“But you didn’t ask me.”
“I thought—”
“You thought what? That I wouldn’t notice? That I’d just keep paying while you replaced me?”
“Mom, it wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like?”
He didn’t answer.
I heard Lucía’s voice in the background, sharp and angry. Then she was on the phone.
“You selfish, vindictive woman. We are at the airport. Do you understand that? We have no hotel. No transfer. Nothing. And you did this on purpose.”
“You tried to steal from me.”
“I was organizing things! You’re too old to handle this kind of trip anyway. You would have slowed us down.”
“Then you should have planned your own trip.”
“With what money? You’re the one with the savings. You’re the one who doesn’t have to work anymore. It’s not fair that you get to hoard everything while we struggle.”
“I worked for forty years.”
“And now you get to relax while we suffer. Do you know what it’s like to have nothing? To watch you take vacations and buy things and live like a queen while we can barely afford rent?”
My voice dropped.
“Lucía, I bought you a car last year.”
Silence.
“I paid for your wedding. I gave you the down payment for your apartment. I paid Javier’s medical bills when he got pneumonia. I have given you everything you’ve ever asked for.”
“That’s what family does.”
“Family doesn’t try to steal your credit card.”
She hung up.
Ten minutes later, my phone rang again.
A different number. Local.
“Carmen?”
I recognized the voice immediately.
Blanca. Lucía’s mother.
“Blanca.”
“What is happening? Lucía just called me crying. She says you canceled the trip.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
