Chapter 13
Chapter 13: The Glass Partition
The federal penitentiary was a bleak, towering fortress of concrete, steel, and human despair. The air smelled of bleach, stale sweat, and institutional food.
Renata wore a tailored, slate-gray power suit and pristine white heels. She walked through the security checkpoints with her head held high, the sharp click-clack of her shoes echoing down the barren corridors.
She was led to the visitor's room. A thick panel of bulletproof glass divided a long counter.
A door on the other side buzzed heavily, and Alonso walked in.
Renata almost didn't recognize him. The man who had once worn custom-tailored Italian suits and fifty-thousand-dollar watches was gone. In his place was a frail, sunken-eyed man drowning in a baggy beige prison uniform. His perfectly styled hair had thinned and gone gray at the temples. His skin was pale, deprived of the Las Lomas sun, and his hands shook violently.
He sat down on the metal stool and picked up the heavy black telephone.
Renata sat gracefully, crossing her legs, and picked up her receiver.
"You came," Alonso breathed, fresh tears immediately welling in his hollow eyes. "My God, Renata, you look... you look so beautiful. You look so strong."
"Why did you ask me to come, Alonso?" she asked, her voice completely devoid of emotion.
"I need your help," he sobbed, pressing his free hand against the dirty glass. "They are going to lock me in a cage for the rest of my life. My mother... she ruined me! She poisoned my mind! You know how she is, Renata. You know she controlled everything. You have to tell the judge that I was just a victim of her abuse, just like you were!"
Renata stared at him. She looked at the man she had once vowed to love in sickness and in health.
"You are not a victim, Alonso," Renata said smoothly, her words precise and merciless. "A victim is someone who has their choices stolen from them. You had a choice every single day for six years. You chose to let her humiliate me. You chose to forge my signature. You chose to steal my aunt's inheritance to pay for your sports cars. You didn't do it because you were afraid of her. You did it because you are greedy, and because you are a coward."
Alonso's face crumpled. "Please, Renata! I am begging you! I have nothing! I sleep on a steel cot. I am terrified every single night!"
"Do you remember my clearance-rack black dress?" Renata asked suddenly, tilting her head.
Alonso blinked, confused by the shift. "What?"
"The black dress I wore to the anniversary dinner. The one your mother dumped vinaigrette all over." Renata leaned closer to the glass, her dark eyes piercing straight through his soul. "You laughed, Alonso. You leaned back, covered your mouth with a napkin, and you laughed from the bottom of your chest while I wiped salad dressing off my face on my hands and knees."
Alonso swallowed hard, his breath fogging the glass. "I... I was stupid..."
"You weren't stupid. You were cruel," Renata corrected. "I am not writing a letter to the judge, Alonso. I came here today to look at you and make sure that the man who broke my heart was truly gone. And looking at you now... I realize he never really existed at all."
She hung the black receiver back on the cradle.
May you like
Alonso slammed his hands against the glass, screaming something she couldn't hear, his face red and contorted in panic.
Renata didn't look back. She stood up, smoothed her tailored jacket, and walked out of the prison into the bright, blinding sunlight of her real life.
