It had been several years since she had to make a decision and from then on a lot of water had flowed under the bridge. Ana Porras now looked at her daughter and remembered those times.
Her daughter came crying in anguish because she was already having problems with her partner, her mother warned her that she was still too young to take on such responsibilities.
-I'll make you some cayenne flower tea, it's good for your nerves. Then tell me what happens.

Liborio Rodríguez thought he had acquired a slave, a woman he could control at will, that was the culture that was most common in that village, the man commands and the woman obeys, and so they put up with it for several years, trying to lead a life she didn't want, until one day Ana Porras made a decision.
—Liborio made a mistake, daughter, and you see, we came to the city, with almost nothing, this was a ranch and a life full of needs, and here I am, standing still, still fighting.

Liborio had no respect for me, he couldn't see a woman in a skirt, he behaved like a dog in heat, without caring what I felt, he also spent almost all the money and took care of bringing whatever he thought was necessary. I had no right to protest, only to serve him hot, freshly cooked food, clean clothes and apart from that, to please him in everything, if he didn't force me, how many nights I had to take refuge in the neighbour's house with the three boys I had given birth to and that's how he wanted me to have more.

Ana Porras had studied up to secondary school and with that she managed to get a job as a worker in the village school. Liborio Rodríguez made war on her because he didn't want her to work, he wanted her in the house, as a housewife or his private maid, so he started beating her and she would arrive at work with black eyes.
—You can't go on like this Ana, — said the headmistress, — I were you I'd throw him out of the house.
—It's not that easy, Headmistress, the best thing would be for me to leave, but... how do I deal with the boys?
—You have friends, maybe they can help you.

Ana Porras looked at her insignificant house, her three pots blackened by the smoke from the firewood, her old rags that the sun burnt more and more each day, she watched her children grow up in the midst of so much need.

She decided to talk to her friend who had always helped her, because when she spoke to her parents, they told her that she had to put up with it, that women should be submissive before men and in the eyes of God. The woman belongs in the house, her father told her.

Liborio Rodríguez came one night and beat me like never before, he cursed women, my children cried with fear, hiding under the table, he was very drunk and when he got tired he lay down in the hammock and fell asleep.

When I heard him snoring I got up and hugged my children and looking at him in that state, I imagined that one of his wives threw him out, that's why he comes and pays with me. I prayed with my children and made a decision, until that day I would live with Liborio Rodriguez.

I talked to a neighbour who had a pick-up truck, he and my friend helped me take out the little I had and I left town, some neighbours waved me goodbye, then I saw that long, dusty street fade away in the dust.

—You know something, daughter, I was very scared and at the same time I wondered why I put up with so much? The neighbour, my friend, was going to be your godmother, but it wasn't possible, Liborio didn't want her. She had a little house in the city and she told me:

—Live there, comadre, get up and then we'll talk later! That will be yours.

I hugged her. She left me on those four sheets of zinc, a rustic floor, and the four of us slept there, despite the pain of the blows we had received, I felt very calm.

When Liborio Rodríguez got up the next day, shouting for breakfast, nobody answered him, he got up in a rage, calling Ana.

—When I find you, you won't have a bone to pick, I swear!

In the street people stopped when they heard the noise, Liborio Rodríguez saw the empty house, he was going to go out, but he realised that he was in his underwear and when he went to get dressed he found nothing. He started kicking everything in his path.

The neighbours say that the shouting and threats lasted several days, the town sheriff had to come and lock him up to calm him down, he shouted out of the window of the cell threatening Ana Porras.

—They were hard days, daughter, but here I am, I got a job, washing and ironing clothes. I started studying and graduated as a secretary, so I could enrol you in school, to give you the opportunity to be better human beings; but you were rebellious, you went with that boy, you became infatuated. I'm not going to do what my parents did to me... I'm going to help you, but only you, daughter.

One day leaving work, Ana Porras was surprised to meet Liborio Rodríguez, she saw him aged, so many memories flashed through her mind, she looked at her own fear looking at him, she breathed hard, her workmates also looked at her fear and waited.

—Finally I found you, — Liborio told her with a threatening attitude, — now you're going to pay for everything, you don't know how much I dreamed of this moment.
He wanted to see Ana Porras' fear, but he didn't see that and felt disarmed. She looked at him firmly, overcoming her fear, and he realised that this was not Ana Porras, the woman he could subdue at will.

—Are you going to hit me? Come on, come closer, I'm waiting for you Liborio Rodríguez!

He looked at her, he looked to the sides, he saw them all, he thought that this was another woman, not the one who lowered her face in his presence, the one who submissively waited for him with her eyes on the floor. He turned around and left, he heard the applause of all those present. Ana Porras smiled.