Page 139 of That Last Summer

“You can skip that part. I’m not interested. Did you leave because you saw me in bed having sex with Carolina?!”

“I saw you holding her. From the garden, through the living room window.”

“Sure,” he says, pensive. “There were no weeds covering it.”

“What?”

“The garden. It was neat, because I’d taken care of it, didn’t you notice?”

“N-no,” I say, confused.

“You just saw us hugging?”

“Yes. Would I have found you in the middle of the sexual act if I’d shown up five minutes earlier or had you finished?”

“Hmm... I can’t remember. Keep going, please. Did you discover at that moment, because of that hug, that I was cheating on you with my brother’s girlfriend? Although, truth be told, she wasn’t John’s anymore.”

“No. It just shocked me.”

“Ah, but you gave me the benefit of the doubt?”

“I remember a phone rang in that moment. I walked over to the table and saw it was her cell phone. I took it and—”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you take her cell phone? What were you looking for?”

“I don’t know, it was instinctive.”

“You were looking for evidence.”

“What?”

“You were looking for evidence that I was cheating on you. You didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt. Because of a hug, Priscila. Because of a fucking hug,” he says. And the desolation I can hear in his voice overwhelms me more than anything else. I don’t know why, but I prefer his anger. And why do I feel like he’s interrogating me? Why do I feel like I’m the one being judged? He was the one who committed the crime! Not me!

“So what?” I yell, unable to contain myself. “You were fucking your brother’s girlfriend! I think you’re forgetting that tiniest detail.”

“Forgetting? Oh no, I’m fucking aware of it, believe me. Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Alex yells back.

“Because I was shocked. I turned around and got in the car again. I drove and drove, and I ended up in Madrid. I didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t even know how I got there.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Priscila! Or did you get on a plane to Boston without realizing it either?”

“Well, yes, I did. That’s how it happened. I was on autopilot; I wasn’t aware of what I was doing.”

“I don’t believe you. Adrián was with you.”

“It’s true and I don’t care if you believe me or not. Adrián came later, when everything was already done. He tried to stop me, but he couldn’t.”

“Adrián left with you.”

“No, not right away. There was no room on the plane, so he took another flight and we met there. I told him everything, I showed him the photo and—”

“You showed him the damn photo? What gave you the right Priscila? You didn’t even take it yourself!”

“I saved it on my cell phone... I don’t know, I did that instinctively, too.”