I grew up next door to Matilda and Michael. Matty was sweet on me and Michael, who was two years older than me was a bully. So, Matty and I played and...Michael and I fought. Sometimes he would win and sometimes I would and we ended up having a rough and tumble kind of friendship. Matty and I did the usual childhood things that curious boys and girls do; we played 'doctor' and went through the 'you show me yours and I'll show you mine' business and we suffered the ridicule of others our age. Of the palace, really. We kept our masks on, but it had to be the Contessa Y. I never found out for sure, but the little smiles she greeted me with on the occasions we met later told me what I suspected. At least I attributed them to our Carnival night.That wasn’t the odd part of the experience, however. I’d had the Contessa, if that’s who she was, early in the evening. What she didn’t know and I don’t think she ever found out, was that I had her daughter in the very early morning hours not. There were few surprises or variations, and almost none that were pleasant.One Wednesday stands out among all the others. Not for any of the routine errands, but for the encounter that took place afterwards. It was in the home that Cindy made with her husband of forty-eight years. A home that saw a loving family of five, dwindle to a pair of very bored, unaffectionate septuagenarians that had lost the fire long ago. Matt loved the racetrack more now than Cindy. She, in turn, had no interest in. He your husband, no?" That's correct." What you do with him now?" I think I'll take him back to New York with me, Maria. I'll teach himto be a new person. A much better person than the one he used to be." Maria nodded as she contemplated the idea. Then she scanned thepatient's chart. "I see he not on sedative anymore, Senora." That's right. Dr. Menendez ceased all sedation last night. The job isdone, Maria, at least for now."Maria studied the patient's face. "He so pretty, Senora, just.