Twenty Five: The Life That Follows

After Marina's secret discovery about her biological mother's death, she was so shaken that she decided on her own to leave home and spend a term with her brother, which resulted in major problems both at school and with her family in general.

Everything became a huge snowball, which the girl was very shaken, to the point of not being able to open up to anyone, not even her best friend. It was a very difficult time in her life, but in the period of four months everything was getting back on track.

Marina was transferred to the school in Sete Lagoas, which almost resulted in her being taken back to the orphanage for abandonment, so the judge had to be called and let's say it was "all quiet."

When the tide receded, Sandra had more contact with her again, and little by little the rapprochement returned, but all care was taken so that again there would be no new fight, and in the event someone could be emotionally hurt.

***

The day was cloudy, the clouds getting darker and darker as the few rays of sunlight that had was fading. Marina was lying on her bed watching the weather, trying to put her mind in order and for once in her life try to be mature enough and make her own decisions wisely. A little less than twenty minutes ago she had received a call from her adoptive parents asking her to come home, but the fear that everything would get worse surfaced and there she was, thinking, not knowing what to do. She had already been told that she could not stay more than four months without direct contact with her new family, otherwise she would return to the orphanage or the boarding school. She couldn't define what she thought and if she cared about the rules of justice, after all, what does a girl of almost seventeen want from life after everything that happened to her besides peace and tranquility?

-Mari, you can't stay there locked up all day. Jurandir has called me several times wanting to know about you.

-I want to be alone Thiago. Please leave me alone.

She no longer had the strength to cry, as she had done so since arriving in Sete Lagoas, but she did not have the courage to go out and face the world around her. It seemed that everything made things more difficult in her life. Many times she felt like giving up everything, sinking deeper into life and forgetting everyone, but then she would be bringing more sadness to her family, and her parents, if they were alive, would not approve of her attitude.

Decided and determined on what to do, she gets out of bed, looks for a warm clothes in the closet and takes a cold shower, not caring that outside it is thirteen degrees cold and much less that she may have a cramp for having her body warm and then go to something colder. She lets the water fall in front of her body and, while soaping herself, reflects on her decision. She thinks, wonders if this can change everything, if her forgiving them for keeping her secret will make them better foster parents and not judge her for leaving home. It is known that what she did was very wrong, but it would have been much worse if she had altered even more and Sandra lost the baby out of boredom.

Another detail that soon came to her mind was her boyfriend, whom she barely talked to, because she made excuses all the time that she was tired of school, but the reality is that she was afraid, but not of him-far from it-but of him not being able to stand her complaining about life and leaving her, but she did not think that this could happen because she did not give him the proper attention. The fear occurred to her and she quickly got out of the shower, put on a warm outfit that boils down to sweatpants and a thick hoodie, both gray in color, and sent him a message:

Hello

-Hi my love.

-I want to apologize for pulling away from you. I didn't want to fill you with my problems, but I didn't realize that doing so could end our relationship. I will understand if you don't want me anymore.

She waited for the message nervously and with such a cold in her belly that she feared she might get sick at any moment, but relief soon followed with her response.

-"At first I didn't understand very well the reason for your estrangement, I thought you didn't love me anymore, but everyone told me that you were like that even with your brothers for whom you were always so attached, which partly became a relief for me. I confess I was and still am quite worried about you, but I will not and do not want to leave you. I love you and even when you avoided keeping in touch I couldn't go a day without thinking about you. Everything I did, soon your name came into my mind, every song played on the radio, every beat of my heart called out your name and told me not to leave you. I love you so much that I can wait as long as it takes to have you in my life again. Just please come back to my arms soon. I miss you.

Tears flowed from her eyes and there, right there, was her answer: She needed to go home, although the fear of being rejected was great, but soon another message came to surprise her and make her want to get out of there as soon as possible.

-Mari, my dear. I hope you are well. I know you're still mad at me, but I need to tell you something. Every time I touch my belly and say your name, the baby moves, it seems to love to hear me call you. I know you're still mad, but please go back to mommy, not just for that, but because I love you, I miss you. Everything will be different. I may not promise, because sometimes promises are broken, but I will do my best to make everything work out between us and that someday we can be a family again.

And it was exactly at this point that the girl knew that her place was no longer in Sete Lagoas but with her family, who, although not of blood, were of heart, who cared about her, loved her as if she had come out of her womb and understood her like no one else, and with a smile on her face, determined, she packed her bags and when talking to her brother, she was taken back to where she should never have left.