Spring 2024 - Recrudescence

“Stitches

just brushed her hair parsimoniously, not nearly as bothered as we were, and shrugged her shoulders apathetically. This made some of us grip our own brushes with an angry fist, as if we wanted to strike Imogen in the rear with them. Others put a hand on her shoulder from behind as if to say: We were just hoping to hear your side of the story, we promise we’ll believe you. Imogen hemmed and hawed, but she always ended up speaking, and she always had plenty to say. We asked her: What have you discovered about that man? She sighed and said: Lots of things. Do you know what? Sister Elvira Lecumberri, as much as she washes and scrubs, can’t rid herself of the smell of that man, neither inside nor outside. It’ll always be with her. It’s the same for our mothers and it’ll be the same for us. Almost without thinking we answered: Spit that filth right out of your mouth, Imogen. (We did want to know more about those things, because we were at that age, but they also repelled us.) Spit that filth out of your mouth and tell us about what really matters: how did they meet, what did Sister Elvira Lecumberri see in him, an all that? That’s what really matters, she said. It matters because the smell of that man—and now also of Sister Elvira Lecumberri—is the smell of their substance. Now the two of them think and smell the same, and that’s how we’re all going to end up thinking and smelling; it’s the law of nature. At the time, cornered, we answered: Psh, Imogen. Psh. Forget about the mission right now; it’s not necessary anymore. Forget about Sister Elvira Lecumberri. We have to forget about her too; we’re not the same girls we were four or five months ago. Forget it. Deep down, the thought of forgetting about her just like that stabbed at us, because we were girls and curious, but it was more important to make Imogen forget so that she wouldn’t take us with her down this path. Imogen rejoined: How am I supposed to forget now that I’ve discovered the most important part. You’ll discover it 171