On Sunday morning, I woke up wanting to stay in bed and keep on dreaming. Had it not been for Rosari,o I honestly would have stayed asleep until noon. I decided to use my new dress that my aunt Fernanda had brought me from Guadalajara. It was a short white dress decorated with lace and small rhinestones. I decided to wear it with my pastel pink shoes and a gold cross that I inherited from my mom, like any good catholic. 

Mass was never boring; the women of Victoria (at least the ones who went to that church) didn't have anything better to do. Going to church was less about praising god and more about bragging; the women (actually everyone) always dressed in the best they had bought that week. The best jewels, their dresses brought from the capital or the United States, Italian shoes, etc.

I always enjoyed going to church. When I was little, I liked it because we sang. when I was ten, it was because my mom would buy us an ice cream after. Now I liked it because the gossips of the first row always had something new to tell me. I could've judged them all I wanted, but as long as I regretted them, my sins would be forgiven. 

Last Sunday, my tocaya told me that her teachers had found her kissing a guy from her school, and it was already the third time, so it turned out that her parents were going to send her away to Michoacan. I felt sorry for her, but it went away as soon as she began planning her next conquest. As I thought of last week's mass, the donation basket passed, and I forgot to give my part. “Daniela? Can we go?” I asked my cousin. She was older than I, three years older, but we got along well. She lived in Guadalajara with my aunt and uncle, who left because they said Tamaulipas was too small for them. 

(**Tocaya is a word in Spanish that is used to call someone who has the same name as you) 

*Michoacan is a state in southern Mexico, and Guadalajara is a city in the State of Jalisco that is also in the south of Mexico. Tamaulipas is a state in northern Mexico that borders the United States. )

I have always had a good time with Danny. One of my favorite memories is when we bought ceramics and painted them. “Yes, Maria, let's go.” When she spoke, the wind carried the sound of her voice and presented it with the softness of a dove's feather. Every Sunday, we went out to eat after church, and we always went to “El Paraiso” or went to get a barbacoa. 

The restaurant had a delicious menu, and it was also where Danny and her boyfriend met up when she visited. I would like to say that I didn't care, because that is what i told Danny, but in reality, I loved going with her. Daniella paid for my food, the movies, and she brought me gifts as long as I didn't tell anyone. Nobody ever found out about her boyfriend, and thanks to my discretion, she got married a year later to her official boyfriend.