He went rigid.
The next second, a black SUV came tearing around the corner and screeched to a stop at the curb.
Wanda burst out with an umbrella, and her eyes locked instantly on the filthy smear across Oswald's chest and then on me standing behind him.
"Oh my God! Oswald! Are you okay? Is this psycho stalking you? Did she attack you?"
She threw her arms around his, shrinking behind him, and stared at me with wide, horrified eyes.
"I'm calling the police!"
"It's okay, Wanda. Don't be scared."
Oswald pulled her against his shoulder, his expression turning cold.
He took out his phone and dialed 911.
The patrol car arrived fast.
Wanda wept like a flower caught in the rain, clutching her belly, gasping over and over that she was terrified.
Oswald held her close and gave his statement in a steady, measured voice. He never looked at me once.
I was put in the back of the patrol car.
The fluorescent lights at the station were blinding.
I sat in a metal chair, my clothes still dripping, a small pool forming at my feet.
Across from me sat the officer taking my statement. Beside him stood Oswald's private attorney and a bodyguard Wanda had sent.
Wanda sat in the lounge next door sipping warm milk. Every now and then, her voice drifted through the wall as she chatted with a friend on the phone.
"I was so scared. Some delivery-gig psycho nearly hurt my baby..."
"Are you sure you know the person who filed the report?"
The officer looked up at me.
"He's my boyfriend. Four years ago, he pushed me out of the way during a mudslide and got swept away. Everyone thought he was dead. Including me."
Oswald's lawyer strode over and cut me off.
"Officer, my client Mr. Delgado has never participated in any volunteer teaching program, nor has he ever had any relationship with this woman. Her claims lack any factual basis and constitute fabrication of evidence and stalking."
"I have proof."
I pulled the old phone from my pocket.
One corner of the screen was shattered. Water damage. The touchscreen barely responded.
It took me a long time to scroll through, but I found the photo album.
The first picture was of me and Oswald at the teaching site.
He'd been wearing a white T-shirt, tanned dark from the sun, grinning so wide you could see every tooth.
I had my arms around his, my cheek pressed to his shoulder.
Behind us stood the gate of that little village school.