"Manuela"

I went with Rick to the kitchen for coffee. I really needed to talk to someone, but Catarina was home because of her pregnancy and Junqueira's threats, and Sam already had a lot of problems too. So I didn't want to bring this drama to the girls, and I didn't want to call Flávio because of my mother's tantrums.

"So, honey, what happened?" Rick placed a mug of coffee in front of me and sat next to me at the kitchen table upstairs.

For half an hour I talked, venting to him about how my mother treated me, about how I'd left home practically like a fugitive, about buying a car—in short, I talked about everything. He listened attentively.

"Manu, you know your mother is toxic and abusive, don't you?" Rick looked at me and realized the weight of his words.

"Yes, Rick, I know, but she's my mother, the woman who gave me life." How do we get away from our own mother? I asked, feeling a lump tighten in my throat.

"Doing what you did, leaving home, learning to fend for yourself, and, if