My mother, Leonides, when she was a teenager, Doña Aurora, her mother took her to study in San Fernando de Cumanacoa-Venezuela, since there was no school in Sotillo. When she arrived, she lived in the house of him cousin Díogenes Mariña, who lived with her wife Teresa. That house had an extension of 3 hectares of yard, where there were avocado trees, guavas, cocoa, coffee, vegetables and greens. Adjacent to it, there was a river with a very affluent water flow. It was also in front of a small square with ornamental plants, such as the lady of the night, tucked under the shadows of the leafy guayacan trees. They gave off a very pleasant aroma to the environment. It also adjoined the church of San Fernando, who was the patron saint of the town.
A few days later, Leonides went to a small house that served as school premises. There she met another classmate named Rafael Acuña, affectionately called Rafaelito, he was the son of a rich landowner who traveled to the Port of Carúpano, to sell the cocoa he grew to the large ships that docked at that port, for that purpose. There were also other ships coming from France, bringing silks and imported colonies, which he bought to take to his relatives. My mother told me that when she saw Rafaelito, felt an alchemy towards him. She did not hide it, he stared at her, she could not resist that look, Lonides lowered her eyelids. Her cheeks turned the color of coral. He said to her:
"You have the most beautiful eyes, they look like two jet."
She, with a smile on her lips, accepted the compliment. He was wearing a cologne with a very strong scent. Leonides, perceiving that fragrance, knew from afar that Rafaelito was approaching.
A month after meeting her, Rafael brought her a little box wrapped in wrapping paper. Very excited he said to her:
"Receive this gift as a token of love."
With trembling hands and her voice cracking with emotion, she replied:
"Thank you."
He said to her:
"Open it."
She obeyed, upon seeing its contents, her eyes widened, it was a fragrance from the house of Lancôme. L'Air du Temps by Nina Ricci. Leonides in response tells him:
"I accept this proof of love, with the purest and most beautiful feeling that my heart harbors."
She then applies that fragrance.
He replied to her.
"Wherever you go, I will go with you through this fragrance and locate you, wherever you are." Thus they sealed their love.
Soon after, he offered her marriage. But Rafaelito had an older sister, named Carmen de Jesús, who obeyed his every whim. She did not agree with this love relationship. Because Leonides was poor.
Two years passed. She returned to her town to take care of her mother who was very ill, two years passed and Rafael did nothing to regain Leonides' love. Sotillo's patron saint festivities arrived and with them came the galeronistas. My mother went to listen to them and among them there was one, very elegant with his blue eyes. He approached her very excited and said:
"What a smell, perfume of a beautiful woman!".
Extending his hand to her he said, "My name is Sixto". She smiled and they struck up a good friendship, soon after he asked her to marry him, she accepted, they consummated their marriage and nine months later they had a son.
A few months later they celebrated the patron saint festivities of San Fernando in Cumanacoa. Him husband invited her to go to the celebration. She accepted.
The whole town was in the streets. They made the procession of the Saint, followed by the parishioners and then, already at night, the party began. Among the crowd, Leonides felt the scent of Rafaelito. He said to himself:
"My God, he is here". Him heart was beating fast, as if at the speed of light.
When suddenly she saw that he was heading towards the jury of the party, he asked them for the microphone and said: "These stanzas are from a poem: I arranged them and dedicated them to the woman I love, who through cowardice I lost her. And because of that same problem I dare not mention her". Very moved, he said:
"For you!"
I miss your scent. It hurts me to love you.
How sad it is to behold you again.
Every beat of my heart is lost in longing.
Although I know that today you are a woman, of another.
I still love you and silently cry my sorrow.
It would be too much greed on my part.
To wish that one day there would be a break
To tie you to me so, I could love you forever.
After this episode she and her husband returned to Sotillo and from there to Mariguitar, where they established their residence, soon after they divorced, when her son was 8 years old. She married my father Eduviges, from this union 4 children were born. Due to incompatibility of characters, they divorced. From that moment on, Leonides was left alone.
When my mother was 75 years old, she invited me to accompany her to the cemetery. I asked her: "Who are you going to visit? She answered me:
"My mother, my brothers and my great friend Rafaelito Acuña".
I answered her:
"This Sunday at 8 o'clock in the morning I will accompany you".
When we arrived at the cemetery, we went to the tomb of his mother and his 5 brothers. Then we went to the sarcophagus of his friend. When we arrived, he ran his hand over the grave and then kissed it. I asked him:
" Did you love him very much? He replied:
"Yes, I am going to tell you something that I have never revealed to you". He confessed to me:
"The true love that I have always carried in my heart, is that of Rafael". She got a lump in her throat and continued:
"That man was the greatest happiness I had in my life. He tasted an essence that left its mark...".
Her eyes watered, she took out a handkerchief and dried them. Then he continued:
"When I am in my solitude I have the sensation of perceiving his scent and memories come to me that make me yearn for the past."
At that moment of her revelation, I understood the reason for her failure with him two husbands. Today, at 92 years of age, my mother has passed into another dimension and every day I love and admire her more.
This is a non-fiction story
I hope you like it
the drawings are mine
use deepl translator