Esta historia es la segunda parte de El Pariente
Luego de su salida de la ciudad, Amilcar y "sus amigos" repartieron el botín y quedaron en que no se volverían a ver, pues no solo no era recomendable que los vieran juntos, sino que no había nada que justificara que se juntaran nuevamente. Por lo menos eso era lo que Amilcar pensaba.
Al tener conocimientos en enfermería (no llegó a graduarse) no le resultó complicado conseguir un empleo como acompañante terapéutico en una casa de cuidados para ancianos que quedaba lejos del centro de su nueva ciudad de residencia. Ahora se hacía llamar David, que era su segundo nombre.
En sus recuerdos, no existía siquiera el remordimiento por lo sucedido. Sentía que Esteban le debía a la familia por el desprecio de haberse ido de casa de "maita" luego de graduarse, cuando todos estaban a la expectativa de que el nuevo ingeniero los iba a a sacar de la miseria.
Y al no haber testigos de lo ocurrido, en las noches podía dormir con total tranquilidad. No se consideraba un asesino, solo que las cosas se salieron de control y tuvo que actuar en consecuencia.
Andrea, la niña sobreviviente, luego de todo el trauma por lo ocurrido dejó de pronunciar palabra, y tuvo que lidiar con el cambio radical de pasar de una vida tranquila, a vivir con varias familias de acogida, pues su abuela no podía encargarse de ella. Para él, ella no era una amenaza.
Se dejó crecer el cabello y se hizo unos reflejos que lo hacían ver mucho más joven, y en su vestimenta optó por un estilo hippie, con ropas anchas y multicolores.
Un día, mientras iba de vuelta a su morada, una voz familiar lo llamó por su nombre de pila: Amilcar; haciéndolo voltear rápidamente, por lo que no podía disimular que no era con él ese llamado.
Un frío en el espinazo lo paralizó unos segundos, mientras sus ojos se agrandaron a más no poder, al ver de quien se trataba. Ivanna, la hermana menor de Esteban, la prima que se había marchado a España a seguir sus sueños de modelo, estaba de regreso.
Luego de los abrazos respectivos, él la invitó a un café, consternado y pensando cuál era la razón de su regreso, pero tratando de disimular los nervios mientras hablaban y se ponían al día.
Ivanna le comentó del llamado de su madre, quien fuera contactada por la policía luego de los hechos, para que se quedara con la niña, pero al estar ella tan enferma no pudo hacerse cargo.
Mientras, Ivanna estaba en una gira por varios países con un contrato que no podía disolver tan rápidamente, así que una vez cumplido, no dudó en volar a su tierra, para acompañar a su madre y su sobrina, a quien no veía desde hace muchos años.
Amilcar, como pudo se zafó de la incómoda conversación y le dio su número telefónico para cuadrar una cita en la que tuviera más tiempo para compartir, y diciendo esto dio una excusa muy burda para salir rápidamente del local.
Esa fue la primera noche que todo lo sucedido lo dejó en vela. Y aunque se esforzaba por pensar que Ivanna no podía relacionarlo con eso, igual había un temor que lo hacía mantenerse en alerta.
Al día siguiente, con un aspecto terrible, Amilcar llega a su trabajo y mientras se dispone a hacer sus tareas fijas, rompe en llanto. Era algo contenido que brotó en el mismo momento que apareció doña Agustina y le dio la bendición, como todos los días.
Nadie se explicaba el motivo de esa reacción, y ante tanta intranquilidad de su parte, uno de los médicos, le dio un sedante suave, para ayudarlo a recobrar la compostura, sobre todo porque le tocaba la guardia nocturna y no contaban con un reemplazo de emergencia.
Luego de ello, Amilcar no habló sino lo estrictamente necesario. Algo dentro de él se había quebrado inevitablemente.
Pasaron pocas semanas de ello, cuando Ivanna lo contacta para verse. Quedaron en un café cerca de su trabajo al que ambos llegaron puntualmente.
