And they did. We ordered more plants, raked over the chaotic massacre of torn stems and shot leaves, and sifted out shell casings, building a compost heap at the bottom of the garden so they could nourish the new ones. We planted more seeds in the seed trays and added rooting powder to the younger plants we could save to give them a fighting chance. Out of chaos, we grew, we nourished and we took care of. We did it without anger, revenge and without anybody getting killed. It was so simple.

It was a whole new look for me. I was happier when the kids were around. I’m always happier around kids or animals than I am around adult humans. There’s always a side to adults. Always a price to pay.

Tenoch seemed happier too, especially when his arm was fully operational again. He laughed more, joked more. Sometimes we’d sit out on the terrace together, watching the sunset or picking herbs or peppers for that night’s dinner which he would be making from scratch – some nights pozole or menudo; other nights alambre with corn tortillas. We’d chat like we were related – easily and honestly.

‘Did you ever kill anyone you didn’t want to?’ he asked me.

‘No,’ I said. And I meant it. ‘At the time, I wanted to.’

‘I’ve only ever wanted to kill in revenge. It was my job, that’s all. If my boss said, “Kill your friend, kill your wife,” I would do it.’

‘You killed your wife?’

‘No, luckily I never had to. But I would have if they had asked me.’

‘So what were you, like, a hitman or something?’

‘Yeah. A hitman.’

‘How many people did you kill?’

‘About a hundred.’

‘Whoa.’

We continued the conversation over dinner. We tried to make the effort some nights to turn the TV off and lay place settings with separate cutlery for befores and afters, salt and pepper and glasses of local wine.

‘That is where you and I aren’t the same,’ he said, slurping up his soup. ‘You always wanted to kill, I had to or else I would be killed myself.’

‘Dog eat dog.’

‘Our cartel built schools, medical practices, gave people jobs, homes. We were loved. But also, despised.’

‘Who by?’

‘Los federales for one. And the army. And people whose loved ones we killed. I never felt good about the extortion side of the business. We had to come down hard on working people – decent people. I have done things you would not like me for. But if the order was given, it was their kids or mine.’

‘You killed kids? How many?’

I lost him in a trance for several moments before he broke free of it and returned to his soup. ‘Too many. Eat your greens.’