Forbidden

She bent down to gather the pieces of the broken cup, unaware that someone was watching her from the doorway, holding his breath.

Every afternoon she moved the box that served as a door and sat beside me, as if that cramped corner were the only place we could be someone else.

I saw her leaning against the bar as if the entire club existed only to hold her up, and knew no amount of money would be too much for a night with her.

Every Thursday night, he knocked on the parish priest’s door with his head bowed. No one in town imagined what happened once the gate was bolted.

I'd seen the way he looked at me whenever I went to his house. That week at the beach, away from everyone, I decided to find out how far my boyfriend's father would go.

I thought my future would be decided by the owner of the coast’s most expensive club. I never imagined the final test would be given by his right hand, a woman seasoned by years in the trade.

At sixty, I promised myself a quiet life. Then the door across the landing opened, and she appeared—with white-streaked hair and a smile promising trouble.

I always hid my body beneath loose clothing, until the early morning when my friend’s dad opened the bathroom door and stared at me a second too long.

I had always wanted my friend’s boyfriend. That night, when alcohol finally knocked her out, he returned to the living room naked—and everything changed.

I slid my red nails over my hairless skin and smiled: in a few hours I would stop being the quiet girl from the fourth floor and become something else again.

I never thought a four-thirty showing would end with me holding my breath, praying no one would look toward our row.

I knocked on the bathroom door with my heart racing. I knew I was only going to look. I also knew I was lying to myself.

When the obi tightened around her waist, she knew there was no turning back: every fold erased a little more of her, and she had never desired anything with such shame.

Carmen explained the rules: bathe twice a day, obey every bell, and never ask questions. That night, I understood what kind of niece my uncle wanted.

I asked him not to come back. But when I saw him again on my porch, I knew I would be the one setting the rules for the game we shouldn’t be playing.

I kissed him in the car as if I had wanted him all my life, and only then did I realize that the boy I had watched grow up was no longer a child.

It was meant for Andrés, my boyfriend. But the blue double check appeared three seconds later, and I realized, my stomach turning cold, that I’d sent it to the wrong man.

We were dancing when he leaned to my ear and reminded me what he’d seen that other night. Half an hour later, I was climbing into his pickup at the end of the driveway.

I arrived with my tape measure and my nerves frayed. All I wanted was to avoid the west wing, but he had already asked for me at reception.

I thought the house was empty, but the murmurs were coming from upstairs. I stood frozen on the staircase, unable to go up or leave.