Ivanna venía a anunciarle que pronto volvería a España, puesto que el papeleo de su sobrina había sido procesado muy rápido. Para Amilcar eso resultaba un alivio, aunque no se confiaba del todo.
Le preguntó por el estado de salud de la niña, tratando de disimular su inquietud. Ivanna no dio mayores detalles, solo que estaba bien y que necesitaba terapias para volver a hablar.
Mientras conversaban, ella recibe una llamada de la policía, pidiéndole que vaya a la comisaría. Para Amilcar se volvieron a encender las alarmas, y preguntó al respecto.
Son solo cuestiones administrativas - replicó ella. Me han estado interrogando, para determinar si algo que me hayan comentado les sirve para enlazar todo este caso que sigue abierto. Y diciendo eso se despide y se marcha.
Amilcar queda pensativo, siente que se le cierra el círculo, pero no se va a dejar atrapar. Por lo que le pide a Ivanna cenar al día siguiente, para despedirse formalmente, ya que luego sus turnos cambiaban de horario, a lo que ella acepta. "Siempre es bueno cerrar capítulos", se dijo.
Comerían sushi, en un local que convenientemente estaba cerrado ese día, por lo que para improvisar, le dijo que fueran a su casa, y pidieran pizza, para Ivanna, poder darse ese gusto y salirse de su estricta dieta de modelo, sería un grato recuerdo.
En el trayecto, saca su teléfono y revisa sus mensajes, manda un par de notas de voz a sus compañeras de apartamento con los datos de su llegada, para que la vayan a buscar al aeropuerto al día siguiente, y lo vuelve a guardar.
Al llegar a la casa de Amilcar, él no lo piensa dos veces y se abalanza sobre ella, en un intento por ahorcarla. Sorprendida trata de gritar, pero no puede. Su simpatía se vuelve furia y trata de revertir la situación, logrando zafarse y colocarse sobre él mientras le aplica una llave.
Pensó que por fin le consiguió aplicación a las odiosas clases de judo que su padre le había obligado a tomar de niña, para que se defendiera de cualquiera. Mientras tanto, las sirenas de la policía se hacían cada vez más fuertes, pues entre los mensajes enviados, mandó su ubicación y un código que entre ella y sus amigas habían acordado para resguardarse de los peligros que se suscitaban en el lado oscuro del mundo del modelaje.
La extraña actitud de él en algunos puntos de sus conversaciones, activaron su estado de alerta, por lo que no dudó en compartirlo con sus amigas, quienes llamaron al 911 para reportar una situación irregular en esa localización.
Amilcar confesó todo sin necesidad de ser presionado. Él y sus amigos fueron juzgados y condenados. Y ya en la cárcel, cada uno recibió la llamada "justicia del penal".
After leaving the city, Amilcar and "his friends" divided the loot and agreed that they would not see each other again, because not only was it not advisable for them to be seen together, but there was nothing that justified them getting together again. At least that's what Amilcar thought.
Having nursing knowledge (he did not graduate) he found it not complicated to get a job as a therapeutic companion in an old age home that was far from the center of his new city of residence. Now he called himself David, which was his second name.
In his memories, there was not even remorse for what happened. He felt that Esteban owed the family for the contempt of leaving home from "maita" after graduating, when everyone was expecting the new engineer to take them out of poverty.
And since there were no witnesses of what happened, at night he could sleep with total tranquility. He did not consider himself a murderer, only that things got out of control and he had to act accordingly.
Andrea, the surviving child, after all the trauma of what happened, stopped speaking, and had to deal with the radical change of going from a quiet life, to living with several foster families, because her grandmother could not take care of her. For him, she was not a threat.
He let his hair grow and made some reflections that made him look much younger, and in his clothing he opted for a hippie style, with loose and multicolored clothes.
