Sometimes coincidences trigger events that can mark us for life.. This is what she would remember later., when he replayed in his head the first time he crossed paths with the one, somehow, She would become one of her best friends in the future.. They crossed paths in the park, at the time of the evening walk. Since the government had allowed people to leave their homes, Every day he put on his mask and went outside for a little walk.. I went out alone, about a quarter past eight. How I went for a walk just to walk, He did it without setting any fixed course or destination.. Sometimes, He left the portal of his property and turned to the right to trace an enormous arc between the adjoining blocks.. On this journey, I was passing by the door of a kiosk that had not stopped being open throughout the quarantine, from the hardware store, of a chicken shop and a small pizzeria that some kids had set up very recently and that, although it had been forced to close during the hardest weeks of confinement, now it had reopened the shutter to serve pizzas at home and to order. Other times, turned right and reached the municipal sports center. He stayed there for a few seconds contemplating the closed building, longing for her gym classes and the hours she spent crushing her cellulite in the pool. Other times, walked straight, setting as a limit a large avenue that marked the northern border of the neighborhood where he lived. It will take the direction it will take, He always spent a few minutes in a park that was a few blocks from his house in order to see something green that would relieve him a little from the sight of so much gray asphalt..
one of those afternoons, walking precisely through the park, he crossed paths with her. As you pass by him, ella (the other she who was not herself in this story), He raised his eyes and looked at her.. He was talking animatedly with others, later assumed, friends who accompanied her. When eyes meet, These were held long enough for the woman to feel obliged to give him a greeting., which he offered, slightly raising his chin.. Questioned by the gesture, She also greeted her with the same gesture.. That first day, nothing else happened. But the fact is that, when he passed her, She was left wondering why he had greeted her.. Did they even know each other?? I wasn't sure. Either way, if it was like that, by having the face also covered by the surgical mask, he couldn't recognize her. Although the meeting had been fleeting, He reviewed the details of that face in his head., the forehead already slightly striated by the years, very thin eyebrows, and he wondered if it could have been that neighbor who he frequently crossed paths with at the supermarket.. The black tracksuit, the thinness of his body and that light way he walked, almost without supporting the heels, they reminded him of that person, but, had he cut his hair?, it was said. I didn't remember wearing it like that. The dye, He didn't look like his usual self either.. He continued walking for a while and forgot.
But then it happened that, the next day, they crossed paths again. In this new and brief meeting, perhaps forced by the courtesy to which the previous day's greeting committed them, they did it again the same way: direct look in the eyes, slight eyebrow raising, the end of the chin pointing towards the other woman. This time, she tried to look better, looking into the small frame that formed the top of his face, above the arch of the nose to the first roots of the hair, some more precise clue that would allow him to determine the identity of the other walker. But he didn't make it. He thought about his neighbor in the room, she was also very thin, but then she realized that she was always hanging on her husband's arm, that he was sick with something, and rejected the idea. Wouldn't it be that other woman who ran the children's clothing store??, it was said. Neither. I was younger. And so, He continued to ponder and review faces and situations that would give him some clue that would allow him, don't give it a name (I didn't aspire to that much), but if an identifiable common space, some dates, some specific anecdote that meant the other person among all the others. But none of those images managed to clear up the mystery..
To that second meeting, a third followed, then a quarter. In the fifth, the other woman, perhaps forced by what was already a frequent occurrence, said, "hello". She hesitated for a second., but he still responded, "hello". And what was I going to do? I couldn't stay silent. If I knew her, it would have been fatal and, then, when everything about the virus was forgotten and people could walk around without having to put on the damn mask, maybe he would reproach him at some point. It didn't cost anything to be polite., thought. Just in case. Fixed, however, this new order, The “hello” would be imposed on the chin in the following meetings in the park.
one of those afternoons, She was the one who felt most daring and instead of the usual “hello”, she said to the other woman: "how are you?, all good?” The other made a gesture of surprise, but, immediately, reacted to the challenge. "Very good, and you?”, he let go. So, ella, who did not want to feel intimidated by the intrepid response, told him, "very good, also, gracias”. This was going to be the protocol for the following days, formula to which they would add some variation of the type, "glad to hear it", in the mouth of one of the two at the end of the brief exchange of sentences, finished off with an “equally” before passing each other to continue on their own path.
