Chapter 6 - Teresa Tried to Call It “Discipline”
The first formal move from Teresa’s side came through a lawyer.
The letter described the incident as a “misunderstood disciplinary response to ongoing health concerns” and accused us of “distorting cultural and familial practices.” It offered no apology. It did not deny the bag or the belt. It only argued that Teresa had acted out of concern for “self-regulation” and “physical wellbeing.”
I read it twice and felt sick.
Ricardo didn’t make it through the first page.
He threw it onto the table and walked outside.
When I found him ten minutes later, he was sitting on the back steps with both elbows on his knees, staring at the ground.
“She’s going to say she saved me too,” he said.
“What?”
“She always said that. That she saved me from getting lazy. From becoming weak. From being laughed at.”
I sat beside him.
“Did anyone ever challenge her?”
He shook his head.
“Not really. My father hated conflict. My cousins joked about her being strict. And I…” He swallowed. “I got older, moved out, and told myself survival meant the past was over.”
I didn’t let him off the hook.
“And when she started making comments about Sofía?”
“I should have stopped it then.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
That mattered to me more than self-pity would have.
Inside, my phone buzzed with a message from Teresa.
Not to Ricardo.
To me.
You are making this bigger than it needs to be. Sofia will thank me someday. Ricardo always resisted too.
I saved the message.
Then another came.
If you involve the police, I will tell them how many times Ricardo complained about Sofia’s eating.
I stared at the screen.
When Ricardo came back in, I handed him the phone.
He read it, and I saw something terrible happen in his face.
Recognition.
“What does she mean?” I asked.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said, “A month ago, I called her after Sofía came home crying because a girl at school called her round.”
I felt the room go still around us.
“And?”
“I told my mother I was worried Sofía was starting to feel bad about her body. That maybe we needed to help her build better habits early.”
The edges of my vision seemed to sharpen.
“Did you ask her to discipline our daughter?”
“No.”
“Did you ask her to talk to Sofía about food?”
He looked away.
“I told her maybe Sofía would listen to her.”
That was the moment I understood this case was not just about what Teresa did in one afternoon.
May you like
She had been handed an opening.
And my husband had been the one to open it.
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