One day, while he was returning to his dwelling, a familiar voice called him by his first name: Amilcar; making him turn quickly, so he could not disguise that it was not him that was called.
A cold in the back paralyzed him for a few seconds, while his eyes became larger and larger, when he saw who it was. Ivanna, Esteban's younger sister, the cousin who had gone to Spain to follow her dreams of being a model, was back.
After the respective hugs, he invited her to a coffee, distraught and thinking about what the reason for her return was, but trying to disguise the nerves while they talked and caught up.
Ivanna told him about the call from her mother, who was contacted by the police after the events, to stay with the child, but since she was so sick she could not take care of her.
Meanwhile, Ivanna was touring several countries with a contract that she could not dissolve so quickly, so once fulfilled, she did not hesitate to fly to her land, to accompany her mother and her niece, whom she had not seen in many years.
Amilcar, as he could, got out of the uncomfortable conversation and gave her his phone number to arrange a date in which he had more time to share, and saying this he gave a very weak excuse to quickly leave the premises.
That was the first night that everything that happened kept him awake. And although he tried to think that Ivanna could not relate him to that, there was still a fear that kept him on alert.
The next day, with a terrible look, Amilcar arrives at his job and while he is about to do his fixed tasks, he breaks into tears. It was something contained that broke out at the same time that Mrs. Agustina appeared and gave her the blessing, as every day.
Nobody could explain the reason for this reaction, and in the face of so much unrest on his part, one of the doctors gave him a mild sedative, to help him regain composure, especially because he was on the night shift and they did not have an emergency replacement.
After that, Amilcar did not speak but strictly necessary. Something inside him had inevitably broken.
A few weeks later, Ivanna contacted him to see each other. They agreed to meet at a café near his work to which both arrived punctually.
Ivanna came to announce that she would soon be returning to Spain, since her niece's paperwork had been processed very quickly. For Amilcar, this was a relief, although he was not entirely sure.
He asked about the child's health, trying to hide his concern. Ivanna gave no further details, only that she was fine and that she needed therapies to start talking again.
As they talked, she received a call from the police, asking her to go to the station. For Amilcar, the alarms went off again, and he asked about it.
It's just administrative questions - she replied. They've been interrogating me, to determine if something they've told me can help them link this still open case. And saying that, she said goodbye and left.
Amilcar is thoughtful, he feels that the circle is closing, but he is not going to be caught. So he asks Ivanna to have dinner the next day, to say goodbye formally, since then their shifts would change, and she accepts. "It's always good to close chapters," he said to himself.
They would eat sushi, in a conveniently closed restaurant, so to improvise, he told her to go to his house and order pizza, for Ivanna, to be able to enjoy herself and get out of her strict model diet, it would be a nice memory.
On the way, she takes out her phone and checks her messages, sends a couple of voice notes to his roommates with his arrival details, so they can pick her up at the airport the next day, and puts it away again.
When they arrived at Amilcar's house, he didn't think twice and threw himself at her, in an attempt to strangle her. Surprised, she tried to scream, but she couldn't. Her sympathy turns to fury and she tries to reverse the situation, managing to get away and get on top of him while applying a hold.
She thought he finally found a use for the hated judo classes her father had forced her to take as a child, to defend herself from anyone. Meanwhile, the police sirens were getting louder and louder, because among the messages sent, she sent her location and a code that she and her friends had agreed on to protect themselves from the dangers that arose on the dark side of the modeling world.
His strange behavior at some points in their conversations activated her state of alert, so she did not hesitate to share it with her friends, who called 911 to report an irregular situation in that location.
Amilcar confessed everything without being pressured. He and his friends were tried and convicted. And already in jail, each one received the call of "justice from the prison".
Para estos textos del tipo policial, he estado practicando con las técnicas de 
For these police type texts, I have been practicing with
Foto/Photo by: Stormseeker, M and Marjan Blan (all from Unsplash)
Edición/Edited by 
Translated and formatted with Hive Translator by 