And so the next few days continued.. Many times, upon returning home from these evening walks, she was taking a shower. As the water ran over his body, he replayed these scenes in his mind, gloating with every word: "how are you?”, "how are you?”, “Is everything okay?”?”, “well look, let's take it out, within what fits”, "I'm very happy to hear it". remembering this, Sometimes she looked in the bathroom mirror and found herself smiling.. What were you smiling about??, it was said, so. Perhaps the worst thing about this situation, It wasn't that she discovered herself recounting what she had already experienced., but the fact that he had no one else to share this new and refreshing experience of his life with. Sometimes, when he talked to his son, who lived on the other side of the city, I was tempted to tell him about these encounters, but, at the last second, the words on the tip of the tongue, he refrained from doing it. “Total, so that?”, thought. "This one won't understand.". He always goes about his business. He will say that I have gone crazy. Or surely he thinks I should ask him his name?. But, How am I going to do that at this point?? Now? After all the times we've greeted each other? It would be worse. No, "Now it's too late for that.", it was said, finally.
One day, however, she followed her usual route. Arrived at the point and the exact time in which she coincided with the other woman, this one did not appear. She was a little off, but he immediately thought that perhaps he had taken another direction or, simply, I had decided not to go out for a walk that afternoon, something very normal. but when, the next day, the same thing happened again, she was taken aback. And he started to worry when he stopped seeing her for the next two days.. What if he had delayed his time to go out for a walk??, it was said, restless. Probably, she had gotten sick. Or she had had some kind of accident that prevented her from going outside.. What if he had definitely changed his path?? But, where? And what scared her the most, why had he done it? Had he perhaps felt bothered by his greetings and had decided to change route so as not to cross paths with her and be forced to respond?, like they always did? This last idea depressed her a little.. to cheer up, It was said that nothing was happening, that perhaps she was nothing more than a stranger and that it was not worth letting herself be depressed by something like that. But, for some reason that I couldn't specify, yes she felt depressed.
but destiny, which can sometimes be very macabre, He decided to take pity on her and the next afternoon the long-awaited reunion took place.. When he saw her appear in the distance, Something rose from her stomach to the hairs on the back of her neck, filling her with an energy she hadn't felt in a long time.. Upon reaching the other woman, He saw something in her eyes that made him think that maybe she was also feeling something similar.. A kind of glow that illuminated the grayish iris of his eyes and that, despite the mask, gave his face a special light, different. But not only that. When crossing, the other woman said, "hello!”. She realized immediately that that “hello” was not a hello like the previous “hellos”, a polite “hello”, but somewhat faded. It was a lively “hello”, a vigorous “hello”, a “hello” that conveyed the joy of someone who longs to meet someone they really want to see.. She responded with another “hello.”, to whom he deliberately put all his passion. And so, they continued. "How are you?" "Very good, and you?" "Very good, also. “Great”. “I'm glad to see you.”. "Also". With this new spirit, They continued talking until she realized an astonishing fact.. In your exchange of greetings, it happened that, without realizing it, instead of continuing to walk according to custom, both had stopped.
She was surprised, but he did not want to say anything or draw the other's attention to this fact in case, somehow, broke the magic of the moment. But the really important thing in this story happened next, when the other woman told her, “where are you going?” Aware of what was happening, a little nervous, She explained to him the itinerary she did every afternoon.. To this explanation, and while the other women who accompanied her continued waiting, the unknown (or known?) He then showed him the route they used to follow.. So, he told him. “If you want to join us”, proposed. She started sweating. Trying to show serenity and a little bit of blatant indifference, told him, “vale”. No one seemed to have any objection to this new situation.. After, the group started walking.
Since then, They meet every afternoon at the edge of the park. It's about ten past eight, to give everyone room to arrive on time. Then, they start walking around the neighborhood. And they talk about many things, of the family, of his children, of their husbands, weather, from the shit of the virus, about how uncomfortable masks are and that it seems that people now go out into the streets in costume, said one of the other's friends on one occasion, thing that, thinking about how they had met, She found it very funny and laughed.. And at this point in their relationship, She still doesn't know what he knew her from., if he knew her at all, although the truth is that now it doesn't matter. Only curiosity makes him long some nights for this pandemic thing to be over so he can take off his mask and put a full face on his new (or old) amiga. GERARDO LEON
