Ana frowned. I was sure it must be a mistake.
Minutes later the doorbell rang.
He opened the door cautiously.
In front of her were two tall, well-dressed men, strikingly similar to each other.
—Are you Doña Ana Morales? —asked one.
—Yes… it’s me.
The other smiled softly.
—We are Matthew and Paul.
Two elegant men knocked on Doña Ana’s door…
and when they said their names, the past twenty years came back suddenly.
What happened next made the old woman unable to hold back her tears…
Part 2 …
For a few seconds Ana could not speak.
He didn’t recognize them by their faces.
He recognized them by their look.
The same serious look from those hungry children in the market.
—We have been looking for her for years —Pablo said—. We didn’t know if he would still live here.
Ana’s legs trembled and she had to lean on the door frame.
—We opened a bakery —Mateo continued—. Then another one… and then another one.
They entered the small apartment.
Pablo took a freshly baked loaf of bread out of a bag and placed it on the table.
The warm aroma filled the room.
For an instant, time seemed to go back twenty years.
—I just gave them some potatoes… —Ana whispered.
Mateo slowly denied.
—No, Mrs. Ana.
—You gave us dignity.
Paul continued:
—He treated us like people when no one else did.
—Without that… we would never have gotten anywhere.
They talked for hours.
They remembered the difficult years, the low-paid jobs, the nights sleeping in warehouses. They told how an old baker gave them the first chance… and how they never forgot the promise they made when they were children.
If one day they managed to get ahead…
