La Casa de Papel (Palermo) // Translation

26. lo que no saben es que

The walls shake and some dust falls from the ceiling, so that Palermo, Rio and Bogota, which are on the stairs, stop. Palermo immediately picks up the radio and he feels his heart stop. "Velez" is the first thing he says, but he doesn't get an answer. "Helsinki," he says, and it feels like he's running out of air. He looks at Rio with wide eyes and Bogota panics too. "Velez, Helsinki! Can you hear me !?" he screams. Nothing. Pure silence.

1 month before the hour x

(...) ... "... Lucas hung out a lot with thieves in the neighborhood, with those who sold him drugs. And one day he stole 25 million from a bank. That evening I came home from shopping to cook and saw the table full of money. I couldn't believe it. Bundles of money glued on top of each other. Everyone's dream. But ... you know what else I noticed? He was drunk again. I don't know why, but when When I saw him, I went nuts. I went up to him and threw all the powder on the floor. He beat the shit out of me and I beat the shit out of him. But this time we're closed gone far. At night when we were sleeping I thought and looked at the money on the table. He would spend it all on drugs and probably die. So what did I do? I took all the money so he wouldn't kill himself And that same night when he slept so soundly that he couldn't once a helicopter was able to wake me up, I left. I bought a few things to move and flew to the Bahamas, a place I've always dreamed of. After a few months the professor called me and now I'm here," Velez says with a smile and looks at Palermo, who smiles back." And I never saw him again. You can see what I did the way you want. I either stole his money as a traitorous slut or to save his life. I know why I did it. I asked the professor how he was and he told me he was clean. He has found a job and is fine, luckily, "Velez says. Palermo is deeply impressed by the story Velez has just told and he would particularly like to talk to her about one part of the story ... (...)

"Velez! Helsinki!" hears Velez Palermo's voice over the radio. Slowly and dazedly, she turns on her back and stretches out on the floor. She manages to open her eyes and hears Palermo's voice again. She sees Helsinki a little further away and when she realizes his situation, she is desperate. "Velez!" She is crawling towards him at high speed.

"Helsi!" Velez says on the verge of tears when she finds him almost dead, his leg trapped by a statue that has fallen on him. It is literally impossible for Velez to move this statue, but she tries anyway. She shakes her head in vain and is close to tears. She grabs his face. "Helsi, hold on!" she pleads and grabs her radio. "Palermo!" Velez exclaims. For his part, Palermo takes a deep breath and grabs Rio's forearm. "Come here, please," Velez calls out quickly. "Helsinki is about to die. Help me. I'm alone. They blew the roof off," she says and watches as the soldiers come in from the roof with ropes. "Come on, I'm alone," she finally says and without waiting for an answer, she grabs her rifle, hides behind the statue and shoots the soldiers non-stop. There are about fourteen who are after her alone. As soon as she hides behind the statue, many shots are fired at her. She reloads the rifle and closes her eyes as she hears the bullets ricochet off the statue and the walls. "Hold on, Helsi!" she calls and as soon as she has the chance, she shoots back. After about four minutes, the longed-for rescue comes. Palermo, Rio and Bogotá also shoot the soldiers and give Velez time to load her rifle. As soon as she does, she fires while Palermo, Bogotá and Rio try to lift the statue. "You won't be able to move it!" shouts Velez. "It weighs at least a ton!" she continues and ducks as the soldiers fire back.

"Will that be enough?" Rio asks, pointing to one of the poles hanging on a string from the ceiling.

