Right in front of him.
Eye to eye.
“That hurt a lot,” she said softly. “The statue. The kicking. All of it hurt.”
Mateo stopped for half a second.
His chest was rising and falling fast.
Valeria placed one hand over her own heart.
“For you to have that much anger inside,” she whispered, “you must be carrying something very heavy in here.”
The entire room went still.
Alejandro stared at her like she had just done the impossible.
Mateo’s fists were still clenched.
His eyes were wild.
But he was listening.
“You can hit me a hundred more times,” Valeria said, her voice calm. “If you think that will make the fire inside you go away, you can try.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but she did not look away.
“But I promise you one thing, Mateo. I’m not going to run. And I’m not going to yell at you.”
The little boy lifted his fist.
Everyone held their breath.
But his hand stopped in the air.
His lower lip began to tremble.