2026-05-24 18:10:16Selma stopped in his tracks when he saw his father sitting on the roadside outside the workshop, head buried in his palms. For a second, he thought he had taken the wrong path home.
Because Rafael Elias did not look like a man with a job anymore. He looked like something abandoned. The afternoon sun pressed hard against the dusty road. Cars sped past, throwing up thin waves of sand that clung to Rafael’s worn shirt, His toolbox sat beside him unopened.
Selma stepped closer slowly, “Dad?” Rafael didn’t move, Selma's chest tightened. He walked around slightly until he could see his father’s face, Rafael’s eyes were open but unfocused like he wasn’t really there.
“Dad,” Selma called again, softer this time. Rafael blinked slowly then exhaled. “Ah” he murmured “You’re here.” Selma noticed immediately the smell of alcohol again.
Selma’s jaw tightened. “What happened?” he asked quietly, Rafael stared at the road. “Nothing.” Selma looked toward the workshop entrance behind them.
A few mechanics stood near the gate watching silently, nobody greeted Rafael today and nobody called his name that alone made Selma’s stomach twist.
Rafael stood slowly, picking up his toolbox with both hands and his movements were slower than usual like his body no longer belonged to him.
“We’re going home,” he said. Selma followed without speaking, the walk was silent.
Even the usual sounds of traffic felt distant. Rafael walked slightly ahead, not turning back once Selma studied his father’s back.
The once-straight posture now bent slightly forward like something invisible was pressing down on his shoulders when they reached home, the gate was half open.
Music played faintly inside, Matilde’s music and Rafael stopped briefly outside the door, Selma noticed.
Just for a second. His hand hovered near the handle then dropped, He pushed the door open. Inside, Matilde was sitting on the couch with a phone in one hand and a glass in the other, She didn’t even look up.
“You’re early,” she said but Rafael didn’t answer. Selma watched his father walk slowly into the house like someone entering a place he no longer belonged.
Matilde finally glanced at him, Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You smell again,” she said Rafael froze.
Selma watched his fingers tighten around the toolbox “I was at work,” Rafael replied quietly and Matilde laughed.
“That’s not what I asked.” Rafael stood still, then Selma saw it. The moment something inside his father stopped resisting. Rafael walked past her without speaking and headed toward the bedroom, Matilde scoffed.
“Don’t ignore me in my house.”
He didn’t respond. The bedroom door shut softly behind him, Matilde clicked her tongue and returned to her phone. Selma stood in the middle of the room for a moment.
Then quietly followed his father, He pushed the bedroom door open slightly. Rafael was sitting on the edge of the bed still in his work clothes.
Staring at nothing, His toolbox rested beside him. Selma stepped inside carefully. “Dad?” Rafael didn’t look up.
“I lost it,” he said. Selma frowned, “What?” Rafael exhaled slowly. “The job.” Silence dropped heavily. Selma’s throat tightened.
“What do you mean?” Rafael rubbed his face slowly.“They said I’m not focused anymore.”
Selma stepped forward, “Why?” Rafael laughed softly, a broken sound. “You know why.” Selma shook his head slightly “No you can fix it. You can talk to them.”
“They don’t want me there anymore.” Rafael’s voice was flat empty, Selma stared at him and his chest began tightening painfully “Because of her?” he asked quietly.
Rafael didn’t answer immediately, then slowly “Yes.” The word hit Selma like a punch. Silence filled the room again outside, Matilde’s voice echoed faintly from the living room.
Laughing, Talking on the phone, living normally as if nothing was collapsing. Selma stepped closer. “You should tell her to stop,” he whispered, and Rafael finally looked at him.
His eyes looked tired beyond sleep. “Stop what?” he asked, Selma hesitated “The men everything.” Rafael stared at him for a long moment then looked away “I tried,” he said softly Selma shook his head.
“Try again.” Rafael laughed again, this time with no humor at all. “I tried for years.”
Selma’s fists tightened, “Then fight.” Rafael’s eyes flickered slightly. Something almost sad. “I don’t have strength left for fights.” the words sank into the room slowly, Selma felt something shift inside him.
Like a door closing. Rafael stood up slowly and walked toward the small cupboard, He opened it, Inside were a few clothes.
A broken belt and a nearly empty bottle. Selma watched silently, Rafael picked up the bottle, stared at it. Then placed it back down.
For a second, it looked like he wanted to stop like he was trying to choose something else but his hand moved again anyway back to it.
Selma looked away, Rafael sat back down heavily. “I’m tired,” he whispered, Selma stood there for a long time. Then quietly left the room In the living room, Matilde was still laughing on the phone.
Her voice was bright, Selma walked past her slowly, She didn’t even look at him. He stopped at the front door and for the first time he understood something fully.
His father was not losing a battle, He was disappearing from one and no one was coming to save him.
