There was a knock on the thin wooden door.
Mercedes was startled. Who could that be? It was too early for the postman and anyway she was not expecting a package.
She got up from the table and walked to the door. The door creaked as she cracked it open and looked outside. A man in a suit was standing on her porch.
"Rodrigo?" she asked recognizing a long not seen face. "Tomas isn't here. He didn't come home last night."
Rodrigo was the son of a local businessman. The family owned several farms, a supermarket and a night club. Rodrigo's family hadn't always been wealthy though and he had grown up here in the same rundown neighborhood.
Rodrigo had gone away to college several years ago. She never thought that he would come back. In fact she didn't think about him at all. Mercedes had never really liked him and she was glad when he finally left. He was a sneaky one and he always getting her little brother Tomas in trouble.
"Oh that's ok. I didn't come to see Tomas." Rodrigo replied smiling.
"Then why did you come?" Mercedes asked warily.
"Do I really need a reason?"
"Ci, you do"
"Well, I guess then I came to see my house."
"What are you talking about? Your house?"
"This house. It's mine now."
"You're loco."
"Oh really? Look at this."
He held up a slip of paper and showed it to her. She reached out to take it but he pulled it back, not letting her hold onto it but holding it in a way so that she could read it.
It was a title transfer for her house, signed by her brother Tomas.
That fool. Mercedes thought. What has he done?!
They lived together in the small wooden house. It was not fancy but it was theirs. They had inherited it from their abuelo, their grandfather. When he died five years ago he left them as teenagers alone to fend for themselves, but with this house they had managed to make it.
The house had a tin roof and wooden floors, one bedroom, a bathroom with running water, a living room and a kitchen. She slept in the bedroom and Tomas slept on the couch in the living room. The house was the one thing that kept them out of poverty. No matter how bad things got, even if there wasn't money for bread, they always knew that they would have a place to sleep. What could have possessed him that he would sell their home?
"There must be a mistake", she objected. "Tomas would never sell our house. Certainly not without talking with me first."
"Oh I assure you there is no mistake. But you are right, he did not sell it. He lost it last night betting on three queens." He smiled at her, enjoying her discomfort. "But I had a full house. And now I have this house."
Yes, that was possible. Tomas was a fool at gambling, especially if he was drinking, which she admitted to herself, he always was.
"Can I see that again?"
She was not an expert in legal documents but it looked like it was legally binding.
"But Tomas cannot sell this house, he does not own the whole house." She replied grasping at hope. "He only owns half of it. I own the other half."
"Well then," Rodrigo smiled his mischievous smile again, "I guess we could share it."
As he said that he walked determinedly through the door. Rodrigo was not especially big, but he was quick. Mercedes tried to push the door shut, but she reacted too slowly and before she realized it, he was inside her simple kitchen, walking around and looking at her home.
It was not the first time that he had been there. When they had been children he had often come over to play with Tomas and the house hadn't changed since then. But this was different. This time it was not a game.
Rodrigo had always teased her and played tricks on her. Once Rodrigo and Tomas tricked her into believing that Carlos, the good looking neighbor, had a crush on her. They left flowers at the door with love notes attached and told stories how they had seen him watching her at a distance. She had fallen in love with him and waited for him to call her but he never did. Only later did she find out that it had been Rodrigo who had been behind it the whole time.
Rodrigo had always been trying something. She had shared a room with Tomas and Rodrigo and Tomas would often be in there. Several times Rodrigo had tried to steal one of her bras. Tomas hadn't let him though. At least once Tomas had a black eye after taking it back. Mercedes had made sure to cook his favorite food that night.
Rodrigo had also tried to spy on her while she was taking a bath. There was a small window in the bathroom and he had rigged it so that it wouldn't latch shut, then when the window got steamy from the bath he had quietly pulled it open. Abuelo wasn't pleased. Rodrigo had timed it wrong and instead of catching Mercedes he got a full view of the 70 year old man.
He also once "forgot" his mobile phone in their room, with the video recorder on. But Mercedes had noticed the glow of the screen right away.
Those days though he had been smaller than her. She was two years older than Tomas and Rodrigo and that had made all the difference. Whenever she caught him trying something, she had always given him a sound beating.
She wasn't going to be beating him today though. He had grown up. He was a man. And it wasn't just his height of 1 meter 80, or the three days growth of black beard that made the difference. He was confident and carried himself with authority. His suit also gave him an air of importance. People didn't wear suits in this part of town. Rodrigo was no longer the mischievous boy she had known. He wasn't sneaking around anymore. He was direct, strong. Somehow she hadn't noticed this until now. She liked this change. It actually made him handsome.
