What Really Happened

Inside, the Second Chance was half packed and very cold. Books were stacked in boxes along one wall; the little table had been pushed against the stove. Michael lit the stove with a match and some newspaper, and for a few minutes neither of them said anything while the fire caught and the boat slowly began to warm up. Ana noticed that his hands shook while he did it.

Por dentro, el Second Chance estaba medio empaquetado y muy frío. Había libros apilados en cajas junto a una pared; la mesita estaba arrimada a la estufa. Michael encendió la estufa con una cerilla y un periódico. Durante unos minutos, ninguno dijo nada mientras el fuego prendía y el barco empezaba a calentarse poco a poco. Ana notó que le temblaban las manos al hacerlo.

He made two mugs of tea and sat down opposite her. He did not look at her. He looked at the small window, where the curtain still did not quite close, and at the dark canal beyond it. When he began to speak, his voice was flat and careful, as if he had practised the words many times but never said them aloud.

Preparó dos tazas de té y se sentó enfrente de ella. No la miró. Miró hacia la ventanuca, donde la cortina seguía sin cerrar del todo, y hacia el oscuro canal. Cuando empezó a hablar, su voz sonó apagada y cautelosa, como si hubiera practicado las palabras muchas veces pero nunca las hubiera dicho en voz alta.

“You have to understand what he was like after my mother died,” he said. “People think grief is crying. It isn’t, not with men like my father. He just went quiet. He stopped singing in the kitchen. He stopped going to the pub on Fridays. He worked, and he slept, and in between he sat at that old table and stared at the wall.”

«Tienes que entender cómo era después de que muriera mi madre», dijo. «La gente cree que el dolor es llorar. Pero no lo es, al menos no con hombres como mi padre. Simplemente se quedó callado. Dejó de cantar en la cocina y dejó de ir al pub los viernes. Trabajaba, dormía y, entre medias, se sentaba ante esa mesa vieja a mirar fijamente la pared».