"We'll find out!" Palermo calls and gives Velez a drawing that only she can understand. Velez pulls a grenade out of her overalls and throws it in the direction of the soldiers' hiding place, creating a huge cloud of smoke through which nothing can be seen. This is the opportunity for Bogotá and Rio to go to the center of the room, completely unprotected, and pick up the pole. Velez takes the opportunity and crawls over to Palermo to take his hand. "Have you been hit?" Palermo asks and looks at her critically. She quickly shakes her head and lies to him. They both caress Helsinki so that he does not fall asleep and just look at each other as Velez and Palermo and give each other a small smile, shots ricochet off the statue and frighten it, whereby one of them hits Palermo's vest. Velez's first reaction is a cry of horror and without thinking, she defuses a grenade she is holding in her hand and throws it in the direction of the soldiers' hiding place, believing that this will protect Palermo from everything. "It was just my vest!" Palermo calls in pain and Velez opens her eyes in surprise. Bogotá and Rio run to the hiding place and cover Helsinki together. The grenade explodes not far from them and smashes almost everything around them, luckily the entire ceiling that Rio and Bogotá tried to bring down goes to the ground and the bar is now accessible.

"I'll cover you!" Velez yells and throws another grenade, takes her rifle and starts shooting blindly. She hears the piercing, agonizing scream from one of the soldiers and her heart stops.

"Velez, you have to calm down!" Palermo says. "You can't throw a grenade for every wound I get. You're crazy," he says. Velez just wants to cry. She feels transported back in time, to the time when she defended her ex-boyfriend and feels the same terrible feelings that she felt during that time when she was so bad. Velez doesn't answer him, especially not since she only hears the tortured screams from the soldier she probably injured. At that moment, Bogotá and Rio appear with the pole, just in time for the smoke to clear. And then Velez sees who she has wounded and his wound. The leg of the green uniformed man, which is exposed, revealing the bone, breaks her heart and she literally feels like a murderess. She stops shooting and her breath catches. The soldiers take advantage of this and start shooting. The bullets ricocheting just inches away from her make her hide behind the statue. She is shaking, unable to breathe, and feels like the veins in her throat are about to burst from the stress.

(...) ... "... I would like to pick up something from your story," Palermo says and looks her in the face. She nods curiously. "You said you wanted him to be the person he was when you first met him."

"Exactly," she says. Palermo laughs because he recognizes himself in her and he thinks of Berlin. Before the kiss he gave him, Berlin was the one. After that Berlin was just someone. And nothing had broken his heart more than this disappointment.

"That is almost always the case. There are no limits to how far I would go, no limits, no length. We always say that when we meet the person we think is the right one. And once we have them, it's never the same again. You love her when she doesn't love you and when she does, the feelings suddenly change, "Palermo says and looks up at the sky. Velez, too, looks up at the sky and sees the moon rising over the sunset. "We are like space rockets and their heart is the moon. And we are heading straight for them. It can either go well or we crash," he says and Velez looks spellbound at Palermo. It only took one deep conversation with him to realize that his ego and arrogance are only intended to overshadow his bad mood and bad past. Palermo, for his part, finds in her a really strong woman who has endured everything. Her image as a playful and annoying little girl is pushed into the background when he meets her. But Palermo would never tell her, his pride and manner would not allow it. He would never show this side of himself in front of a woman, especially not in front of her. He could only keep it to himself. "In general, women who go through what you've been through deserve a gentleman, not just any man. The right one will come," is all he says in an almost insignificant tone.

"Thank you, Palermo," she replies sincerely. She takes advantage of the fact that Palermo is distracted and looking up at the sky to look at him with a half smile that is somewhere between joy and surprise at having met another Palermo. She turns her gaze back to the rain and only when Palermo realizes that she is no longer watching him does he look at her. He analyzes her and gets to know her for who she really is. And he sighs when he feels exactly the same feeling in his heart that he had that autumn afternoon when he spoke to Berlin and got to know him for who he really was. (...)

Velez looks at Palermo and everything seems to be in slow motion. At that moment, she realizes that she would not be able to cope with the death of Palermo. The bullets ricocheting near Rio cause Velez to come out of hiding and shoot everyone she sees. "We need reinforcements!" calls Denver over the radio. "There are too many against Tokyo and me! At least one has to come!" Velez hides again and screams without hesitation.

"I'm coming!" she announces, rises from her seat and starts running.

"No!" Palermo yells.

"You get Helsinki out!" she calls and disappears through the corridors. Palermo watches her until the last second when she disappears from his field of vision. He sighs, swallows, and pushes the button on his radio.

"Denver, Velez is on the way," he announced.