“I felt a fear I’d had before: I needed the people in my life more than they needed me. This fear made me want to be useful and polite and good, so no one would ever tire of me; I had noticed the way some people, like my brother and father, drained the around them. And then I saw the problem from a different angle, in a different light, blinding and new: I had to care less about people. I had to separate myself from others. Let them need and miss me. Nothing exhausted me more than trying not to care. It was an effort, always. But it was necessary.”
―
Santiago Jose Sanchez,
Hombrecito