Chapter 8 - The Closed Chapter
Six months after the dramatic trial, Alejandro received an unexpected, highly demanding letter in the mail.
It was a formal visitation request from the federal penitentiary, demanding that he come see his mother immediately.
I watched nervously as he read the wrinkled paper, waiting to see his emotional reaction.
"I am going to go see her one absolute final time," he decided firmly, tossing the letter onto the kitchen counter.
"I need to look her in the eye and make sure she completely understands that she is entirely dead to us."
I entirely supported his difficult decision, knowing he needed absolute closure to truly move forward.
The federal prison was a bleak, terrifying fortress of gray concrete and highly electrified fences.
Alejandro sat quietly behind a thick, smudge-covered plexiglass window, waiting patiently in the sterile visiting room.
When Doña Victoria finally walked into the room, she looked like an entirely different human being.
Her face was gaunt and hollow, her posture was severely stooped, and the sheer arrogance in her eyes had been replaced by desperate, gnawing fear.
She picked up the heavy black telephone receiver, her hands shaking violently.
"Alejandro, my sweet boy, you finally came," she rasped, trying to force a pathetic, manipulative smile.
"I knew you wouldn't abandon your poor mother in this horrible, disgusting place."
Alejandro picked up his receiver, his face completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever.
"I am not here to help you, and I am certainly not here to forgive you," he stated coldly.
Her fake smile instantly vanished, replaced by a look of sheer, panicked desperation.
"You have to get me out of here, the other inmates know I used to have money, and they constantly threaten me!" she begged pitifully.
"You made your own bed by trying to severely harm my incredibly innocent wife and child," Alejandro replied without an ounce of pity.
"I simply came here today to tell you that this is the absolute last time you will ever see my face."
"I have legally changed our family's last name, and we are moving completely across the country."
"You will never know where we live, and you will never meet your beautiful granddaughter."
Doña Victoria began to violently sob, slamming her fists desperately against the thick, impenetrable glass.
May you like
Alejandro calmly hung up the black receiver, stood up, and walked entirely out of the visiting room without ever looking back.
The heavy steel doors closed firmly behind him, entirely sealing his toxic mother in her self-made prison forever.