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Chapter 10 THE FUNERAL PROMISE
Tears dropped from Selma's eyes when he saw the wooden coffin being lowered into the ground. It didn’t feel real, neither the soil nor the crowd, not even the white cloth draped over trembling shoulders around him.Only the sound was real, earth hitting wood each one heavier than the last. Selma stood at the edge of the grave with his shoes sinking slightly into damp soil. Rain had stopped, but the sky still hung low like it hadn’t decided whether to cry again.His hands were numb completely and behind him, people whispered voices he didn’t care about. “He was a good man.” “Such a tragedy.” “Alcohol took him.” Selma heard none of it properly, only fragments of broken pieces like a radio too far away.The priest’s voice rose and fell somewhere in front of him but Selma’s eyes stayed fixed on the coffin, the same coffin that held his father inside it.Rafael Elias. A man who used to fix engines with tired hands, a man who used to smile softly when Selma came home from school, a man who
Chapter 9 THE LAST DRIVE
Selma got emotional when he saw his father take the car keys off the kitchen table like they already belonged to someone else, the house was quiet in a wrong way.Rain still dripped from Selma’s hair as he stood near the doorway, watching Rafael move slowly across the room.Matilde sat on the couch scrolling through her phone like nothing had happened last night, like a man had not collapsed outside their gate.Like Selma had not dragged his father inside half-dead, Rafael didn’t look at her not even at once. He just turned the key in his palm again and again, and Selma stepped forward.“Dad?” Rafael stopped for a second and then continued walking. Selma followed him quickly “Where are you going” but he didn't answer.Matilde finally looked up from her phone, “Don’t start another drama this morning,” she muttered, Rafael stopped at the door and his hand rested on the handle.Selma felt something tighten in his chest. “Dad,” he said again, louder. “Talk to me.” Rafael didn’t turn but h
Chapter 8 THE NIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR
Selma jolted awake when his father first hit the gate again like a man knocking on a door that already belonged to someone else, he sat up instantly on his bed.The room was dark except for the faint glow of the streetlight slipping through the curtain, then he heard his voice again calling “Matilde”. Selma stood up slowly, barefoot against the floor, and moved toward the hallway.The house was too quiet, except for the knocking and he reached the front door but didn’t open it. Instead, he listened and a few minutes outside, rain had just started falling. It started soft at first then heavier, Rafael knocked again and this time weaker.“Open the door”Selma’s hand hovered near the lock but something stopped him, the sound of Matilde’s voice came from the bedroom.“Go back to where you are coming from!”Selma froze, his chest tightened instantly. Rafael went silent for a second and then a low laugh escaped him, just something broken slipping out.Selma pressed his forehead lightly agai
Chapter 7 THE JOB HE COULDN'T KEEP
Selma stopped in his tracks when he saw his father sitting on the roadside outside the workshop, head buried in his palms. For a second, he thought he had taken the wrong path home.Because Rafael Elias did not look like a man with a job anymore. He looked like something abandoned. The afternoon sun pressed hard against the dusty road. Cars sped past, throwing up thin waves of sand that clung to Rafael’s worn shirt, His toolbox sat beside him unopened.Selma stepped closer slowly, “Dad?” Rafael didn’t move, Selma's chest tightened. He walked around slightly until he could see his father’s face, Rafael’s eyes were open but unfocused like he wasn’t really there.“Dad,” Selma called again, softer this time. Rafael blinked slowly then exhaled. “Ah” he murmured “You’re here.” Selma noticed immediately the smell of alcohol again.Selma’s jaw tightened. “What happened?” he asked quietly, Rafael stared at the road. “Nothing.” Selma looked toward the workshop entrance behind them.A few mechan
Chapter 6 THE WOMAN WHO NEVER STOPPED
Selma nodded his head at the sound of laughter coming from inside the house again but this time it wasn’t Matilde alone, it was deeper. Like someone who had been there before. His fingers tightened around the iron gate as he stood outside the compound, rainwater dripping from his soaked uniform onto the dusty ground.The front door wasn’t fully closed, It was slightly open just enough for voices to escape. Selma stepped closer slowly, The living room light spilled onto the porch inside, Matilde’s voice floated out, soft and playful.“You always exaggerate.” A man chuckled.Selma’s stomach tightened instantly, He recognized that tone not again he pushed the door open just slightly. The first thing he saw was Matilde sitting comfortably on the couch.Her legs crossed, A glass of wine in her hand and she looked relaxed across from her sat a man Selma did not know who’s well dressed and clean shoes, expensive wristwatch glinting under the light.His father’s place on the couch once sacred
Chapter 5 PEACE WAS FOUND INSIDE A BOTTLE
Selma’s eyes opened weirdly when he saw his father asleep on the workshop floor beside an empty bottle. The garage smelled like burnt oil, sweat, and alcohol.Metal tools hung crookedly on the walls. Somewhere deeper inside the workshop, a radio played old music through static while mechanics laughed over a football match.But Rafael Elias wasn’t moving, He lay beside an unfinished car with one arm covering his face, grease staining his shirt and whiskey pooled near his fingertips. For one terrifying second, Selma thought he was dead.“Dad?” No response. Selma hurried across the garage floor, stepping around loose bolts and dark oil stains. His school uniform clung to his skin from the afternoon heat, but cold fear crawled through him anyway.“Dad.” This time he touched Rafael’s shoulder gently, Rafael jerked awake instantly. The bottle slipped from his hand and rolled beneath the car.His breathing came fast at first, Panicked, Wild eyes searching the room. Then they landed on Selma,
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