The weekend niece. from the book, Searching for treasures
Guatape, Antioquia, Colombia
When Dora arrived, she would immediately look for Ines, knowing very well that she would be there, waiting for her, with an affectionate smile on her face and a kiss to welcome her. Dora understood that her grandmother was concerned with her paternal grandparent’s attitude toward her, but when they got rid of her, she felt happy and fortunate to leave them behind. When her Uncle Oscar and her Aunt Carito were not in Barichara, the farm felt empty and was quite boring. And there would be no candies when she arrived, like in San Gil with Ines.
When Dora arrived early, before lunch, Ines would be waiting with a parasol in her hand. San Gil’s sun was very hard on the skin, and Ines protected them from it. The parasol was ample and wide, sheltering them as they walked back home. If she arrived later, after lunch, then Ines would be waiting with an umbrella. Both, the parasol and the umbrella were brightly colored and cheery. Ines had always had them, at least, as far as Dora would remember.
The parasol and the umbrella, curiously enough, represented the shelter she found when she arrived in San Gil.
A Friday, still early in the afternoon, Dora was at her grandparent’s plantation house. Carito and Oscar, her uncle and aunt, had gone to Bogotá for the long holiday weekend. What really bad luck, she thought, weekends are such a bore when only my grandparents are at home.
So, she embraced the solicitude waiting for her on that weekend and gave herself up to her misfortune. Her Aunt Carito had decorated her bedroom, and it was a cheery place. At least, there she would be at peace.
How, deeply and desperately, she missed her mother, especially in moments like these, when she found herself alone with her grandparent’s lack of interest in her. She felt trapped in a situation with no possible escape. How she missed the mornings, back home when her mother was still alive!
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