I didn’t pressure her.
But before going to sleep, back home, while I was arranging her stuffed rabbit, Sofía murmured something that broke my heart.
“Aunt Claudia said that if I cried, you wouldn’t want to take me with you anymore.”
I froze.
“What else did she say, my love?”
Sofía swallowed hard.
“That cowardly girls get left alone. And that everyone would laugh if she came out of the bathroom.”
I felt such a pure, cold rage that I had to take a deep breath to keep from breaking down in front of her.
I put her to bed next to me that night. I didn’t sleep. I checked every photo and video that had been uploaded to the family WhatsApp group. In a story from my cousin Mariana, recorded “by accident,” you could see several children running toward the bathroom. Then you could hear Claudia’s voice saying:
