Part 4 — The son left his granddaughter alone in the storm, but when I learned the real reason for the cruise, the smile disappeared from his face

The next morning, at six o’clock, my phone rang continuously.

Julián called me first.

“Ricardo, an official request came from the police. They want you to present Sofia today.”

“We will present her.”

“Alejandro is trying to say that you intend to take revenge on him.”

“I intend only to protect the child.”

“The recordings already confirm this.”

The second call was from the bank. Alberto told me that all of my son’s additional cards had been canceled, but an attempt at a new transfer had been recorded on one of the accounts.

“Who is sending it?”

“Brenda. The amount is small, but the purpose says: ‘For Sofia’s return.’”

“Return it.”

“Are you sure?”

“This time I will not allow anyone to turn my granddaughter into a payment.”

The third call was made by Alejandro’s lawyer. He began in a calm voice, although a threat was hidden in his words.

“We can settle this as a family. Your son is ready to apologize.”

“He should apologize to Sofia, not to me.”

“If the court decides that you are putting pressure on the child, everything will become complicated.”

“Your client himself said that the child should be left with the television.”

Silence fell on the other side.

“We can say that the recording is incomplete.”

“You can. But first listen to it to the end.”

That same day, at ten in the morning, we gathered in the court’s preparatory room. There were no cameras, no journalists, and no loud statements there. Only a long wooden table, a glass filled with water, and a clock hanging on the wall, whose hands moved excessively loudly.

Alejandro sat directly opposite me.

For the first time I noticed that his beard had grown over several days. He placed his hand on the table. The dark stain that had appeared on his fingers when he touched the camera recorder at night was still visible.

The judge turned on the recording.

Brenda’s voice sounded in the room.

“She will turn on the television. She is ten years old, not a baby.”

Alejandro lowered his eyes.

Then his voice was heard.

“My father will find out about this.”

“Your father will pay for everything if you mention Sofia.”

The recording continued.

“One day he will understand,” Alejandro said.

The judge stopped the sound.

“Mr. Alejandro, is this your voice?”

Alejandro cleared his throat.

“Yes.”

“Did you know that the child was remaining alone at home?”

“I thought Teresa would come.”

Julián answered immediately.

“Teresa’s telephone record shows that no one called her.”

The judge looked at Brenda.

“Did you plan the trip on the same day that Mr. Salgado transferred the money to you?”

Brenda’s lips trembled.

“We were having a financially difficult period.”

“That is not an answer to the question.”

Alberto placed the statements in front of them. They showed three tickets, the cost of the cruise, hotel reservations, and transfers that had been made in the name of the child’s treatment.

“During eighteen months,” he said, “part of the money received from Mr. Salgado was spent on gambling bets, and part on personal trips.”

Alejandro raised his head.

“I intended to return everything.”

I looked at him.

“When? When I had nothing left?”

“Dad, I am your son.”

“That is exactly why I forgave you every time.”

“Then why are you abandoning me now?”

That question seemed to come from a child, not from a thirty-eight-year-old man.

I was silent for several seconds.

“I am not abandoning you, Alejandro. I simply will no longer help you on the road you choose yourself.”

The judge left temporary custody with me. Sofia was given the right to live with me, while Alejandro and Brenda could meet the child only in the presence of a specialist. The investigation into the financial case continued separately.

That evening Alejandro heard his own words from Sofia for the first time.

In the social worker’s room he sat before her. Sofia held a sheet of paper. A small house was drawn on it, with three windows beside it.

“You said that I am ten years old and not a baby,” she told him.

Alejandro lowered his eyes.

“I behaved badly.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted… everything to be simple.”

“Was I what made it difficult?”

Alejandro could not answer.

Sofia folded the paper.

“I no longer want Grandpa to give you money because of me.”

This was the moment when Alejandro first heard his own voice through someone else’s mouth. I watched him and saw how he was losing control over what he had managed with words for years.

Brenda did not come to the meeting.

In the evening I returned to their house only to take Sofia’s clothes and belongings. Her room was almost empty. One round mark remained on the wall where a small shelf had once hung, and under the bed I found her drawing, while on the windowsill lay a green plastic hair clip.

In the kitchen that tablet was still lying on the table. Its battery had died, and Brenda’s frozen smile was visible on the screen.

I turned off the tablet.

I put Sofia’s copper whistle into my pocket.

“Is this mine?” she asked.

“It was always yours.”

“You won’t take it away, will you?”

“No. Never again.”

Three weeks later, many things had changed in my house.

We painted Sofia’s room a warm yellow color. She chose the curtains herself, with little moons depicted on them. In the morning I took her to school. In the evening she sat in my old office and did her mathematics homework while I checked the company documents.

I still worked, but now for a different reason. I gave part of my property to a child-protection foundation and established an independent legal center for children who are loved in their families only for photographs.

Sofia did not like this word.

“Grandpa, shouldn’t everyone be afraid of family?”

“No, my girl. You only need to know that a family name does not automatically make a person good.”

In December it snowed for the first time. Sofia went out into the yard and left the marks of her shoes in the snow. I stood at the door and listened to her laughter.

“Grandpa, look! A letter appeared in the snow!”

She lay down so that she could make large letters with her hands.

In the evening I made her hot cocoa. She put her drawing on the table. Now there were four windows in that house, and no locked door could be seen.

Two months later a letter came from Alejandro. It was short.

“Give me one more chance. I will change everything. Just give me back my family.”

I read the letter several times. Earlier I probably would have called him immediately. I would have paid his debts again. I would have told him again that everyone makes mistakes.

But that evening Sofia was sitting in the kitchen and cleaning the copper whistle with a soft cloth.

I wrote to Alejandro:

“You already had your chance. Now you will have to remain with your consequences. Sofia’s peace will no longer be disturbed.”

Then I tore the letter and put it in the trash.

Sofia raised her head.

“Grandpa, why didn’t you answer me now?”

“I answered.”

“And what did you tell him?”

I sat down beside her.

“That no one will take your home away from you again.”

She hung the whistle around her neck. The small copper object flashed in the winter light coming through the window.

It was snowing outside.

Inside, for the first time, no one was afraid anymore.

Sofia brought the whistle to her lips, but she did not blow.

She no longer needed to call for help.