Esperanza

She was shown into an oppressive wood panelled office with brown painted doors and chairs which had seen better days. The room looked clean enough but the troubling smell of disturbed dust hung in the air. The man behind the desk stood with a feigned military style show of respect when she entered. He had no idea who she was. She had asked to see him on the basis that she was acquainted with his late wife and that had succeeded in gaining his attention. He looked older than she expected. He was a tall man who was probably quite handsome in his youth, now slightly balding and somewhat round-shouldered. His eyes were shifty and she felt them crawling over her body as he signalled her to be seated. She instantly both disliked him and regretted having come. She felt a twinge of fear and was tempted to change her mind and withhold her identity, but she felt angry. She wanted to wipe the phoney smile from his mouth and at least make him uncomfortable with his past.

“And what can I do for you Miss…?” He paused and then went on, “I don’t believe I have your name?”

“My name, sir, is Esperanza. I am the daughter that you sold to a Bedouin tribesman seventeen years ago and then tore from her mother’s breast and sentenced me to live without her for the rest of my life. I am driven by curiosity, sir. I have come to see what kind of a man does that to his own flesh and blood.”