.
Many said that she had a heart of stone, but that didn’t hurt her at all. She knew that having such a high social status like hers, she couldn’t go around showing her feelings like an open book. āNo, that is for people without classā and she didn’t waste her valuable time on that.
Besides, emotions can cause wrinkles and DoƱa Milagros certainly wasn’t going to take any chances on that.
Ā© 2023-01-21
