For a few seconds after my mother said she could not congratulate me for “defying God’s will,” no one moved.

whispered, “I don’t know.”

But we all knew enough.

That night, my mother finally called me.

I did not answer until Andrés sat beside me and started recording.

Her voice came through calm and sweet, which frightened me more than shouting would have.

“Mariana, my child.”

“Do not call me that right now.”

She sighed. “You are angry because the enemy is filling continue reading …